Virginia is back as a member of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, following a lengthy legal battle initiated by former Gov. Glenn Youngkin playing politics with the environment, as MAGAs are wont to do.
The carbon cap-and-invest program, in three years of implementation in Virginia, had brought nearly $830 million to the state to fund flood resiliency projects and energy efficiency programs for low-income Virginians, while also cutting power plant pollution by almost 25 percent.
Youngkin moved to withdraw the state from the pact in 2023, but a Floyd County Circuit Court judge ruled in 2024 that Youngkin’s effort to remove Virginia from RGGI was “unlawful and without effect,” triggering the legal back-and-forth that ended with a whimper after Abigail Spanberger won the 2025 governor’s race, and more important in direct relation to the legal wrangling, Jay Jones unseated MAGA Jason Miyares from the post of state attorney general.
Jones, in March, ordered the Virginia State Air Pollution Control Board and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to withdraw their appeal of the court order, and that ended that.
ICYMI
- Judge rules Youngkin move to pull Virginia out of Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative was ‘unlawful’
- Virginia drops appeal of RGGI ruling, setting stage for re-entry into climate program
Spanberger, on Tuesday, ceremonially signed legislation that gets Virginia back into the RGGI on a formal basis.
A release from the governor’s office noted that every dollar spent on energy conservation investments through RGGI reduces utility bills, on average, by $2 to $4, and that every dollar invested in flood protection saves approximately $6 in future damage costs.
Across the nationwide RGGI program, the $5.7 billion in auction proceeds invested in energy efficiency and clean energy programs to date are projected to yield $22.6 billion in total bill savings for consumers.
That’s a roughly 4:1 return on investment.
You can see why Republicans, who are beholden to Big Oil, wouldn’t like this.
Less money for the people who pull their puppet strings.
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Chris Graham
