Virginia can’t withdraw from a multistate initiative designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions except the Legislature agrees to it, a decide has dominated, dealing a blow to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s efforts to exit the compact.
The ruling, issued Monday by retired Choose C. Randall Lowe in Floyd County, stated Virginia’s Air Air pollution Management Board exceeded its authority when it voted final yr to exit the Regional Greenhouse Fuel Initiative.
The Regional Greenhouse Fuel Initiative is an effort by 12 mid-Atlantic and Northeast states to reduce power plants’ carbon emissions. Collaborating states require plants of a sure producing capability to buy allowances to emit carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gasoline that contributes to world warming.
Virginia joined the compact in 2020 when it had a Democratic governor in addition to Democratic management of the Legislature. In 2021, Youngkin, a Republican, gained election as governor however one or each legislative chambers have remained below Democratic management for everything of his time period.
Youngkin has stated Virginia’s participation within the cap-and-trade program quantities to a hidden tax on Virginians’ vitality payments.
His spokesman, Christian Martinez, stated Wednesday that the state will attraction the decide’s ruling.
“Governor Youngkin stays dedicated to reducing the price of dwelling for Virginians by persevering with to oppose the Regional Greenhouse Fuel Initiative, which fails to successfully incentivize emission reductions within the Commonwealth,” he stated in a written assertion.
Shaun Kenney, a spokesman for Republican Lawyer Basic Jason Miyares, additionally expressed disappointment within the decide’s ruling in a written assertion, saying: “We look ahead to defending the commonsense repeal of this counterproductive program on attraction.”
The State Company Fee has estimated the everyday month-to-month invoice may enhance by $2 to $2.50 for the years 2027 to 2030.
Final yr, earlier than the air pollution board voted to finish participation within the compact, Dominion Vitality, the state’s largest utility, estimated that it had incurred about $490 million in compliance prices from the initiative and recovered about $267 million from clients.
Virginia Home Speaker Don Scott, a Democrat, praised the decide’s ruling, calling it “a win for all Virginians, their wallets, and the environment. Packages funded by RGGI have helped Virginians lower family vitality prices, helped shield communities from floodwaters, and have been vital within the battle to chop air pollution and handle local weather change.”
—Matthew Barakat, Related Press