Virginia General Assembly defeats energy efficiency measures

As you saw if you tuned in to Lauren’s detailed twitter feed last night, the Virginia House of Delegates killed the Governor’s amendment to SB 1248 which would have re-instated a voluntary target for reducing Virginia’s energy use 19% by 2025 through energy efficiency measures. The vote was close: 47 in favor, 50 against. The amendment squeaked by in the Senate by a vote of 22-18.

In the other energy efficiency bill that landed on the Governor’s desk, Delegate Pollard’s bill HB2506, the General Assembly passed the Governor’s amendments which removed a bad portion of the bill giving authority to the Attorney General’s office to study energy efficiency programs implemented by the utilities and added a positive addition to require the SCC to consider energy efficiency and environmental protection when reviewing applications from small-scale industrial facilities for opting out of energy efficiency programs. The original language only looked at economic development as the sole point for opt out consideration. This bill passed the Senate 23-17 and the House 47-44.

Just to put things in perspective: Virginia currently ranks 45th in the country in percentage of utility revenues spent on efficiency – a total of just $84,000 statewide in 2006. In comparison, utilities in Alabama and Mississippi spent more than $400,000, and North Carolina energy providers spent $3.8 million.The bills passed this session do help move efficiency measures closer to being on a level playing field with new generation like coal-fired power plants. But the completely fail to set even a voluntary target, which is necessary to counter subsidies in Virginia for coal power.

It’s very unfortunate that the target was defeated but at least we now have some form of energy efficiency on the books. This gives us a foundation to work from next year to push even harder for stronger language. And the votes were close, which just goes to show that a statewide mobilization of grassroots efforts can be effective here in Virginia.

Press release here.

More detailed analysis coming soon.

The VA efficiency bill is about to pass in the General Assembly!

Efficiency was a hot issue this past General Assembly session. The bills that passed were short of our goals, but in a midnight amendment, Governor Kaine added efficiency targets, which gives us tangible goals to work towards and sets precedent for passing a mandatory standard next session.

The General Assembly reconvenes today to vote on all the amendments put forth by the governor. Stay tuned here to get the up-to-the-tweet updates from Richmond.

People talking about the Virginia Efficiency bill on Twitter

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Jellyfish Burger: the delicious new global warming snack of champions

One of the bonus side effects of global warming is that warming water is super hospitable to jellyfish. This will have impacts in the Chesapeake Bay as well – more open seas as marsh lands floods, along with warmer temperatures and dead zones caused by algae blooms all mean more jellyfish.

The fate of the crab cake sandwich that you love so much? Well, since blue crabs are in trouble due to loss of habitat, we’re going to have to replace them with the squishier and potentially less delicious jellyfish burger, like this one,

What Recession? Dominion Wants Raises, Guaranteed Profits

From The Green Miles

“The sustainability of our economic development successes are dependent on having a reliable energy source,” — Delacey Skinner, Gov. Tim Kaine’s communications director, talking about coal-fired power, March 31, 2008

I think of that quote every time I hear about how our continued dependence on coal-fired power is hurting consumers and businesses and leaving Virginians in the dark. The only thing dependable these days about coal-fired power is that it keeps getting more expensive. And the only thing reliable is Dominion’s guaranteed profits

RICHMOND, March 31 — Dominion Virginia Power is seeking to raise electricity rates 6.9 percent during the next 14 months to pay for equipment, salaries, plant construction and conservation projects. […]

Dominion said incremental increases proposed for Sept. 1 and Jan. 1 will pay for operating costs, power plants in Buckingham and Wise counties and conservation programs. The increase also includes a 13.5 percent profit for the company and its investors.

Dominion: Global Warming Starts HereAt a time when Virginia businesses are laying off workers, Dominion is asking them to divert more money away from their payrolls and towards Dominion’s payroll and profit.

The proposed 7 percent hike would be on top of the 18 percent rate increase we just got hit with in September. Oddly, the Washington Post article doesn’t mention the 1.5 percent fee Dominion quietly added in January to cover the cost of the new $2 billion coal-fired power plant in Wise County. Compounding the rate hikes, it would be more than a 28 percent total increase.

But surely our elected officials will take a stand for consumers … right?

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D), who does not have a formal role in reviewing the request, said Dominion officials informed him they would be seeking an increase.

“The SCC is a strong body with a great staff, and I think they will do due diligence on this,” he said. “It’s difficult because the cost of energy is going up.”

Wow. Dominion wants to raise customers’ energy bills more than 28 percent in the worst economy since the Great Depression, and all Gov. Kaine can muster is a shrugging “well, what’re ya gonna do”?

Our continuing dependence on dirty coal is taking money out of consumers’ pockets, costing Virginia jobs, stripping our natural resources, polluting our air, and warming our planet. Remember that the next time anyone tries to tell you we can’t switch to clean energy.

MilesGrant2009.com

Having fun, low-carbon style

With a new carbon-free economy in the works, we’re going to need to start thinking creatively about how we entertain ourselves. Seriously. The carbon-budget of a Hollywood blockbuster is generally out of control (transportation for starlets, megawatt lighting, building all those crazy pyramid sets…), so I think we should support more entertainment like this:

Why it’s awesome and low-carbon:

1. LEDs. Nuff said.

2. No special treatment for the sheep stars.

3. It’s outside, and involves all low impact technology for fun. Like dogs.

So here’s what I suggest. Next time you and your friends are looking for something fun to do, get on your bikes, grab some LEDs, and make your own fun. Extreme sheepherding style.

An Analysis of "The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009" discussion draft

The House Energy and Commerce Committee discussion draft, “The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009,” released on March 31st is very robust, a 648 page document. Based upon one reading of this document, these seem to be most of the significant provisions:

-It would establish a cap-and-trade system which sets mandatory and declining limits on greenhouse gas emissions (ghg) over the next 40 years. Emissions credits would be allocated to accomplish this, but the draft is silent on how many of those credits would be given away or auctioned, or perhaps distributed in some other way. This remains to be negotiated.

-It appears that the cap is more “downstream” than “upstream.” The summary of the document says that it “establishes a market-based program for reducing global warming pollution from electric utilities, oil companies, large industrial sources, and other covered entities that collectively are responsible for 85% of U.S. global warming emissions.” At several points throughout the document it describes a “covered entity” as one which emits at least 25,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually.

-The draft projects a 20% reduction in ghg’s from 2005 levels via the cap, which is about a 7% reduction below the 1990 baseline year. There is another 10% reduction projected via investments in prevention of deforestation outside the U.S., and there is another 0-6% projected via offsets.
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DC residents: save some green on local eco-products!

Want to save some $ while supporting sweet local businesses like Sticky Fingers (mmm, vegan treats!), Clean Currents (yay! wind cheaper than coal!), and Zipcar? (ok, so Zipcar’s not local. They’re still pretty awesome.)

Now you can with LiveGreen, a new organization where, for a membership of only $13, you get special deals and discounts from local eco-friendly businesses, from energy auditors to yoga studios to clean energy businesses. Check it out!

Now that’s what I call going green.

Clean Energy Center opens in Montgomery County


The Maryland Clean Energy Center announced the location of its new home today, right here in Montgomery County. This new center, a non-profit organization working jointly with the Maryland Energy Administration, Montgomery County, and the University sytem of MD, was created to promote clean energy development across the state, and create green jobs in MD.

County executive Isiah Leggett says of the center:

The center will provide a coordinated approach to building a strong clean energy economy in Maryland through technology commercialization, business incubation, and workforce development and training.

Even though it’s not quite up-and-running, this is a great step of hitting MD’s goal of creating at least 100,000 green jobs by 2015, and one more resource that we have in making a clean energy revolution a reality. Bonus: there are already job listings of green jobs that are hiring right now on their resources page. I encourage you to check it out, register your clean energy business (or non-profit activities) for their database, and help get this green jobs ball rolling.

Once again, MD does something awesome.