Author: Steve Haner
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Ten Things Democrats Want Taught in Schools
by Steve Haner What are the most important facts to Virginia Democrats about American and Virginia history? Ask individuals and you get a host of answers, but the Democrats in the Virginia House of Delegates focused on ten items last week they want to be sure our public schools teach. The context was the floor…
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New Sea Level Prediction Less Dire, Still Unlikely
by Steve Haner The latest projection from the ever-trustworthy federal authorities sweating out the climate crisis is that the sea level will rise one foot along Virginia’s coast by 2050, rising the same amount in 30 years as it rose in the previous 100. The news quickly swept across the Commonwealth. Here is the Richmond…
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House GOP Repeals VCEA, EV Green Mandates
by Steve Haner First published this morning by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy. Virginia’s House of Delegates Republicans have passed a series of bills retreating from Virginia’s rush toward a fossil-fuel-free future, but they were party-line votes and Democrats in the Virginia Senate, who hold a majority on that side, may promptly kill…
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Climate Suit Against Virginia Would Lose at Trial
by Steve Haner Less than one month after taking office, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) and other state officials are being sued by thirteen school-age defendants who claim the state’s long history of permitting the use of fossil fuels for various purposes is causing a climate crisis and harms them directly. The petition in the…
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Senate: “Trust Us This Time on Tax Reform”
by Steve Haner First published this morning by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy. Virginia government is flooded with cash — tax revenues far in excess of what is needed to maintain its current level of services and a fair reserve. Key votes have now been taken and the House of Delegates is poised…
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Richmond Leader Opposes Right to Gas Bill
by Steve Haner “I hope the General Assembly will reaffirm its confidence in localities to make these critical decisions on behalf of our residents.” So said Richmond City Council member Katherine Jordan in opposition to pending legislation that would establish in law a right for Virginians to use natural gas and require localities that wish…
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VCEA Added Costs Exceed $2,000 per Household?
by Steve Haner First published this morning by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy. By 2050 Virginia’s transition to wind and solar power under the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) could add almost $200 a month on average to a residential electric bill. Previous estimates of the consumer cost of dumping all fossil fuels…
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Weather Writer/Climate Warrior Defends RGGI Tax
by Steve Haner The Richmond Times-Dispatch weather reporter has entered the political debate over Governor Glenn Youngkin’s efforts to exit the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). But is he really a weather reporter, or a climate warrior? Sean Sublette’s on-line report on RGGI is packaged as a simple recitation of facts, but it is the…
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Bills Reversing Green New Deal Advance, Stutter
by Steve Haner “To say that an electric stove is as good as a gas one is misunderstanding the art of cooking.” That line was used by a restaurant industry lobbyist February 3 in a House of Delegates committee debate on a bill seeking to protect the use of natural gas in Virginia homes and…
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Energy Reform Bills Due for Decisions Soon
by Steve Haner First published this morning by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy. The highest priority on a Virginia energy reform agenda proposed a few weeks ago was restoring State Corporation Commission oversight over decisions on massive renewable energy investments. Under current law, the General Assembly has basically dictated billions of dollars in such…
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Poll: Bipartisan Support for Scholarship Tax Break
by Chris Braunlich The following was issued today by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy as a news release: As National School Choice Week 2022 concludes, the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy today released results of a polling question demonstrating the overwhelming popularity of Virginia’s sole education choice program. Support is particularly strong…
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First Bill to Amend VCEA Buried by Committee
by Steve Haner The first of several pending bills to slow Virginia’s rush to an expensive energy future based on unreliable electricity just failed in a Republican-controlled committee. There is every reason to expect the same fate for two other pending measures with similar goals. In past years energy bills have gone to a subcommittee,…
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Do Not Move RGGI Tax Into Utility Base Rates
by Steve Haner Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) is seeking to get Virginia out of a regional carbon tax compact, yet inexplicably has offered supporters of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) a path to protect it. His proposal would remove the tax on monthly electric bills which has galvanized opposition and move the cost of…
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Poll: Most Democrats Dislike RGGI Carbon Tax
by Steve Haner First published today by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy. The high consumer cost of Virginia’s forced conversion to a fossil fuel-free economy remains unpopular with Republican and Independent voters, but is supported by many Democrats, a recent poll revealed. Even Democrats, however, dislike a new carbon tax that is now…
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Youngkin, Northam Tax Cuts Combine to $5 Billion
by Steve Haner In his final budget bill, departing Governor Ralph Northam (D) proposed a one-time rebate of just over $1 billion to Virginia income-tax payers, and additional policy proposals that would cut another $1.1 billion in state revenue for the remainder of this fiscal year and the next two. New Governor Glenn Youngkin (R)…