Virginia’s Air Pollution Control Board is set to vote today on whether to remove the state from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative – or RGGI.
The Commonwealth entered the multistate carbon cap-and-trade program back in 2020.
The board heard from the Secretary of Natural Resources Tuesday, who contends this state's membership in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative is a bad deal for consumers. So far, this state has received more than half a billion dollars from RGGI — money that came from the sale of emission allowances to utilities and other companies that pollute. The funding is then used to help low-income families reduce their energy use and to assist communities in preventing floods.
Travis Voyles argued we could do those things without being part of RGGI, but one member of the board said she was reluctant to count on the state legislature to come up with cash for conservation and flood prevention.
Supporters of participation in RGGI are expected to speak at a hearing in Richmond this afternoon.
