Should Virginia join a regional effort to cut back on carbon emissions? Party affiliation likely shows where your lawmakers stands on this issue.
Ask lawmakers here at the Capitol whether Virginia should join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, and you’re likely to get a partisan response. Republicans do not want join the multi-state effort to cap carbon-dioxide emissions. Democrats do.
Here’s Republican Senator Frank Wagner of Virginia Beach. “I don’t see any reason why Virginia needs to join some regional effort when we’re already doing it ourselves.”
On the other side of the aisle — and the other side of the issue — is Senator John Edwards of Roanoke. “The General Assembly has no business getting into this unless they really are anti-science.”
The bill to prohibit the governor from joining the initiative without consent of the General Assembly has now passed both the House and Senate. That means it’s on the way to the governor’s desk, where it’s likely to be vetoed.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
