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Democrats wanted to end 2022 on a high note, attacking two of Governor Youngkin’s major policy initiatives — removing Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, and his new model policies for the treatment of transgender students in Virginia’s schools. It did not go well for them.

We learned a great deal about how RGGI has been implemented in Virginia. Unsurprisingly, the program isn’t doing what it was promised to do. RGGI was sold to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a way that would use its proceeds to offset the costs to consumers.

Instead, the program has been diverted to funding things such as flood relief and energy efficiency programs.

On top of that, RGGI’s reduction of greenhouse gasses is ‘negligible,’ according to the Congressional Research Service.

Virginia’s emissions were already trending downward from 2009 as natural gas power plants replaced coal fired plants. Meanwhile, Democrats argued that even if all that is true, Virginia has no power to withdraw from RGGI.

But the law says the program is “authorized.” At no point does it command the Commonwealth to enter the program. If Democrats wanted the program to be mandatory, they could have easily included that language. But they didn’t.

Democrats also attacked the Governor’s new model policies for transgender students. The Virginia ACLU led most of the attack, saying that parents rights come second to making sure students have a ‘supportive’ environment.

Supporters had no answer for opponents when they asked some very simple questions, such as what happens if a young woman is uncomfortable changing clothes around a biological male?

Their response? Too bad.

Parents spoke for hours in support of the new model policies, noting often that they, not the state, oversaw their children.

 Democrats seem to have learned nothing from 2021. Rolling blackouts, freezing families. This is the future Virginia Democrats want for Virginia. When you have Republicans in the majority, you can be sure you will have electricity and can stay warm, all for an affordable price. The choice is yours. 

Del. Tommy Wright can be reached via email at DelTWright@House.Virginia.gov or (804) 698-1061.