Comment: Virginia is not alone in the uranium fight or in need of green energy, Western US and Canada are fighting the same fight
Notice : General Assembly 2009 of Virginia
The 2009 session of the Virginia General Assembly started Wednesday and is scheduled to end on February 28th. The Virginia League of Conservation Voters Education Fund will continue to keep you up to date on priority legislation throughout the session and occasionally we'll ask you to take a few minutes to contact your legislators. We'll also be updating our online bill chart regularly to let you know which bills the conservation community supports or opposes as the session progresses.
The Web Page: http://capwiz.com/valcvef/issues/bills/
The People of Virginia needs to support the Green Energy Bills in the Virginia General Assembly and we can be successful like Colorado.
So tell all your friends to write or email using the above web page for the green bills!
2008 Session Wraps Up With Big Conservation Gains
Colorado Action Network members made an amazing difference for the environment in this year's Colorado General Assembly. The session wrapped up on May 6th and there is widespread agreement in the environmental community that big gains were made. Here is a quick review:
Comment: review the rest of article at http://www.coloradoactionnetwork.org/
Clean, Renewable Energy
HB 1160 - PASSED - Creates fair and uniform rates for homeowners and businesses for the excess electricity produced by their solar, wind, or geothermal energy systems.
HB 1164 - PASSED - Encourages the Public Utilities Commission to consider large-scale solar power plants as a way to meet our state's energy needs.
HB 1350 - PASSED - Enables local governments to provide lower interest loans to Coloradans making clean energy and efficiency improvements to their homes.
HB 1107, which would have created energy savings for homeowners and businesses, failed to pass due to heavy opposition from the Colorado Rural Electric Association.
And, a major victory on uranium mining:
HB 1161 - PASSED - Protects communities from the harmful impacts of uranium mining.
SB 228 - PASSED - Makes information about prospective mining operations more available to the public.
Canada's Fight
2009/01/02
Fight for Public Involvement in Environmental Assessment Heads To Supreme Court
A long battle over the public’s right to be consulted on large mines and other industrial projects is now heading to the Supreme Court of Canada. The Supreme Court has decided to allow MiningWatch Canada to appeal the decision of the Federal Court of Appeal on the environmental assessment of the Red Chris mine in northern British Columbia.
http://www.miningwatch.ca/index.php
Showing posts with label General Assembly. Show all posts
Showing posts with label General Assembly. Show all posts
Monday, January 26, 2009
The Deepest Cuts State Budgets in Crisis
Send an e-mail to David A. Fahrenthold" Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, January 26, 2009; Page B01
One in a series of reports exploring the impact of budget cuts being contemplated by elected officials in Maryland and Virginia.
The state of Virginia has eliminated more than one-fifth of its air-pollution inspectors -- who police everything from massive power plants to neighborhood dry cleaners -- as part of its attempt to make up a budget shortfall estimated at $3 billion or more, officials said.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) wants to cut about $12 million this fiscal year from the $420 million budget of the state secretary of natural resources, who oversees state parks, Chesapeake Bay restoration and anti-pollution efforts.
Under Kaine's plan, some of the cutbacks would come through deferring maintenance, eliminating training and replacing quarterly surveys of state-park visitors with annual ones. Kaine also proposed cutting 43 positions.
One small section of the secretary's domain -- the air-enforcement division of the Department of Environmental Quality -- has already made serious cuts. A spokesman for the department said 14 of the roughly 54 inspector positions had been eliminated.
No inspectors were laid off, department spokesman Bill Hayden said. He said most had left the department through voluntary early retirement programs and a handful were moved to other jobs.
Air inspectors oversee about 5,000 sites statewide, checking their paperwork and the emissions from smokestacks and exhaust. At power plants, those emissions can include soot and the building blocks of smog. At dry cleaners, they can include cleaning chemicals that irritate lungs.
State officials said the inspectors will still be able to check Virginia's largest air polluters, about 500 power plants and factories, as often as U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules require. That's once every two years for the very largest, and once every five years for the rest.
But officials said that the rest of the sites would be checked much less often.
Jerome Brooks, who oversees the air compliance division, said that in previous years, inspectors were able to check 1,400 sites a year.
This year, he said, they will check fewer than 800.
He said they would try to target sites with a history of violations and those that draw complaints from neighbors.
"If [polluters] are out of compliance, we may or may not find it as quickly or easily as we once did," said L. Preston Bryant Jr., state secretary of natural resources.
S. William Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies, said the loss of inspectors could embolden Virginia's polluters to bend or break rules.
"This is akin to having pollution-control cops on the beat. When sources of air pollution know that their facilities are being inspected, they will . . . do a better job" of controlling emissions, Becker said.
Becker said he fears other states will also lay off inspectors this year as the national recession cuts into the tax revenue that makes up state budgets. Becker said it is too early to know how many jobs might be lost nationwide.
Two jobs were also lost from the Department of Environmental Quality office in charge of policing water polluters, Hayden said, although he said this was also done without layoffs.
In Maryland, Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) released his proposed budget last week and actually added money for the oversight of power plants.
The state's Chesapeake Bay 2010 Trust Fund, a new program that funnels money into efforts to stop pollution on farms and in suburban neighborhoods, did not fare as well.
The fund, which draws from a tax on fuel and car rentals, was heavily raided this fiscal year. As the state's budget tightened, $25 million was shifted into the state's general accounts. Only about $9.6 million was left.
For the next fiscal year, O'Malley proposed taking money from the trust fund again, this time about $6.5 million. The rest of the fund, projected to be about $25 million, will be spent on the Chesapeake, according to state officials.
O'Malley "has made a huge commitment to bay restoration here," said Mark Hoffman of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. "He could have very easily said, 'We'll continue to take $25 million.' "
One in a series of reports exploring the impact of budget cuts being contemplated by elected officials in Maryland and Virginia.
The state of Virginia has eliminated more than one-fifth of its air-pollution inspectors -- who police everything from massive power plants to neighborhood dry cleaners -- as part of its attempt to make up a budget shortfall estimated at $3 billion or more, officials said.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) wants to cut about $12 million this fiscal year from the $420 million budget of the state secretary of natural resources, who oversees state parks, Chesapeake Bay restoration and anti-pollution efforts.
Under Kaine's plan, some of the cutbacks would come through deferring maintenance, eliminating training and replacing quarterly surveys of state-park visitors with annual ones. Kaine also proposed cutting 43 positions.
One small section of the secretary's domain -- the air-enforcement division of the Department of Environmental Quality -- has already made serious cuts. A spokesman for the department said 14 of the roughly 54 inspector positions had been eliminated.
No inspectors were laid off, department spokesman Bill Hayden said. He said most had left the department through voluntary early retirement programs and a handful were moved to other jobs.
Air inspectors oversee about 5,000 sites statewide, checking their paperwork and the emissions from smokestacks and exhaust. At power plants, those emissions can include soot and the building blocks of smog. At dry cleaners, they can include cleaning chemicals that irritate lungs.
State officials said the inspectors will still be able to check Virginia's largest air polluters, about 500 power plants and factories, as often as U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules require. That's once every two years for the very largest, and once every five years for the rest.
But officials said that the rest of the sites would be checked much less often.
Jerome Brooks, who oversees the air compliance division, said that in previous years, inspectors were able to check 1,400 sites a year.
This year, he said, they will check fewer than 800.
He said they would try to target sites with a history of violations and those that draw complaints from neighbors.
"If [polluters] are out of compliance, we may or may not find it as quickly or easily as we once did," said L. Preston Bryant Jr., state secretary of natural resources.
S. William Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies, said the loss of inspectors could embolden Virginia's polluters to bend or break rules.
"This is akin to having pollution-control cops on the beat. When sources of air pollution know that their facilities are being inspected, they will . . . do a better job" of controlling emissions, Becker said.
Becker said he fears other states will also lay off inspectors this year as the national recession cuts into the tax revenue that makes up state budgets. Becker said it is too early to know how many jobs might be lost nationwide.
Two jobs were also lost from the Department of Environmental Quality office in charge of policing water polluters, Hayden said, although he said this was also done without layoffs.
In Maryland, Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) released his proposed budget last week and actually added money for the oversight of power plants.
The state's Chesapeake Bay 2010 Trust Fund, a new program that funnels money into efforts to stop pollution on farms and in suburban neighborhoods, did not fare as well.
The fund, which draws from a tax on fuel and car rentals, was heavily raided this fiscal year. As the state's budget tightened, $25 million was shifted into the state's general accounts. Only about $9.6 million was left.
For the next fiscal year, O'Malley proposed taking money from the trust fund again, this time about $6.5 million. The rest of the fund, projected to be about $25 million, will be spent on the Chesapeake, according to state officials.
O'Malley "has made a huge commitment to bay restoration here," said Mark Hoffman of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. "He could have very easily said, 'We'll continue to take $25 million.' "
Senate panel OKs bill encouraging wind-farm leasing off Va.
By Dave ForsterThe Virginian-Pilot© January 26, 2009
RICHMOND
The Virginia Marine Resources Commission would get the authority to lease underwater land for an offshore wind farm under a bill that passed a Senate committee today.
State Sen. Frank Wagner, R-Virginia Beach, is sponsoring the bill, SB1350. The legislation also directs the Marine Resources Commission to study whether there is suitable land off Virginia’s coast to support a commercial offshore wind farm, and if there is, to try to lease it for development.
The legislation would pave the way for wind energy production in Virginia, especially off southern Virginia Beach, where some of the most ideal spots appear to be near False Cape State Park and the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Wagner said.
“There would be no one to have to look at it,” Wagner said of the soaring windmills typical of such projects.
RICHMOND
The Virginia Marine Resources Commission would get the authority to lease underwater land for an offshore wind farm under a bill that passed a Senate committee today.
State Sen. Frank Wagner, R-Virginia Beach, is sponsoring the bill, SB1350. The legislation also directs the Marine Resources Commission to study whether there is suitable land off Virginia’s coast to support a commercial offshore wind farm, and if there is, to try to lease it for development.
The legislation would pave the way for wind energy production in Virginia, especially off southern Virginia Beach, where some of the most ideal spots appear to be near False Cape State Park and the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Wagner said.
“There would be no one to have to look at it,” Wagner said of the soaring windmills typical of such projects.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Lobbyists don’t guide anything
Another excellent letter from an SCC'er...
By Published by The Editorial Board
Danville Register & Bee
http://www.godanriver.com/gdr/news/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/danville_letters/article/danville_regional_lobbyists_and_more/7851/
By Published by The Editorial Board
Danville Register & Bee
To the editor:
In response to, “Report tackles lobbying efforts,” (Nov. 24, page A1), my dictionary says a lobbyist is “a person who tries to influence legislation on behalf of a special interest.” Apparently Mr. Wales, Virginia Uranium Inc.’s resident expert in all matters uranium, has confused the roles of lobbyists with that of a tour guide.
Lobbyists don’t guide anything. They take money from VUI in order to try to convince the legislators in Richmond to give VUI what it wants — a study, uranium mining regulations and the lifting of the current moratorium on uranium mining and processing. VUI’s lobbyists are not tour guides, as Wales would like us to believe. They are well-paid employees of VUI.
Second, Wales assumption that “environmental groups are … well funded and experienced in lobbying …” is not based in fact. Southside Concerned Citizens has a very limited budget, unlike VUI, whose funds come from the mining conglomerate Aberdeen International. Wales would like us to think that VUI is a “small, locally-owned company,” and would ask us to feel sorry for them that they are facing such a “difficult, uphill battle” in order to get permission to ruin our homes with their toxic, radioactive mining waste.
Third, Wales must have been suffering a mental meltdown when he stated that, “the lifting of the moratorium was never part of anything we had plans for.” If VUI is not for the lifting of the moratorium, then they are not for the mining and milling of uranium at Coles Hill, and therefore they are working against their own stated objective.
Perhaps VUI would be wise to choose a different spokesperson, or at least ask Wales to put a little more thought into what he says on their behalf.
JESSE PYRANT ANDREWS
Halifax
http://www.godanriver.com/gdr/news/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/danville_letters/article/danville_regional_lobbyists_and_more/7851/
Virginia Beach, Lobbying Firm Part Ways Over Uranium Mining
VIRGINIA BEACH
The city and its hired lobbying firm are parting ways after 10 years, a split instigated by conflicting views on the possibility of uranium mining in Pittsylvania County.
The City Council this month came out in opposition to mining, citing water quality concerns. The city’s lobbying firm, The Vectre Corp., also represents Virginia Uranium, Inc., the company who wants to mine the radioactive substance used in nuclear power plants.
The city told Vectre to choose who they want to represent. “You can’t serve two masters,” Vice Mayor Louis Jones said. “We need someone representing our viewpoint.”
The city pays Vectre $68,900 a year. Last year, the firm was paid $30,800 working for Virginia Uranium, which wants state legislators to lift a 25-year moratorium on uranium mining.
The Beach asked Vectre to make a choice: represent the city or Virginia Uranium, not both. Vectre President Benson Dendy said he chose to stay with the mining company, which it represented long before Virginia Beach took a position against the uranium project.
"This is not acrimonious or anything," said Bob Matthias, assistant to City Manager Jim Spore.
No decision has been made whether to hire a new lobbying firm, Matthias said.
The mining site in south central Virginia is about 200 miles from Virginia Beach. City officials fear that flooding from a hurricane could damage mining operations and unleash radioactive material that could contaminate Lake Gaston, the city's water source, which is about halfway between the proposed mine and the city.
Aaron Applegate, (757) 222-5122, aaron.applegate@pilotonline.com
http://hamptonroads.com/2008/12/mining-issue-causes-va-beach-lobbyists-part-ways
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