Gov. Josh Shapiro is pitching a two-part energy and climate change plan that would include a state-level cap-and-trade system for power plant pollution, precluding the legal battle over a regional emissions-control system his predecessor tried to join.
Shapiro’s proposals — rolled out during an appearance with climate advocates and union officials in Scranton — would create a Pennsylvania-specific system to force energy producers to pay for the greenhouse gasses they put into the atmosphere, and would also overhaul the state’s energy portfolio standards so that 50% of Pennsylvania’s energy would be sourced from zero or near-zero emissions sources by 2035.