Christie pulls New Jersey out of greenhouse-gas accord

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) will pull his state out of a cap-and-trade program called the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative established several years ago among northeastern and mid-Atlantic states.

“This program is not effective in reducing greenhouse gases and is unlikely to be in the future," he said at press conference Thursday, according to The Star-Ledger.

Christie’s action to abandon RGGI — a 10-state program to limit greenhouse gases from power plants — is a blow to climate activists.

Their efforts to bolster state programs took on new urgency after federal climate legislation collapsed last year.

But ascendant GOP governors and some state lawmakers are attacking climate-change initiatives.

New Hampshire’s House of Representatives votes earlier this year to abandon the program (AP has more on where New Hampshire stands here).

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) has pulled her state out of a planned cap-and-trade program under a separate program called the Western Climate Initiative, while a business task force created by New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez (R) recommended last month that the state also downgrade its role to “observer” status in the western program.

Christie — a rising star in GOP circles — called RGGI “nothing more than a tax on electricity, a tax on our residents and on businesses with no discernible effect on our environment,” according to Bloomberg.

But one expert said Christie’s action would have only a limited effect on the carbon trading market that’s operating among states in RGGI.

“New Jersey’s withdrawal is certainly a shock, but its impact on the market will be limited. We expect the cap will be adjusted proportionately to New Jersey’s emissions, so that the overall supply-and-demand balance will not be affected,” said Emilie Mazzacurati, head of Point Carbon Research North America, in a statement.

Mazzacurati added that the remaining states must navigate “complex logistical and political issues” but that “the longer term outlook is not necessarily negative.”