State lawmakers have an opportunity today to protect vulnerable communities from destructive and recurrent flooding by voting to return Virginia to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. The proceeds from this market-based cap-and-trade program represent a lifeline for Hampton Roads, among other parts of the commonwealth.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin has made it his mission to withdraw from this multistate program despite its success, but lawmakers need not be so short-sighted. RGGI membership is making a difference in Virginia and lawmakers can make certain it continues to do so by taking bold action during Wednesday’s veto session.
Even though the formal start of the Atlantic hurricane season is two months away, Hampton Roads residents are steeling themselves for a dangerous year of tropical weather. The ocean temperature has already reached levels typically seen in summer and the expectation of changing trade winds means the East Coast could get battered when the first systems start spinning our way.
Our region has every right to be concerned. Though it hasn’t taken a direct strike from a hurricane in decades, every storm that so much as stirs the trees is also likely to cause flooding here — a problem that grows worse with each passing year.
Hampton Roads not only faces the prospect of higher sea levels as the planet continues to warm, but the effect is made worse by subsidence, or sinking land. Regional planning organizations have warned for years that the region should expect to see 4.5 feet of sea-level rise by 2100 — and should be preparing communities for that eventuality.
Defending vulnerable homes, businesses and critical infrastructure isn’t cheap, however. And estimates suggest the whole of Hampton Roads will need about $40 billion to build the sea walls, pumping stations, storm gates, natural barriers and other protective measures to ensure the region’s future viability.
Some of that will come from Washington. Some will come from the cities themselves. But some must come from Richmond, which has a vested interest in making sure a key population center isn’t battling flooding on a daily basis — or that tropical weather doesn’t cause a catastrophe.
In 2020, the General Assembly approved the Clean Energy and Community Flood Preparedness Act, a measure that enrolled Virginia in RGGI. States in the compact auction carbon allowances to energy producers and split the proceeds, which incentivizes clean energy programs and emission reductions.
In Virginia, the proceeds — totaling about $828 million between 2021 and 2023 — were divided between a program that improves energy efficiency for low-income residents and the Community Flood Preparedness Fund, which helps pay for protective measures in flood-threatened localities.
On his first day in office, Youngkin issued an executive order to withdraw the commonwealth from RGGI using the administration’s regulatory authority. Since Virginia joined through an act of legislature, it remains in question whether the governor has this authority, and the action has been challenged in the courts.
But it was galling that Youngkin would take such action without a plan to pay for these ongoing needs by any other means. This wasn’t simply a matter of exiting a multistate compact that was working well for Virginia, but rather leaving vulnerable communities high and dry — or rather sinking and wet — at a time of obvious need.
Lawmakers on Wednesday have an opportunity to reverse this colossal mistake. The governor vetoed stand-alone legislation that would have restored Virginia’s RGGI membership and, in his budget amendments, stripped out the proceeds from membership included in the final budget agreement approved by the General Assembly.
They can stand up for communities that know full well what’s coming and need the resources to protect their residents. They can return Virginia to RGGI, a program that is lowering emissions and funneling millions to pressing climate needs.
Hampton Roads faces a grave threat and it cannot afford to wait for a lifeline. RGGI membership has been beneficial to our region and to the commonwealth, and will continue to be if lawmakers do what’s necessary on Wednesday.
