New Jersey looks to rejoin regional cap-and-trade program
But many business groups oppose reentering RGGI at all. Tony Bawidamann, vice president of government affairs at the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, said the cap-and-trade program amounts to a tax on businesses that will be passed on to consumers in the form of higher energy costs. “This makes us less competitive in the region because the ratepayer is going to be paying more and more for energy use,” Bawidamann said. ...“It’s a costly state to live in, and this makes it even more costly,” he said.