See below for video from yesterday’s press conference by Virginia House Democrats regarding Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s absurd, destructive and illegal decision to pull Virginia out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). A few quotes include:
Virginia House Democratic Leader Charniele Herring: “It was the only choice that we had, as we voted for the budget to ensure that we do not have a shutdown of our government, that we had to vote for a budget that excluded RGGI. But I am determined, as well as my colleagues, that we will re-enter RGGI. There is a court case proceeding right now on RGGI. But I feel personally that the governor’s actions were inappropriate and very shortsighted, just by the fact again that we’ve lost funds coming into…Virginia…low-income housing will not have the benefits of energy efficiency and we still have a coastal flooding problem”
Del. Rip Sullivan: “It was an enormous disappointment that RGGI was left out…the governor has this wrong. And I expect the court is going to agree with that. The law that we passed in 2020 was not a mere suggestion, it was a clear directive. When the governor was elected, I was committed to giving him the benefit of the doubt and trying to work with him on many issues facing Virginia, including issues relating to the environment and climate, which is an area that’s been a core issue of mine since I joined the General Assembly. And like on so many issues, we didn’t really know what to expect from the new governor. But my hopes were dashed on… day one when the governor announced his intention to withdraw Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. And now a full 2 1/2 years later, the picture has become even more clear. While we’ve had isolated moments of progress…this governor’s legacy when he leaves office will be one of resistance to improving our environment, being uninterested in protecting Virginia and Virginians.”
Del. Alfonso Lopez: “The amount of revenue from RGGI was
more than we actually anticipated when we first went in…around $200 million in the first year…$825 million since…Here’s the other thing just be aware of…the second most susceptible part of the country for flooding after New Orleans is the Virginia Beach/Hampton Roads area. And the idea that [Youngkin] would give up on one of the main sources of revenue for us to actually address recurrent flooding as well as energy efficiency standards for low-income homes, but for the significant amount of money that’s that’s used from this program specifically to address flooding when we in Virginia need it so but badly, as someone said is nonsensical.”
Sign up for the Blue Virginia weekly newsletter
