N.J. Dems take another run at cap-and-trade bill

Nearly a year after Gov. Chris Christie announced he was pulling New Jersey out of a 10-state anti-pollution pact, Democratic lawmakers are still pushing to rejoin it.

 

Calling the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative a failure, Christie said he wouldn’t let the state participate. Months later, he vetoed a Democratic bill that would have forced him to stay in RGGI.

The bill up for consideration today in the Senate is considered largely symbolic, since Christie’s expected to veto it. Democrats argue that since they had to vote to allow the state to join the pact in 2007, they should have a say in whether the state withdraws.

RGGI seeks to reduce carbon dioxide pollution 10 percent by 2018 by setting limits on emissions by power plants that burn fossil fuels.