Floyd County Circuit Court Judge Randall Lowe determined Wednesday Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin acted unlawfully by withdrawing Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a program aimed to reduce climate changing emissions that has funneled hundreds of millions to the state to deal with the impacts of extreme weather events.

A Virginia court ruled Wednesday that Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s (R) administration cannot withdraw from an interstate carbon emission-capping compact without approval from the state Legislature. Shortly after taking office in 2022,

A Circuit Court judge in the 27th District has ruled that Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s decision to withdraw from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative was “unlawful.”

The 27th Judicial Circuit of VA affirmed that deciding to withdraw Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative can only be decided by the General Assembly.

Environmentalists and trade groups breathed a sigh of relief, while the governor promised to appeal the ruling.

The Circuit Court of Floyd County ruled that the Youngkin administration acted unlawfully in its decision to withdraw Virginia from RGGI.

FLOYD, Va. (CN) — A state court judge on Wednesday found Virginia's Republican governor unlawfully exited a multistate carbon cap-and-invest program without approval from the Democrat-controlled legislature.

A Virginia court ruled that Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) cannot withdraw from a greenhouse gas agreement without the approval of the state legislature. Youngkin announced his plan to withdraw from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in 2022 because it passed increased utility costs onto ratepayers.

A spokesman for Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) said the governor plans to appeal the ruling, which environmental advocates celebrated.

The decision is a blow to Virginia’s Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who initiated efforts to withdraw from the carbon trading program.