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On the same day that the Washington Post reported that a NASA study found this past decade was the warmest on record and that 2009 was the second warmest year, Virginia freshman Delegate James Morefield introduced legislation (HB1357) that would prohibit the director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality from enforcing any federal law restricting the emissions of carbon dioxide. Despite a United States Supreme Court case that upheld the authority of the U.S. EPA to regulate carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act the bill goes on to say "carbon dioxide shall not be considered air pollution."
Delegate Morefield (R) hails from a coal mining district so it is in his perceived economic self interest to deny the scientific truth of climate change. Despite the dubious legality of this measure, it is within the realm of possibilities that this bill could pass the Republican controlled Virginia House of Delegates and should it clear the Senate, I would expect that our new Governor just might sign the bill.
The Virginia General Assembly that prides itself as the oldest legislative body in the Western Hemisphere has in more recent times gained national notoriety for considering "droopy drawers" legislation requiring young men to pull up their pants. One of the sharper wits in the Assembly once quipped that they ought to have a standing committee just for the unconstitutional bills the legislators serve up for their constituents.
The good news is that in Virginia, the General Assembly only meets for 60 days in even years and 45 days odd years. In a few weeks, it will be over.
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On the same day that the Washington Post reported that a NASA study found this past decade was the warmest on record and that 2009 was the second warmest year, Virginia freshman Delegate James Morefield introduced legislation (
