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We are a group of environmental advocates united in providing a one-stop source for Virginia's environmental news. We each focus on different issues, but share the vision of a Commonwealth that preserves and protects its natural resources. Please join us!
Dr. James V. Koch, former president of ODU, has yet again backed away from his 2005 "report" on revenues resulting from Virginia's offshore drilling. "I surely wouldn't want to go to the cross over the quick once over that I gave to this important topic", he wrote in a recent email to me.
First, this really doesn't qualify as a report. Indeed, I don't even have a copy. I was given about 48 hours to produce a very quick estimate of the economic benefits (jobs, income, taxes) that might be generated by drilling off shore. Since I had no Virginia data, and no time to produce any, I looked at what had happened previously in Louisiana and a Canadian province as a guide. I did not have time to take environmental costs, etc., into account. I do not list this work on my C.V. because I did not invest the considerable time and attention that I give to the many economic impact studies that I do.
There's not much more to say. Those who pose my weekend of work as a full-blown study are making way too much of it. This was not the thorough study that needs to be done and I think should be done. By the same token, the numbers that I produced aren't fictional; they are based upon what has happened other places in roughly similar circumstances.
Nonetheless, that report is the exclusive basis for McDonnell's legislative agenda whereby offshore drilling revenues fund our transportation fixes.
Meanwhile the State of Florida has the novel idea of commissioning a state sponsored report as part of a state Senate review of whether a ban on offshore drilling should be lifted.
As reported in the Miami Herald, the report concludes that "[e]stimated reserves in Florida waters would provide the United States with less than a week's worth of oil and have no discernible effect on prices at the pump or U.S. reliance on foreign oil."
The report is the latest indication that the push to open Florida waters as near as three miles from the state's beaches may be waning, at least for this year.
Another is that all 12 lobbyists for Florida Energy Associates, a group of independent petroleum explorers known as "wildcatters," that's been pushing for lifting the ban have withdrawn, according to the Legislature's lobbyist registry.
According to DOI, Virginia too has less than a week's worth of oil off its shores - 6.5 days to be exact. But that's not the truth that Bob McDonnell and his merry band of Flat Earth Society members want to run with. They'll continue to run with a "report" that the author himself doesn't want to claim.
And who are we kidding?!? Could you ever imagine Virginia's legislature actually ordering a report to support their policy decisions?!?
The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of legislative activity for the environmental experts on VCN's Legislative Committee. After analyzing more than 300 relevant bills, this committed team took up the challenging task of educating lawmakers with mixed results. Today marks "Crossover"-the date after which each body of the Virginia General Assembly may only consider bills passed by the other house. Too few pro-environment bills remain viable. However, many ill-conceived proposals have also fallen by the wayside, and it is not too late for concerned citizens to speak up for conservation.
Energy Commerce and Labor Committees in both the House and Senate took up a slew of energy legislation early this month, opting more often than not for the status quo. For supporters of clean energy reforms, this is disappointing. Among the VCN-supported bills that did not pass committee:
• SB71 (McEachin) & HB 327 (Plum) would have set hard targets for energy efficiency
• SB450 (Whipple) would have made the state's voluntary renewable energy targets mandatory in order to attract more
• HB441 (Toscano) - would have allowed farm cooperatives and homeowner groups to sell clean energy to their neighbors (this bill was carried over for reconsideration in 2011)
• HB1358 (Keam) - would have created inclining and dynamic electricity rates to encourage conservation and off-peak use
• SB729 (McEachin) - would have funded private-sector clean energy R&D
Among the now-defeated energy bills VCN opposed were HB1274 (Hugo), which would have subjected any future reforms to unnecessary delay, and SB 442 (Wagner), which would have empowered a small group of legislators to block or even suspend environmental and public health regulations.
In a rare victory, the Senate passed SB109 (Petersen) and the House passed HB1264 (Hope). These identical bills, dubbed as the Green Public Buildings Act, make green building the law of the land. The state has successfully pursued green building through an executive order, and the passage of these bills provides greater assurance to citizens that their tax dollars will be well-spent.
Among the troubling VCN-opposed bills that are still viable:
• HB1300 (Kilgore) and SB128 (McDougle), which restrict the State Air Pollution Control Board's ability to regulate major emitters of NOx and Sox-the pollutants responsible for acid rain. Though similar, these bills are not identical (the senate version excludes Northern Virignia), so it is not too late to reconsider this approach. Lawmakers should reject the bills because they would place disproportionate burden for Clean Air Act compliance on small businesses and homeowners.
• HB92 (Kilgore), would allow electric coops to exclude clean energy entrepreneurs from doing business in their service territory, thus stifling green entrepreneurship. The senate must still consider this bill, so calls to your senator to voice concern could make a difference.
• SB659 (Wagner) is one of several pro-offshore-drilling bills that VCN opposes. Most are little more than posturing, but this bill is particularly premature. By instructing DEQ to develop theoretical regulations for offshore drilling, it would siphon scare state resources away from actively protecting public health from existing air pollution. The House can still reject this fiscally imprudent measure.
Getting smarter about the way we use energy will save families money and create jobs right here in Virginia. Energy experts agree that by far the cleanest, cheapest and quickest way to produce more energy is through efficiency. That is why energy efficiency is again our top goal this legislative session in Richmond. And we need your help!
Call your State Senator and urge support for Senator McEachin's Senate Bill 71, which calls on Virginia utilities to take the lead by requiring them to reduce energy consumption 12% by 2022 by investing in readily-available energy-efficiency improvements.
Last year we gained some unlikely support on the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee (the key committee for energy efficiency bills) right after we flooded legislators' offices with calls and emails in support of efficiency. The bottom line: Your calls work! So, let's do it again this year.
The McEachin bill would create up to 10,000 new jobs in the Commonwealth. It's exactly the "Jobs Plan" Virginia needs right now! Efficiency investments will boost Virginia's economy and create a demand for energy efficient construction and weatherization, energy auditors and engineers, and other jobs.
Enacting strong energy efficiency programs not only creates jobs in Virginia, it also saves families and businesses money on their electric bills while also cutting harmful air and water pollution and reducing the threat of climate change. Efficiency is an emissions-free approach to meeting a large portion of the state's energy needs. It's available today with more efficient appliances and industrial processes, and improved weatherization and HVAC systems for offices, schools, homes and other buildings.
Efficiency would enable Virginia to meet its energy needs without constructing new, expensive power plants like the 1500-megawatt coal-fired plant proposed for the Hampton Roads area (Surry County), estimated to cost as much as $6 billion - the most costly coal plant in the U.S. The plant would be the biggest in Virginia and would release over 14 million tons of global warming pollution every year.
The Virginia League of Conservation Voters (VALCV) today released the 10th Anniversary Edition of the Legislative Conservation Scorecard announcing the conservation voting records of state legislators. This publication rates individual legislators on a series of important conservation votes cast during the 2009 General Assembly session. It also presents a total of each legislator's conservation votes from 2000 when VALCV was formed through the 2009 session with the percentage of "right" votes on conservation issues.
"The Virginia League of Conservation Voters sees our Legislative Conservation Scorecard as a vital accountability tool for environmentally concerned voters and we are proud at the progress we have made these last 10 years," said Lisa Guthrie, Executive Director of the Virginia League. "Citizens care more about how their legislators vote on important conservation bills than whether they have a partisan R or D behind their names."
Unfortunately, the increasingly partisan and polarized nature of the General Assembly was reflected in this year's scores, preventing needed progress on a range of conservation issues. The Virginia League commends the one senator and six delegates with 100% scores. Another 31 legislators achieved scores between 75 and 99%. However, 35 legislators earned a score of less than 25%. As always, cumulative scores reflect the most accurate account.
The scores measured committee and floor votes on a wide range of important conservation issues including this session's top priority - energy efficiency legislation (HB 2506; SB 1248), as well as bills limiting localities' ability to regulate septic systems (HB 1788; SB 1276), perpetuating our unsustainable road-driven transportation structure (HB 1579; HB 2066; HB 2079), and promoting bipartisan redistricting (HB 1685; SB 926). "Extra credit" was also issued to legislators who patroned conservation-friendly bills that VALCV supported.
VALCV works throughout the session to inform legislators and the public about legislation affecting the environment. Legislators are informed of VALCV's position on specific bills before they vote. Memos and personal meetings serve as notice that the bill may be included in the Scorecard. At the end of the session, VALCV selects bills for the Scorecard which illustrate a clear distinction between those legislators who support the conservation position and those who do not.
The Virginia League of Conservation Voters serves as the nonpartisan political action arm of the state's conservation community. Our mission is to preserve and enhance the quality of life of all Virginians by making conservation a top priority with Virginia's elected officials, political candidates, and voters.
In January, Tyla Matteson, Sierra Club's Political and Legislative Chair, distributed a short survey on climate change to all 140 state legislators. She received responses from 21 Delegates and 7 Senators, and as she stated to the legislators, we posted their names and responses here.
With a 20% return, we now have a sampling of elected officials across the board, from various localities in Virginia, rural and urban, to include criteria of gender, race, and age. We will be happy to accept legislator's surveys past the deadline.
You can also read Tyla's remarks on the survey here, which includes this interesting occurrence:
Our survey spurred an interesting response from a group called the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy, who apparently sent letters to the legislators, disparaging our survey. The letter said greenhouse gases contribute to global warming as much as do variations in solar radiation, and temperatures will not likely rise in the next five years. Therefore we should wait five years and see what kind of cycle the sun is going through. One answer this group proposes to solve the problem is with geo-engineering, to replicate a volcanic eruption, shooting reflective aerosols into the atmosphere to reflect sunlight and reduce temperatures.
In response to this far-fetched idea, Ross Gelbspan wrote that other researchers predict seeding the atmosphere would trigger a global drought, after studying the effects of the eruption of Pinatubo in 1991. Ross Gelbspan is the author of well-known books on climate change, The Heat is On, Boiling Point, and maintains the website, www.heatisonline.org.
"Now, it doesn't take a genius to realize that coal is a natural resource that has not been linked to any environmental harm. In fact, it is a clean burning alternative fuel source," writes the Virginia GOP House Caucus in trying to accuse gubernatorial candidate Brian Moran of "trying to skirt alternative energy" for believing that "a proposed coal plant in Surry County will cause global warming and harm the Chesapeake Bay".
Just as folks here in Virginia were getting over the good laugh we had over that blog entry, comes this little ditty from the folks who spent $10.5 million trying to sell us on "clean coal" c/o the This Is Reality blog.
[Question:] Can you just answer that yes or no? If you believe that burning coal causes global warming?
[Joe Lucas:] I don't know, I'm not a scientist.
All kidding aside, unfortunately it is this flat earth society existent still in Virginia that is going to make it difficult to pass climate legislation. Science is obviously not working on many in Virginia's House of No. But perhaps economics will.
As The Green Miles so aptly points out, Dominion's rates have gone up because of the cost of building Wise County coal plant. Meanwhile there's a 15% increase from last year in electricity cut-offs due to nonpayment. Meanwhile, ODEC proposes building a $6 billion coal plant 18 miles upwind of Williamsburg in Surry County, VA.
Something's gotta give pretty soon. Ignorance won't be bliss for too much longer.
Here's a great LTE from a Norfolk friend as published in Saturday's Virginian-Pilot:
The House of Delegates budget plan, crafted by the Republican majority, would cut $650,000 from public broadcasting company WHRO while leaving intact more than $30 million in annual subsidies for the state's billion-dollar coal industry.
That WHRO allocation helps local school systems save more than $2.5 million annually in services purchased through WHRO, such as online training courses for teachers.
But the coal industry stays on the public dole while it destroys the landscape, waterways and quality of life for those living near its mining operations and threatens the health of everyone every time coal is burned.
I hope a public outcry over such perverse priorities will reverse this injustice and change the makeup of the House.
A community rally in support of good jobs to speed Virginia's economic recovery will be held tomorrow, Wed., Feb. 25, 11am at the Capitol Square Bell Tower, 900 Bank Street in Richmond. Economic policy advisors, faith leaders, community advocacy organizations, and workers are joining together to call on businesses and elected officials to put Virginia back on track by creating an economy that works for everyone.
On the heels of passage of the economic recovery package, workers and community leaders will discuss the need to ensure that the money flowing into Virginia creates good jobs so that working people can speed the state's economic recovery by spending money again.
The event also follows the release of a new report by the Center for American Progress (CAP) that shows greater unionization Could pump $49 Billion into the U.S. economy, including $947 Million into Virginia.
For more info, contact Karen Backus, SEIU, 404-229-7592.
It is important that we pass meaningful energy efficiency legislation this year, because it is the cheapest, quickest and cleanest way for Virginia to meet its growing energy demands.
* CHEAP: It can help customers lower their end of the month electricity bills through weatherization, more efficient appliances & heating and cooling systems, lighting.
* QUICK: Utility programs can be rolled out immediately;
* CLEAN: Reducing electricity usage also reduces air pollution, including emissions contributing to climate change.
HB 2506 will be voted on in the Senate THIS WEEK! SB 1248 (Northam), which is now comparable to HB 2506, could be voted on in the House of Delegates as early as TODAY!
This is our last chance in 2009 to pass legislation to move energy efficiency forward in Virginia!
No time for a formal Action Alert with all the built in bells and whistles... just the facts!
The Virginia State Senate will be hearing HB2417 today and they need to hear from you ASAP. This is an energy related bill by our environmental hero, Delegate Joe Bouchard. This is one of those no-nonsense bills that cleans up an archaic Virginia law that in this day and age just doesn't make sense anymore.
HB2417 allows homeowner associations to lift restrictions preventing individual homeowners from installing solar panels on their homes. Those restrictions are decades old and date back when indeed solar panels were big, clumsy and downright ugly, often detracted from the neighborhood, and often lowered home values. So much has changed since those days! Now solar panels are neat and non-obtrusive, are an asset in the eyes of potential homebuyers, actually increasing home values, and contributing to the bustling business of outfits like Virginia Beach's Solar Systems, Inc. It's a win-win for the economy and the environment. And potentially a great win for our hero, Del. Bouchard!
So, right now, contact your State Senator. Urge them to support HB2417, and let's bring Virginia a little farther into the 21st century!
If you don't know who your State Senator is and/or their contact info? Click here. A phone call really works best considering the proximity of this bill in the Senate.
And do this too, just like I did via email. After you've made your call to your Senator, scroll through your personal lists of friends and colleagues and shoot them a message. Nothing fancy. Common sense doesn't need to be fancy or elaborate! Thanks!
State Senator Frank Wagner (SB 1348) and Delegate Terry Kilgore (HB 2531) are sponsoring legislation that will raise your electric rates, enrich the utilities at your expense and make our air dirtier.
Utilities already see an economic benefit in shifting demand for electricity during peak demand times like the hot days of summer. For example, they might get an industrial customer to run a process in the early morning hours when residential and commercial users are less likely to be running air conditioners, washers and dryers. These actions save utilities money because they pay less for electricity during these low-usage times.
Unfortunately, this legislation by Wagner and Kilgore would allow Dominion and other utilities to charge you for the same actions they are already taking to save money on electricity during peak demand times; in effect double dipping at your expense.
We get dirtier air in the deal too!
The bill also pays industries to use big, dirty diesel generators as back up generators in the summer time to meet peak demand, polluting our air on the same days when we are likely to be under air pollution alerts.
This makes no sense. Click here to get details on how to take action to stop double dipping by Dominion and other utilities at your expense!
This email was sent by me in response to some comments from other people in the solar industry in Virginia.
A restrictive covenant is attached to the deed of a piece of property, usually by the developer to ensure everyone conforms to standards laid down in the deed (How UnAmerican!!) Examples would be no clothes lines allowed, or all fences must be the same design, or, of interest to me, no solar systems are allowed, or can be seen from a street.
Voting to prevent removing restrictive covenants against solar systems (HB2417) again were the following 15 delegates: Abbitt, Carrico, Cox, Frederick, Gilbert, Griffith, Ingram, Janis, Jones, Marshall, D.W., Merricks, Rust, Saxman, Ware, R.L., Wright. Keep in mind, this is the emasculated version they voted against. These people are obviously against Virginia citizens earning money from a legitimate endeavor, and must also be against the state generating tax off this income. They must also be pro dirty energy as an average solar water heater displaces 2.5 tons of CO2 per year.
Here's my email:
"Hi, Richard Good with Solar Services in Virginia Beach here. I cannot resist the last comment. Relative attractiveness (referring to Virginia's attractiveness for the alternative energy industry)? What relative attractiveness? We cannot even get a simple little thing like removing a restrictive covenant through, which denies home and business owners the right to energy savings and income from the sale of Solar Renewable Energy Credits.
Realizing this is Virginia, I have set my sights low. A one paragraph no cost piece of legislation and it has been introduced by Republican and Democrat alike and has been shot down or altered to negate the meaning 4 times in a row. The reason given? That somehow having a solar system on my roof which adds value, cuts pollution and helps both mine and the states pocketbook is a "taking" from my neighbor. The ugly galvanized furnace vents are not takings, nor are the white PVC plumbing vents or the mushroom attic fans. What codswallop! How is that for a 0 batting average?
Please excuse my cynicism, but having plugged away at the solar industry in Virginia for a quarter century, it is almost impossible not to be cynical. Our predecessor, Solar One, had a dedicated solar powered building where collectors were manufactured back in the early 1980's. It was visited weekly by bus loads of school students. All the solar panels have been removed, as have the geothermal heat pumps and it is now used as a distribution center for Chinese sex toys. How far have we fallen from the 70's and 80's when Virginia was one of the leading solar energy states?
The Virginia State Senate will be voting this Monday and Tuesday on critical energy efficiency bills. Please call your State Senator and tell them that we must find a way of meeting our energy demands without burdening already stretched family and small business budgets. In today's economic environment, investing in energy efficiency can save consumers and businesses money while enhancing our energy security.
Tell your State Senator to vote "YES" on energy efficiency legislation. SB 1447 (McEachin), SB 1440 (Herring) and SB 1248 (Northam) each represent a major step forward for energy efficiency in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
This is it, people. It's now or never time! Please make this call and let's light up every Senator's phone line in Richmond come Monday.
Who is your State Senator and what is his/her phone number? Click here to find out. Thank you!
At the Good Jobs Green Jobs conference this week, it was a bit hard being a Virginian listening to Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley and Minnesota State Senator Ellen Anderson talk specifically about all the great clean energy initiatives happening in their respective states. But the light at the end of the tunnel is that hopefully Virginia will some day be so progressive, and at the same time, learn from these states' trials and tribulations.
In 2007, Minnesota went from not just a voluntary RPS to a mandatory one that is quite progressive. By 2025, 25% of their electrical generation must come from renewable energy resources. On their state's largest utility, XCel Energy, they went even further, imposing 30% by 2025 of which 25% had to come from wind power generation.
That is potentially a lot of wind turbines! And there are over 8,000 components to each turbine - fiberglass, steel rods, ball bearings, gear boxes, etc., etc. For every one megawatt of installed capacity, wind energy produces 22 direct and indirect jobs. Five jobs are added for installing turbines and 17 jobs per megawatt (MW) are added related to manufacturing. (Source)
But alas, the clever Iowa, while Minnesota was negotiating its RPS, has been fast garnering to its state a number of wind power production facilities. New facilities opening in 2007 were Acciona (turbines) in West Branch, IA (110 jobs) and Siemens (blades) in Ft. Madison, IA (250 jobs). New facilities announced in 2007 include TPI Composites (blades) in Newton, IA (500 jobs). New facilities in Minnesota? Zero. Where a number of Iowa produced turbines will end up given its RPS mandate? In Minnesota.
The big lesson Virginia can learn here is that we have to be good multi-taskers: work on that good progressive RPS while also working on the economic development end of things in hopes of bringing wind power manufacturers to Virginia. Just as Delegate Joe Bouchard noted in his interview with Lowell here, this could be a manufacturing boon to Hampton Roads in particular with our offshore wind development and the offshore production already in the pipeline in Atlantic coast states such as New Jersey and Delaware.
The momentum to pass a meaningful energy efficiency bill in Virginia has reached a fever pitch. The House of Delegates is considering Delegate Ken Plum's energy efficiency bill (HB 2176) and it's up to us to make sure it passes!
The House Commerce and Labor Committee will be voting on HB 2176 today. Please contact them ASAP, especially if your delegate serves on this committee.
Tell your Delegate that:
• Delegate Plum's efficiency bill, HB 2176, will mandate that Virginia meet 19% of its energy demand by 2025 with efficiency.
• The bill will lower electricity rates for consumers, stimulate the economy, and create good, high-quality jobs right here in Virginia.
If all of us take action by calling today, we can chalk up a major victory for the environment in Virginia -- and brighten the prospects for a clean energy future in Virginia.
User comments or postings reflect the opinions of the responsible contributor only, and do not reflect the viewpoint of the Sierra Club and/or the League of Conservation Voters. The Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters do not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of any posting. The Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters accepts no obligation to review every posting, but reserves the right (but not the obligation) to delete postings that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate.
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From the 
Getting smarter about the way we use energy will save families money and create jobs right here in Virginia. Energy experts agree that by far the cleanest, cheapest and quickest way to produce more energy is through efficiency. That is why energy efficiency is again our top goal this legislative session in Richmond. And we need your help!
In January, Tyla Matteson, Sierra Club's Political and Legislative Chair, distributed a short survey on climate change to all 140 state legislators. She received responses from 21 Delegates and 7 Senators, and as she stated to the legislators, we posted their names and responses 
Here's a great LTE from a Norfolk friend as published in Saturday's 
It is important that we pass meaningful energy efficiency legislation this year, because it is the cheapest, quickest and cleanest way for Virginia to meet its growing energy demands.
No time for a formal Action Alert with all the built in bells and whistles... just the facts!
Windfall profits at your expense!
This email was sent by me in response to some comments from other people in the solar industry in Virginia.
The Virginia State Senate will be voting this Monday and Tuesday on critical energy efficiency bills. Please call your State Senator and tell them that we must find a way of meeting our energy demands without burdening already stretched family and small business budgets. In today's economic environment, investing in energy efficiency can save consumers and businesses money while enhancing our energy security.
At the 
