Posts Tagged ‘Virginia’
Virginia lawmakers act on energy bills
As the Virginia General Assembly enters the final days of its 2015 session, we can look back on five action-packed weeks. Among the many issues our lawmakers labored over, a few — including changes to state energy policy — were explosive enough to consistently make headlines. Here’s a recap of the drama, along with a few important policies that received less fanfare.
Virginia Climate Fever
How Global Warming Will Transform Our Cities, Shorelines, and Forests By Stephen Nash As visiting senior research scholar at the University of Richmond, Stephen Nash explores the stunning local aspects of climate disruption. This digestible work employs enough facts and visuals to demonstrate the amount of damage that global warming promises for the Old Dominion.…
Read MoreThe Crooked Road Drives Mountain Music into Classrooms
A new Virginia community college course will give teachers the knowledge and techniques to present the region’s rich musical heritage to students in a multimedia format.
Read MoreLooking on the bright side, states seek solar benefits
U.S. jobs grew nearly 20 times faster in the solar industry than the whole economy’s national average, reports The Solar Foundation, and some southeastern states are catching the rays of the burgeoning industry with policies encouraging growth in both privately-owned and utility-scale solar.
Read MoreSurvey says: Virginians want clean energy
A bi-partisan poll released today shows solid support among Virginia voters for the state to develop a plan to cut carbon pollution and shift to cleaner sources of energy. Meanwhile, in Richmond, the General Assembly is heading in the opposite direction, casting votes in favor of dirty fossil fuels.
Update from the Virginia General Assembly
Virginia’s legislative session may be brief, but many bills with major implications for our future energy mix have already been acted on. Two weeks into this year’s session, here is a look at where our top issues stand.
Fracking and pipelines threaten Appalachia
The natural gas industry has overwhelmed scores of communities across the country, building miles of new pipelines and erecting huge drilling rigs. Appalachian Voices today launched web pages about efforts to open North Carolina to fracking and proposals to build natural gas pipelines through several Appalachian states, and the growing citizen movement to shift to cleaner energy.
A schizoid rate case and a climate directive in Virginia
A recent order from the Virginia State Corporation Commission could spell trouble for residential and small-scale solar in the state. But there is also reason to have hope as regulators rejected a proposal by Appalachian Power Company to nearly double the fixed fees that show up on its customers’ monthly bills. Here’s a look at a schizoid rate case and what it could mean for Virginia’s energy future.
Virginia utilities expand their menus with new energy-saving offerings
Advocates for energy efficiency often call it “the first fuel,” and Virginia is now creeping ahead toward gains in this lowest-cost power source. The state’s largest utilities are promoting new programs to help their customers invest in energy-saving home improvements, which can help Virginians save money while reducing energy consumption and pollution.
From Southwest Virginia, a path for less pollution
Kathy Selvage comes from a long line of coal miners in southwest Virginia. She’s proud of her heritage, yet is a passionate advocate for moving Appalachia away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy.