Why give up the $450 million that has been used for much needed programs? Including funding things like living shorelines and expanding wetlands. These projects slow erosion and reduce the flow of sediment and nutrients to the Chesapeake Bay.

As long as we are a member of RGGI, we can continue to encourage data centers to be here rather than Ohio, Indiana or someplace else without a cap on carbon dioxide emissions. It's a selling point for Virginia since those data centers point to Virginias climate laws as progress in meeting their own sustainability commitments.

And look at the progress that has been made. The 11 states participating in RGGI have seen their fossil fuel emissions drop 90 percent faster than anywhere else in the country. From 2009 to 2014, participating states reduced their power sector emissions by 40 percent.

This isn't about politics. This is about what's best environmentally for our Commonwealth and the people who live and vacation here.

Virginia needs to stay the course and remain in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).