Environmental groups today sued New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) for pulling out of the nine-state carbon credit trading system in the Northeast known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).

In the suit, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Environment New Jersey charged the governor with unilaterally deciding to leave RGGI last year without input from the public, which the groups insist was required by law.

Christie pulled New Jersey from the system last summer on the grounds that it was a backdoor carbon tax and not working to reduce pollution from the electricity sector. He has since vetoed a bill to reinstate the system and seems likely to do so again for legislation that recently passed the state Assembly and Senate (ClimateWire, May 30).

The groups filed their allegations in Superior Court in Trenton. Attorneys working on the case said the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection dissolved RGGI without the open discussion required by state law.

"The New Jersey Administrative Procedure Act requires the governor and his administration to provide notice of their intention to repeal a regulation like this, as well as give the public reasonable opportunity to comment," a memo on the suit said. "Given this, the groups contend that the program is still law, and the administration, and New Jersey utilities, must abide by it."

DEP has responded to the charges dismissively. Agency spokesman Larry Ragonese recently contested the line of thought that says New Jersey's participation is somehow dormant, saying that "RGGI is done in New Jersey."

"Gov. Christie has made his position clear, and I don't think anyone in the administration is considering any change of heart," he added.

Christie seems likely to go to the mat for his stance and fight the lawsuit. He has called RGGI a "gimmicky" program that failed to achieve its intended aim since carbon permits were first auctioned in September 2008.

The groups counter that RGGI has been effective in reducing the amount of coal used to generate electricity. They say RGGI has produced $159 million in local benefits through the sale of permits, much of which went to energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.

RGGI proponents have argued that New Jersey technically has its regulatory framework in place for being an active member of RGGI, insisting it is still a 10-state program. But Christie's decision to terminate applied to auctions, which generates the revenue, so the reality is that New Jersey is not trading or raising money through carbon sales to fund clean energy projects.

DEP officials say the state is advancing renewable energy by other means and doesn't need the cap-and-trade system to do so.

Sullivan reports from New York.