Last night, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe vetoed legislation that would have barred his administration from preparing and submitting to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency a plan to reduce state greenhouse gas emissions from power plants without prior approval from the General Assembly.
In response to the Governor’s action, Michael Town, executive director of Virginia LCV, offers the following statement:
“When the U.S. Supreme Court ‘stayed’ the Clean Power Plan, Governor McAuliffe pledged to move forward. When the legislature tried to tie his hands with bad legislation, he shot it down. It’s clear that we have a Governor committed to taking action on cutting harmful, climate-disrupting carbon pollution and we couldn’t be more grateful. It’s time for our legislature to recognize the clear and imminent threat that we face if we don’t take climate change seriously.”
News Coverage: Va. governor vetoes bill to block Clean Power Plan – (Newport News) Daily Press
Background:
The Clean Power Plan is a standard established under Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act to flexibly allow states to develop their own state plans to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
The Virginia League of Conservation Voters opposed Senate Bill 21 and its House companion, House Bill 2, on the grounds that this legislation would result in untimely delays in cutting carbon pollution at a time when we need to be taking strong action on the climate change threatening daily life in the commonwealth.
SB 21 would have also set new precedent by diminishing authority that has historically and constitutionally rested with the Executive Branch and its agencies to develop proposals to comply with federal rules and standards. It also would have circumvented DEQ’s current stakeholder process already underway and that includes utility, industry, environmental and other representatives.
A strong state implementation plan gives Virginia the opportunity for economic growth in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors and to slow the effects of climate change that are already being felt in communities across the commonwealth.