Republican governors launch effort to fight clean energy mandates

Ten Republican governors this week announced a coalition aimed at reducing regulations around energy production and opposing renewable energy mandates.

The organization, the Governors Coalition for Energy Choice, said in a statement that the coalition aims to “ensure continued energy choice, minimize permitting and other regulatory barriers, limit expensive energy mandates, focus on affordability and reliability of energy infrastructure, and coordinate to positively manage energy resources and the environment.”

Members of the organization include Louisiana’s Jeff Landry, New Hampshire’s Chris Sununu, Tennessee’s Bill Lee, Virginia’s Glenn Youngkin, Arkansas’s Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Indiana’s Eric Holcomb, South Dakota’s Kristi Noem, Oklahoma’s Kevin Stitt, Georgia’s Brian Kemp and Wyoming’s Mark Gordon.

“Governor Youngkin has consistently called for All-American, All-Of-The-Above energy solutions for Virginia since releasing his plan in 2022 to further the Commonwealth’s access to a reliable, affordable, increasingly clean, and growing supply of power,” Youngkin spokesperson Christian Martinez told The Hill in a statement. “The governor is encouraged by the broad support of Republican Governors across the country leading the way, urging federal leaders to follow suit.”

The Virginia chapter of the Sierra Club, however, blasted the announcement, saying it was an indicator of the members’ intent to continue the proliferation of fossil fuels.

“’Energy choice’ is a thinly veiled code for more expensive natural gas projects,” Tim Cywinski, communications director for the Virginia chapter, told The Hill. “Natural gas isn’t just pollution-intensive, it’s also unreliable in the cold, and comes with a volatile, ever-increasing price point. Clean Energy isn’t only the cheaper option, it also doesn’t come with the trade-off of making our communities sick.”

Several of the governors involved in the effort have previously made national headlines for their opposition to the Biden administration’s environmental and energy policies, as well as those of other states.

All of the members except Lee, along with 10 other GOP governors, previously signed a letter calling on the administration to end its pause on liquefied natural gas export licenses over the summer. Youngkin also pulled Virginia out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a multistate, carbon emissions-capping alliance the state General Assembly voted to join under his predecessor, Ralph Northam (D).

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