ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- An activist with a conservative political action group seeking to dismantle the 10-state Northeastern carbon-trading program has filed a lawsuit challenging New York state's participation in the greenhouse gas-reducing effort.
Lisa Thrun of Buffalo, a leader of Americans for Prosperity's New York chapter, is lead plaintiff in the suit filed in state Supreme Court in Albany on Monday. The lawsuit claims New York's participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative amounts to an illegal tax on utility ratepayers.
The program sets a cap on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and requires power generators to buy credits to cover their carbon emissions.
Environmental Advocates, dismissing the lawsuit as baseless, said the carbon-trading program is reducing pollution, saving consumers money, and creating new jobs in the clean energy economy.
