Virginia

Jim Webb (D-Va.)

Jim Webb Sen. Jim Webb is a moderate, and Virginia is a coal state. His House colleagues won major concessions for the coal industry in the Waxman-Markey climate bill, but whether they’ll be enough to win over Webb remains to be seen. Virginia Rep. Rick Boucher, who led the pro-coal lobby in shaping the House […]

Newt’s ASWF Attacks: “Why Did Rick Boucher Vote To Kill Virginia Jobs?”

Cross-posted from Wonk Room. “Why did Rick Boucher vote to kill Virginia jobs?” Newt Gingrich’s coal-powered front group, American Solutions for Winning the Future (ASWF), asked this incendiary question of the coal-district Democrat in a full-page advertisement in the Roanoke Times. The ad, acquired by the Wonk Room, claims Boucher voted “for new energy taxes […]

Supreme Court rules against coal company accused of buying a West Virginia judge

After the Massey Energy coal mining company lost a $50 million verdict to a competitor, CEO Don Blankenship spent $3 million electing a friendly judge to West Virginia's Supreme Court of Appeals who went on to cast the deciding vote in a case that overturned the verdict. But yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court handed a setback to Massey, a company notorious for its reliance on destructive mountaintop removal mining throughout Central Appalachia, with a ruling that elected judges must recuse themselves from cases involving big campaign contributors.

Virginia OKs uranium mining study

A proposal to mine uranium in south-central Virginia advanced this week when a key state body approved a study of the matter. The targeted site is in Virginia’s Pittsylvania County just north of the city of Danville and close to the border with North Carolina’s Rockingham and Caswell counties. A subcommittee of the Virginia Commission […]

Myth: Democrats support good climate policy and Republicans oppose it

Energy and climate scramble the usual left-right political divisions. Many of the big fights are not among parties but among regions and levels of government. In the U.S. Congress, to be sure, the Republicans=obstructionists formula holds with virtually no exceptions save a tiny handful of remaining Senate “moderates.” Republican obstructionists are joined in the House […]

Clinton appointee upholds destruction of Appalachia

Today the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, overturned a federal judge's 2007 ruling to require greater environmental review of permits for mountaintop removal in West Virginia.

The decision, while devastating for Appalachia's mountain communities and waterways, should be no shocker; this was the fourth time in eight years that the 4th Circuit Court has thrown out federal court rulings that sought to tighten mountaintop removal standards in West Virginia.

Charleston Gazette reporter Ken Ward, Jr. is closely following the story and its ramifications on his blog. The Associated Press also has the story.

The 2-1 majority opinion was written by Clinton-appointee Roger L. Gregory, the first African American justice to be named to the 4th Circuit Court. Gregory wrote:

In making this determination, we must first appreciate the statutory tightrope that the Corps walks in its permitting decisions. In passing the CWA, Congress aimed "to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation's waters." 33 U.S.C. § 1251(a) (2000). But, in passing SMCRA, Congress sought to "strike a balance between protection of the environment and agricultural productivity and the Nation's need for coal as an essential source of energy." 30 U.S.C. § 1202(f)(2000).

As the dissenting voice, Judge M. Blane Michael from West Virginia concluded:

Today's decision will have far-reaching consequences for the environment of Appalachia. It is not disputed that the impact of filling valleys and headwater streams is irreversible or that headwater streams provide crucial ecosystem functions. Further, the cumulative effects of the permitted fill activities on local streams and watersheds are considerable. By failing to require the Corps to undertake a meaningful assessment of the functions of the aquatic resources being destroyed and by allowing the Corps to proceed instead with a one-to-one mitigation that takes no account of lost stream function, this court risks significant harm to the affected watersheds and water resources.

In Virginia, Big Coal beats efficiency by one vote

At the beginning of the week, I wrote over at Huffington Post about how the State of Virginia could be poised to take significant action to bolster the economy and help the climate by passing an energy efficiency bill introduced by State Senator Donald McEachin.

Psych!

As reported by Lauren Glickman at the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Democratic Majority Leader Dick Saslaw from the Northern Virginia suburbs cast the tie-breaking vote to keep green jobs out of his state. For Saslaw, Virginia is apparently for unemployment ... and pollution.

Not surprisingly, Saslaw has received more money from Dominion Power, the state's leading burner of coal fired energy, than any other legislator since 2004.

Perhaps if these were normal times, this would be just another story of polluter influence. But in these extraordinary -- and extraordinarily tough -- times, it's something more. Article XI, a great new Virginia blog, reports that the bill would "save Virginians approximately $15 billion on electric bills by the year 2025," creating thousands of jobs. Investing in energy efficiency produces more than two and a half times the number of jobs as investments in coal.

Opposing energy efficiency means killing jobs -- something that Saslaw will have to take home to his constituents -- and everybody in Virginia who was hoping the Democratic leadership would actually stand up for jobs and an end to polluter corruption. You can call Saslaw and let him know how you feel about his vote at 804-698-7535.

New study: Efficiency investment better for Virginia economy and ratepayers than coal plant

You may or may not be aware of the huge ongoing fight in Virginia over the proposed Dominion coal-fired power plant in Wise County. Suffice to say, it's huge. And ongoing.

Into the fight drops a new report by ABT Associates, an independent research firm, which finds that -- surprise surprise -- efficiency is a far smarter investment:

The report compares the economic effects of building Dominion Power's Wise County coal plant with investing in energy efficiency measures that would meet the same electricity demand. The study finds that avoiding construction of the coal plant by investing in efficiency would save the average household in Dominion's service territory between $52 and $91 per year in 2012.

The report goes on to find that efficiency investments would also add far more revenue to the state economy and create thousands more jobs.

Got that? Better for the state economy, for ratepayers, and for jobs.

Now check out the first comment under this story about the report in a Virginia newspaper:

Natural gas utility to spend $6.6 million on conservation and efficiency efforts

This is cool news:

December 23, 2008 -- The Virginia State Corporation Commission (VSCC) today approved the Virginia Natural Gas (VNG) proposed conservation and ratemaking efficiency plan.

The plan calls for new energy conservation programs, coupled with a revenue adjustment mechanism, designed to assist customers in managing their energy costs.

As part of the plan, VNG will provide $6.6 million over three years in new conservation initiatives. VNG projects that customers who participate in these new programs, set to begin rolling out in early 2009, can significantly reduce their monthly natural gas usage.

This is via NRDC, who shares this very cool map of decoupling programs across the nation: