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Glenn Youngkin on Energy & Oil

 

 


Continue to support an All-of-the-Above power plan

For too long, Virginia's policies and the Utilities planned for a stagnant Virginia. Well, we are not stagnant. We are growing. And we must execute a plan where power is reliable, affordable, and Made in Virginia. Meeting this growing power need means continuing to support an All-of-the-Above power plan. What it definitely doesn't mean is rejoining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. It's a bad deal. It doesn't work. It's a regressive tax that drives up the cost of living for all Virginians.
Source: 2026 State of the State Address to the Virginia legislature , Jan 14, 2026

The Virginia Clean Economy Act simply is not working

The Virginia Clean Economy Act, passed in 2020, simply is not working. To fix this, we need to nearly double our power generation in the next 10 years, and wind and solar aren't going to get it done. We must stop decommissioning our baseload generation, build more natural gas generation, lots of it, build small modular reactors and, yes, finish the projects currently underway. We must aggressively pursue innovative technologies...carbon capture, SMRs, fusion and hydrogen.
Source: 2025 State of the State Address to the Virginia legislature , Jan 13, 2025

Our "All of the Above" energy plan embraces everything

Key to economic growth is the fact that Virginia's power demand is growing at a rate five times that of our neighbors. The simple fact is that if we don't build capacity right now, Virginia will not grow. Innovation and base load power are key-- and our "All of the Above All American Energy" plan embraces everything--America's largest offshore wind development project...solar...hydrogen...nuclear...carbon capture....and natural gas.
Source: 2024 State of the State Address to the Virginia legislature , Jan 10, 2024

Let's set realistic carbon reduction goals every five years

Our new path forward will embrace the "and" and reject the "or" of energy politics. With our All-American, All-of-the-above approach, Virginians will get affordable AND reliable AND increasingly clean energy without being tied to unattainable long-term requirements. Let's set realistic carbon reduction goals every five years, as opposed to etching in stone 30 year plans based more on hope than reality.
Source: 2023 State of the State Address to the Virginia legislature , Jan 11, 2023

Energy plan is all of the above, not just renewables

I announced an energy plan which is all of the above. We've got to embrace all of it. It's not reducing an emphasis on renewables, wind and solar. It's correcting an error that was made in the previous administration's energy plan, which was to exclude everything else. We're going to have to adopt all of them in order to get where we want to be, which is reliable, affordable, and a clean power stack.
Source: CNN SOTU interviews on 2021 Virginia Gubernatorial race , Oct 9, 2022

Shift from fossil fuels will increase electric bills

Youngkin said that the 2020 Virginia Clean Economy Act is "unworkable" and that he wouldn't have signed it. The law set a 2050 deadline for the grid to go carbon-free, mandated that Appalachian Power and Dominion Energy propose large amounts of solar and wind facilities, and imposed binding energy efficiency and renewable portfolio standards on both utilities, among other provisions.

He said Virginia should "embrace all aspects of power generation--wind, solar, nuclear and our clean-burning natural gas" and warned that accelerating the transition to renewables would result in "blackouts and brownouts and an unreliable energy grid." He criticized the cost of shifting away from fossil fuels, saying it will increase customers' electric bills by up to $1,000 annually. (State regulators agree that it will raise rates but estimated a slightly lower rise of $800 a year.)

Source: Virginia Mercury on 2021 Virginia Gubernatorial debate , Nov 1, 2021

Climate change challenging, but doesn't know what causes it

Youngkin meanwhile has walked a careful line on the subject, despite a broad scientific consensus that carbon emissions are a primary driver of climate change. Youngkin said that while he knew climate change is a challenge, he didn't know what's causing it. Asked if "humans play any role at all in the warming of the earth," he skirted the question and called it "one of these topics that, candidly, people are trying to use to divide people."
Source: Virginia Mercury on 2021 Virginia Gubernatorial debate , Nov 1, 2021

Other governors on Energy & Oil: Glenn Youngkin on other issues:
VA Gubernatorial:
Abigail Spanberger
Amanda Chase
Jennifer Carroll Foy
Jennifer McClellan
Justin Fairfax
Kirk Cox
Lee Carter
Mark Herring
Pete Snyder
Ralph Northam
Terry McAuliffe
Winsome Earle-Sears
VA Senatorial:
David Williams
Hung Cao
Mark Warner
Nick Freitas
Scott Parkinson
Tim Kaine

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Page last updated: Jun 09, 2026; copyright 1999-2022 Jesse Gordon and OnTheIssues.org