Category: Environment
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Dominion Responds to My Renewable Energy Post
By Peter Galuszka In recent days, there’s been a plenty of discussion about renewable energy. After I wrote two posts, Chester “Chet” Wade, a senior spokesman for Dominion Resources, called me to take issue with some of my ideas. I offered him space to explain Dominion’s views. Here is his response: Your follow-up column has…
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No More Hippies in Old Sneakers
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By Peter Galuszka Last week, I posted a blog item titled “Why Virginia Has No Renewable Energy,” which drew considerable comments from readers. The day after it ran, I got a call from Chester G. “ Chet” Wade, the vice president of corporate communications for Dominion Resources who had a complaint about my item. I…
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Bringing Transparency to Transportation Project Selection
I have concrete reasons to bitch and moan about the new prioritization process for Virginia transportation projects under House Bill 2. A major project near my home — $14 million in improvements to the hellish intersection of Patterson Ave. and Parham Road — was scheduled for 2019 but has been put on hold to be subjected to…
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Why Virginia Has No Renewable Energy
By Peter Galuszka For all the hew and cry over renewable energy sources and the “War on Coal,” it is extremely interesting to see just how much progress Virginia has made with renewable energy. The answer: hardly any to none. A moment of clarity came when I was perusing blog postings by IvyMain, a D.C.…
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EPA Carbon Rules: Ask the SCC
By Peter Galuszka Last week, State Corporation Commission drew attention when its staff wrote to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, at the EPA’s request, to respond to one of the biggest proposed steps the nation has seen in cutting carbon dioxide emissions. The report sparked considerable interest and confusion over what the SCC staff actually…
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Could Surry Be an 80-Year Nuke?
By Peter Galuszka Here’s a new twist on the carbon emission debate: Dominion Virginia Power is considering seeking federal approval run its 40-plus year-old Surry nuclear power station for another 40 or so years. The arguments in favor are that keeping the two-units at Surry (1,600 megawatts) going would be a lot cheaper than building…
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More Coal Industry Propaganda
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By Peter Galuszka If you read a blog posting just below this (the one with the coal miner with an intense look on his grit-covered face), you will see how hyperbole, confusion, misunderstanding, ignorance and one-sided arguments twist something very important to all Virginians – how to deal with carbon dioxide and climate change –…
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The EPA’s War on Virginia
James A. Bacon Complying with proposed Environmental Protection Agency rules on carbon emissions would cost Dominion Virginia Power customers an extra $5.5 billion to $6 billion, according to the State Corporation Commission staff — and that doesn’t include the cost to Virginia’s smaller utilities, which are even more reliant than Dominion upon coal. The EPA plan…
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The Forbidden City Comes to Virginia
By Peter Galuszka The Forbidden City has come to Virginia and it’s definitely worth a look. Rarely-seen works from the Palace Museum in Beijing’s Forbidden City, the imperial residence of Chinese emperors from the Ming to the end of the Qing Dynasty (roughly from about 1406 to 1912) go on display tomorrow at the Virginia…
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Why We’re Being Railroaded On “STEM”
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in Business and Economy, Economic development, Education (higher ed), Education (K-12), Energy, Environment, Federal issues, Government Finance, Infrastructure, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, Property rights, Public safety & health, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Science & Technology, UncategorizedBy Peter Galuszka When it comes to education, a constant mantra chanted by the Virginia chattering class is “STEM.” How many times have you heard that our students are far behind in “STEM” (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics)? We have to drain funding from more traditional areas of study (that actually might make them better…
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Virginia: The Energy Guzzler Capital of the East Coast
by James A. Bacon Virginia is the 43rd most energy efficient state in the country, which is another way of saying that it is the 6th most energy inefficient among the 48 states included in a national ranking by the number crunchers at WalletHub. The finding is based on the publication’s energy efficiency rankings in homes…
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McAuliffe Dodges Mandatory Renewable Energy
By Peter Galuszka It seems like two steps forward and one step back. That’s about the best I can come up with for Governor Terry McAuliffe’s new energy plan for Virginia. On the two steps forward side, McAuliffe is pushing for more wind power and relaxing regulations to make it easier to back solar, such…
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Support Your Local Goat Herder
by James A. Bacon A common reed plant, known by the scientific name of Phragmites australis, introduced into the United States in the 18th century from Europe, has invaded the eastern marshes of North America. Like many invasive species, Phragmites out-competes native marsh plants. When the reed establishes expansive mono-cultures, plant diversity declines precipitously. And when plant diversity declines,…
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Back to the Drawing Boards on U.S. 460
A new environmental impact study (EIS) concludes that it will cost $1.8 billion — $400 million more than estimated by the McDonnell administration — to rebuild U.S. 460 between Petersburg and Suffolk as a tolled, high-speed expressway. Upgrading the highway probably will have to be centered on the existing corridor, Transportation Secretary Aubrey Layne said yesterday.…
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Tobacco Commission Needs Huge Makeover
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in Business and Economy, Consumer Protection, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Demographics, Economic development, Education (higher ed), Education (K-12), Electoral process, Energy, Environment, Health Care, Infrastructure, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Public safety & health, Social Services and Entitlements, UncategorizedBy Peter Galuszka One more glaring example of mass corruption in Virginia is the grandly named Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission formed 14 years ago to dole out Virginia’s share of a $206 billion settlement among 45 other states with cigarette makers. I’ve been writing for years about how millions of dollars are…