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DES: Without RGGI, N.H. Won't Meet Federal Carbon Goals

A proposal to remove New Hampshire from a multi-state carbon cap-and trade program appears to have little public support.
The House Science, Technology and Energy Committee took testimony on the bill Thursday morning. Two Republican lawmakers spoke in favor of the bill during the first two hours of the hearing while several state officials and members of the public spoke against it.
Mike Fitzgerald with the Department of Environmental Services noted that participating in the program, called the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative or RGGI , will likely make the state compliant with proposed federal carbon pollution regulations.
"We have the fifth most stringent goal in the nation, under the proposed clean power plan, and we do not see a way that New Hampshire would be able to comply with the Clean Power Plan if we were to pull out of RGGI," said Fitzgerald.
New Hampshire is one of nine states participating in RGGI. It is already state law that if two other states pull out of the program, New Hampshire will leave as well. 
RGGI is a system where each state sells carbon emission allowances. New Hampshire uses the money from the sales to fund energy efficiency programs and provide rebates for ratepayers. .
 

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