WASHINGTON — New Jersey lost millions of dollars in potential revenue when Gov. Chris Christie pulled out of a northeastern compact designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. said at a congressional hearing today.

Pallone, the ranking Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said Christie's decision to withdraw from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative meant the state missed out on revenue from selling permits to emit carbon dioxide. The cost to the state: more than $114 million so far, and the loss of an additional $387.1 million through 2020.

"That's money that could be used to support energy efficiency upgrades and job creation like it's doing in Maryland and other participating states," Pallone (D-6th Dist.) said as the energy and power subcommittee heard from Kelly Speakes-Backman, a member of the Maryland Public Service Commission and chair of the RGGI board. "New Jerseyans deserve to reap the benefits of this successful, economically efficient program that is reducing carbon emissions and creating jobs in the northeast."

Christie spokesman Kevin Roberts said the governor had good reason to pull out of the compact.

"RGGI amounted to nothing more than a tax on business that failed to achieve its goals," Roberts said. "Rep. Pallone may look at that failed program as a missed opportunity to tax our state's job creators and yearn to spend more of their money, but that's simply not acceptable to this governor."

Pallone said the compact would make it easier for New Jersey to meet future emissions standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency.

"It seems that the program has been tremendously effective in Maryland and other participating states, and that these states will have a leg up when it comes to meeting the EPA standards," Pallone told Speakes-Backman.

Christie pulled out of the cap-and-trade program in 2011, saying it was "not effective in reducing greenhouse gases and is unlikely to be in the future." The goal was to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants across northeastern and mid-Atlantic states from Maine to Maryland by 10 percent over seven years. Plant operators buy and sell emission credits, with revenue going to states to fund projects for energy efficiency and renewables.

Environmentalists successfully sued in 2012, saying the governor could not unilaterally withdrew from the compact without repealing the regulations, which requires public comment The state Department of Environmental Protection did away with the rules in 2014.

Christie has vetoed bills passed by the Democratic-controlled state legislature to rejoin the compact.

MORE POLITICS

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.