The press secretary for Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin told The Daily Signal that the governor is trying to dismantle climate change regulations and hold down energy costs.
Government records show that Youngkin will rely on a mix of executive action, budget changes, and legislation to withdraw from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
Some environmental activists and lawyers question the new Republican governor's authority to exit the pact through executive action.
Youngkin press secretary Macaulay Porter said the governor is committed to ending Virginia's participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
Porter said in an interview that the governor issued an executive order to withdraw Virginia from the RGGI.
Porter supports legislative action to make sure future governors cannot put Virginia back into this failed and expensive program.
Youngkin's executive order set in motion a series of actions that will result in a full report reexamining the costs and benefits of participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
The report was due within 30 days of Youngkin's order.
The governor's order allows the Air Pollution Control Board to repeal climate change regulations. Youngkin supports a budget amendment that would start the process of withdrawing from the RGGI.
The climate change agreement includes 10 other states in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions, as reported by The Daily Signal.
The amount of carbon dioxide emissions that power plants are allowed to emit is regulated by the government in these states. The initiative creates allowances within interstate auctions that can be traded back and forth among companies that are subject to emission caps.
The idea behind cap-and-trade is to give energy companies incentives to reduce emissions. Companies that exceed emissions targets can sell excess allowances to companies that have not done so.
The National Center for Public Policy Research, a free-market think tank, is concerned about environmental degradation that may result from Virginia's increased reliance on solar and wind projects.
We have been told that we will become full participants in a project that will promote clean energy and net-zero carbon emissions goals.
Yes, transformative it will be, but the change will not be for the better. The increased reliance on wind and solar power will transform broad swaths of Virginia’s bucolic countryside and deep-blue offshore waters into a world of unsightly and inefficient industrial-scale wind turbines and solar arrays. The pollution potential caused by the disposal of used-up solar panels (tens of thousands of them), giant wind turbines, and dead batteries for when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow will make the worst Superfund site look like child’s play.
On his first day in office, Youngkin signed several executive orders, one of which was to re-examine Virginia's participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
Youngkin, a former executive at The Carlyle Group, won the election to become the next governor of Virginia. Governors in Virginia may not serve consecutive terms.
The Republicans won a two-seat majority in the House of Delegates after flipping seats in the same election. The Democrats have a two-seat majority in the Senate.
Virginia is the first Southern state to join the climate pact. The state Senate and House of Delegates were both controlled by Democrats at the time.
Virginia became a full participant in the cap-and-trade regulations in January of 2021.
Youngkin sees carbon taxes flowing from the regulations at the expense of the environment.
Youngkin said in a December speech that the carbon tax is fully passed on to consumers. It's a bad deal for Virginia businesses, and I will withdraw us from RGGI by executive action. I promised to lower the cost of living in Virginia, and this is just the beginning.
The State Corporation Commission is a regulatory agency with authority over utilities. Over the next four years, the filing states, the cost of the RGGI would be between $1 billion and $1.2 billion.
Youngkin's order says that Virginia's participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative risks contributing to the increased cost of electricity for our citizens. The utilities can pass on the costs of purchasing allowances to their customers.
The regulatory requirements attached to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative cannot be repealed by the governor, according to a legal analysis issued by the Virginia Attorney General before he left office.
Herring narrowly lost his bid for a third term as attorney general to a Republican who was previously a member of the House of Delegates.
Communications Director Victoria LaCivita told The Daily Signal that Miyares has no public comment on the matter.
The Office of the Attorney General can't comment on any requests they may or may not have because they are considered confidential attorney-client privilege.
The Southern Environmental Law Center has offices in Virginia and five other Southern states, and is one of the critics of Youngkin's move to withdraw from RGGI.
Influence Watch describes the Southern Environmental Law Center as a left-of-center litigation group that opposed energy infrastructure projects in the southeastern United States.
"This strongly supported and successful program cannot be undone by a simple pen stroke," said senior attorney with the legal advocacy group.
The executive order that asks state officials to develop an illegal repeal is a dead end, according to Benforado.
He said that RGGI has produced millions of dollars to help communities deal with flooding and to lower energy bills for Virginians who need it most.
A Youngkin aide who asked not to be identified told The Daily Signal that the governor is trying to remove Virginia from the RGGI.
The proposed amendment to the state budget would prohibit officials from spending revenue without the approval of the governor.
The Youngkin aide said they were pursuing multiple options.
The bill to withdraw Virginia from the RGGI was sponsored by a Del. Terry Kilgore is the Republican majority leader. Nicholas Freitas is a Republican and Richard Stuart is a Republican.
In his executive order, Youngkin states that more than 100,000 Virginia households were in need of financial assistance to cover energy expenses in 2019.
The Institute for Energy Research argues that it is illogical for Virginia to participate in a program that helps people pay their energy bills.
The nonprofit supports free-market policies in the energy sector.
People benefit more from lower costs overall than they do from being reimbursed later on for a higher upfront cost, according to the institute.
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