Category: Environment
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Hottest July on Record!
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in Business and Economy, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Demographics, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Energy, Environment, Federal issues, Government Finance, Land use & Development, Media, Money in politics, Planning, Public safety & health, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Science & Technology, Taxes, Water-waste water‘Nuff said. — PAG
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Oasis in the Food Desert
Tricycle Gardens wants to bring health food to Richmond’s inner city. It’s a tall order changing ingrained dietary habits. Engaging people in growing their own food is the key.
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Beyond Beautification
The Capital Trees project in dowtown Richmond shows how public and private investment in urban canopy can advance strategic community goals like reducing storm water runoff and cleaning up the James River.
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Record Heat Wave? Not in Virginia.
The U.S. State Climate Extremes Committee established by the National Climatic Data Center has updated and refined its national database of climate extremes. Now anyone can conduct a Web search to find the dates of extreme climate records in their home state. The chart above shows the numbers for Virginia. Notice how the hot-weather extremes…
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Virginia’s Slipping “Best To Do Business” Rating
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in Business and Economy, Demographics, Economic development, Energy, Environment, Federal issues, Government Finance, Infrastructure, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, Media, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Property rights, Public safety & health, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Science & Technology, Social Services and Entitlements, Taxes, TransportationBy Peter Galuszka Old Dominion politicians and economic boosters love to tout the state’s typically high ranking in various surveys of the “best states to do business.” But the latest such ranking, by CNBC, shows Virginia dropping from first place to third. One reason is roads. “Infrastructure – specifically the state’s perpetually clogged highways –…
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Hotter Than. . .
By Peter Galuszka …The Fourth of July. Sorry that I have to spell it out, but there are a number of climate change deniers at this blog, including the Big Blogger himself, so it may be necessary to make things simple. In case, you haven’t noticed, this Independence Day marks a period of some extreme…
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A Tale of Two Speeches
By Peter Galuszka Call it a Tale of Two Speeches. One was a clear and resounding defense of one of America’s most prized possessions: its university system. The other was Corporate-Speak – a kind of muddle of platitudes and lofty thoughts with little point that is so common among chief executive officers and company presidents…
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Spinning Virginia Coal
By Peter Galuszka There’s a predictable drumbeat in the Old Dominion that is trying to blame Big Coal’s economic weakness on federal regulators. A weekend ago, a group called the Federation for American Coal, Energy and Security, a “grass roots” group with ties to the coal industry, staged a rally in Abingdon attended by about…
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The Urban Advantage in Regenerative Cities
by James A. Bacon Daniel K. Slone is a vocal proponent of sustainable development and he believes fervently that the “great places” where people love to work and live tend to cluster in densely populated urban areas. But the McGuireWoods attorney, who has developed a globe-trotting practice working with clients in the oft-intersecting fields of…
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UNDERCLASS LOVER
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in Business and Economy, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement, Demographics, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Economic development, Education (higher ed), Education (K-12), Electoral process, Energy, Environment, Federal issues, Government Finance, Government workers and pensions, Gun rights, Health Care, Housing, Immigration, Infrastructure, Insurance, Labor and Workforce, Land use & Development, LGBQT, Media, Money in politics, Planning, Politics, Poverty & income gap, Property rights, Public safety & health, Race and Race Relations, Regulations, Gov’t Oversight, Science & Technology, Social Services and Entitlements, Taxes, Transportation, Uncategorized, Water-waste waterI want to be an underclass lover Lay it down like a big ole’ brother No mind who gets stuck With the leftover I get my F&%# Without too much workover Don’t care about the deficit Don’t give a damn about the debt ’cause when it comes to lov’in You ain’t seen noth’ yet Ya…
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Smart Growth for Conservatives
Smart growth is too important to leave to liberals. Conservatives must articulate their own vision for creating prosperous, livable and fiscally sustainable communities.
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Bad Roads Bring “C+” Grade
By Peter Galuszka Every year, Virginia FREE rates the Old Dominion’s legislators according to its definition of how well they support the lobby’s definition of what it means to be “pro-business.” Despite the free-for-all conservatism of this year’s General Assembly, the legislature only gets only about a “C-plus” grade. The big reason? Lack of progress…
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New EPA Regs and the Virginia Economy
Six coal-fired power plants in Virginia accounting for 35% of the state’s coal-generated electricity could be forced to shut down prematurely by new and proposed Environmental Protection Agency regulations, according to a report, “Economy Derailed,” published recently by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). In a state-by-state breakdown, the ALEC report stated that Virginians could…
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Clarity Amid Blather on Dulles Rail
By Peter Galuszka It has always been supremely puzzling to me why this blog has taken such a strident and shrill anti-union attitude. The shining example is the smear campaign against project labor agreements (PLAs) and Phase Two of the Silver Line of Metro to Dulles airport. The attacks extend to attempts to liquidate personally…
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Who’s Paying for McDonnell’s Happy Talk TV Ads
By Peter Galuszka It’s hard to have your ego dunned. Yet it’s happened to Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, who, according to the Quinnipiac University, lost five points in a popular poll thanks to his disastrous 2012 General Assembly session that brought the arrests of pro-abortion rights protestors on Capitol ground and a spate of…