Column: Return Virginia to RGGI, a program that works
This week, Virginia’s State Air Pollution Control Board was in court asking the Virginia Court of Appeals to revive its ill-conceived plan to leave a pivotal climate change program, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). A trial judge had earlier found the board’s withdrawal to be “unlawful.”
With all due respect, the board should get out of the courtroom and back to a program that helps Virginians prepare for the extreme weather events we have witnessed in recent years.
RGGI works by capping carbon pollution from power plants and then establishing a market to trade allowances under the cap. If power companies see ways to reduce pollution quickly, they make those cuts and earn credits to be sold. If they believe it is too cumbersome to slash emissions today, utilities purchase allowances instead. The market-based nature of RGGI reflects its bipartisan origins. It was launched in 2005 with an agreement signed by three Republican governors and four Democrats. Eleven states now participate.
Virginia was RGGI’s 12th state from 2020 to 2024. During that time, 95% of revenue generated from the sale of Virginia’s RGGI credits flowed back to neighborhoods to help them adapt to climate change. This was because the General Assembly passed a series of laws in 2020 that, in the words of a Dominion Power spokesperson, set “a clear path forward for Virginia’s energy future.”
That path included two funds to receive RGGI proceeds: The first bolstered efforts to make qualifying low-income homes more energy efficient, while the second supported bread-and-butter infrastructure projects such as elevating highways at risk of flooding. Together, these plans made RGGI a pragmatic solution for Virginia communities.
Consider the efficiency investments. RGGI funds provided more than $100 million annually for weatherization programs in Virginia to repair leaking roofs and replace non-functioning HVAC units. By supporting these investments, RGGI helped families cool their homes more efficiently and lower electricity bills. It was all part of preparing for more 100-plus degree heat waves such as the one we endured in June.
RGGI funds also helped Virginians respond to another feature of climate change — flash flooding linked to more intense thunderstorms. Nearly half of RGGI proceeds went to a Virginia Community Flood Preparedness Fund, which directed resources to shovel-ready projects such as $3 million for floodplain restoration in Virginia Beach.
It was not only coastal communities who benefited. Leaders in Dickenson County, on the Kentucky-Virginia border, documented catastrophic flooding in Appalachian towns such as Haysi. They sought support for flood-proofing and restoration in 2022 and received a RGGI-funded grant of more than $2.2 million.
From Chesapeake to Big Stone Gap, RGGI funds delivered. Altogether, the sale of carbon credits generated $827 million for Virginia-based projects in red and blue districts across the commonwealth.
RGGI has been a pragmatic response to a question often raised by skeptics of climate action: How can states make meaningful progress on a problem of truly global dimension? Virginia’s RGGI-funded projects have been focused on adapting to the climate-driven challenges that localities are facing now. These projects should be receiving unanimous, bipartisan support.
The 11 states in RGGI are also winning the race to deploy zero-carbon technologies (wind, solar, nuclear) and have seen a 50% drop in carbon pollution from their electricity sectors. Virginia should be right there with them.
Dominion is building America’s largest offshore wind facility and is well-positioned to create credits to be sold into the RGGI market. Gov. Glenn Youngkin has praised small modular nuclear reactors as an emerging technology and should recognize that RGGI only strengthens the financial viability of any nuclear power plant.
The pace of the current litigation, unfortunately, means this issue could languish unresolved until a new governor is sworn in next January — unless, of course, the State Air Pollution Control Board decides to drop its appeal.
Cale Jaffe of Charlottesville served on Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s Climate Change and Resiliency Update Commission (2014) and was appointed by Gov. Ralph Northam to the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission (2020-23).