A Virginia circuit court judge ruled on Wednesday that Gov. Glenn Youngkin, R-Va., does not have the authority to withdraw from a carbon-cap commitment without the approval of the state Legislature, The Hill reported.

Soon after taking office in 2022, Younkin announced his intention to pull the state out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a multistate agreement Virginia’s General Assembly approved under former Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat. Youngkin’s objections stemmed from participants having to buy allowances to offset their emissions.

Floyd County Circuit Court Judge Randall Lowe said in his five-page ruling that Youngkin’s actions were “unlawful, and thereby null and void.”

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