Turnover in Virginia legislature could impact environmental policy, lawmakers say

There will be many new faces at the General Assembly this year — and two legislators in Hampton Roads say its incumbent on senior members to ensure the newcomers value the environment.

“It’s our responsibility to educate our (incoming) colleagues about how important these issues are and how important environmental justice is,” Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, said during a joint town hall Monday with Sen. Monty Mason.

The Virginia League of Conservation Voters hosted the event, which was held at the Virgil I. Grissom Library in Newport News.

The General Assembly is in a period of unusual upheaval, with more than two dozen legislators announcing this year that they would not seek reelection. A recent report from the league — a nonprofit, nonpartisan environmental organization — said several of the outgoing lawmakers were “legislative champions” for conservation.

Among those identified: Dels. Eileen Filler-Corn, Jim Edmunds and Ken Plum, as well as Sens. Emmett Hanger, Jill Holtzman Vogel, Janet Howell, Lynwood Lewis and Dick Saslaw.

“With a heavy influx of new office-holders there will be experience and education gaps on complex issues like environmental policy,” the document states. “This will result in an incredibly steep learning curve between Election Day and the outset of the 2024 legislative session.”

Mason, D-Williamsburg, said Monday that it will be crucial for new legislators to understand that a consistent financial commitment is needed to help the state achieve long-term environmental goals.

“One of the most important points of educating new members is showing them these large amounts of money that have to be allocated over extended periods of time, whether it’s (for) a local water quality fund or a water improvement project or the Chesapeake Bay goals,” he said.

The Chesapeake Bay received a D-plus rating in the latest State of the Bay report because of an ongoing struggle to reduce farm pollution and a decline in the number of species in the bay.

Locke and Mason also shared dismay over a state board’s recent decision to pull Virginia out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

“The legislature actually passed legislation putting us into RGGI so we don’t think that pulling us out of it administratively is legal,” Locke said.

RGGI is a cooperative effort among 12 states to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. It’s intended to reduce the use of fossil fuels as an energy source and to encourage a shift to renewable energy production by requiring energy producers to buy allowances for each metric ton of carbon they produce. Producers can only buy a limited number, which decreases over time.

Editorial: Virginians oppose RGGI withdrawal but that may not be enough

The General Assembly passed the resolution to join RGGI in 2020. But, at the behest of Gov. Glenn Youngkin, the State Air Pollution Control Board voted last month to withdraw.

“Overwhelmingly the citizens spoke up and said ‘this is a bad idea (to leave), make this work,'” said Mason, explaining the majority of submissions during a public comment period supported RGGI. “Then the board just immediately moves toward doing it anyway.”

Youngkin, meanwhile, has applauded the board’s decision and called RGGI a “failed” program that forces power companies to buy allowances that will raise the cost of energy for consumers.

Hampton Roads is extremely vulnerable to climate change.

The region is ground zero on the East Coast for flooding and sea level rise. Many areas, like Olde Towne in Portsmouth or the Hague in Norfolk, already routinely battle rising waters, and the problem is only expected to get worse as climate change progresses. Cities in the region are in the meantime investing millions of dollars on resiliency efforts to address sea level rise and to handle storm surge and hurricane flooding.

Katie King, katie.king@virginiamedia.com