CONCORD – House Speaker William O’Brien and House Science, Technology and Energy Chairman James Garrity today offered the following statements is response to Governor Lynch’s veto of Senate Bill 154, to repeal the state’s cap-and-trade program, known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).
House Speaker William O’Brien
“Cap-and-trade is failed policy both here in New Hampshire and nationally. What a cap-and-trade program such as RGGI does do is drive up costs to electric ratepayers in order to give handouts to the politically well-connected. New Hampshire families and businesses need relief from RGGI-burdened electric rates that are 149% of the national average. It’s time to scrap this ill-conceived plan and offer relief to our residents and employers by dumping RGGI, so that we can get our economy moving forward. House members welcome the opportunity to override the Governor’s veto on this issue to lower the utility bills for the working families and small businesses of the state.”
House Science, Technology and Energy Chairman James Garrity
“RGGI has been around for three years, and has failed in every aspect but one…it is a great fund-raising scheme. It collects money from all of us and redistributes it to a select few. The only ‘green jobs’ RGGI has created are additional government bureaucrats, out of state consultants – some being paid over $200 per hour, contracts with a Concord lobbying firm, and one-sided RGGI-funded studies that tell us what a success RGGI has been. I’m disappointed that Governor Lynch chooses to subsidize the ‘green pork’ pet projects of the rich and powerful and leave ordinary New Hampshire citizens to pay the bill.”
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