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(Thanks for covering this, Peebles! - promoted by Eileen)
At 2:00p.m. today, Governor Tim Kaine held a press conference in the Capitol complex's Patrick Henry Building. Kaine used the meeting to announce the newest initiative underneath his Renew Virginia campaign: executive order #82, "Greening of State Government." His announcement detailed a new (and mildly exciting) plan for encouraging gains in efficiency and conservation in state-owned buildings and by state employees. Applying primarily to state-level buildings, fleet vehicles and personnel, Kaine hopes that the initiative will show, "leadership that will inspire local governments," to do the same. Serving as an extension of previous Renew Virginia order #48, the initiative hopes to encourage improvements in energy usage, fuel consumption, and recycling through new regulations and incentives:
• Government offices and satellite offices will now be 100% paperless
• All new fleet vehicles will meet modern efficiency standards and will use B20 biodiesel when available.
• All state buildings will now be required establish and submit reports on an environmental management system that will audit each building's usage individually.
• All newly constructed state buildings will be required to meet LEED silver standards or the equivalent in Green Globes (2).
• Finally, the state will encourage more telecommuting and carpooling, reducing the amount of fossil fuels spent to and from the workplace. August 3, 2009, will be Virginia's "telecommute to work" day, during which employers will encourage their personnel to stay home or use a nearby telecommuting center in lieu of a drive downtown.
Overall, the Governor called for expanded work into reducing energy use by the state, increasing fuel efficiency and smart management of HVAC and other systems. Most interestingly, Kaine announced a competition, entitled "The Green Commonwealth Challenge," with the goal of promoting competition among state agencies to take the lead in efficiency gains and conservation. Kaine's office will devise criteria and a scoring system that will help to determine which office is "greenest." The Governor hopes that this competitive spirit will spill into the private sector, encouraging businesses to follow the state's lead in cleaning up their act. The competition will run from June 15 until November 15, so if you're a state employee, get ready!
It looks like Governor Kaine got what he asked for in an Executive Order from President Obama regarding clean-up and protection of the Chesapeake Bay.
In February this year, the Virginian-Pilot reported on Kaine's initiatives:
At a private meeting Wednesday in Washington, Kaine delivered a draft order that he wrote to Obama's new chief of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Lisa Jackson. It calls for more federal attention, money and regulatory clout for the Bay.
In a separate letter also hand-carried to Jackson, Kaine encouraged Obama to press Congress to take several actions in support of the Bay, including the creation of a "Clean Water Trust Fund."
One section of the proposed order suggests what environmental groups have been requesting without success for years - that the EPA get tougher and ensure that pollution standards are being met by hundreds of sewage plants, factories and other facilities that discharge nutrient-rich wastes into the Bay.
I'd like however to focus on Virginia, which by stark contrast is anything but a leader on this issue. As many may be aware, the Virginia General Assembly reconvened for it's one day veto session last week. The only real way to sum up the results of that one day session is with one word... disappointing.
We had a real opportunity to move Virginia towards the a clean energy future that is already available and affordable, it just needed a little legislative help. Some of you may have followed me on twitter last week giving the play by play of what went down and I decided to sit and think on it over the weekend before voicing my complete disappointment in our elected officials.
There are some champions to be highlighted and thanked before I go on:
Senator Donald McEachin- introduced a comprehensive piece of legislation on energy efficiency that would have saved consumers money on the electricity bills in the long run and created 10,000 plus jobs for the commonwealth and contained a strong mandatory target. (SB 1447)
Senator Mark Herring- introduced key components of the above bill (a mandatory 19% Efficiency goal for utilities) (SB 1440)
Delegate Albert Pollard- introduced a bill that would give utilities the same rate of return for investments in efficiency that they currently see for investments in coal. This bill passed and is an important step towards a clean energy economy but it is just the first step.
Senator Chap Petersen- introduced bills with strong targets on efficiency. Senator Petersen was also a vocal champion for moving Virginia forward and embracing a clean energy future.
Governor Tim Kaine- yeah that's right, Governor Kaine endorsed legislation that contained mandatory efficiency targets at the beginning of the session and amended the weakened bills that came out of the session to include a 19% efficiency target.
These are the five BIG thank yous I feel I have to give before moving on to lastweek's veto session.
Unfortunately, none of the legislation was able to make it out of the General Assembly with a mandatory efficiency standard....
Thanks to former Rep. Thelma Drake and State Senator Frank Wagner, may I present to you little lonely Virginia, all by itself on the Atlantic coast, poised and ready for lease sale as early as 2011.
It was actually under Gov. Mark Warner's administration that MMS was prompted by the infamous "Drilling Duo" to put Virginia in the 2007-2012 Five year plan. That action came mere months after both houses of the Virginia General Assembly passed (Feb. 2005) a Wagner bill (SB1054 Natural gas exploration, off-shore; exemption to existing moratorium.) Gov. Warner vetoed that bill (April 2005), but regardless, come Feb. 2006 we get the big announcement that Virginia has been put in the 5 Year plan. The train was already out of the station by the time Gov. Kaine signed Virginia's Energy Plan, which contains the exploration for natural gas only language, which he has repeatedly had to reiterate and reinforce with the Feds.
But it is a new day, new year, new administration. This time Gov. Kaine will be listened to.
In a letter dated Feb. 19, 2009, Kaine calls for the postponement of Virginia Lease Sale 220. "This Lease Sale is the only one currently proposed anywhere along the Atlantic seaboard," he writes.
"I believe that no lease sale should be conducted in the Atlantic until the process that you have outlined for the 5 Year Program [2010-2015] is complete."
Including Virginia in the same process used to study all other Atlantic offshore drilling, to include other offshore areas of Virginia, makes sense. Certainly, if MMS doesn't have enough information and studies to safely conduct any other lease sales in our area, they certainly does not know enough to conduct the FIRST lease sale.
Sen. Frank Wagner will be testifying tomorrow (Tues.) in a hearing before Chairman Nick Rahall's House Natural Resources Committee. This time, hopefully, Wagner won't again "misrepresent" the truth before Congress as he did in his congressional testimony in June 2007 where he spread the following "mistruths":
Mistruth #1: "Keeping Virginia in the five year program is consistent with the desire of the Virginia General Assembly".
Mistruth #2: "Virginia has adopted Renewable Portfolio Standards" (said in an attempt to trump Virginia's supposedly comprehensive energy plan and it's plans to include offshore oil and gas in those supposed plans).
The contact phone for this House Committee is (202) 225-6065. Available here is a live webcast of committee hearings. Check out Wagner tomorrow starting at 10am.
Where ever you live in Virginia, you may be able to help us stop the Surry County coal plant.
Whoever pays the electric bill in your house knows the answer to this question. Who is your utility?
Depending on where you live in Virginia you may be a customer of one of the nine Electric Coops in Virginia that collectively want to build a new coal plant in Surry County. Please let us know if you are customer of any of the following Electric Coops. E-mail stopsurrycoalplant@gmail.com, letting us know who you are and which Coop you belong to.
BARC Electric Cooperative:
• Serving Bath, Alleghany and Rockbridge Counties
Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative:
• Serving Augusta, Rockingham, and Shenandoah Counties
Rappahannock Electric Cooperative:
• Serving Albemarle, Caroline, Culpeper, Essex, Fauquier, Goochland, Greene, Hanover, King & Queen, King William, Louisa, Madison, Orange, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Town of Bowling Green
Northern Neck Electric Cooperative:
• Serving King George, Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond, Stafford, and Westmoreland
Southside Electric Cooperative: **LARGEST CO-OP in VA** • Serving Amelia, Appomattox, Bedford, Brunswick, Buckingham, Campbell, Charlotte, Chesterfield, Cumberland, Dinwiddie, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Nottoway, Pittsylvania, Powhatan, Prince Edward, Prince George and Sussex counties, and the towns of Altavista, Blackstone, Crewe, Hurt, Kenbridge and South Hill; plus the City of Petersburg
Prince George Electric Cooperative:
• Serving Dinwiddie, Isle of Wight, Prince George, Southampton, Surry, Sussex Counties
Community Electric Cooperative:
• Serving City of Suffolk, Isle of Wight and Southampton Counties, along with portions of Sussex and Surry Counties
ANEC:
• Serving Accomack and Northampton on Virginia's Eastern Shore
Also heads up... MEETING NOTICE: ODEC will be holding a Public Forum meeting on the proposed Surry coal plant (aka "Cypress Creek Power Station") on Thurs., Feb. 26, 6:30-8:30 pm, at the L.P. Jackson Middle School, 4255 New Design Road in Dendron, the soon to be hometown for the coal plant, and one sitting just 18 miles as the crow flies from downtown historic Williamsburg.
Celebrating Darwin's birthday yesterday just a little bit differently than did Del. Jeff Frederick, Governor Kaine and British Ambassador Sir Nigel Sheinwald signed a global warming pact, pledging as the Richmond Times-Dispatch writes, to "work together to reduce greenhouse gases, research low-carbon, renewable energy technologies and raise public awareness on the global issues of climate change".
While similar pacts have been signed with California, Florida, Wisconsin and Michigan, what makes the Virginia partnership different is the fact that the UK is the largest foreign investor to Virginia's economy, providing as many as 10,000 jobs and more than $1 billion in defense industry related goods and services to the UK.
The partnership will also hopefully teach Virginia a thing or two about going greener...
"The island nation produces more energy from offshore wind generation than any other country", writes the RTD. Their leadership in clean energy hasn't always stood true. "Once a mainstay of its energy generation, coal accounts for only 10 percent of its current energy supply."
Kaine admitted that the U.S. and Virginia had a long way to go to be as successful as the UK has been with its clean energy generation. He mentioned again that none of the 10 largest solar energy companies are in the U.S. And as we all know unfortunately all too well, clean energy bills are facing a tough time in the Virginia General Assembly, especially in Del. Jeff "Diss Darwin" Frederick's House of No.
But there is one little glimmer of hope for Virginia. From the RTD...
In response to a question, the governor said yesterday said he had "not seen enough to make me believe" that a proposed new coal-fired plant in Surry County is necessary.
Clean energy is just that, Gov. Kaine. It's the definition of "clean" as embraced by the science now making a come-back. Please don't be afraid of it any longer!
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At 2:00p.m. today, Governor Tim Kaine held a press conference in the Capitol complex's Patrick Henry Building. Kaine used the meeting to announce the newest initiative underneath his Renew Virginia campaign: executive order #82, "Greening of State Government." His announcement detailed a new (and mildly exciting) plan for encouraging gains in efficiency and conservation in state-owned buildings and by state employees. Applying primarily to state-level buildings, fleet vehicles and personnel, Kaine hopes that the initiative will show, "leadership that will inspire local governments," to do the same. Serving as an extension of previous Renew Virginia order #48, the initiative hopes to encourage improvements in energy usage, fuel consumption, and recycling through new regulations and incentives:
Thanks to former Rep. Thelma Drake and State Senator Frank Wagner, may I present to you little lonely Virginia, all by itself on the Atlantic coast, poised and ready for lease sale as early as 2011.
Where ever you live in Virginia, you may be able to help us stop the Surry County coal plant.
Celebrating Darwin's birthday yesterday just a little bit differently than did 
