Unless Gov. Josh Shapiro reverses course and abandons his effort to keep proposed energy taxes in play, he could lose the support of trade unions that have contributed to his campaigns.

That much has been made clear by union leaders who see a potential political realignment at work that could redound to the benefit of elected officials who have resisted what they view as unconstitutional executive actions impacting the energy industry.

Shapiro, a Democrat, and a former state attorney general, was elected governor in 2022. During his campaign, Shapiro drew significant support from labor unions, according to campaign finance records. But the governor’s recent pivot in the direction of new regulations that would likely shutter power plants has motivated some labor leaders to reconsider their prior support.

In a significant victory for industry groups, unions, and lawmakers opposed to Pennsylvania’s participation in a multistate climate change agreement known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled last fall that the state’s Department of Environmental Protection and Environmental Quality Board lack the authority to enter into the agreement. That’s because, as the court explained, RGGI would result in the imposition of a new tax on energy production that only the Pennsylvania General Assembly can pass.

But much to the consternation of trade unions that have previously supported Shapiro, the governor decided to appeal the ruling to the state supreme court. If implemented in Pennsylvania, RGGI would lay waste to “family sustaining jobs” while also undercutting the state’s competitive posture, and its ability meet the energy needs of consumers, Shawn Steffee, an executive board member of Boilermakers Local 154, said.

“RGGI is definitely going to shut down our coal fired plants right now at a time when reliability is definitely a problem and will hinder the building of any new natural gas plants or anything to do with fossil fuels,” Steffee said.

RGGI is built around “cap and trade” regulations in participating states where regulators impose an upper limit or “cap” on the amount of carbon dioxide emissions that power plants are permitted to emit. Power companies that exceed the cap are then compelled to “trade” their excess emissions in the form of “allowances” at quarterly auctions to those companies that have not. The rationale behind “cap and trade” is to provide companies with financial incentives to reduce their emissions.

The push for RGGI in Pennsylvania began with Shapiro’s predecessor, former Gov. Tom Wolf, also a Democrat, who first took executive action to “combat climate change” in October 2019. But because state senators made a compelling case that Wolf was attempting to bypass the state legislature and impose new taxes, the Commonwealth Court issued a preliminary injunction halting Pennsylvania’s participation in July 2022.

In its decision, the court rejected arguments from Wolf administration officials who claimed RGGI involved regulatory fees as opposed to taxes. The rulemaking in question “constitutes a tax that has been imposed by DEP and EQB in violation of the Pennsylvania Constitution,” the court ruled… “to pass constitutional muster, the Commonwealth’s participation in RGGI may only be achieved through legislation duly enacted by the Pennsylvania General Assembly, and not merely through the Rulemaking promulgated by DEP and EQP.”

In a further sign of emerging new alliances flowing out of mutual opposition to RGGI, industry and labor groups joined forces in a companion suit to the one filed by state senators.

Going forward, Steffee advises boilermaker officers to be mindful of what kind of return they are getting on the support they provide to elected officials during each campaign cycle. He acknowledges that in some instances, they could be funding the demise of their own jobs particularly where energy policy is concerned. Since 2021, trade unions that would be directly affected by new energy regulations and taxes donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Shapiro, according to campaign finance records.

Campaign finance records also show that Steffee’s union, Boilermakers Local 154, contributed $10,000 to Shapiro in 2022. But the union also contributed to Republicans in the General Assembly during the same cycle.

Steffee is hardly alone among labor leaders who are open to supporting members of both parties who are willing to resist burdensome new regulations.

Aric Baker, president of Local 459, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Johnstown, finds that his union now “splits its loyalties” between parties since much of Western Pennsylvania has shifted to the Republicans. The local’s home county of Cambria went Republican in 2016 for the first time since the Democrats became dominant in the early 20{sup}th{/sup} Century. Baker also notes that Local 459 has been a longtime supporter of Republican State Sen. Joe Pittman of Indiana County. Like the members of Local 459, the senator has been a vocal and consistent opponent of RGGI.

“We are still adamantly against RGGI, and we are severely disappointed with Gov. Shapiro’s handling of the issue,” Baker said. “We thought that the Commonwealth Court’s rejection of RGGI gave the governor an out, but he did not take advantage of it.”

Baker also said he felt “slighted” by not being included in the governor’s RGGI Working Group, which pulled in a mixture of labor, business, and environmental interests that reviewed the RGGI proposal prior to the Commonwealth Court ruling. Although the working group has substantial union representation, the labor members of the group were not as deeply invested in the state’s coal-fired plants as Local 459. Even so, Baker said he agreed with the “overall conclusions” of the group and prefers to have a “working relationship with the governor’s office.”

Baker works at the Keystone power plant near Shelocta on the Armstrong-Indiana county line, but his time is limited. The Keystone Plant along with the Conemaugh Power Plant in Indiana County are expected to close by 2028 in response to what Baker describes as “stringent federal environmental regulations.”

Gordon Tomb, a senior fellow with The Commonwealth Foundation, a free market think tank, detects a growing awareness among “working people” that green schemes jeopardize their jobs and financial well-being.

“Pennsylvania’s economy suffers because of irrational environmental policies advocated by extremists who do not know — or choose to ignore — that a healthy energy industry is necessary for prosperity,” he said. “Politicians who embrace such policies risk losing support of working people and anybody with common sense.”

(Kevin Mooney is an investigative reporter with The Heritage Foundation. This article was originally published by RealClearEnergy.)