State-Level Clean Power Plan

In an executive directive signed by Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe last month, the state's Department of Environmental Quality was ordered to initiate work on instituting new regulations governing limits on carbon emissions from jurisdictional electric power plants. 

The move signals that Virginia may be tacking in a distinctly different direction from the federal government, which under the Trump administration has indicated that it likely will try to abandon the Clean Power Plan promulgated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Obama administration. Governor McAuliffe stated that his proclamation is designed to act as a stimulus for the "next generation of energy jobs." 

He drew attention to the fact that clean energy applications are among the fastest growing industries in Virginia, producing revenues of $1.5 billion in 2016, compared to just $300 million only two years earlier in 2014. According to the governor's pronouncement, solar-related employment alone has witnessed an increase of 65% in just the last year. 

The governor's order built on an advisory opinion issued by Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring just a few days prior which found that state law provides for the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, inclusive of the ability of the State Air Pollution Control Board to establish a statewide cap on such emissions. (Executive Directive 11)