Virginian's participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is required under law. It is wrong for the Youngkin administration to attempt to pull the Commonwealth out of RGGI via administrative means. It attempts to subvert the decision made and defended by lawmakers that Virginians duly elected to the General Assembly.

Staying in RGGI is also common sense. Our coasts and river and stream valleys are flooding more and more due to the changing climate, more extreme precipitation, and rising seas. These are predicted outcomes of burning fossil fuels and increasing greenhouse gas emissions. We must stop burning fossil fuels as soon as possible. RGGI is a proven, successful program that has resulted in significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.

In addition, the funds raised through the RGGI market are being invested in flood mitigation for communities around the Commonwealth and reducing the energy burden of low-income Virginians. These are excellent outcomes, driven by the law passed by the General Assembly.

We are also submitting for the public record an opinion piece penned by two of our faith leaders, published in The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/12/virginia-faith-leaders-youngkin-rggi/

Your board is charged with controlling air pollution. Please stop your efforts to pull us out of a successful, bipartisan program that controls air pollution. We respectfully ask that you do the job that you were actually appointed to do -- control air pollution -- and put a halt to any action to pull Virginia out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

Andrea McGimsey

Executive Director, Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions