Driving Home Efficiency

hybrid rally richmond

This past Saturday I joined a dozen other hybrid owners on a gorgeous spring day to… Circle the Capitol in Richmond! Yes, you read that correctly, I woke up early and covered my friend’s Toyota Prius in streamers and balloons and battled downtown Richmond traffic and construction on Broad Street. I did this to send a message that was loud (horns were honked) and clear (in bold font across the side of each of our fuel efficient vehicles). We support Governor Kaine amending legislation that made it through the general assembly session to include the 19% efficiency target that his own Commission on Climate Change recommended this past fall.

19 percent standard

Energy efficiency is the cleanest, quickest and cheapest way to meet Virginia’s energy needs. With federal legislation in the works to regulate carbon to stave off the most devastating effects of climate change, the Commonwealth can’t afford to miss this opportunity. Energy efficiency equals tens of thousands of jobs for our state, how much longer do we plan to wait?

hybrid rally crowd

Watch Global Warming Forum with Rep. Connolly Online at 7 pm

Yesterday, President Obama just signed into law an economic recovery bill containing $87 billion in green investment funds–the largest investment ever in clean energy solutions! This is only the first step of many to solve the climate challenge and build a clean economy. In the months ahead, we’ll have to keep pushing Congress and the President to enact strong caps on carbon pollution and a halt to new coal power plants.

Tonight, Fairfax County’s Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA-11th) will be talking to a packed town hall meeting at the Fairfax City Library about what congress is doing to stop global warming and what you need to do to keep up the pressure. If you can’t make it in person, watch it online on CCAN’s Blog: http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org/blog/?p=785
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Bobby Scott talked green at THM in Richmond last night

Last night was the first of several town hall meetings being held across the state on green jobs and clean energy sponsored by the C-campaign. Congressman Bobby Scott spoke to a crowded room (estimated between 100-170 people!). Other speakers included:

Mr. Karl Bren, founder of Green Visions Consulting;
Mr. Michael Schewel, Chair of the Corporate Development Department at McGuireWoods and former Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade;
Mr. Glen Besa, Director, Virginia Sierra Club;
Dr. Thad Williamson, Professor of Leadership Studies, University of Richmond; and
Dr. James Wetzel, Professor of Environmental Economics, Virginia Commonwealth University.

After the panel spoke, they opened the floor for questions. People were really excited about green jobs and wanted to know more. One gentleman said he’s been looking at workforce development training and couldn’t find anything closer than NYC. He stated that the price of that particular program keeps going up and up too. He wanted to know why there wasn’t any training for him here in Richmond. A gentleman from a vocational technical school said they implemented a program last year to train troubled youth how to build solar panels. They felt it was more important to get the program up and running then to sit and wait for funding. He said that with the signing of the stimulus bill, they are planning to expand the program and start doing adult training programs as early as next month.
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Energy Efficiency

The Richmond Times-Dispatch

The Virginia economy is in full-on crisis. Businesses statewide are hurting, state employees are being laid off by the thousands, and the state is cutting core services in the face of a $3 billion budget shortfall.

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