VIRGINIA: Virginia just took a big step toward confronting climate change
I’m excited to share that Virginia just took a huge step toward rejoining a climate program that has cut carbon emissions across the Commonwealth and the country.
Late Friday, newly elected Governor Abigail Spanberger signed the state’s “caboose” budget, which lays out the exact steps we must take to get back into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI.
This moment comes after years of advocacy by SELC and our partners inside and outside of the legislature. And it takes effect immediately: Virginians can expect to start benefiting from this successful program in the coming months.
As the first Southern state to join RGGI, Virginia was already seeing the benefits when our former governor yanked us from the program in 2023.
However, during the three years that Virginia participated, 2021-2023, carbon pollution from power plants declined by 22%. The state also received $827 million for energy efficiency and flood preparedness projects.
- Under this multi-state market-based program, power plants must buy an allowance for every ton of carbon they emit. The supply of allowances decreases over time.
- The revenues generated by Virginia’s sale of these allowances flow back to the state to fund energy efficiency programs for low-income households and projects to make communities more resilient to floods.
Steady participation in RGGI is how Virginians really benefit.
We hope the governor’s latest action will be followed by the General Assembly passing SB802 and HB397 out of both chambers, which clarify that under existing law, Virginia’s participation in RGGI is —and always has been — mandatory.
This helps to ensure that we can’t be illegally removed from the program again.
Thank you for being a part of the journey. We couldn’t make this progress without your support.
–selc.org
