Governor Youngkin’s recent decision to begin the process of withdrawing Virginia from the eleven-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is a shortsighted and ill-conceived move that will set back important climate progress that the state has achieved since joining the market-based cap-and-invest initiative in 2020.

Since its conception, RGGI CO2 emissions have been reduced by more than 50%, and it has raised more than $4 billion to invest in local communities. In Virginia alone, in its first year of operation, RGGI raised $228 million, proceeds that are being used to create energy-efficient affordable housing, help for low-income families to reduce energy bills, and enhance community flood protection.

Governor Youngkin’s justification for this disastrous decision is that RGGI “risks contributing to the increased cost of electricity for our citizens,” citing that typical residential customer bills have increased by $2.39 a month, describing this increase as a “financial burden.”

Imagine the financial burden facing residents of Southwest Florida today after Hurricane Ian laid waste to entire communities that were unprepared for the disastrous effects of a storm that, like other climate-driven events, became increasingly destructive as a result of climate change. Powerful fires in the American West and unprecedented heat waves in the Plains are additional evidence of a future of climate havoc unless we reduce CO2 emissions significantly and rapidly.

Virginia’s historic decision to join RGGI was the right one for its citizens and for the environment. Governor Youngkin is threatening to undo the important climate progress the state has made so far.