HARRISBURG — Voting on a controversial issue in a rapidly changing energy environment, six Democratic senators, including Nick Pisciottano of Allegheny County, joined all Republicans on Wednesday to pass a bill that would erase Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative regulations from Pennsylvania’s books.

The RGGI rules came into being after Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf took executive action in 2019 to put Pennsylvania into the market consortium of a dozen states. It is designed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.

Pennsylvania’s active involvement in RGGI was put on hold after opponents went to court.

The bill passed on Wednesday — it consists of a few sentences — has the same wording as one introduced about nine months earlier and put to a final vote in the Senate on Feb. 4. F

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