"Virginia's governor issued an order on Tuesday to lay the groundwork for a cap-and-trade system to cut greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, saying it would 'fill the void' left by the Trump administration which has been rolling back federal climate rules.

Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe signed Executive Directive 11 instructing Virginia's environmental regulators to craft rules targeting power sector carbon emissions by Dec. 31.

McAuliffe specifically asked regulators to propose a rule for the state air pollution control board that would enable Virginia to participate in a multi-state carbon permit trading program such as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative for northeastern states."

Valerie Volcovici reports for Reuters May 16, 2017. [2]