Under Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Virginia is cutting a path back in the direction of affordable and reliable energy supplies. It could yield economic and environmental benefits for state residents.
If Youngkin is successful in his efforts to free Virginians from policies that drive up the cost of utility bills, his approach would serve as a sharp contrast to the Biden administration’s incessant assault on domestic energy production.
For starters, Youngkin has signaled his determination to withdraw Virginia from a multistate climate change agreement known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. The RGGI is built around “cap and trade” regulations that limit carbon dioxide emissions. Participating states compel electric utilities to purchase carbon allowances at quarterly auctions whenever the utilities surpass the initiative’s cap on emissions. But it is the ratepayers who absorb the cost of the auctions in the form of carbon taxes. Youngkin explained how this works in his executive order calling for a reevaluation of Virginia’s participation in the climate change scheme.
The order also highlights a filing from Dominion Energy, the state’s largest utility, that found that the RGGI will cost ratepayers between $1 billion and $1.2 billion over the next four years. Having the RGGI in place at the state level while the Biden administration creates upward pressure on energy prices nationally would prove untenable for Virginians. Tom Pyle, president of the American Energy Alliance, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group that favors free market energy policies, said “greenflation” is taking root in response to President Joe Biden’s quixotic attempt to replace fossil fuels with unreliable, intermittent, and expensive renewable energy.
Youngkin’s executive order represents a fresh break. Even better, his order is not taking place in a vacuum. There is also pending legislation that would repeal the RGGI along with the so-called Virginia Clean Economy Act, which is overloaded with all kinds of renewable mandates.
Bonner Cohen, a senior fellow with the National Center for Public Policy Research, a free market think tank in Washington, D.C., views the RGGI as an environmental and economic disaster. He credits Youngkin for reversing course.
“These schemes are inherently regressive, with those least able to pay for the green Utopia seeing their disposable incomes vanish,” he said. “RGGI was the ticket to this house of horrors, and Gov. Youngkin had the sense to see this and the guts to get Virginia out of this madness.”
Kevin Mooney ( @KevinMooneyDC ) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is an investigative reporter in Washington, D.C., who writes for several national publications.
