STATES ACROSS the northeast and mid-Atlantic are more than a decade into an ambitious regional collaboration to clean the air, fight climate change, and create thousands of clean energy jobs — all while saving residents and businesses money on their utility bills.

By many counts, it’s working. In Massachusetts and the 11 other states participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, otherwise known as RGGI, emissions from power plants have dropped more rapidly than the rest of the US. At the same time, research has shown that electricity costs in the region have increased more slowly than other states, while economic growth has outpaced the nation. 

That is why major businesses across the East Coast have been proud to support RGGI as a tool for states to bolster their energy efficiency industries, help companies and residents make efficiency upgrades to reduce their energy costs, and slash the carbon emissions that are already destabilizing our climate and hurting our economy.

But even successful policies have room for growth.

Right now, the RGGI states are working through a process that occurs every few years to improve upon the program by responding to changing times and circumstances. There is a necessary and growing recognition that additional investments and action are needed to address pollution in communities located near its sources — like the power plants that RGGI is designed to clean up. The review process provides an opportunity to make improvements for frontline communities.

RGGI works by setting an annual limit on pollution from power plants that lowers over time. Plant operators buy credits to account for their pollution, creating a strong incentive to generate more clean power. States then use the revenue from the program to invest in a wide array of programs that take on climate and energy challenges, such as helping residents and businesses invest in efficiency upgrades or cleaner energy sources that lower bills and reduce waste.

The program has caused pollution to drop at power plants across the region. But some continue to pollute at high levels, forcing people living nearby to struggle with poor air quality that harms their neighborhoods. In most cases, these are low-income, marginalized communities — disproportionately communities of color — that are too often overlooked in public policy. The consequences are dire, as the pollution from the plants causes increased rates of serious health issues like asthma and heart and lung disease that shorten lives.

As part of the ongoing program review, RGGI states should consider dedicating a portion of their program proceeds to frontline communities, low-income households, and other disadvantaged populations. The Biden administration’s Justice40 initiative, which pledges 40 percent of federal climate investments to overburdened communities, would be a good starting point for states to consider. These communities should also have a voice in shaping these investments and how RGGI funds are used. 

States should also consider more thorough air quality monitoring in the communities near power plants, especially in downwind neighborhoods, rather than just at the plants themselves. This is critical to better understanding how plant pollution affects individual communities, so that states can better assess RGGI’s benefits and design additional policies to address its shortcomings. 

These are important matters of justice and fairness, but they also speak to an economic imperative. At Ceres, the Boston-based sustainability organization where I work, we have also seen environmental justice emerge as a growing corporate concern. Just as RGGI’s original structure won widespread business support over the years, leading companies are now among the champions of changes to benefit frontline communities.

Recently, more than 20 major companies and investors – including New Balance, Franklin Energy, Autodesk, Danone, and Unilever — wrote to governors of RGGI states to encourage them to adopt policy changes during the current program review.  The public health threats of toxic air pollution are a drag on the economy that impact workers, customers, and the communities Investing in frontline communities is critical to preparing the entire region for the economic and business risks of climate change.

We hope the governors will see it that way, too. We urge them to take advantage of this opportunity to ensure that RGGI — already one of the nation’s most successful climate programs — is also a force for environmental justice.

Alli Gold Roberts heads the state policy program at Ceres, a nonprofit that works with business leaders to solve sustainability challenges.