Please keep VA in RGGI! As the first state in the country to adopt an Electric School Bus grant fund and program, we should be using RGGI funds to at least partly fund the school bus grants. Instead, the school bus grant fund lies empty and unused and other states are passing us by, enacting laws based on ours and making progress in the transition to electric buses. RGGI funds can and should be used to fuel these kinds of programs. Staying in RGGI could be a double win for reduced emissions AND funding next-level health and climate initiatives.

When the climate is clearly in crisis and our kids’ future is in peril how can we possibly consider going backwards on a program that already has demonstrated decreased emissions and cleaner air? 

RGGI is already working well for Virginia. Since joining RGGI, Virginia’s power plant emissions have consistently decreased—by 12.5% between 2020 and 2021 and by nearly 8% between 2021 and 2022. These recent reductions follow a decade without RGGI, where Virginia’s emissions were “fairly constant” with “no discernible trend”.

RGGI improves public health. Decreased air pollution means fewer asthma attacks, premature births, and missed days of school and work. In just six years, participating states realized $5.7 billion in public health benefits thanks to RGGI.

The VCEA mandates that Virginia participate in RGGI. The administration can’t just brush aside the laws it disagrees with.