RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Virginia regulators have passed a rule requiring a 30 percent reduction in carbon emissions from power plants in the next decade.
The Virginia State Air Pollution Control Board approved the new rule Friday.
The Department of Environmental Resources says Virginia is the 12th state in the country to adopt such a regulation and the first in the South.
Environmentalists praised the new rule and urged Gov. Ralph Northam to veto language in the state budget that would effectively bar the state from joining a carbon cap-and-trade program.
Republican lawmakers have tried to block Virginia's membership in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative without the General Assembly's explicit approval.
Northam has said that joining RGGI is a top priority.
