When you visit the Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club’s web site [1], there’s all sorts of hysteria about Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s law suit against the EPA and lease sales for drilling off of Virginia’s coastline – two things which are still off into the future.
Also, last week, Sierra Club stalwart, Eileen Levandoski made a big deal [2]about Virginia withdrawing from the national Governors Wind Energy Coalition, despite the organization’s support for an electrical mandate that disadvantages Virginians.
Yet, ironically, there is not one word from Eileen, any liberal blogger, or the Sierra Club about significant green energy legislation that passed this year’s General Assembly and was signed into law Friday.
At ODU, Governor Bob McDonnell was joined by a bipartisan group of legislators to sign a number of bills, including:
- a $500 tax credit for each green job created in the Commonwealth;
- a measure establishing the Universities Clean Energy Development and Economic Stimulus Foundation;
- the creation of the Virginia Offshore Wind Development Authority;
- legislation rewarding investor-owned electric utilities for using wind energy;
- authorize investor-owned natural gas utilities to petition the State Corporation Commission to implement a separate rider that will allow for recovery of certain costs associated with eligible infrastructure replacement projects;
- add improvement of infrastructure such as refueling stations to the Alternative Fuels Revolving Fund;
- to give localities the authority to, in order to secure loans for the initial acquisition and installation of clean energy improvements, place liens equal in value to the loan against any property where such clean energy systems are being installed.
Admittedly, the last couple measures on the list might not be so quick to grasp and don’t fit nicely into sound bites that our environmental friends can easily tout, but surely they would say something about making our commonwealth safer, cleaner, more efficient and environmentally friendly?
Not a peep.
You also note that the Sierra Club is about activism, touting their “Earth Day Revolution: Be a Clean Energy Patriot [3]” on their web site (are they inciting violence?). However, there is nothing on their site also about this conservation program put forward by the governor:
2010 Stewardship Virginia spring campaign will run through May 31, 2010. Stewardship Virginia is a campaign, run by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, to encourage volunteers to participate in a specific group of tangible projects that will contribute to conserving Virginia’s landscapes, improving water quality, providing for improved recreational opportunities, and enhancing fisheries and wildlife.
Speaking about the campaign, Governor McDonnell noted, “I have always tried to teach my children the importance of leaving places better than they found them. This campaign is taking that same lesson and applying it to our Commonwealth. By volunteering to help conserve and improve Virginia’s natural resources we will leave Virginia a better place than we found it, to the benefit of all who call the Commonwealth home today and for generations to come.”
Last year, the Stewardship Virginia campaign registered 263 projects across Virginia and over 7,800 certificates of appreciation were issued to individuals who participated.
Citizens, businesses and service groups across the Commonwealth are encouraged to become involved by adopting streams, planting buffers, improving wildlife habitat, and participating in educational and recreational programs.
Companies and organizations can identify and undertake one or more projects of their choosing or can select a project submitted by a natural resource agency. A list of projects and registration information can be found at www.dcr.virginia.gov/stewardship [4].
If you have any questions or need additional information, please call Bonnie Phillips with the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation at (804) 786-5056 or toll free at 1-877-42-WATER.
I can’t say that I am surprised, because the legislation passed easily through the House of Delegates and was signed into law by McDonnell….aka Republicans.
Because, folks, it’s not about the environment for special interests like the Sierra Club – it’s about partisanship.
They would rather cry about not being part of a national group, then to be happy about Virginia establishing an organization dedicated to developing wind power; they would rather bemoan AG Cuccinelli then to also look at how Virginia is transitioning to reduce emissions and develop biofuels.
It is apparent that “go green” is a mere slogan to the environmental left, because when we actually do, all you hear is the wind blow.