I’m undecided on this one, it really comes down to exactly what’s in the Trans-Pacific Partnership. For instance, will there be strong protections for labor, human rights and the environment? If so, then I could see myself supporting this deal. If not, I couldn’t.
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, April 22. As for things that scare conservatives, I’d add “reality,” “science,” “an informed and engaged electorate,” “taking away fossil fuel companies’ massive taxpayer-funded corporate welfare,” and many other things. Finally, please click here to “Urge Governor McAuliffe To Continue Supporting A Strong Clean Power Plan For Virginia!”
*Newsweek adds disclosure about Koch ties of professor who wrote anti-wind power piece (Good, although why on earth didn’t they have that disclaimer in the first place?!?)
*Earth Day: scientists say 75% of known fossil fuel reserves must stay in ground (Note to Terry McAuliffe and other “all-of-the-above” fans: natural gas is a fossil fuel.)
*EPA’s Clean Power Plan Will Create Quarter-Million Jobs (“New study shows that job gains, not the losses the industry predicted, would follow if new carbon rules are implemented.”)
*Mary Robinson, UN Envoy: Climate Agenda Makes 2015 the ‘Most Important Year Since 1945’
*Five Years After The BP Oil Spill, Gulf Coast Residents Say “BP Hasn’t Made Things Right” (Not even close.)
*Trade war heating up among Democrats (“Referring to Warren by name, Obama said she and other critics are ‘wrong on this’ and added that although ‘some of the information that has been getting thrown out there plays into legitimate fears that Democratic voters have, and progressives have, it’s simply not true. It’s simply not the facts.'”)
*U.S. Chamber, AFL-CIO clash at Senate hearing over Obama’s free trade push (“Seeking to win support from more Democrats, Obama taped a midday interview pushing his trade agenda with MSNBC host Chris Matthews on Tuesday at the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce in Northern Virginia.”)
*Deal on Trade Pact Gives Obama Authority but Builds In a Delay
*The Senate’s brief bipartisan love-fest (“The bipartisan bonhomie had lasted all of four hours.” (It was also on the bare minimum – moving closer to confirming a superbly-qualified nominee as Attorney General and passing a who-could-not-support-this human trafficking bill. Mazel tov.)
*Cruz Campaign Accuses Paul and Rubio of Wimping Out on Gun Rights After Newtown (What the hell? “Gun rights” are stronger than ever in this country.)
*Why The Koch Brothers Want Scott Walker To Be President (The Koch brothers are John Birch Society extremists; whoever they support should be strongly opposed by voters.)
*Burying Bill (“Why Hillary Clinton must turn her back on parts of her husband’s political legacy to win in 2016.”)
*Clinton Cash Author Peter Schweizer’s Long History Of Errors, Retractions, And Questionable Sourcing (Slimeball.)
*Consensus grows in favor of body cameras for law enforcement
*Editorial: Be wary of any Redskins stadium talk (“Time to lock up your wallet: Gov. Terry McAuliffe has been talking to the Washington Redskins about building a new stadium in Virginia.” Scary.)
*Tangled web of dollars ties Virginia localities back to state
*Medicaid costs may crowd out public education funding, study says
*Realtor group to monitor pipeline company’s property moves
*Lawmakers want assistant Norfolk prosecutor as judge
*Fairfax pays $2.95 million to settle suit in John Geer police killing
*Va. Beach tragedy sheds light on home health care industry
*Urgent need for stability at NSU
*Hampton Roads must rise to challenge in reducing effects of climate change
*Schapiro: Long, winding – and different – paths to the mayoralty (“Each of the top-tier prospects for mayor in 2016 – councilman Jon Baliles; Levar Stoney, a high-ranking state government official; and school board chairman Jeff Bourne – faces unique obstacles.”)
*Botetourt sees little opposition to wind turbines at public forum
*Arlington passes budget for fiscal 2016 without raising the property-tax rate
*Capitals even series with Islanders on Backstrom’s Game 4 overtime winner (The Wizards and Nats won last night too.)
*Mild and breezy again today with
a chance for showers tonight
On April 8, I sent Blue Virginia interview questions to all Democratic candidates running for the 45th House of Delegates district (Alexandria, south Arlington) seat being vacated by Del. Rob Krupicka. The candidates are Larry Altenburg, Craig Fifer, Julie Jakopic, Mark Levine and Clarence Tong. I told the candidates that I’d post their interviews in the order I received them. The first one I received back, on Monday, was from Larry Altenburg. Last Thurday, I received responses from Clarence Tong. Now, I’ve gotten back Julie Jakopic’s answers, which you can read below – thanks! As soon as I receive the remaining two candidates’ answers, I’ll post them. Finally, please note that the primary for this nomination will take place on June 9, so if you’re a Democrat who lives in the 45th, make sure you vote!
1. Tell us a bit about yourself, and specifically, what in your background and/or temperament makes you the best qualified of the Democratic candidates to represent the 45th House of Delegates district in Richmond.
I have a clear vision of where government can create opportunities andmake a difference in people’s lives. I’ve led commissions and nonprofit boards nationally and here in the 45th district, fighting for early childhood education, economic opportunity, social services, and housing. I’ve also built a business that helps governments and organizations throughout the nation improve the effectiveness of their services. As a delegate, I want to bring this experience to Richmond to help us find ways to give every child and family real opportunities to reach their potential.
My mom raised my brother and me by herself, after my father took his own life. I saw firsthand how hard it was for families to make ends meet and provide all of the opportunities they want for their children, and it taught me the importance of access to quality education, access to healthcare and mental health care, and economic opportunity on a level playing field.
2. What three issues are you most passionate about and why? What specifically have you done to further those issues? What would be the first bill you’d introduce in the House of Delegates?
Expanding children’s access to safe, quality preschool education
Early care and education has lasting impact. We can already identify differences in brain development for low-income or traumatized children as early as 18 months of age. These differences can have longterm ramifications throughout schooling and well into adulthood. As chair-elect of Hopkins House PreSchool Academy, where I have helped expand our programs to two additional schools, I understand the need to strengthen safety requirements, such as background checks, for child-care providers as well as set quality learning standards to ensure that all children start school ready to learn.
Expand access to health care and mental health care.
We need to find ways to get Medicaid expansion done. That will take winning back the Senate and working with HHS, but it is a must. Published estimates vary on the number of Virginians who could be covered by Medicaid expansion from a high of 400,000 (http://havcoalition.org/medicaid-expansion) to a current estimate of 195,000. According to the Commonwealth Institute, nearly 200,000 Virginians – 2,500 here in the 45th district – need us to close the health care coverage gap. We have already lost more than $1.8 billion in federal funds for medical care in Virginia. It’s unacceptable. Furthermore, as a former chair of the Alexandria Community Services Board and because of my own family’s experience, I understand that we need meaningful mental health reform. That means changing regulations, streamlining the business processes, and providing adequate funding, not moving money back and forth from substance abuse treatment to mental health treatment. We also need to address the housing needs of those assisted by the Community Services Boards, those struggling to rebuild their lives after mental illness or substance abuse, and those who live with intellectual or developmental disabilities. That’s why in Alexandria, I led our board to work closely with the community to invest in nearly $15 million in affordable housing.
Ensure a level playing field to give all Virginians better economic opportunities.
I joined and chaired the Alexandria Economic Opportunity Commission because I know how important a level playing field is for each of us to be able to succeed and for our communities to thrive. We worked hard to increase regulation of predatory payday lenders, provide better protections for utility consumers, and strengthen workforce development programs to assist job seekers. These are issues that matter to voters here in the 45th and across the Commonwealth. In Richmond, we can do even more. I’ll continue the work we did in Alexandria on payday lending, utility rates, and workforce training programs to help even the economic playing field for all. I’ll also work to make sure our minimum wage is a living wage. You shouldn’t have to borrow money to heat your home at rates that are multiples of what wealthier individuals pay just because you can’t get access to a job that pays a fair wage. We have to help end that cycle of crushing debt.
First Bill – Make access to quality education a high priority.
If I’m elected I will introduce legislation that makes sure we don’t give up on our kids. I’ll introduce legislation to ensure that all kids in Virginia have access to free full-day kindergarten and pre-K opportunities in environments that parents can rely on and find safe, and to ensure that all children start school ready learn, starting with our lowest performing schools. Virginia sends more students through our justice system than any other state. I’ll introduce legislation to provide training for teachers and administrators to address alternative methods to support troubled kids and increase cultural competency in working with students of color and those with disabilities as well as to provide alternatives to suspension and adjudication.
Like Del. Krupicka, I care deeply about education and educational access. I’ll also introduce additional legislation to help students afford college or other training they need to get jobs that pay a living wage and have career ladders to grow and sustain their families and our economy. For example, I’d work to make the Coal Tax Repeal for Higher Education a reality. This bill, this year labeled HB 1877, repeals tax breaks for coal and uses the revenue to expand the Virginia Guaranteed Assistance Program, with fifty percent dedicated to supporting low-income students from coal districts who would otherwise not be able to attend college.
3. How would you describe yourself ideologically – “progressive,” “moderate,” “liberal,” or something else? How does your record of votes, endorsements, employment, and other activities reflect your political ideology?
I’m a results-oriented progressive. I think that we need to stand firm and speak clearly on progressive values. We should not cede our position on matters of principle. However, I also know that trumpeting a position alone doesn’t get us wins in Richmond. We also have to find common ground, build coalitions, and develop and implement winning legislative strategies.
I’ve led four separate commissions and boards of nonprofit organizations operating in the 45th district on a range of critical issues- early childhood education, economic opportunity, social services, and housing – and in each we’ve had to work in exactly this way within the board or commission and with other stakeholders and constituencies. My approach has always been to advocate for those in our community who needed support, and then to work hard to create a process that puts everyone together at the same table to achieve that goal while also ensuring each stakeholder’s interests were addressed. For example, I worked with the Hopkins House leadership to expand the focus of Hopkins House from a focus on geographic location to a broader concept of mission and children in need. It’s also how I first met Rob Krupicka. When I was a Vice Chair of the Alexandria Community Services Board and he was a new member, we worked together to locate and purchase a house to create a program for those re- entering the community after substance abuse treatment. We worked closely with the neighborhood to build trust and address resident concerns. This was the first home I worked with the city and community to develop and maintain. Today, between the CSB and Sheltered Homes of Alexandria, which I currently chair, we have nearly $15 million in housing for those with disabilities.
4. Who is your favorite and who is your least favorite current Virginia politician and why?
My favorite elected official is Del. Rob Krupicka. We have worked together on our shared priorities for nearly 20 years. During that time, I have learned so much about how to build coalitions to get things done. I’ve also learned how to stay focused on the goal as you bring people to the table, which is what makes it possible to both fight for what is right and collaborate to get things accomplished.
I am torn between two current or recent elected officials who trouble me. First is Bob McDonnell. His actions demonstrate how desperately we need to make sure that we ensure that no Virginian can obtain greater access and influence in government simply because of wealth. I am grateful we are finally speaking truth to power on ethics reform, but it’s tough to see that conversation arise as a result of such a damaging moment in Virginia history. Moving forward, it’s our job to ensure proper reforms remain in place to keep legislators accountable, and I’m glad Governor McAuliffe is seeing that through. And then there is former Delegate Joe Morrissey. I simply don’t understand how an unapologetic convicted child predator not only believes he should stay in office, but is able to do so.
5. If you had been in the House of Delegates at the time, would you have voted for a) HB 2313, the comprehensive transportation package passed in 2013; b) repeal of Virginia’s estate tax, which is costing our state around $130 million a year in order to benefit a few hundred of the wealthiest Virginians; c) the 2011 redistricting bill HB 5001, which gerrymandered the state and helped to lock in a Republican majority in the House of Delegates for the rest of the decade; or d) the 2014 and 2015 ethics reform packages, which many (myself included) have criticized as extremely weak, possibly even a step backwards in the case of the most recent “reforms.”
While the vote on any particular bill depends in part on the context of other options on the table, in general, here is how I believe I would have voted on thesebills:
a) HB 2313 – Yes. While it may not have been perfect, any bill of that size requires compromise. Northern Virginia gridlock is infamous, and this was a critical first step. Now, it’s up to us to continue providing infrastructure funding by revising our tax code (for example, by raising the cigarette tax and/or eliminating the wasteful coal tax credits).
b) Repeal of the estate tax – No.
c) HB 5001 – No. I support a non-partisan redistricting process.
d) Ethics reform – No, I would not have supported the package presented – especially considering that the bill included loopholes on travel and eliminated the aggregate gift cap (since restored); that bill was not real ethics reform, it was an attempt to placate Virginians without fixing the problem.
6. What is your vision for Virginia’s energy future? Do you support any of the following: offshore oil drilling, natural gas “fracking,” new natural gas pipelines (e.g., Mountain Valley Pipeline, Atlantic Coast Pipeline) uranium mining, new coal-fired power plants, mountaintop removal coal mining? If not, what will you do to fight against these things, and to fight for a healthy environment, energy efficiency, and renewable power?
Decisions around energy are complex. We need an energy future that relies on renewable resources that minimize pollution. In a world in which our current energy production relies heavily on offshore oil drilling, natural gas fracking, coal and nuclear power plants, the challenge is how we make that transition. In Virginia, we can help to move the country toward the goal of a totally renewable energy future by the choices we make about energy production here. We should start by not adding new sources of fossil-fuel-based energy production within Virginia to prevent further deterioration of human health, water quality, and our environment; to protect the tourism that energy production threatens in our state; and to begin to build more broad-based and sustainable economic models for communities relying on economies so heavily dominated by single industries.
As a state, climate change is the biggest environmental and economic threat that we face, and we must take action to curb our own carbon pollution and prepare for some adaptation. As one example, the Hampton Roads area and Chesapeake Bay are among the United States’ most threatened by climate change-induced sea-level rise. The environmental and economic damage we may sustain in the next century could be devastating and cause many billions of dollars in damage.
Moreover, the pollution from fossil fuels is harming our health and unnecessarily increasing our health care costs. From increased respiratory ailments like asthma in areas with substantial air pollution and degraded water quality, increased birth defect and cancer rates in and near mountaintop removal coal sites, our use of coal and fossil fuels are unnecessarily harming us and burdening our health care system.
We in Virginia need to do everything we can to reduce carbon and other pollution that directly diminishes our water and air quality. I would start by opposing any additional mountaintop removal coal mines and any new coal-fired power plants. I do not have confidence that uranium mining can be done in southern Virginia without endangering groundwater and downstream surface water supplies, and I therefore would support the continuing moratorium on uranium mining.
Our coastline is an important resource to our Commonwealth. Adding Virginia’s oil and gas reserves to existing reserves will do nothing to increase our energy security as a nation. Before considering any offshore gas or oil drilling, I believe we need to fully explore investing in substantially more solar and wind energy production.
At the same time, I am mindful that we cannot turn away from carbon-based economy overnight. It seems unlikely that we can improve our renewable resources and reduce consumption rapidly enough to fully produce all of the energy that our economy needs in the near-term. For that reason, I have a mixed view on natural gas. Natural gas burns cleaner than coal and so can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions while more renewable energy sources are brought on line. However, to get these benefits, we need to address the problems of gas leaks in old infrastructure, especially in older cities in the Northeast. At the same time, I have significant concerns about the risks that the use of many chemicals in fracking operations pose a contamination risk to groundwater, and thus to human health and future economic development in the areas being fracked. I would oppose any additional fracking that requires injection into the ground any chemicals in concentrations not allowed in drinking water.
I remain undecided about construction of major new natural gas pipelines across Virginia. I am not satisfied that we have adequately answered several important questions including whether these pipelines would reduce the use of coal and especially mountaintop removal coal in the Southeastern United States and whether the pathways for each pipeline can be constructed in ways that avoid environmentally sensitive areas.
7. Yes or no answers. Do you support: a) a strongly progressive tax system, including a reasonable estate tax on the wealthy; b) a “Dream Act” for Virginia; c) allowing gay couples to adopt; d) closing the “gun show loophole” and taking other commonsense gun measures; e) raising the gas tax and/or instituting a carbon tax (revenue-neutral or otherwise)?
a) Yes, we need a strongly progressive tax system, including a reasonable estate tax on the wealthy
b) Yes, we should pass a DREAM Act for Virginia
c) Yes, we should allow gay couple to adopt, with additional legislation ensuring marriage equality and civil rights protection for all Virginians, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
d) Yes, we should close the gun show loophole, adopt protections advocated by Del. Krupicka to ensure courts and police have stronger powers to remove guns from people who may have mental illness that puts them and others at risk, and protect our children by keeping guns out of our schools.
e) Yes, and the revenue generated by taxes must be accompanied by clear plans for use of the funds to further reduce pollution and congestion.
8. Given that the 45th House of Delegates district is a solid “blue” district, and thus a “safe seat,” it is crucial that whoever is elected has a plan to help elect Democrats – preferably progressives – across Virginia. That includes fundraising, organizing volunteers, and maximizing turnout in the 45th district for statewide and Congressional elections. Do you agree with this vision for the Delegate from the 45th district, and if so, what exactly is your plan to accomplish it?
I agree that Democratic delegates from solidly blue districts need to support other Democrats statewide and support turnout and fundraising efforts for statewide candidates. For over 20 years, I have worked tirelessly with local committees by hosting phone banks and events to raise money and recognition for both statewide and local candidates, including most recently Gov. McAullife and Lt. Gov. Northam. Furthermore, the 45th district deserves a strong, clear voice to advocate for what we believe in, and I hope to be that voice.
9. Do you agree or disagree that Richmond is broken – for instance, the tremendous influence of money, lobbyists and corporations (e.g., Dominion Virginia Power, car title/payday lenders) on legislation – and needs major ethics reform? More broadly, if elected to the House of Delegates, would your general attitude be more “go along, get along” with this system or to “shake things up?” Please be as specific as possible in your answer. For instance, would you support campaign finance reform that sharply curtails the power of corporations, lobbyists, and special interests?
I would not characterize Richmond as “broken.” Under Gov. McAuliffe’s, Lt. Gov. Northam, and Attorney General Herring’s leadership, the lives of many Virginians have improved over the past sixteen months. In addition, on a range of issues including reducing testing burdens on schools, Del. Krupicka has shown that, with determination and hard work, you can find common ground on many issues with the party across the aisle while pursuing matters that benefit us in the 45th district. However, we have allowed certain interests to have oversized influence on the legislative process in ways that work against the interests of most Virginians, and we need to reshift the balance to make sure that citizens’ concerns can be fairly heard and addressed.
We need further ethics reforms. I support Gov. McAuliffe’s efforts to cap total gifts from a particular individual at $100 total, rather than daily. I also think that we need to reform our process for drawing legislative districts to make individual districts more competitive and make the process less subject to such severe partisan advantage. I would support greater restrictions on campaign contributions within the limits Citizens United allows, and further restrictions if the Supreme Court rules they are possible. I also would support increases in transparency that will bring certain types of attempts to influence legislators and elections into the ‘sunshine,’ including better and more frequent disclosures of donors. At the state level, we could require that 501(c)(4) “social welfare” organizations that spend funds advocating for or against a candidate disclose the sources of the funds used for these purposes.
10. Please tell us how you would stand up to party leadership, and even to a Democratic governor, if you believed that they were wrong about an issue and/or that it would hurt the 45th district.
I think it is important for Democrats to work hard to stand together on issues because it maximizes our ability to be effective on the issues of greatest concern to Virginians, but I also know that we certainly won’t always agree among ourselves. I believe in debate, even with our friends, is part of how we develop the best options and policies. We ought to listen carefully and thoughtfully to one another, but as representative of the 45th district, I am accountable to this district first and foremost. I think that it is important that our delegate be willing to stand up vocally for our district and our values when other Democratic leaders believe we should go a different way on a particular issue.
For example, out of my experience in advocating for providing assistance to families and for creating economic opportunity, I had substantive concerns about policies that Congressman Beyer had floated. I raised these concerns and engaged him on those points, and that led to constructive dialogue and the opportunity to coordinate the Congressman’s Poverty Advisory Committee. There will be other issues where other Democrats and I may disagree on, and I would expect that by engaging one another we will be able to make sure that the policy strategies on which we ultimately settle will be the strongest and most effective they can be.
These occurrences are fortunately infrequent, but I have no issue with advocating hard for what makes the most sense for the 45th district. Engaging and listening to one another and vetting ideas in public forums are critical to developing strong, effective policy.
The following letter (bolding added by me) from Virginia environmental groups was sent in February, but it remains highly relevant, as the EPA’s Clean Power Plan nears its one-year comment period. It’s also highly relevant – and important – if you care about Virginia’s forests, not to mention the clean water, air, habitat, recreational opportunities, tourism dollars, etc. that depend on those forests. Finally, note that on May 4, from 7 to 8:30 pm at Arlington Central Library, there will be a presentation entitled, “Burning Trees for Electricity: How EPA’s Clean Power Plan Puts Forests at Risk in Virginia and Across the Nation,” spnosored by Michelle’s Earth Foundation, the Partnership for Policy Integrity, the Sierra Club Great Falls Group and the Sierra Club Mt. Vernon Group. It sounds like it’s well worth checking out.
February 25, 2015
Gina McCarthy
Administrator
Office of the Administrator 1101A
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, DC 20460Dear Administrator McCarthy:
We are a group of environmental organizations located in Virginia. We support the Clean Power Plan and believe it has significant potential to reduce power sector emissions in our state, in particular through the expansion of zero-emissions renewable energy and energy efficiency. However, we are extremely concerned that if EPA treats biomass as carbon neutral under the final Clean Power Plan, it will openly invite Dominion Virginia Power, the dominant utility in Virginia, to burn wood from forests to help meet its emission reduction obligations under the Plan.
As EPA knows, wood is the fuel of choice for biomass power plants because it contains more energy and is more plentiful than other forms of biomass. Therefore, labeling biomass as emitting zero carbon would amount to a policy that promotes forest-cutting to reduce carbon emissions. Such a policy would contradict a growing body of science, including peer-reviewed studies in leading journals, commissioned by the state of Massachusetts. This research has shown that biomass power actually increases emissions relative to fossil fuels, and that it takes several decades for new forest growth to re-sequester the carbon released when forests are cut for fuel. In addition, these studies show that burning forestry residues, the fuel Dominion claims to burn, also increases carbon emissions and that it takes years to decades before such emissions are offset.
Since 2012, Massachusetts and Washington, DC have significantly reduced renewable energy subsidies to bioenergy due to its excessive greenhouse gas emissions. In Vermont, the Public Service Board denied a certificate of public good for a wood-burning power plant, writing that “the evidentiary record supports a finding that the Project would release as much as 448,714 tons of CO2e per year, and that sequestration of those greenhouse gases would not occur until future years, possibly not for decades, and would not occur at all in the case of forest-regeneration failures.” In addition, the American Lung Association opposes the use of biomass power because of its high emissions of conventional pollutants, which can exceed those from coal-fired power per unit energy generated.
EPA’s formula for calculating state carbon dioxide emissions under the proposed Clean Power Plan does not account for emissions from wood-fired power plants, although the equation does count the power generated by burning biomass. On November 19th 2014, EPA issued a memorandum indicating that states that wish to use bioenergy in their compliance plans would be able to burn a variety of materials, including “sustainably harvested” biomass. Treatment of these materials as having zero emissions is not supported by science, as highlighted by the recent literature and EPA’s Science Advisory Panel. Beyond this evidence, in our travels across Virginia, it is rare to find a forestry operation, no matter how intensive, that is not characterized as “sustainable.” Therefore, the term “sustainable” places little to no limit on the type or amount of biomass that might be burned for electricity production.
In the last two years, before the issuance of the proposed Clean Power Plan, Dominion has converted three coal plants to run on wood at Altavista, Hopewell, and Southampton for a combined total of 153 megawatts, and has built a new 600 megawatt “hybrid” energy center at Virginia City that will burn about 20 percent wood (117 megawatts). These facilities joined Dominion’s existing 83 megawatt wood-fired Pittsylvania plant.
Once Dominion’s total bioenergy capacity is online, these facilities at fulltime operation would burn about 4.5 million tons of wood a year. They would represent a 4.1 percent increase in electricity generation, but would cause a 13.6 percent increase in Virginia’s power sector CO2 emissions over the 2012 baseline. Yet under EPA’s proposed treatment of bioenergy in the Clean Power Plan, this substantial increase would be treated as zero.
Dominion knew that biomass carbon emissions could be regulated by EPA when it invested in these biomass conversions and further admitted to the Virginia State Corporation Commission in 2011 that regulation of biogenic carbon would reduce the value of its coal-to-wood conversions, but the company proceeded with the projects anyway. Now, Dominion claims in its comments to EPA on the Clean Power Plan that, given the company’s “significant investment” in bioenergy, purposes of this rule.” not actually reduce emissions, and they would be better served by inducing the company to transition to zero-emissions renewable energy sources for compliance. Even prior to issuance of the Clean Power Plan, Dominion was projecting that 74.4 percent of its renewable energy will come from bioenergy in 2029. If EPA finalizes treatment of biomass as having zero emissions, Dominion and other power companies would have an even greater incentive to burn forest wood to meet the Plan’s carbon dioxide reduction targets.
Our groups want real reductions in carbon emissions from the power sector, and we want to protect Virginia’s forests, not see them cut for fuel. We ask EPA to heed the advice of its own Science Advisory Board and fully recognize the multi-year to multi-decade impact of burning biomass on net carbon emissions, even when “forest residues” are burned for fuel. We don’t want Virginia to be known as the state that harvests forests to reduce its dependence on coal. IF EPA allows biomass under the final Clean Power Plan, it must fully account for bioenergy emissions, or remove woody biomass as a compliance measure under the rule. EPA recently released its Revised Framework for Assessing Biogenic CO2 Emissions from Stationary Sources, which is currently undergoing further review by the Science Advisory Board. If EPA intends to apply this framework to the Clean Power Plan, the agency should let the Board complete its review before including biomass in the final rule.
Thank you,
Natalie Pien
350 LoudounGail Fendley, President
Michelle’s Earth FoundationChris Miller, President
Piedmont Environmental CouncilGlen Besa, Director
Sierra Club-Virginia ChapterDavid Carr, General Counsel
Southern Environmental Law CenterAnne Little
Tree FredericksburgBud Watson, Executive Director
Virginia Forest WatchErnie Reed, President
Wild Virginia
From U.S. House of Representatives Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi's office:
First 100 Days of the Republican Congress
Last week, House Republicans marked 100 days of the new Republican Congress – 100 days spent stacking the deck for their special-interest friends against everyone else.
With both chambers of Congress, Republicans have missed no chance to show their contempt for hard-working families:
· Dragging the Department of Homeland Security to the brink of shutdown, endangering the security of our entire nation to satisfy the most radical anti-immigrant voices of their party;
· Voting to deport DREAMers striving for a future in the only home they’ve ever known;
· Voting to strip health coverage from millions of American families, to enable insurance companies to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, and to restore limits on lifetime care;
· Advancing an unprecedented assault on women’s comprehensive health care, placing radical new restrictions on how women with private insurance can spend private dollars;
· Voting to end the Medicare guarantee as we know it and subject seniors to skyrocketing health costs.
Hard-working families need bigger paychecks and better infrastructure, but Republicans can’t be bothered to help. After the first 100 days of Republican embarrassments on the floor and special-interest priorities on the agenda, it doesn’t seem the next 100 will be any better.
Republican Estate Tax Repeal
While Democrats are championing plans to move America forward by raising wages and cutting taxes for hard-working families, Republicans are stuck on a carousel ride as they focus on yet another deficit-exploding Republican tax giveaway to millionaires and billionaires.
While the American people filed taxes for tax day, Republicans were advancing a completely unpaid-for effort to repeal the federal estate tax – a staggering plan to increase the deficit by $269 billion with a tax break that applies to only the 5,400 wealthiest estates in America.
· Instead of cutting taxes for hard-working families, Republicans are handing billions and billions of dollars to the top 0.2 percent;
· While hard-working Americans are scraping together to save for a house, for college, to start a business, or for a secure retirement, House Republicans are giving 5,400 estates a tax break worth an average of $2.5 million apiece – more than the typical college graduate earns in an entire lifetime.
The American people have had enough of Republicans taking the tools of opportunity away from hard-working Americans to give bigger tax breaks to the super wealthy. We need a better plan and a better set of values to build a strong and prosperous future for America.
Missing Budget Deadlines
Last week, as hard-working Americans prioritized to file their taxes ahead of Tax Day on April 15, even with control of both chambers of Congress, Republicans failed to meet the April 15 deadline to pass a budget.
Now, a belated Republican conference committee huddles in secret, prioritizing the desires of the ultra-wealthy and special interests over the dire needs of hard-working American families.
House Republicans’ “Work Harder for Less” Budget perfectly captures their priorities: massive tax giveaways for the special interests and ultra-wealthy paid for by making life harder for middle class families. The Republican budget:
· Destroys destroy 2.9 million jobs in 2017, and decreases economic growth by 2.5 percent.
· Greenlights the Romney-Ryan plan to give millionaires a $200,000 tax break while increasing taxes on the average middle class family by $2,000;
· Ends the Medicare guarantee;
· Ends higher education tax credits and ends the boost in the child tax credit;
· Strips millions of Americans of tax credits for affordable health care.
· Ignores our crumbling infrastructure and surrenders American leadership in education, research and innovation.
House Democrats believe in a budget that invests in the hard-working Americans who are the backbone of our country: making it easier to buy a home, easier to pay for college, easier to save for a secure and enjoyable retirement.
Democrats will continue to stand for opportunity, prosperity and dignity for every American – not just the wealthy and well connected by working to bring bigger paychecks and better infrastructure to the American people.
Protecting American Consumers
Today, House Republicans are making another attempt to undermine the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which protects hard-working American consumers, by slashing funding for this vital watchdog group.
Republicans are pushing an insidious scheme to transform a bipartisan bill establishing three advisory boards to provide information about small businesses, credit unions and community banks into a brazen attempt to cut funding for the consumer protection group to limit its ability to support consumer financial protections.
Instead of supporting consumer financial protections essential to stabilizing the economy, promoting competition and transparency, and restoring confidence to the consumer financial marketplace, this bill will undermine the CFPB’s ability to protect consumers:
· Establishing new requirements for the CFPB, then stripping the funding necessary to fund that work, and
· Capping the CFPB’s budget, which drastically cuts funding by $50 million in FY 2020 and nearly $100 million in FY 2025.
Rather than strengthen the agency that has empowered consumers, protected college students, and provided hard-working Americans with free and regular access to their credit scores, House Republicans are undermining CFPB’s ability to protect consumers from the worst abuses in the financial marketplace.
Yeah, I know, it’s not a big surprise that 2013 Virginia Republican gubernatorial nominee (and, as much as I still can’t believe it actually happened, Attorney General of Virginia) Ken Cuccinelli’s nuts: about climate change, homosexuality (and sexuality in general), government, guns, etc, etc. Now it turns out he’s nuts about foreign policy as well. Did I miss anything? In reality, of course, without a deal, Iran could simply continue pursuing a nuclear weapons program, as it apparently has for many years (e.g., under the Bush administration, which completely failed to stop it; then under the Obama administration, which has a chance of stopping it via negotiations). The only alternative? War, which would be a bloody mess, and which almost certainly wouldn’t stop Iran’s nuclear ambitions for more than a few years. So what are the alternatives being offered by Teapublicans like Ken Cuccinelli? No idea, except that they love to bash Barack Obama for whatever reason(s).
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, April 21.
*Confirm Lynch now (“Politics have kept the nominee in limbo.”)
*Editorial: Earth Day serves as reminder of the goals we must pursue together
*New York Times, Washington Post, Fox News strike deals for anti-Clinton research (Yep, that’s your so-called “liberal media” at work!)
*Inside the right’s new “Clinton Cash” obsession: The sketchy new Hillary “exposé” that hooked the New York Times (“The right’s propaganda machine duped the media on the Clintons once before. Now they could be doing it again”)
*Rising Death Toll Leaves Europe With New Refugee Crisis
*Egyptian Court Sentences Morsi to 20 Years in Prison
*Candidates kicking in to their own campaigns in key Senate races (“Candidates are kicking in to their own campaigns to build early fundraising stakes in key contests for control of the state Senate.”)
*Ex-Virginia first lady McDonnell tries to get corruption convictions tossed
*Bob McDonnell’s wife: Corruption trial was unfair
*ABC shakes up leadership of enforcement division
*Our view: Our sleep-walking senator (“Is John Edwards awake?Judging from the latest campaign finance reports, it doesn’t appear so.”
*Problems with Virginia’s voting systems undermine confidence in our election results
*Beware Stalling Growth in Northern Virginia
*Lawmakers want assistant Norfolk prosecutor as judge
*Fairfax posts record low crime rate in 2014 (“Arlington and Alexandria are also at historic lows, and Prince George’s recorded a 9 percent decrease.” It continually amazes me that people erroneously think crime is high, when in fact the crime rate is the lowest in many decades.)
*McAuliffe on Redskins stadium in Virginia: ‘It’s where they belong’ (Nope, McAuliffe is wildly wrong. First off, we shouldn’t give Dan Snyder and Compan a dime of taxpayer-funded corporate welfare. Second, the team actually “belongs” in Washington, DC, at the RFK site, right at a Metro stop, not in exurban Virginia.)
*Casey: The Roanoke Tea Party tries again for control of county board
*Prince William GOP candidates prep for firehouse primary
*Do Fairfax Democrats Have A Mount Vernon Problem? (Fortunately, Republicans appear to have picked a teahadist nut as their candidate, which should help the “blue team.” Let’s hope they do the same in Sully as well!)
*2 Montgomery County supervisors won’t seek re-election
*Suspect due in court in fellow UMW student’s slaying as loved ones, friends prepare to attend her funeral (So awful.)
*Mostly sunny and breezy today;
rain and cooler weather ahead
Cross posted from Scaling Green, and recommended reading for all Virginia legislators, members of the State Corporation Commission, Dominion Power executives, etc. Enjoy! 🙂
We wrote recently about new polling, produced for Clean Edge and SolarCity, that found enormous support among Americans for clean energy. For instance, by a nearly unanimous 87%-7% margin, Americans said that renewable energy is important to America’s future. Also, by a 74%-12% margin, U.S. homeowners “back the continuation of federal tax incentives that support the growth of solar and wind.” Americans strongly oppose, by a 61%-24% margin, efforts by electric utilities aimed at “being able to charge an additional fee for solar powered homes and businesses.” Finally, asked which energy sources they view as “most important to America’s energy future,” solar power came out on top (50% of homeowners agreed), with wind power second (42%), and energy efficiency (25) also in the top four. In contrast, fossil fuels like coal (8%) and oil (17%) scored near the bottom.
Today, Clean Edge and SolarCity held a webinar on these poll results, with some fascinating insights provided by Lyndon Rive of SolarCity, Ron Pernick of Clean Edge, and pollster John Zogby. A few that jumped out at us include the following.
The following post, by Prince William County math teacher (and U.S. Marine Corps veteran) Atif Qarni, lays out some important challenges Virginia faces when it comes to education, as well as what we need to do about it. That includes: 1) reducing overcrowded classrooms; 2) “rethink our curriculum and how we evaluate it”; 3) “put an end to our toxic testing environment”; 4) stop the “attacks on public education in favor of charter schools and school voucher programs”; and 5) “invest on the front end and support a quality education for all.” I couldn’t agree more with all of this, and would just add that it demonstrates why we badly need a super-smart teacher like Atif Qarni in the Virginia State Senate!
During my time in the Marines, I was taught about how important it is to set high standards for yourself. We should be taking that lesson to heart when it comes to our education standards in the Commonwealth. We need some significant reforms so that we can live up to the promise teachers at my school make to our students: if you work hard enough, you can accomplish anything you want. It’s time to lower classroom sizes, update our curriculum, and stop the emphasis on testing.
Our classrooms are too crowded. It’s bad for students to try and learn in classrooms of 35 and 36, which is what middle school math class sizes are in my school. If we want kids to learn topics well and to think and solve problems for themselves, not just do well on tests, we need to give them a chance in classes that are smaller.
We also need to rethink our curriculum and how we evaluate it. Current Standards of Learning are not updated enough to test what a student should know as they move on with their education. We should be focusing heavily on increasing our students’ ability to compete in a global economy. That starts with updated standards of math, science, and technology.
We need put and end to our toxic testing environment. We test our kids on these outdated standards too aggressively. This excessive testing drives our kids to physical illness on testing days. Kids face anxiety and symptoms of depression during testing season. Is this the way to show them the importance of education? Or are we instead driving them out of the classroom and away from wanting to learn. As a parent as well as a teacher, seeing the impact of these tests is heartbreaking. Some kids just don’t learn the same way others do, and that’s ok. Testing should not punish them for that.
Attacks on public education in favor of charter schools and school voucher programs are to blame for these problems, but it’s not too late. For those that want or need it, public schools should be there to provide them a high quality education. A first class education should be the right of all, not the privilege of a select few, and that is what we face if we don’t fix our system. Virginia consistently ranks well below the US average in state spending for public education, but above the US average for corrections spending. I think it’s time we invest on the front end and support a quality education for all.
You know how a lot of Democrats love to vote in presidential and “federal” elections, but skip the local elections where, arguably, their vote matters a gazillion times more? Well, 2015 in Virginia epitomizes that situation, with turnout likely to be extremely low (in the 20-30 percent range?), despite the fact that the ENTIRE Virginia General Assembly is on the ballot, as are many important local offices, such as the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. For instance, in the Mt. Vernon magisterial district of Fairfax County, Supervisor Gerry Hyland (D) is retiring after many years of service, which means that there is an open seat and a competitive race to succeed him.
On the Republican side, it looks like their candidate will be Jane Gandee, who as you can see from the invitation below, was on the “Host Committee” for a reception in support of one of the most virulent, bigoted extremists in American politics – E.W. Jackson – and featuring another bigoted extremist – Allen West – as a “special guest.” Can you imagine the nightmare of Jackson/West-supporting Gandee replacing the excellent, progressive Hyland on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors? Well, as unlikely as you might think that is in a generally “blue” part of Fairfax County, it’s possible if Democrats don’t turn out this November and Teapublicans do (don’t believe it; see here and note that Sharon Bulova actually LOST Mt. Vernon, by nearly 200 votes, in a 2009 special election!). So…make sure you vote this November, and well before then, if you can get involved in any way to help elect Democrats, please do!
