Using Your Voice for Policy Change: A Climate Change Victory in Virginia!
By Vivienne Pierce McDaniel, DNP, MSN, RN, FADLN
Chair, Virginia Clinicians for Climate Action Climate Justice and Health Equity Committee
Immediate Past President Central Virginia Chapter Black Nurses Association
Photo courtesy of Hilton McDaniel
“During the time we were out of RGGI, the state lost millions of dollars that could have helped Virginians impacted by the hurricanes and flooding in 2024.”
In January 2021, Virginia became the first southern state welcomed into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) joining other New England and Mid-Atlantic states participating in a program providing meaningful action on climate change (RGGI, 2020). RGGI was meant to draw down the use of fossil fuels as an energy source through market incentives. Learn more about RGGI here.
RGGI generated revenue used to help low-income families reduce energy bills, enhance community flood prevention and protection, create more energy-efficient affordable housing units, reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants by more than 22%, and improve air quality and public health (Virginia Conservation Network, 2024). Unfortunately, in January 2022, the incoming Governor of Virginia signed Executive Order 9 directing the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to start the process of ending Virginia’s participation in RGGI (Commonwealth of Virginia Office of the Governor, 2022).
Nurses are uniquely positioned to effect social change. I used my voice to speak out against our state pulling out of RGGI by participating in a public comment forum and speaking at town halls and press conferences alongside state legislators which resulted in me being quoted in news outlets.
Virginia League of Conservation Voters put out a press release on March 17, 2023, with the following quote:
“We should be able to live in a world free of exposure to toxic agents and other hazardous environmental conditions, but we know that is nearly impossible. However, we can do our part to minimize the pollutants that are around us,” added Dr. Vivienne Pierce McDaniel, President of the Central Virginia Chapter of the National Black Nurses Association. “As a registered nurse it is incumbent on me to advocate for environmental health especially for those who reside in underserved at-risk populations where access to safe, quality care is lacking after developing conditions caused by environmental toxins.”
In addition to public comments and advocacy, environmental groups in Virginia sued decision makers stating that the DEQ had no authority to repeal RGGI because the program was established by the Virginia General Assembly (GA).On November 20, 2024, a victory prevailed! A Virginia judge ruled that the Governor had no legal authority to pull Virginia out of RGGI. What Virginia clinicians did to advocate for RGGI serves to remind nurses and other healthcare providers that collectively we can use our voices to effect social change and change inequitable practices and policies that do not support the well-being of the patients we serve.
References
Commonwealth of Virginia Office of the Governor. (2022). Executive order: Number nine (2022). https://www.governor.virginia.gov/media/governorvirginiagov/governor-of-virginia/pdf/eo/EO-9-RGGI.pdf
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). (2020). RGGI states welcome Virginia as its CO2 regulation is finalized. https://www.rggi.org/sites/default/files/Uploads/Press-Releases/2020_07_08_VA_Announcement_Release.pdf
Virginia Conservation Network. (2024). Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. https://vcnva.org/issue/rggi-virginia/
