Believe it or not, The Green Miles and the president of coal company Alpha Natural Resources agree on something. Virginia could slash its energy and coal usage without much effort. We just choose not to:Steady growth demand for electricity to feed homes and businesses has the [coal] industry's future looking bright, [Michael] Quillen said. Conservation could curb that growth, but Americans, he noted, don't do that well with conservation.Virginia is last in the nation in spending on energy efficiency and conservation. As a result, the typical Virginia household uses 150-200% of the energy it actually needs. That's not due to glitzy home theater systems or something -- it's poor insulation, drafty windows, and inefficient appliances. Energy that slips out your attic or under a drafty door that you'll never even notice you used -- until your power bill arrives.
So when Gov. Tim Kaine said on last week's RK conference call that we were building a huge new coal-fired power plant because the General Assembly had determined that the plant was "in the public interest," I wasn't exactly shocked. To steal a phrase from Quillen, the General Assembly doesn't do all that well with managing our energy interests.
While Virginia will likely never get off coal entirely in our lifetimes, we do have the power to dramatically ease our dependence. We'll need three people to do it: Tim Kaine, Mark Warner, and you.
Let's break it down:
Tim Kaine - The governor has already raised a red flag on the Wise County plant, asking the Department of Environmental Quality to hold more hearings on the proposal. But if Gov. Kaine is serious about the success of his Virginia Energy Plan and Commission on Climate Change, he needs to reconsider his public neutrality on this plant. How can we cut Virginia's greenhouse gas emissions if this plant is adding 5.3 million tons in new carbon dioxide emissions each year, the equivalent of adding more than 300,000 cars to Virginia roadways?
Mark Warner - Here's what our next junior US Senator had to say at the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner:
In January of 2009, we have to change our energy policy.There is no doubt our new Sen. Warner will be a leader on energy and environmental issues on Capitol Hill. But can renewable energy advocacy be compatible with neutrality on the Wise County plant? According to the American Wind Energy Association, Virginia has the potential to produce an average of 1,380 megawatts of wind energy each year. Will Virginia be able to share in the spoils of a clean energy future if we've already invested $1.6 billion in coal?Our energy policy right now consists of borrowing money from China to buy oil from countries around the world that don't like us.
And with some of the dollars we send to the Middle East, it's fair to say we may be the first country in history that's funding both sides of a war.
We must invest in renewable energy, and we must eliminate our dependence on foreign oil.
By making these investments, we can create millions of new jobs here in America. We can make our nation more secure.
And if we take on the threat of climate change, we can reassert America's moral standing in the world. If we do it right, we might even save the planet along the way.
You - Gov. Kaine told us, "When legislature passed legislation calling for this plant, no one asked me to change it that I can recall." Virginia environmentalists have been slow to react to the threat of global warming and slow to push our elected officials to change. That means now we have to fight twice as hard to stop this plant before it locks us into 50 years of mountaintop removal, polluted air, and lost opportunity for clean energy jobs.
If you can, attend tonight's DEQ hearing in Richmond to tell regulators there's no such thing as "clean coal." This plant will spew carbon dioxide, mercury, sulfur and nitrogen into Virginia's air for generations to come.
Even if you can't make it in person, email the DEQ right now!
FYI, I'll be live blogging from the DEQ meeting tonight, so stay tuned.
I like Waldo's idea of passing legislation that would require Dominion Power to meter and buy cleaner energy from small producers (rather than just crediting them against their power bill as it is currently done), keep track of how much energy that adds up to and then allow customers to purchase cleaner energy at a slightly higher price. Sort of like carbon credits.