Johnson: Blue Virginia, Democrats Go Ballistic

By Collister “Terry” Johnson

Blue Virginia (BV), an organization which speaks for and represents the Democratic Party in Virginia, recently published an article entitled, “Group Led by GOP’s General Counsel, George W. Bush’s Former Roommate Who’s A Climate Science Denier and Fossil Fuel Fan, Pushes to Get Rid of Virginia Clean Economy Act.”

That article refers to an op-ed I wrote called, “The Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) is a Disaster.” In that article, I described the VCEA as a “radical philosophy” and also that “by embracing radical environmentalism, Virginia seems to be vying with California for the title of the creator the most destructive and unreliable energy policy at the highest cost to its citizens in the country.”

The article summarized the VCEA this way: There is nothing clean, green, renewable or sustainable about the VCEA.

This message seems quite clear, does it not?

Apparently not to Blue Virginia. In fact, the op-ed appears to have scared Democrats by hitting a very sensitive nerve. BV describes my article as the product of “right-wing, climate science denying, pro-fossil fuel opponents” and of a Republican Party “which sadly has become a knee jerk, reactionary, pro-fossil fuels, anti-environment, anti-science party.”

BV goes on to describe the op-ed as “utterly incoherent and internal/inconsistent babble” with a “throw-everything-at-the-wall-and-see-if-something-sticks” approach.

In case anyone missed the subtlety of the message, BV concludes that the article is “a big steaming pile of you know what” (sic).

I’ll give BV credit where credit is due. It did correctly identify my college roommate. Beyond that, BV seems both to have come unhinged and also to have a great deal of difficulty understanding the logic behind describing the VCEA both as “radical” and also containing “nothing that is clean, green, renewable or sustainable.”

For BV’s benefit, I’ll repeat what the article said, using small words.

– There is nothing clean or green about the VCEA’s mandate for the use of solar energy, which will require solar panel installations carpeting Virginia countryside to the tune of 490 square miles – the size of 237,000 football fields, twenty times the size of Manhattan, and 25 percent larger than all of Fairfax County.

– There is nothing sustainable about imposing an electric energy regime on Virginia which will result in a $70 per month, $800 per year increase in the average electricity bill for Virginia families.

– There is everything radical about legislation which, for the first time since the SCC was created in 1902, completely eliminates its ability to protect Virginia consumers by determining whether VCEA electricity rates are “just and reasonable.”

The VCEA, which was rammed through the Virginia legislature by Democrats without meaningful hearings or a record which provides an understanding of its huge environmental and economic costs is, indeed, a disaster.

In short, the VCEA is a war on the poor and a war on the environment.

Propped up by massive federal and state tax credits (which are not enjoyed by the fossil fuel industry), the wind and solar industries and the financial sharks which support them are feasting on Virginia consumers.

The General Assembly Republicans and Republican Party have a job to do: repeal the VCEA and protect Virginia consumers and the environment.

Collister “Terry” Johnson is Senior Advisor with the Northern Virginia Republican Business Forum (NVRBF).