A Virginia circuit court on Thursday granted the state’s request to keep it out of a regional cap-and-trade program, at least temporarily.

It’s the latest development in an ongoing tug-of-war between Virginia’s Republican leadership, who don’t want to be part of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), and environmentalists, who do.

RGGI member states set an enforceable cap on the amount of carbon power plants are allowed to emit. Utilities must buy allowances for those emissions, and the revenue goes into each state’s coffers.

Virginia’s saga began when the state ...