State Senator Kip Bateman, a Republican who voted to rejoin the plan, said it was the best option available to the state. “It wasn’t perfect, but we’re better off being in it than not being in it,” he said. “The problem is, groups such as Americans for Prosperity are adamantly opposed to it. They have scared a lot of Republicans away from it.”

Americans for Prosperity, which receives funding from the libertarian billionaires Charles G. and David H. Koch, spent heavily in the 2010, 2012 and 2014 elections to oppose candidates who supported cap-and-trade. The group took aim at Republican candidates in primary races who signaled that they would back climate-change policy, and it is expected to play a key role in the 2016 Republican presidential primaries. “We were exceedingly pleased that the governor got New Jersey out of the R.G.G.I. boondoggle,” said Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity, referring to the regional plan. “It’s something that A.F.P. in New Jersey worked hard on, and the governor listened, and we applauded him pulling out and applaud him for refusing to go back in.” Mr. Phillips said the move would be sure to help Mr. Christie’s efforts in the Republican primaries, should he run.

Although many Republican politicians question the established science that burning fossil fuels warms the planet, support in New Jersey for climate-change policies increased after Hurricane Sandy battered the Northeast in 2012. Experts say no single storm can be directly attributed to climate change, but a federal study released in May, the National Climate Assessment, concluded that climate change is making the Northeast more vulnerable to deluges, rising sea levels and higher storm surges. Last year a Stanford University poll found that 80 percent of New Jersey adults think the government should take action to limit greenhouse gases from industry.

Even after withdrawing from the program, New Jersey customers still have slightly higher electricity bills because the state is part of a wider regional electricity market, said Susan Tierney, an author of the Analysis Group report and a former top Energy Department official in the Clinton administration. Ms. Tierney also noted that the state no longer enjoyed the revenue flow from companies paying for pollution permits. “It would be a very economically efficient thing for New Jersey to rejoin,” she said. “They could get more bang for their buck and have money to circulate back into the economy.”

New Jersey’s largest electric utility, Public Service Enterprise Group, supported the state’s participation in the program and has pushed to take the policy national. Michael Jennings, a company spokesman, wrote in an email that the utility is “advocating that the E.P.A. allow states like New Jersey the flexibility to pursue a comprehensive approach to reduce greenhouse gases.” But he did not directly address questions about Mr. Christie’s refusal to join the program.

In the view of Michael McKenna, a Republican energy lobbyist, the utility is remaining silent so as not to antagonize the governor. “They’re concerned about getting ahead of where Christie is,” said. “They’re a New Jersey company. They have to get along with the administration.”

Some New Jersey businesses agree with Mr. Christie. “We supported the governor’s position to withdraw,” said David Brogan, vice president of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association. “It was a flawed program. We already pay some of the highest rates for energy in the nation.”

If New Jersey does not rejoin, the state will still be required to come up with a carbon reduction plan under Mr. Obama’s proposed rule, which requires New Jersey to cut its carbon pollution by 42 percent by 2030. Last week Mr. Christie told reporters that he did not believe new policies would be required, given his pledge to ban coal plants. “So I think New Jersey is very well positioned without R.G.G.I. and our people don’t need another tax on their utility bills to make some environmentalists feel good on a program that is absolutely worthless in my view.”