RICHMOND, VA – Today, in a move that elected officials are calling “probably not legal,” a Virginia regulatory agency – at Governor Youngkin’s urging – voted to remove the Commonwealth of Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

Since joining the initiative, Virginia’s carbon dioxide emissions were cut by 17% and more than 130,000 low-income Virginians saw their electric bills reduced.

“The governor’s legally questionable decision to remove Virginia from RGGI is a perfect example of Youngkin’s head-in-the-sand leadership style,” said Liam Watson, Press Secretary for the Democratic Party of Virginia. “I’d like to invite the governor to step outside and breathe the air in Richmond today, which is choked by thick wildfire smoke, and tell us with a straight face that he thinks the planet’s climate is doing just fine.”

The decision to remove Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative came on the same day that air quality warnings were displayed across Virginia as Canadian wildfire smoke settled over the commonwealth.

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