2025 Gubernatorial Scorecard

Executive Summary:

In his final year in office, Governor Glenn Youngkin did little to improve his environmental legacy. While he deserves some credit for advancing a new, though imperfect, Bay agreement and for investing in conservation and public lands, this Administration continued to stand in the way of clean, affordable energy, working against the legislature on a number of ways to cut energy bills, and was nowhere to be seen when the Trump Administration took a wrecking ball to clean energy investments that were pumping billions of dollars into our economy and creating thousands of jobs. He continued a theme of stacking boards and his cabinet with polluter friendly appointments and failed to use the weight of his executive authority to secure a cleaner, healthier environment.

Download the Full 2025 Gubernatorial Scorecard

Environmental Agenda:

Justification: Governor Youngkin’s environmental agenda, if it can be called that, was hardly visionary or ambitious for an outgoing Governor. He does deserve credit for calling for reforms at our regional grid operator, securing decent investment in public lands and conservation, and executing a new Bay cleanup agreement. Aside from those achievements, he largely stood in the way of affordable, clean energy by steering state money toward other costly energy projects, introduced an outgoing state budget that misses the mark, and failed to stand up to attacks on clean energy deployment from the federal level. Accordingly, we give Youngkin a D+ for his environmental agenda.

2025 State of the Commonwealth
The annual State of the Commonwealth offers a Governor their best platform to express their legislative agenda for the coming year. Youngkin used this pulpit ahead of the 2025 General Assembly to rail against the Virginia Clean Economy Act, calling it a quagmire and advocating for keeping dirty coal and gas plants online well into the future, while building more of the fossil fuel infrastructure already raising energy costs. Youngkin also took this moment to criticize efforts to advance clean energy siting reform, and data center reform efforts.

Virginia Outdoors Plan
In early January, the Administration announced it had published a new Virginia Outdoors Plan for how to meet parks and conservation needs through 2030. Published in an online platform for the first time, the plan prioritizes investments in underserved communities and regions, as well as ecological resiliency, and keeps Virginia eligible to continue receiving funding through the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

Flooding Resiliency
In July, Youngkin announced more than $67 million of grants and loans from the Community Flood Preparedness Fund for projects across Virginia to help mitigate flooding. These include planning and studies, direct mitigation projects, and capacity building for local governments. Funds for the CFPF were generated by Virginia’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), which Youngkin illegally pulled the Commonwealth out of through a regulatory process that sidestepped Virginia law. Youngkin has consistently opposed this program, but conveniently uses the revenue it’s generated when it suits him. Virginians deserve a government that will put helping their communities ahead of playing politics.

Recommendation: The Spanberger Administration should rejoin RGGI as a way to continue funding flood resiliency efforts that protect communities across the Commonwealth.

Courting Data Centers
Already the data center capital of the world, Virginia continues to attract more and more of these energy-hungry facilities to the Commonwealth, straining our grid and threatening our natural resources. The Administration announced that Google would be building a new campus in Chesterfield County and expanding existing facilities in Northern Virginia, while also touting data center deals in Stafford and Caroline Counties. There are currently more than 600 data centers in Virginia that currently consume 25% of our state’s electricity, with many more in the works. If all data centers built or under construction as of September 2025 come online, they will require as much energy per year to operate as the energy demands of some entire states.

Recommendation: Without laws, regulations, and solid statewide planning, continued data center buildout threatens to raise energy costs for Virginians, undermine our clean energy trajectory, and put communities at risk. The Spanberger Administration should work to find some semblance of balance and accountability for the data center industry versus previous policies that have incentivized development with no guardrails.

2040 Chesapeake Bay Agreement
In December, Youngkin joined other Chesapeake Bay states in signing a new Bay agreement that continues pollution reduction efforts in the nation’s largest estuary through 2040. The Total Maximum Daily Load, or TMDL, for the Bay cleanup was established in 2010 and remains unchanged in the new agreement, which has 21 different outcomes to guide cleanup efforts over the next 15 years as well as four broad goals: thriving habitat, fisheries and wildlife; engaged communities; healthy landscapes; and clean water. Virginia had met its 2010 obligations to reduce sediment but still trailed in reducing phosphorus and nitrogen pollution where it was 64% and 49% to goal, respectively. Youngkin touted data showing a recent uptick in nitrogen reduction claiming that more than 2 million pounds of pollution was kept out of the Bay in 2024, up from 375,000 pounds in 2022, due to on-the-ground programs encouraging best management practices on farms.

Advancing Fusion and Nuclear
In late 2024, after publication of our last Gubernatorial Scorecard, Youngkin announced a first-of-its-kind energy project would be locating in Chesterfield County. Dubbed Commonwealth Fusion Systems, the company plans to build a 400-megawatt, grid-scale commercial fusion plant at the James River Industrial Complex. The company already has a power purchase agreement with Google to help feed their energy-hungry data centers.
Fusion energy is generated by a process where two atomic nuclei combine to form a new, heavier nucleus, releasing a massive amount of energy along the way. This differs from fission, where nuclei are split into smaller pieces – the process typically associated with nuclear power. A $1 million grant from the Virginia Clean Energy Innovation Bank went toward this project. The Administration has used the same pot of money to fund nuclear simulators at college campuses, dedicating most of the fund’s resources to clean energy resources that aren’t renewables.

Conservation & Parks Funding
The Administration made a number of funding announcements this year for land conservation and historic preservation projects.
In November, Youngkin announced $15.5 million in Virginia Land Conservation Foundation (VLCF) funding to conserve 8,606 acres around the Commonwealth. The 28 projects included acquisitions to expand state natural area preserves, open spaces and parks, as well as conservation easements to protect farms, forests, battlefields and other culturally significant lands.
In October, the Administration awarded more than $6.1 million through the Virginia Battlefield Preservation Fund (VBPF) to protect 423 acres of battlefield lands throughout Virginia associated with the American Civil War across 10 projects, which will be publicly accessible and include interpretive signage, trails and other amenities.
In September, Youngkin announced the permanent protection of 14.5 acres on Mayo’s Island, clearing the way for the City of Richmond to turn the James River island into its next publicly accessible park. Support from the state included a $1.5 million grant from the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation as well as a $7.5 million Community Flood Preparedness Fund grant.
And in December, Youngkin announced the largest open space public access easement in Virginia history. The Cumberland Outdoor Access Legacy (COAL) easement will include approximately 65,000 acres across the four Southwest Virginia counties of Buchanan, Dickenson, Russell, and Wise, to provide recreational opportunities to Virginia’s outdoor and wildlife enthusiasts. Full public access is expected by July 2026.

Standing up for CVOW…or not?
Following months of speculation after the Trump Administration’s unwarranted and illegal cancellations of wind farms under construction on the East Coast, many worried that Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, which is nearing completion off our coast, would also be in the crosshairs.
Right before Christmas, the Administration confirmed these fears, as it moved to stop work on CVOW along with four other in-the-works projects off the East Coast. They had previously cancelled a $40 million grant to fund onshore port improvements in Hampton Roads that benefit the wind industry.
In neither case did Youngkin respond publicly or register his opposition to the Trump Administration’s actions, despite being on the record in support of CVOW. The only indicator that Youngkin has stood up for CVOW at all comes from a New York Times report in September which claims Youngkin reached out directly to the Trump White House as well as Doug Burgum, Secretary of the Interior, on CVOW’s behalf. The article cited anonymous sources and Youngkin declined to comment.
Dominion Energy, CVOW’s developer, has filed suit in response to the Administration’s actions. Assuming a successful legal challenge, CVOW should be up and running in 2026, delivering enough clean energy from its 176 turbines to power 660,000 homes.

Recommendation: The Spanberger Administration should stand up for Virginia’s offshore wind industry, and consider increasing our state’s offshore wind procurement threshold to expand deployment and leasing off our coast when there is a friendlier federal Administration in charge of permitting and lease sales.

PJM Accountability
Youngkin joined governors from other states participating in PJM Interconnection, our regional grid operator, to push for major reforms in the face of rising energy demand, increasing costs, and delays in getting energy, especially clean energy, on the grid fast enough.
Signatories of the bipartisan letter included Youngkin’s Republican counterpart from Tennessee, Bill Lee, as well as Democrats Wes Moore (Maryland), Josh Shapiro (Pennsylvania), Phil Murphy (New Jersey), Andy Beshear (Kentucky), Matt Meyer (Delaware), Gretchen Whitmer (Michigan) and JB Pritzker (Illinois).
Their demands included calling for new leadership and improved governance, including more state say on PJMs board, improving interconnection processes to get renewable energy on the grid faster, better forecasting, and fairer auction prices.

Recommendation: The Spanberger Administration should continue to work with other participating states to push PJM for greater transparency and accountability while getting clean energy on the grid faster to lower bills and meet rising demand.

Outgoing Budget
Released on Dec. 17, Youngkin’s outgoing budget as governor fell far short of what environmental advocates had hoped for. The budget is one of our best tools, next to actual legislation and policy, to secure good outcomes for clean air and water, and protected lands, and this budget doesn’t meet the mark.
It fails to meet our state’s needs to cut pollution from wastewater, as well as urban and agricultural runoff – areas that we must address to secure a clean and healthy Bay.
The budget also eliminates funding to address the City of Richmond’s antiquated Combined Sewer Overflow system, which sends untreated wastewater into the James River during periods of heavy rainfall.
While using his budget address to urge lawmakers and the incoming Administration not to rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, Youngkin’s budget doesn’t make up any funding for the programs RGGI’s proceeds historically went toward: energy efficiency, and flood mitigation.
The budget also extends the tax exemption for data centers to 2050, giving Big Tech a blank check. The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission found that in 2024 $1 billion of a total of $1.3 billion in tax breaks went to data centers, and that this industry has received more than half of the state’s total tax breaks over the past 10 years.

Recommendation: The incoming Administration should consider this budget a non-starter and work with the General Assembly to start from “Square One” and craft a budget that protects our environment and prioritizes everyday Virginians over big corporations.

 

Executive Orders

Justification: We grade Youngkin on two executive orders, one attacking early voting and another that advances a new Bay agreement, which pushes the ball forward but largely leaves the real work for the next Administration. Accordingly, we give Youngkin a C- for his executive orders.

Election ‘Security’
Just a week prior to the beginning of early voting in this year’s pivotal statewide and House of Delegates’ elections, Youngkin issued Executive Order 54, which attempts to reinstate his controversial voter-purge program from 2024, and mandates collaboration with the federal government, specifically the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and participation in the federal SAVE database, which has faced scrutiny for bad data collection. In reality, this order, made in the name of “election security,” imposed last-minute burdens on elections officials, caused confusion around early voting, which is becoming more and more popular, and opened the door to voter intimidation at a time when ICE is terrorizing communities.

Bay Cleanup
In December 2024 (after publication of our last Gubernatorial Scorecard) Youngkin issued Executive Order 10 focusing on the future of the Chesapeake Bay cleanup following 2025, a milestone year for the Total Maximum Daily Load implemented in 2010. Specifically, the order directs the Natural Resources Secretary and their agencies to take a leadership role in crafting a new agreement, reevaluate and reassess Bay cleanup investments, develop streamlined guidance around existing conservation and water quality resources, and launch strategic initiatives focused on science-based protections for wetlands and shellfish populations. This order helped lay the foundation for the Bay agreement just signed in Baltimore.

Recommendation: The incoming Administration should use its executive authority to get Virginia back on track securing a healthy environment and a democracy that works for all Virginians. This means Executive Orders rolling back Governor Youngkin’s attacks on affordable, clean energy, and voting rights, and forward-looking measures that use a whole-of-government approach to lower electric bills, get more clean energy on the grid, cut pollution, safeguard clean water, and bolster our democracy.

 

Appointments

Justification: This year saw a mixed, but mostly subpar, bag of appointments driven by a shaking up of several Secretariat posts, the first-ever Chief Resilience Officer, and a polluter super-majority on the Air Pollution Control Board. Accordingly we give Youngkin a D- for his appointments.

Juan Pablo Segura, Secretary of Commerce & Trade: Segura ran as a Republican for the State Senate in District 31 in 2023, losing to Russet Perry. He joined the Administration first as a Chief Deputy Secretary and was promoted in March after Carren Merrick resigned rather than accept a reassignment to Secretary of Natural Resources. This Secretariat oversees several key agencies, including the Department of Energy. The son of a billionaire and a large Republican donor, Segura is widely expected to again seek elected office in the future.

Stefanie Taillon, Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources: A former lobbyist and PAC director for Virginia Farm Bureau, Taillon took over as Secretary after serving as Deputy Secretary under Travis Voyles, who resigned to join the Environmental Protection Agency following Trump’s election.

Greg Steele, Chief Resilience Officer: Virginia’s environmental community advocated for legislation (passed in 2024) to establish and support the Office of Commonwealth Resilience with a standalone Chief Resilience Officer. Greg Steele was named to this post in May, and his appointment was lauded by many of our partners. Steele comes from an engineering background and spent more than two decades with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Norfolk Office, making him a well-qualified pick for this post.

State Air Pollution Control Board: Youngkin made four appointments in 2025 to the Air Pollution Control Board, which oversees regulations and permitting pertaining to large sources of emissions. Of these, only one has a background working in the environmental space, Crystal Bazyk, a retired environmental manager with Virginia DEQ. The other three appointments include Ronald Jefferson, a lobbyist for Appalachian Power Company, Jo Anne Scott Webb, President and General Manager of Scott Pallets Inc. and a Republican donor, and David Hudgins, whose term had expired and whose prior appointment we had criticized due to his clear ties to fossil fuels as a former lobbyist for Old Dominion Electric Cooperative and executive director of the Virginia Energy Consumer Trust, a pro-fossil fuels front group.

Recommendation: The Spanberger Administration should work to nominate qualified individuals to environmental posts in her Administration with backgrounds working to protect the environment instead of profiting from its exploitation or destruction. This means a pro-environmental Secretariat, including their staff, pro-environmental majorities on regulatory boards, and pro-environmental agency heads at key agencies like the Department of Environmental Quality, Department of Energy, and Department of Wildlife Resources, and Department of Conservation and Recreation.

 

Legislative Actions

Justification: Youngkin continued to use his veto pen to block an affordable clean energy future and a clean environment in 2025, killing, amending, or watering down a number of commonsense bills to lower energy costs, accelerate our clean energy transition, and protect our natural resources. Accordingly, we give Youngkin an F for his legislative actions.

Virginia LCV took positions on 100 bills this year. Fifty-one bills that we supported made it out of the General Assembly to Youngkin’s desk for him to sign, veto or amend.

Vetoes

Youngkin vetoed 23 bills that we supported:

• House Bill 1601 from Del. Josh Thomas and Senate Bill 1449 from Sen. Adam Ebbin: Requires data centers or other high energy use facilities (HEUFs) to assess their facility’s impact on nearby communities and natural resources prior to a zoning approval.
• House Bill 1616 from Del. Michael Feggans: Addresses the need for skilled workers in the offshore wind industry by providing localizing training, certification and professional development.
• House Bill 1721 from Del. Vivian Watts: Deters siting of transmission lines through land held under conservation easements or under Virginia or National historic registries by establishing compensation for the state and local jurisdictions for tax credits as part of the incentives for these easements and registries.
• House Bill 1791 from Del. Rip Sullivan: Creates the Rural Charging Infrastructure Program and Fund, providing developers with grants covering up to 70% of the costs associated with the installation of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in rural and low-income localities, as well as at state parks and near federal lands.
• House Bill 1827 from Del. Shelly Simonds and Senate Bill 1254 from Sen. Lamont Bagby: Focuses on the comprehensive planning process at the local level as a way to improve community health by identifying sources of pollution and disproportionate impacts.

• House Bill 1883 from Del. Katrina Callsen and Senate Bill 1040 from Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg: Opens the door to more distributed solar projects on rooftops and previously disturbed sites, increases clean energy competition, and makes it easier to source clean energy through Power Purchase Agreements.
• House Bill 1935 from Del. Destiny Levere Bolling and Senate Bill 777 from Sen. Mamie Locke: Establishes a Low-Income Energy Efficiency and Weatherization Task Force to evaluate ways to more effectively deliver energy-efficient housing, weatherization resources, and energy efficiency upgrades for low-income individuals and households.
• House Bill 2037 from Del. David Bulova: Allows localities to require developers to install solar array canopies on large, non-residential parking lots.
• House Bill 2090 from Del. Irene Shin: Expands eligibility for participation in the multi-family shared solar program by allowing customers to source solar from facilities that aren’t necessarily on-site or adjacent to where they live.
• House Bill 2356 from Del. Candi Mundon King and Senate Bill 853 from Sen. Aaron Rouse: Establishes a prevailing wage for clean energy workers and expands apprenticeships to create a long-term talent pipeline.
• House Bill 2413 from Del. Candi Mundon King and Senate Bill 1021 from Sen. Scott Surovell: Reforms the Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) process at the State Corporation Commission to make it easier for stakeholders and intervenors to participate in the IRP process, and requires plans to comply with our clean energy laws.
• House Bill 2537 from Del. Rip Sullivan and Senate Bill 1394 from Sen. Lamont Bagby: Increases energy storage goals to 10,000 megawatts, and directs regulators and state agencies to work toward storage development solutions regionally and in Virginia.
• House Bill 2638 from Del. Patrick Hope: Allows localities to require developers to abide by more stringent tree canopy requirements in the development process, helping in turn to reduce flooding, manage stormwater, and reduce the health impacts of urban heat islands and air pollution.
• House Bill 2782 from Del. Shelly Simonds: Amends regulations for large blue catfish harvests in certain waters, with the goal of reining in the impact of this invasive species on native fisheries.
• Senate Bill 1313 from Sen. Jeremy McPike: Authorizes any locality in the Commonwealth to adopt an affordable housing dwelling unit program by amending their zoning ordinance to promote construction of moderately priced housing by providing optional increases in density and other measures to boost housing supply.
• Senate Bill 1319 from Sen. Jeremy McPike: Mandates industrial facilities discharging into publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) to monitor their discharges for Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and report the results quarterly.

Amendments

Following the regular session, Youngkin handed down a number of amendments to bills we supported. Two of Youngkin’s legislative amendments were acceptable and moved forward:

• House Bill 2096 from Del. Patrick Hope: Leaves the choice between enrollment in the Intelligent Speed Assistance Program or suspension of a driver’s license up to the courts’ discretion for drivers convicted of reckless driving at any speed. Previously, drivers convicted while driving over 100 miles per hour were required to be enrolled in the program.
• House Bill 2266 from Del. Kathy Tran and Senate Bill 1058 from Adam Ebbin: Makes certain costs of clean energy project interconnections tax deductible, which will help further drive private investment in solar projects.

We urged lawmakers to reject Youngkin’s amendments to six other bills, which were intended to undermine entirely or weaken the intent of the original legislation:

• HB 1601 from Del. Josh Thomas: Turns site assessment requirements for data centers into voluntary options, and adds a reenactment clause, requiring passage of the same bill in 2026 (the bill was ultimately vetoed).
• House Bill 1883 from Del. Katrina Callsen and Senate Bill 1040 from Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg: Pauses compliance with the Virginia Clean Economy Act until 2028 and eliminates the provisions of the original bills (the bills were ultimately vetoed).
• House Bill 1934 from Del. Destiny Levere Bolling and Senate Bill 1192 from Sen. Creigh Deeds: Undoes the bills’ original intent to make it easier to deploy solar on schools, eliminates code sections for shared solar programs, and guts the Virginia Clean Economy Act (the bills were ultimately signed in their original form).
• House Bill 2346 from Del. Phil Hernandez and Senate Bill 1100 from Sen. Ghazala Hashmi: Turns the proposal to implement Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) in Dominion Power territory into a study with little direction as a way to prevent further progress on cost-saving VPPs (the bills were ultimately signed in their original form).
• House Bill 2537 from Del. Rip Sullivan and Senate Bill 1394 from Sen. Lamont Bagby: Repeals the Virginia Clean Economy Act entirely (the bills were ultimately vetoed).
• Senate Bill 1316 from Sen. Jeremy McPike: Retroactively adds nuclear to the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (nuclear energy is not renewable energy), including existing pow er plants, completely undermining compliance with the Virginia Clean Economy Act and upending energy markets (the bill was ultimately signed in its original form, making geothermal a qualifying form of generation under the RPS).

Youngkin also sent down a number of budget amendments to the FY2026 budget adopted in 2024, following Democrats’ action during the regular session. Of 18 budget amendments handed down that impacted our priorities, we supported two provisions:

• Restored funding for ratepayer advocates with the Division of Consumer Counsel, Office of the Attorney General.
• Parameters for the Department of Conservation and Recreation to acquire Oak Hill in Loudoun County as a new state park.

We opposed these budget amendments, and urged lawmakers to reject them:

• Cutting $75,000 of operational support for the Commission on Electric Utility Regulation.
• Eliminating $880,000 to study cumulative impacts of surface water intakes on aquatic life and water quality in the Bay and major tributaries.
• Removing $500,00 of additional funding for environmental literacy programs.
• Language delaying the styrofoam container prohibition for large and small restaurants.
• Cutting $250,000 for algal bloom monitoring in the Shenandoah River.
• Removing $450,000 for wildlife crossing projects.
• Reducing from $1 million to $750,000 funding for the Historic African American Cemeteries and Graves Fund.
• Cutting $500,000 for the Black Indigenous and People of Color Preservation Fund.
• Removing $76,000 to identify and designate lynching sites as historical landmarks.
• Removing $20 million to address the deferred maintenance backlog at Virginia parks.
• A 15-year extension of the sunset date for the data center sales tax exemption.
• A number of amendments raiding funding provided by our participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, intended to fund flooding resiliency and energy conservation efforts.

Signed Bills

Youngkin signed into law 23 bills that we supported:

• House Bill 1821 from Del. David Reid: Allows accelerated renewable buyers to contract for zero-carbon energy resources and storage, expanded this from just wind and solar.
• House Bill 1822 from Del. David Reid: Expands what qualifies as an “advanced conductor” to help more energy capacity flow through existing infrastructure.
• House Bill 1934 from Del. Destiny Levere Bolling and Senate Bill 1192 from Sen. Creigh Deeds: Amends the Virginia Clean Economy Act to prioritize schools for solar deployment.
• House Bill 1941 from Del. Holly Siebold and Senate Bill 1166 from Sen. Kannan Srinivasan: Requires plant retailers to notify customers if a plant for sale is invasive.
• House Bill 1948 from Del. David Bulova: Establishes a special fund for federal dollars to clean up abandoned mines.
• House Bill 2000 from Del. Amy Laufer and Senate Bill 857 from Sen. Timmy French: Increases accessibility to landowners for dam safety improvement funds.
• House Bill 2034 from Del. Shelly Simonds: Creates a task force to develop strategies to protect, restore and create wetlands.
• House Bill 2077 from Del. Paul Krizek and Senate Bill 1335 from Sen. Dave Marsden: Specifies that Virginia Tribal Nations are eligible to receive Community Flood Preparedness Funds to address flooding issues.
• House Bill 2096 from Del. Patrick Hope: Establishes the Intelligent Speed Assistance Program for drivers with repeat speeding violations in excess of 100 miles per hour.
• House Bill 2266 from Del. Kathy Tran and Senate Bill 1058 from Sen. Adam Ebbin: Cuts costs for distributed solar interconnections.
• House Bill 2346 from Del. Phil Hernandez and Senate Bill 1100 from Sen. Ghazala Hashmi: Establishes voluntary Virtual Power Plant programs in Dominion Energy territory.
• House Bill 2516 from Del. Alfonso Lopez: Requires response plans for facilities housing hazardous substances.
• House Bill 2621 from Del. Jason Ballard and Senate Bill 1076 from Sen. Mark Peake: Provides ratepayer protections for Appalachian Power Company customers.
• House Bill 2630 from Del. Rodney Willett: Makes it easier for local governments to replace tree canopy and for developers to comply with canopy requirements.
• Senate Bill 1316 from Sen. Jeremy McPike: Adds geothermal to the list of energy resources that qualify under our state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard.
• Senate Bill 1317 from Sen. Jeremy McPike: Expands commuter bus service between high employment centers in Greater Washington and the communities of Front Royal and Warrenton with large commuter populations.

Recommendation: The Spanberger Administration should work with, instead of against, the Conservation Majority at the legislature to deliver on policies that secure a clean and affordable energy transition, protect clean air and water, secure a safe and accessible environment, and maintain open communication and coordination with the environmental community and other stakeholders when negotiating policy nuances or differences to ensure good environmental outcomes.

 

Governance

Justification: Youngkin’s partisan approach to governing deepened in 2025, an important Election Year in Virginia that coincided with the first year of President Trump’s second term, and with it, unprecedented attacks on our democracy, environmental protections, the federal workforce, the Constitution, and the rule of law, all of which has impacted the Commonwealth. Accordingly, we give Youngkin an F for governance.

Putting Politics Above Virginians

In a year that has seen absolute chaos, uncertainty, and lawlessness at the federal level, Governor Youngkin worked constantly to whitewash, shift blame, or completely ignore the actions of Trump that have undermined our constitution, hurt our economy, and negatively impacted Virginians of all walks of life instead of standing up for the state and the people he represents. Here are just a few examples of where Youngkin put politics – and his political future – ahead of what was right for Virginia.

Big, Beautiful Bill: Youngkin called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which passed out of Congress in July, a “Great win for America.” In fact it will result in higher energy costs, lost jobs, and a bruised economy in Virginia. Early estimates show that the OBBBA will cost Virginia families $8.7 billion more in energy costs over the coming decade due to the cancellation of renewable energy incentives and deepened reliance on fossil fuels, while killing 26,000 jobs and costing Virginia’s economy $5.1 billion in GDP.

Government Shutdown: In the face of the 43-day government shutdown this Fall, the longest in our nation’s history which furloughed 900,000 federal workers, including those working at environmental agencies, Youngkin decided to politicize the process, blaming Democrats for the crisis when Republicans control Congress and the White House. He went so far as to issue in October (weeks before the election) a partisan-titled State of Emergency “to Protect Hungry Virginians from Democrats Blocking Federal Funding for the Most Needy” in the face of expiring SNAP benefits, that Trump sought to use as leverage during the shutdown.

DOGE: Home to upwards of 300,000 federal workers, Virginia was on pace to lose an anticipated 32,000 jobs in 2025 due to federal layoffs. The misleading “Department of Government Efficiency” led by Trump megadonor and Tesla CEO Elon Musk took a wrecking ball approach to the federal workforce, which reverberated in Virginia like almost nowhere else in the nation due to our proximity to the nation’s capital and our large workforce. Instead of standing up for Virginia’s economy, Youngkin praised this effort, launching a frankly insulting “Virginia Has Jobs” initiative to connect fired federal workers with in most cases lower paying positions, when they shouldn’t have faced layoffs in the first case.

Recommendation: The Spanberger Administration, working with Attorney General Jay Jones, should work to hold the Trump Administration accountable for its recklessness, push back against arbitrary layoffs and policies that undermine our clean energy transition, and stand up for the rule or law and our Constitution.