Progress Virginia Celebrates Court Ruling on Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative

Floyd County, Virginia—Yesterday, a circuit court judge ruled that Governor Glenn Youngkin illegally removed Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI. RGGI forces polluters like Dominion Energy and others to pay for their pollution. Those payments are then invested into green energy programs and reducing overall energy consumption.

“We’re thrilled that Judge Lowe ruled to allow Virginia to rejoin RGGI,” LaTwyla Mathias, Executive Director of Progress Virginia, said. “This sends a clear message that no one, not even Governor Glenn Youngkin, is above the law. At a time when climate change-related disasters like Hurricane Helene are deeply impacting Virginia families, we must do everything we can to protect people in our community and ensure our environment is safe and healthy for many generations to come. Rejoining RGGI is an excellent first step, but we have a lot of work to do before the damage wrought by climate change is reversed.”

Judge Lowe ruled that the only body that can withdraw Virginia from RGGI is the General Assembly, and no bill has been passed to do that.

RGGI allowed Virginia to invest $372.5 million in flood prevention projects and $413.9 million in energy efficiency programs.