Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

Category: Environment

  • Virginia’s Climate Change Agenda

    —

    by

    James A. Bacon
    in

    I’ve long been concerned that the “climate change” debate has morphed from a subject of legitimate scientific inquiry into an ideological movement that pits liberal world views vs. conservative, and that reasoned discourse has transmogrified into tribal, us-versus-them combat. I hope fervently that Gov. Timothy M. Kaine’s commission on climate change can avoid falling into…

  • More Nuke News

    —

    by

    James A. Bacon
    in , ,

    The state Senate has signed off on a bill to study whether uranium can be safely mined in Pittsylvania County. (You can find coverage by the Lynchburg News & Advance here.) This is a good thing: The Pittsylvania uranium deposits are among the richest in North America. Uranium mining could stimulate a major new industry…

  • Virginia and Climate Change: Tim Kaine Brings the Global Debate Home

    —

    by

    James A. Bacon
    in

    The reality of climate change is beyond debate, the Times-Dispatch paraphrases Gov. Timothy M. Kaine as saying during the initial meeting yesterday of his commission on Climate Change. “Gone are the days of debating whether man-made effects exist” with global warming, the Virginian-Pilot quotes him as saying. “Those days are gone.” The first of the…

  • Uranium Debate Generates Heat

    —

    by

    James A. Bacon
    in ,

    There’s a huge debate brewing over whether to study the feasibility of uranium mining in Pittsylvania County. Sen. Frank W. Wagner, R-Virginia Beach, has submitted a bill to create a 15-member commission to assess the benefits and risks. A proposal just to study uranium mining, it seems, is highly controversial. There are many people in…

  • Thanks for the Column, Barnie. Now for Some Tough Questions.

    —

    by

    James A. Bacon
    in ,

    Barnie Day, to my knowledge, is the first candidate for a State Corporation Commission judgeship who has made his case publicly on a blog. In “A Matter of Exquisite Balance,” Barnie provides a thoughtful column on the qualities he believes an SCC judge should possess. As a community bank executive in Patrick County, this former…

  • Strife in the Coalfields

    —

    by

    James A. Bacon
    in ,

    Dominion wants to build a state-of-the-art “clean coal” power plant in Wise County to meet the growing demand for electricity in Virginia. Not surprisingly, opposition has surfaced. I described the proposed power plant back in July as an inter-regional transfer of wealth. That criticism didn’t gain much traction, but opposition to the project on environmental…

  • MORE ON LAKE ANNA

    —

    by

    James A. Bacon
    in , ,

    We agree with Larry Gross that Peter Galuszka did a good job with the column “Rethinking Lake Anna.” Further, we agree with Peter that ramping up nuclear power is a topic that may be given too little attention in the rush to shrink humans carbon footprint. Since Jim is on the road I will copy…

  • Bay Worse off than We Thought

    —

    by

    James A. Bacon
    in

    Everyone knows the Chesapeake Bay has problems, but it’s a comfort to think that some $3 billion invested in clean up since the 1980s are slowly healing what was one of the world’s most biologically productive estuaries. But maybe not. A University of Maryland professor has issued a downer of a report arguing that the…

  • Stacking the Deck

    —

    by

    James A. Bacon
    in

    Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has appointed a 32-person task force, the Commission on Climate Change, to provide guidance on how to address the challenge of Global Warming. The group has a broad-based membership that, according to the governor’s press release, “includes state legislators; scientists; economists; representatives from the energy, transportation, manufacturing, development, and agriculture industries;…

  • SCC Approves Highland Wind Farms

    —

    by

    James A. Bacon
    in ,

    Highland New Wind Development can proceed with its $60 million, mountaintop wind farm, ruled the State Corporation Commission, on the condition that it develop a “post-construction bat and bird mitigation plan.” The project calls for building 19 windmills reaching 400 feet tall in Highland County — enough to power 20,000 homes. The whirring blades are…

  • Science Museum Foundation Forced to Pay-Up

    —

    by

    James A. Bacon
    in

    The ever-alert Jon Baliles pointed me to this item in the RTD regarding the outcome of a city investigation into Richmond clothing magnate Stuart Siegel’s clear-cutting along the James River. The conclusion? The property owner, the Science Museum of Virginia Foundation, has to pay-up…not Siegel: In a letter to the foundation, the city said the…

  • Virginia’s Destiny: One Big Parking Lot by 2030?

    —

    by

    James A. Bacon
    in ,

    If present trends continue, warns Trip Pollard with the Southern Environmental Law Center in a new study, Virginia’s population will reach nearly 10 million by 2030 — adding the equivalent of the entire population of Northern Virginia. More land will be developed in the next 40 years than in the previous 400, traffic congestion will…

  • Act Now to Head Off Nuclear Fireworks

    —

    by

    James A. Bacon
    in ,

    While most of the talk about uranium mining in Virginia focuses on Pittsylvania County in Virginia’s southern piedmont — home to the richest deposit of uranium in North America — don’t forget about the northern piedmont. Madison and Orange counties also contain substantial uranium deposits, although not on the same scale, and could be impacted…

  • Good News and Bad about the Bay

    —

    by

    James A. Bacon
    in

    Let’s see, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine says Virginia expects to meet key goals for cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay. From yesterday’s press release: “…Kaine today announced Virginia’s largest wastewater treatment facilities and industries within the Chesapeake Bay watershed expect to meet their nutrient reduction goals by the end of 2010. Facilities will reduce the amount…

  • Tax Credit Crisis

    —

    by

    James A. Bacon
    in ,

    Gov. Timothy M. Kaine may want to increase the amount of land under conservation easement, but his Department of Taxation isn’t making the job any easier for him. In April, the tax department sent letters to investors who purchased land conservation tax credits from the Silver Cos., informing them that they could not take the…