Youngkin says Virginia will not adopt California electric vehicle standard

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) on Wednesday announced his intention to end the state’s participation in California’s vehicle emissions standards, potentially setting up a confrontation with the Democratic-majority state Legislature that voted to adopt them three years ago.

In a statement Wednesday, Youngkin said Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) gave his office the go-ahead to exit an agreement under which Virginia would echo California’s standards. The Golden State’s newest standards, set to take effect Jan. 1 of next year, require that new vehicle sales be at least 22 percent zero-emission models by the end of 2025, with the proportion increasing to 100 percent over the following 10 years.

In 2021, when Democrats held a trifecta in Virginia’s government, the state General Assembly voted to align its auto emissions standards with those of California, which are stricter than the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s. Miyares argued that that legislation says the state “may” align with California standards, allowing Youngkin discretion in implementing it.

“Once again, Virginia is declaring independence – this time from a misguided electric vehicle mandate imposed by unelected leaders nearly 3,000 miles away from the Commonwealth,” Youngkin said in a statement. “The idea that government should tell people what kind of car they can or can’t purchase is fundamentally wrong. Virginians deserve the freedom to choose which vehicles best fit the needs of their families and businesses. The law is clear, and I am proud to announce Virginians will no longer be forced to live under this out-of-touch policy.”

In a statement, Virginia Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D) called the decision “reckless, illegal and unconstitutional.”

“Working with a legislature that has a different political orientation can be challenging, but we fought a war in 1776 to ensure that an executive would never have the power to nullify laws by press conference,” he said. 

Youngkin previously directed the state’s Air Pollution Control Board to exit the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), an interstate carbon emissions-capping compact that it entered under his predecessor, Gov. Ralph Northam (D). Democrats in the General Assembly argued that the state’s exit could only be accomplished through the legislature, the means by which it entered. Lawmakers rejected multiple Youngkin-backed bills to exit the RGGI.

Michael Town, executive director of the Virginia League of Conservation Voters, invoked that earlier decision in a statement blasting Youngkin’s announcement.

“Taking away one of our best tools to protect Virginians from power plant pollution wasn’t enough. Now, Governor Youngkin wants Virginians to keep breathing tailpipe pollution too, despite laws on the books mandating the Commonwealth to tackle both of these major drivers of the climate crisis and detriments to public health,” Town said. “By continuing to stand in the way of climate progress, Youngkin is jeopardizing our health and our economy.”

— Updated at 1:31 p.m.