This past week, Sen. Tim Kaine was busy kicking off his 2024 reelection campaign in a tour around Virginia. That includes the following stop in Norfolk, at which he had a riff I thought was well worth sharing, on how “we are up against a tear-down energy” that’s never been stronger in Kaine’s life; “a battle going on” all over the world, including here in the U.S., “between those who will stand up and stand together and those will tear us down and tear us apart.” And, of course, as Sen. Kaine explains, that “tear-down energy” is epitomized by Donald Trump – “the most skilled and significant tear-down artist ever in the history of this country” – including on January 6, 2021, when Sen. Kaine “stood barricaded in the Capitol…and saw the havoc that was being wreaked by somebody who could not admit that he lost an election.”
Check out the video for more of this important riff, including about how Trump is “tearing down important virtues that we like to teach our kids – honesty, kindness, respect for others, respect for the truth – tearing down alliances like NATO, tearing down rights that we’ve counted on for decades, like the right of people to make their own reproductive health care decisions; even tearing down our democracy itself.” In stark contrast, as Sen. Kaine explains, “we’ve got a president and vice president in Joe and Kamala who have done yeoman’s work – we’ve recovered from Covid faster than any nation on this planet, unemployment is down, manufacturing jobs are up, the uninsured rate in this country is the lowest that’s ever been in our history, 401ks are up, this is a team that’s about standing up and doing for others.” A stark contrast, indeed – and a clear choice for this November.
P.S. By the way, Sen. Kaine response to the protestors really highlights the difference between Trump and his ilk on the one hand versus Democrats like Sen. Kaine. As Sen. Kaine explains, “notice when it happens in Democratic events, we let it happen, we don’t encourage people to go after the protesters, and I acknowledge the protesters.” In stark contrast, Trump would probably exhort his followers to get violent with the protestors, would belittle them and definitely not take them seriously. So…yeah, that’s a fundamental difference between Democrats like Sen. Kaine and MAGA Republicans.
Yeah, this is *definitely* going to be a winning message (and messenger) in moderate, suburban, highly diverse, enormous (nearly one-seventh of Virginia’s entire population) deep-“blue” (Biden beat Trump 69.9%-28.0% in 2020) Fairfax County – the Fairfax GOP picking far-right-wing Sebastian Gorka’s wife as its new chair. So…sure, go for it, Fairfax GOP – you were already pretty far off the rails, now you’ve gone even further – we’ll see how well your message/messenger works out for you this November! LOL
Seriously, though, as the Arlington Democrats (see below point out, “These are the people calling the shots in today’s Republican Party,” and it’s really, REALLY disturbing (not to mention that this is light years away from your grandparents’ GOP, let alone the “Party of Lincoln”…or of Dwight Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, George HW Bush, etc.). WTF happened to the Republican Party – and why does anyone still support this radicalized, far-right-extremist party?
In Six Months, Everything Has Changed for Israel (“A nation that was building new alliances before Oct. 7 now appears as isolated as ever.” The far right has led Israel to disaster. And it was highly avoidable, too, as Israel had a perfectly fine government before their last elections.)
What Is Hamas Thinking Now? (“HuffPost obtained rare interviews with Hamas leaders Mousa Abu Marzouk and Basem Naim, pressing them six months since Oct. 7 on the group’s attacks on civilians and its vision for the future of Israel-Palestine.”)
No Labels wanted a centrist ticket. Polarization, Trump stood in the way. (The only reason I’m posting this pathetic, “both-sides,” false-equivalence crap is to point out that you should NOT read Dan Balz, and that he epitomizes everything wrong with U.S. political “journalism.” In fact, “No Labels” isn’t “centrist” – whatever that means – and the problem isn’t “polarization,” it’s RADICALIZTION of the Republican Party.)
Interesting interview yesterday by Jen Psaki, with Sen. Tim Kaine talking about the Israel-Hamas war, the dangerous situation between Israel and Iran, etc. See below for video and a few highlights, including:
“I’m very concerned about [the potential for Iran striking targets within Israel]…As soon as Israel struck Iranian officials in Damascus, we knew the likelihood was that Iran would respond…and I’m sure the Israeli military also expected there would be retaliation if they did that. This is a dangerous moment where we don’t need more escalation. We’re already seeing not only a war in Gaza but Hezbollah attacks into Israel from the north, Iranian militias in Iraq and Syria taking action against Israel…the Houthis firing missiles into the Red Sea. The last thing we need is an escalation between Iran and Israel right now.”
“That puts the onus back on all of us to work together to find a hostage deal that would release hostages in exchange for a ceasefire. We could flood the zone with humanitarian aid into Gaza safely and we would open up space for a discussion about an extended ceasefire, but also about what would the future be for Palestine….we’ll be back where we are right now if we don’t meaningfully engage, instead of just paying lip service to the notion that Palestinians have a right to an autonomous future. What exactly that looks like, it’ll be different than what was contemplated in 1948, but it’s been a discussion that has been long delayed, that needs to happen. But we can only get there if we get into a ceasefire and a hostage release deal”
“I think more offensive weapons that have the possibility of killing civilians and humanitarian aid workers right now is just pouring gasoline on a fire that’s already raging out of control. Israel needs to defend itself against those who would annihilate it, and the US has always been a partner in that. That includes Hamas, that includes Hezbollah, that includes Iran. Systems that we have worked with Israel on in the past like the Iron Dome system, which intercepts missiles and rockets fired at Israel, those are the kinds of things that we should be continuing to provide…I think there’s plenty we can do that will make sure that Israel can defend itself against threats including this serious threat from Iran. But I think more offensive weapons into this theater of war right now is only going to lead to more and more bad outcomes, not the deescalation that we need to see.”
“I think the pacing issue that’s the most crucial issue right now is to see Israel dramatically increase the allowance of humanitarian aid into Gaza.This is a war against Hamas, it shouldn’t be seen as a war against Palestinians or a war against Gazans…The allowance of this humanitarian crisis to spiral out of control with starvation and and famine and medical emergencies, that is what is creating such an escalatory pressure in the region…Israel has an obligation pursuant to a Biden Administration security memorandum as a recipient of US security aid to do what every other recipient must do, and that’s cooperate with US humanitarian efforts. The strike on the World Central Kitchen aid workers this week, which is not only tragic in that it killed aid workers, but ultimately tragic because it’s blocking aid from getting to suffering Palestinians, and it’s making other NGOs that are providing humanitarian aid eventually step back from their necessary work…We need to see robust delivery of humanitarian aid safely to a civilian population that’s suffering during this war and suffering under the thumb of Hamas. That’s the pacing issue that I think is the most urgent right now.”
“This is a problem of human tragedy at a significant scale. The Hamas attack on Israel was horrific. The reason for the attack and the timing of the attack to was partially to disrupt US-Israel-Saudi normalization discussions that included a discussion about a future for Palestine. Hamas doesn’t want a Palestine and Israel living side by side. So it’s a very hard problem to solve, to enable Israel to defend itself against those who are intent on its destruction, but protect all these innocent civilians who aren’t part of Hamas, who are under the thumb of Hamas and don’t deserve to suffer. So it’s not a a simple mathematical equation…We’ve got to see a dramatic uptick in Israel allowing humanitarian aid to suffering people…This topic is going to dominate Congress as soon as we get back on Monday.”
Governor Youngkin refuses to protect Virginia doctors and patients who come to Virginia seeking abortion care
Arlington, VA – Yesterday, Governor Youngkin showed how out of step he is with the majority of Virginians on reproductive rights by vetoing Senator Favola’s Senate Bill 15, which protected Virginia doctors and healthcare professionals who provide legal abortions in Virginia and their patients from being extradited to other states where they could be criminally prosecuted.
Virginia is the only state in the South without any post-Roe abortion restrictions. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the Virginia League for Planned Parenthood has seen a significant increase in out-of-state abortion patients. This bill would have ensured that the Commonwealth remains a place where people can safely access abortion care and where doctors and healthcare professionals can exercise their medical training and judgment without fear of prosecution.
Senator Favola said: “Much as the Governor might wish otherwise, abortion is legal in Virginia and the majority of Virginians want to keep it that way.By vetoing this bill, the Governor has refused to provide a layer of protection that Virginia healthcare professionals believe is necessary to ensure that they can provide abortion care without the fear of prosecution. Our medical professionals and the women who seek safe and legal abortions in Virginia deserve the peace of mind that this bill would have provided.”
Jamie Lockhart, Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia stated: “We are deeply disappointed by Governor Youngkin’s decision to veto SB15. This bill aimed to safeguard those dedicated professionals who provide essential care, including abortions, to patients both within our Commonwealth and those compelled to travel here in search of necessary, time-sensitive care. It’s critical that our policymakers leverage every opportunity to protect access to abortion, ensuring it remains accessible for Virginians and for our neighbors seeking refuge from restrictive laws in their own states. Governor Youngkin’s veto is particularly disheartening for Virginians who are already concerned about their access to reproductive health care, exacerbating fears and uncertainties during already challenging times.”
Senator Barbara Favola represents Virginia’s 40th district, which is contained within Arlington County. Senator Favola serves on the Education and Health Committee, among other Committees, and chairs the Health Subcommittee. Senator Favola also chairs the Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee and the Women’s Healthcare Caucus.
Good news from President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign. If you haven’t donated yet, what are you waiting for?
Team Biden-Harris Raises More than $187 Million in Q1, Announces More Than $192 Million Cash on Hand
Team Biden-Harris Raised More than $90 Million in March Alone, $422 Million Since April Launch is Most Ever for a Democratic Presidential Candidate
$192M is Highest Total Cash on Hand of Any Democratic Candidate in History
5 Straight Months of Record-Breaking Grassroots Support
Today, Team Biden-Harris announced that it raised more than $187 million in the first quarter of 2024, including more than $90 million in the month of March. This historic fundraising operation continues to break monthly grassroots fundraising records through the first three months of 2024 – an indication of enthusiasm, strength, and Team Biden-Harris’ historic resources heading into the general election. This first quarter raise is nearly double the unprecedented 2023 fourth-quarter haul of $97 million.
The team is also reporting a historic $192 million in cash on hand, the highest total amassed by any Democratic candidate in history at this point in the cycle. Team Biden-Harris’ cash on hand has increased each of the four reporting periods since the president launched his reelection. What that means is that as Team Biden-Harris grows its operation, it continues to also grow its war chest.
While Trump cozies up to billionaires tonight to raise his money, Team Biden-Harris’ first-quarter haul was driven by the strength of our grassroots support, which continues to grow month over month. March was the campaign’s strongest grassroots fundraising month since launch and the fifth consecutive record-breaking grassroots fundraising month. To date, 1.6 million people have contributed to the campaign.
“The money we are raising is historic, and it’s going to the critical work of building a winning operation, focused solely on the voters who will decide this election – offices across the country, staff in our battleground states, and a paid media program meeting voters where they are,” said Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Biden-Harris 2024 Campaign Manager. “It’s a stark contrast to Trump’s cash-strapped operation that is funneling the limited and billionaire-reliant funds it has to pay off his various legal fees.”
“While Donald Trump has been busy awarding himself golf trophies at Mar-a-Lago and palling around with billionaires, Joe Biden has been criss-crossing the nation connecting with voters and outlining his vision to grow our economy from the bottom up and the middle out. That’s why Democrats are earning record-breaking support from grassroots donors, like nurses and teachers, who are fired up to reelect President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Democrats up and down the ballot,” said Jaime Harrison, Chair of the Democratic National Committee. “Thanks to historic fundraising, like we saw this quarter, we have been able to expand our work on the ground in states so that we can connect more and more with the voters who are powering this campaign and who will turn out in November to reject Trump and MAGA extremists.”
“It sure looks like Trump’s campaign is hiding behind a few billionaires at Mar-a-Lago and is struggling to attract the grassroots donor enthusiasm that powers winning campaigns,” said Rob Flaherty, Biden-Harris 2024 Deputy Campaign Manager. “Unlike Trump, we’ve got nothing to hide and everything to be proud of: our program is showing historic strength and sends a clear signal that our coalition is motivated and growing by the month.”
Team Biden-Harris’ war chest is both the highest total amassed by any Democratic candidate in history at this point in the cycle, and more than double what Donald Trump and the GOP fundraising apparatus have on hand.
The $100 million war chest advantage Team Biden-Harris has over Trump just so happens to be the same amount in legal fees Trump has paid since he left the White House – almost entirely with political contributions from his donors.
Our program is showing strong, growing, and sustained grassroots enthusiasm for the long-term – the very metrics Trump’s campaign is hiding the ball on. The (deliberately) scarce details available so far from Team Trump show an operation relying heavily on maxed-out donors and little evidence of a durable grassroots program. Let’s take a look under the hood:
Team Biden-Harris’ Grassroots Machine is strong and growing:
In Q1, 96% of all our donations were under $200 and more than 1.1 million donors made over 1.9 million contributions.
We now have more than 212,000 sustaining donors – more than double the amount at this point in the 2020 cycle – who have pledged more than $5.2 million in monthly contributions.
And in March alone, 704,000 unique donors made 864,000 contributions to Team Biden-Harris.
March was our strongest grassroots fundraising month since launch and more than half of Team Biden-Harris’ revenue came from grassroots channels in Q1. March was the fifth consecutive record-breaking month for grassroots fundraising. Team Biden-Harris also raised $1.5 million per day in grassroots fundraising in March.
Donors hailed from all 50 states and all walks of life, with teachers and nurses as some of the most common occupations among donors.
The Biden campaign’s active email list doubled in size from the end of Q4 2023 to the end of Q1 2024, and email and text engagement doubled in Q1 2024.
High-profile moments continue to motivate our supporters – and at a historic scale:
Around the State of the Union, Team Biden-Harris saw the best, second best, and third best hours of grassroots fundraising this cycle in a row.
The campaign raised over $10 million in the 24 hours around the State of the Union in grassroots contributions.
The “Evening with the Presidents” Contest generated $9.5 million in grassroots fundraising – highest performing grassroots sweepstakes to date.
Team Biden-Harris’ Fundraising is Going to the Voters Who Will Decide This Election
The money Team Biden-Harris is raising is going to the important, early work to speak to the key voters in battleground states. That includes:
More than 100 coordinated campaign offices and hundreds more staff across the battleground states, including historic investments in training and reaching supporters across the country with new organizing tactics.
A $30 million, six-week paid media campaign targeting the voters who will decide this election, including ad buys targeting Latino, Black, AAPI, and Haley voters.
Fanning out the President, Vice President, and other surrogates across the battleground country. President Biden visited every battleground state in less than 20 days, and campaign surrogates participated in 69 campaign events in March alone.
Trump’s Program Tells a Different Story
Donald Trump isn’t showing either the interest or financial capability to reach the voters who will decide this election. The RNC has scrapped plans to expand its outreach to communities of color, and Trump’s team has actively looked to attack Haley supporters who continue to vote en masse against him. Here’s where his money is going – or where it isn’t going:
Donald Trump’s legal fees continue to stack up. Swaths of Trump’s haul will go to his more than $100 million and growing in legal fees, including what he raises at his fundraiser today – hardly a way to reach swing voters.
The money Trump is raising isn’t from grassroots donors, but predominantly from fancy dinners with billionaires at his country club – and even when Trump does raise money from small online donors, he’s directed 10% of every dollar to his PAC to pay his legal bills
Donald Trump has announced zero battleground offices or staff – in fact the RNC has closed offices and is firing staff.
Instead of focusing on reaching new voters, Trump has exited the Mar-a-Lago basement for his hardcore MAGA-base rallies. Invoking violent rhetoric, praising insurrectionists, and attacking fellow Republicans is hardly a way to reach moderate Republican voters.
President Biden’s 2020 campaign raised over $1 billion, the most money of any presidential campaign in history, which included $700 million online driven by small-dollar donations – also the most in history. With President Biden at the top of the ticket, ActBlue saw over 133 million separate donations in the 2020 cycle with 71% being first-time donors.
See below for yet MORE godawful vetos and amendments by right-wing/MAGA Gov. Glenn Youngkin, including his nonsensical and dishonest “explanations” for why he did what he did. For instance, in vetoing HB1539 (“Abortion or other reproductive health care services; prohibitions on extradition for certain crimes”), Youngkin claims, “Our cooperative extradition system could collapse if individual states were to carve out crimes for which they would not recognize codified laws because of differing political positions.” In fact, as Repro Rising director Tarina Keene explains, the goals of this bill (and a companion Senate bill) were “protecting abortion providers from extradition to hostile states for providing LEGAL abortion care in VA.”
On another veto, of legislation abolishing the common-law crime of suicide, Youngkin claims it’s not needed, since, “In recent years, the Commonwealth has made significant improvements in mental health, including decriminalizing the effects of mental health conditions, and increasing resources for those in crisis.” Uh…ok, so keep it as a common-law crime because we’ve made improvements in mental health (no thanks to Republicans!).
And on another veto, of HB4 (“Provides that any town located within a county that has imposed a disposable plastic bag tax shall receive a distribution of revenues collected by the county based on the local sales tax distribution formula for appropriations to towns”), Youngkin gives some cockamamie “explanation” that’s a right-wing “word salad” which sounds like he’s a Fox “News” commentator or something (“Plastic bag taxes fail to achieve their intended goals and burden Virginians amid escalating inflation. Redirecting tax revenues to towns may further encourage governmental reliance on these taxes, exacerbating the issue.”). Lies, lies and more lies, including “escalating inflation” (in fact, inflation is very much under control at/near Fed targets) and “plastic bag taxes fail to achieve their intended goals” and “burden Virginians”…pretty much every word is a lie on that one. And yes, Youngkin really is a dishonest, lying slimeball.
Bottom line: thank goodness that Democrats control the General Assembly, but we’re not going to get much (if any) progressive, pro-environmental or pro-clean-energy legislation passed until Democrats have the governor’s mansion again, along with the House of Delegates and State Senate. Hopefully, that will be the case as of January 2026, at which point Democrats will need to pass ALL of the bills that Youngkin vetoed this year. But definitely don’t expect any good to come out of the final year and 9 months of Youngkin’s miserable governorship.
P.S. A piece of good news is Youngkin’s signature of “Senator @BarbaraFavola’s Menstrual Data Privacy bill,” which “protects Virginians’ private menstrual data from warrants or subpoenas” and “will improve privacy and security of sensitive reproductive health information.”
Governor Glenn Youngkin Takes Action on 110 Additional Bills
RICHMOND, VA – Governor Glenn Youngkin today took additional action on legislation sent to him by the General Assembly, including signing 88 bills that reinstate the Virginia Minority Business Commission, and give local governments the ability to regulate locations for tobacco products by ordinance.
In addition, the Governor amended 11 bills, including a bill to allow the City of Petersburg to pursue a referendum on establishing Virginia’s 5th licensed casino.
Finally, the Governor also vetoed 11 bills, including bills that would put women’s health at risk and weaken the Commonwealth’s culture of life by undermining the oversight duties of the Board of Medicine.
HB 1505 – Expediting the enactment of the legislation to July 1
HB 111 – Aligning a date to reflect a recent change to federal law
HB 1415 – Conforming civil penalties to match those allowed for counties
HB 1504 & SB 498 – Requiring superintendents or their designees to notify parents within 24 hours of any school-connected overdose, providing known details while complying with privacy laws.
HB 184 – Ensuring consistency in the treatment of credit unions.
HB 191 – Addressing a technical error in the drafting process
HB 285 – Extending the sunset by an additional two years
SB 260 – Conforming to House Bill 1361
SB 534 – Addressing a technical error in the drafting process
Additionally, the Governor vetoed 11 bills, which included:
HB 519
SB 716
HB 1539
SB 15
HB 81
HB 4
SB 373
HB 442
HB 598
HB 817
HB 1251
The governor’s full veto statements are available here.
Bill would have provided 3.5 million Virginians with access to 8 weeks of paid time off to care for themselves or a family member during a serious health care event
RICHMOND, Va. — Today, impacted Virginians and legislative leaders strongly criticized Governor Glenn Youngkin’s veto of historic legislation establishing a paid family and medical leave policy in Virginia. Due to the veto, 76% of Virginia workers – 3.5 million people – will still have no guarantee that they won’t miss a critical paycheck in order to care for themselves or their family during a serious health event.
This year Senator Jennifer Boysko (D-Fairfax) and Delegate Briana Sewell (D-Prince William) successfully championed the paid family and medical leave legislation. The bill would have created a state-administered insurance program to ensure a covered employee can receive paid time off to care for themselves or a family member in the event of an extended illness or serious injury. The bill would also allow parents to take time off to welcome a new baby.
“Over the last six years I’ve worked with businesses, advocates, labor unions, and state and national policy experts, to craft a policy that was responsible, realistic, and ready to work on day one,” said Senator Jennifer Boysko. “Governor Youngkin just decided to disregard all of that work in favor of an antiquated view of how our economy should treat workers and their families. This veto perfectly encapsulates my deep disappointment in Governor Youngkin’s record over the last three years. His veto on SB 373 is yet another clear example that his values and priorities are in opposition to what Virginia’s working families actually need. Now Virginians will be forced to wait until we can elect a real pro-family governor in order to have time with their loved ones when they are most needed.”
“The message is clear. Governor Youngkin’s recent decision to veto paid family and medical leave for 3.4 million Virginia workers speaks volumes about his priorities,” said Delegate Briana Sewell. “The lack of paid leave places 78 percent of working Virginians in the incomparable position of choosing between caring for a loved one and maintaining a paycheck. How could someone not recognize the gravity of this situation? If your loved one receives a cancer diagnosis, taking time off work to be with them might mean you won’t be able to pay your rent or mortgage. If you are preparing to become a new parent and your partner is experiencing pregnancy complications, you are expected to prioritize your job over your family. Our Commonwealth can do more than simply force people to punch a clock while their families are in crisis. It is time we provide all working Virginians with paid family and medical leave to support those in need rather than forcing them to choose between work and family during tough times.”
Currently 9 states plus the District of Columbia provide some version of a paid family and medical leave policy, with four more states in the process of implementing laws that will go into effect in 2026. The United States is one of only 11 countries that fail to provide this protection to workers and their families, leaving individual states to design and establish their own policies.
“When we talk about what it takes to keep talent in Virginia, it’s not just about wages, it’s about quality of life. The Governor is wildly out of touch with what working families are facing,” said Speaker Don Scott. “When he chose to veto paid family and medical leave, he told workers that we don’t respect them, it’s that simple. Other states are showing up for working families by removing the burden of worry when they welcome home a baby or need to take time off to care for a loved one. That’s something most people will face during their lifetime, and they shouldn’t have to cross their fingers that their employer will respect them enough to give them time with their family.”
“The Governor’s veto is both out of touch and deeply hypocritical,” said Rhena Hicks, Executive Director of Freedom Virginia. “Currently state employees receive eight weeks of paid parental leave. By vetoing this legislation today, the Governor is telling millions of Virginia workers that they don’t deserve access to the same benefits the Governor’s own employees receive.”
“No parent should have to choose between paying the bills and being there for their family like my husband and I did when our son was born or when we’ve had medical needs,” said Abbey Grobe Conley, a Henrico resident affected by the lack of Paid Leave in Virginia. “My story is unfortunately not unique; too many Virginians like me are being pushed out of the workforce by the current system that does nothing to support families and reward my hard work. While I’m disappointed with this outcome, I will never stop fighting to ensure no one ever has to go through what I went through.”
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Freedom Virginia is a nonpartisan 501(c)4 organization committed to building a Commonwealth where all Virginia families have the freedom to thrive. Freedom Virginia advances economic security policies through grassroots activism, voter engagement and legislative advocacy. Our efforts began in 2020 and since then we’ve pushed for a more economically secure Virginia by sharing real stories about Virginians’ lack of access to affordable health care, education, energy, and the need for policies that foster more safety for families. Visit our website at freedomva.org to learn more.
Virginia’s 2024 legislative session wrapped up last month without any action to avert the energy crisis that is hurtling towards us.
Crisis is not too strong a word to describe the unchecked proliferation of power-hungry data centers in Northern Virginia and around the state. Virginia utilities do not have the energy or transmission capacity to handle the enormous increases in energy consumption. Dominion Energy projects a doubling of CO2 and a new fossil fuel buildout. Drinking water sources are imperiled.
The governor is unfazed. Legislators are going to study the matter.
Source: PJM
According to data gathered by regional grid operator PJM, half of the coming surge will occur in parts of Virginia served by Dominion Energy. In its 2023 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), Dominion said it would meet the higher demand by increasing its use of expensive and highly polluting fossil fuels and building new methane gas-fired generating plants. Dominion admitted this will push up carbon emissions at a time when the Virginia Clean Economy Act requires the utility to build renewable energy and cut carbon.
PJM projects equally huge data center growth in areas served by Virginia electric cooperatives, especially Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative (NOVEC). The cooperatives are exempt from most VCEA requirements, and NOVEC buys the bulk of its power from PJM’s fossil fuel-heavy wholesale market. NOVEC’s latest annual report cites load growth of 12% per year, almost entirely from data centers, but fails to even mention the increase in carbon emissions that will accompany that growth.
Undeterred by these alarming statistics, the General Assembly put the growth on steroids with a new round of tax breaks in 2023, while beating back any conditions that might have slowed the onslaught. This year it turned away every bill that would have placed limits on the industry or protected ordinary consumers from the inevitable cost increases.
At the same time, legislators rejected a host of bills that would have enabled more renewable energy development in Virginia and given customers a greater ability to secure their own electricity supply. Together these bills could have brought thousands of megawatts of new solar projects online, lowered demand growth through increased energy efficiency, and prevented the increases in carbon pollution that now appear inevitable.
Legislators did greenlight Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power’s ability to spend their customers’ money on initial development efforts for two nuclear reactors of up to 500 megawatts (MW), one for each utility.
This is not a fix. It is like scheduling knee surgery for next year when you are having a heart attack today.
There is, famously, much doubt about whether small modular reactors (SMRs) will prove viable in the coming decades, but there is no doubt whatsoever that the surge in data center development is happening right now. Virginia’s hoped-for nuclear renaissance would be both too little and too late to meet a data center demand that Dominion says grew by 933 MW in 2023 alone. It’s expected to reach almost 20,000 MW by 2034, the year Dominion’s IRP shows its first small nuclear reactor delivering power.
In rejecting every serious measure to address data center demand, General Assembly leaders said they wanted to wait for a study being conducted this year by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC). What the General Assembly didn’t do was defer new data center development until the study is complete. Another year has to pass before lawmakers will even consider bills addressing land use, power and water concerns around data centers or make it easier for renewable energy to come online.
The consequences of inaction could be deadly. It was only a year ago that Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) proposed allowing certain Northern Virginia data centers to violate their air quality permits by running more than 4,000 highly-polluting diesel generators during periods of grid stress. It doesn’t take much imagination to picture the public health disaster we’d have had if 4,000 diesel generators kicked into operation last summer when smoke from Canadian wildfires had already made Virginia air quality hazardous.
DEQ backed off its proposal after a massive public outcry, but the idea is likely still percolating at the agency and might reemerge as an emergency demand-response measure. Even without allowing the generators to provide grid support, more data centers with more diesel generators will worsen air quality with every power outage and every round of equipment testing.
As I argued at the time, the diesel generator fiasco could have been avoided in the first place if data centers had been equipped with renewable energy microgrids and battery storage. DEQ’s decision not to require battery storage as the first line of defense against power outages deprived Dominion of a demand-response option that would have been far cleaner and more useful than diesel generators.
One of the bills the General Assembly rejected this year would have prohibited the use of backup diesel generators by data centers that receive state tax subsidies, and would have required greater energy efficiency. It was a missed opportunity that means the problem can only get worse in the coming year.
The governor, however, could still avert the crisis by imposing a pause in data center development while the JLARC study is underway. He could accomplish this through an executive order directing the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) not to enter a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with any data center operator until the JLARC study is complete and legislators have had the opportunity to act on it. These MOUs are a requirement for data center operators to access Virginia’s generous tax exemptions. Without the tax subsidies, most data center developers would likely choose not to pursue development here.
This is not a novel idea. Last spring, data center reform advocates asked VEDP to include stringent efficiency and siting conditions in MOUs it entered with Amazon Web Services. They never got an answer.
Down in Georgia, however, legislators just passed a Republican-led bill to suspend that state’s data center tax subsidies for two years pending the results of a study of grid capacity. Legislators expressed concern about Georgia Power’s ability to provide electricity to all the data centers that want to come to the state. And as Republican Sen. John Albers also noted, “The reality is these do not create many jobs. They create big buildings, but they do not create jobs.”
The Georgia tax subsidies were modeled on the ones Virginia implemented in 2010, which pushed our data center growth into overdrive. Isn’t it interesting that Georgia lawmakers so quickly learned a lesson that Virginia leaders refuse to even acknowledge?
This article was originally published in the Virginia Mercury on April 3, 2024.
How the war in Gaza has gone differently than expected — and how it hasn’t (“Six months in, there’s still no end in sight, and the Israeli government’s post-war plans still look exceedingly vague…Whatever the next six months bring, there has likely been a permanent and long-lasting shift in the US-Israel relationship.”)
Not all Trump’s transgressions are criminal (“Trump’s conduct should be assessed by the moral principles that would apply to any office seeker. Not every situation calls for us to play ‘name that crime.'”)
Merrick Garland, Donald Trump and the fall of France (“Garland’s plodding, cautious investigation undermined itself from the start — and played into Trump’s hands” Key word: “plodding” – where’s the sense of extreme urgency with this guy???)
Connolly, Moskowitz, Garamendi Introduce Bill to Rename Federal Prison in Miami after Donald J. Trump
Washington, DC – Today, Reps. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), and John Garamendi (D-CA) introduced legislation to change the name of the federal prison in Miami, Florida to the Donald J. Trump Federal Correctional Institution. The legislation follows the introduction of a Republican-led bill to rename Washington Dulles International Airport after the former president.
“When our Republican colleagues introduced their bill to rename Dulles after Donald Trump, I said the more fitting option would be to rename a federal prison,” said Connolly. “I see no reason to wait. Donald Trump faces nearly 100 felony charges. He has been found liable of sexual abuse and, subsequently, for defaming the victim of that abuse. He has been fined hundreds of millions of dollars in a civil fraud case. It is only right that the closest federal prison to Mar-a-Lago should bear his name. I hope our Republican friends will join us in bestowing upon Donald J. Trump the only honor he truly deserves.”
“Everyone knows President Trump loves to write his name in gold letters on all his buildings, said Moskowitz. “But he’s never had his name on a federal building before and as a public servant I just want to help the former president. Help us make that dream a reality.”
“Donald J. Trump is the first former president in U.S. history to be criminally indicted, with 88 offenses in four criminal cases to date. MAGA Republicans have proven themselves unwilling to solve real problems that face our country. I cannot think of a more fitting tribute to our former president, Donald J. Trump, than renaming the closest federal prison to Mar-a-Lago in his honor,” said Garamendi. “As always, my Democratic colleagues and I remain willing to work with anyone on commonsense solutions to real world problems.”
