Follow the Money

Government subsidies for big oil come in many shapes and sizes: reduced corporate income taxes; lower than average sales tax for gasoline; government funding of programs that benefit primarily oil industry and motorists; and the “hidden” environmental costs caused by the consumption of fossil fuels. Billions of dollars go from the taxpayers indirectly through these subsidies, despite the fact that Exxon is making more than $75,000 a minute around the clock. In effect, these subsidies have meant that the American people have been paying for gas twice: at the pump and on April 15.

But these subsidies have led to secondary effects Continue reading

WAPO: "Power Plant Approval Could Lead to Higher Rates"

Great article by Tim Craig at the Washington Post today about the Wise County coal plant. Read the full article below. Emphasis is mine.

Kaine Says Coal-Burning Power Plant Is Necessary
Support for Wise County Facility, Which Could Lead to Higher Utility Rates, Angers Environmentalists

RICHMOND — Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has been battered by criticism from environmentalists over his support of a new coal-fired power plant for southwest Virginia, which Dominion Virginia Power says is essential to the state’s energy needs but which could also lead to higher utility rates for consumers statewide.

The controversy pits Kaine (D), who has made environmental protection a top priority, against a sizable chunk of his political base, even though the governor said he is powerless to stop the project even if he wanted to. The State Corporation Commission and other regulatory agencies issue the construction permits.
Continue reading

Coal Prices Rise But Virginia Coal Production Decreases

The demand for coal has never been higher. Developing and developed nations alike are rapidly building new coal facilities to fuel economic growth, driving the price for coal through the roof globally. According to the Washington Post, over the last five months we have seen the price of coal has increase over 50%! And if Asia’s appetite for coal is as ‘voracious’ as all the prognosticators are making it out to be, there is no price relief in sight.

This news comes at a time when we are still fighting to stop Dominion from building another controversial coal plant here in Virginia — why should we take a chance on this international coal market?

Dominion claims that we can meet our coal needs in state, helping us avoid this international boondoggle. But news on that front isn’t that much rosier. According to a Richmond Times Dispatch article:

Virginia coal production is down about 10 percent this year through March 15.

For the 52-week period that ended March 15, Virginia coal production was down 16 percent. A total of 24.6 million tons were mined, compared with 29.4 million tons a year earlier.

For those 12 months, Virginia coal production was about half what it was during a similar period less than two decades ago.

The natural conclusion that one would make from this evidence is that Virginia is running out of coal. If, as a State, we had vast easily accessible reserves we would be mining that coal and selling it for a great profit on the international market — or at least using it domestically to save our stagnating economy a few bucks.

So what will Governor Kaine do to help protect Virginians from rapidly increasing coal prices? Nothing! He is toeing the Dominion’s line about their controversial new plans for a new coal plant in Wise County. Kaine doesn’t see us heading towards a “no coal future,” a future that we aren’t asking him to deliver. We want a future where we can get a measurable percentage of our energy from clean sources such as wind and solar (okay, we do get a very small percentage of our energy from renewables… but it ain’t much) — commodities that are not subject to international markets and whose prices don’t increase exponentially as the Asian economies become stronger.

Oh, and last I checked, the prices of wind, solar, biomass, and other renewable energies have only getting cheaper — something that we definately can’t say about coal, oil and natural gas.

Contact the Governor today, and tell him to protect our energy future.

All the dirty details on the MD senate

This is the most in-depth information I’ve found about what exactly happened with the Global Warming Solutions Act in the MD Senate – it even includes a vote breakdown on the major weakening amendment, so scroll to the bottom of the article to see which way your Senator voted! (Thanks Baltimore Sun Bay & Environment Blog!)

Global Warming Bill Dealt Blow

The Maryland Senate today severely weakened a bill designed to reduce global warming pollution in the state.

An amendment approved by a vote of 27-20 would require the Maryland Department of the Environment to jump through several more hoops

Activists Line Annapolis Sidewalks in Chalk, Show 20 Feet of Sea Level Rise

floodannapolisCoalition members got to Annapolis early Monday morning to draw a line along the streets of Annapolis showing how twenty feet of sea level rise would affect the city. There was a good showing of press, with 3 TV cameras and a couple of photographers. People walking across the line on the sidewalk would read the paper explaining what the line represented. At one point a family walking by said “It is great what you are doing, STOP GLOBAL WARMING!”

Click here to watch a video from Monday’s demonstration>>

This is part of our ramped-up efforts to get the Global Warming Solutions Bill passed in the Senate and the House. Monday afternoon the Senate passed the bill with an amendment that would greatly weaken the power of the Maryland Department of the Environment to regulate global warming emissions.

Cindy Schwartz of MD LCV told the press, “Maryland elected officials have an enormous opportunity

Dominion Dollars for Football, Food and Killing

Dominion Power gave Governor Kaine $552 to attend the NCAA Final Four. Senator Saslaw got $373 to see the Redskins. Delagate Kilgore got $350 for ‘personal calculators.’ Senator Stolle took a $1,700 trip to Georgia on Dominion’s dime. Senator Norment took a $1,700 hunting trip. Senator Wagner took a $1,200 trip. Former Senator Martin Williams took over $6,000 in Dominion donations to feed his need to hunt and kill things — so did Senator Wampler!

I can’t make this up. You can find it yourself at www.vpap.org. It is unreal how many of our elected officials not only receive official financing from Dominion, but Dominion also makes a point of giving out tens of thousands of dollars worth of dinners, Redskins tickets, hunting trips, and calculators. I know that corporate lobbying is normally done using carrots like these, but the major problem I have is that Dominion is, in effect, a state owned company in Virginia that should not be wasting ratepayer money on these kinds of things. As soon as we re-regulated Dominion in 2006, the state took control over certain aspects of their business — like determining profits.

Right now, we are squabbling over whether Dominion will get 13.75% or 12.12% profit on their proposed coal plant in Wise County — a plant that much of Virginia doesn’t want. If they get the ‘low-end’ of the profit, they will only make $218 million in profits off the new facility… money I am sure that they will invest wisely…

Coal Costs Rise. Will Your Power Bill Skyrocket Next?

by: TheGreenMiles

Cross-posted from Raising Kaine on Thu Mar 20, 2008 at 11:00:16 AM EDT

From the front page of this morning’s Washington Post, Coal Can’t Fill World’s Burning Appetite:

Big swings in the prices of coal and other commodities are common. But while the price of coal has slipped slightly in recent weeks, many analysts and companies are wondering whether high prices are here to stay. […] If high prices last, that would raise the cost of U.S. electricity, half of which is generated by coal-fired powered plants.

Expensive or not, coal is almost always dirtier to burn than are other fossil fuels. Although its use accounts for a quarter of world energy consumption, it generates 39 percent of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions. Climate change concerns could lead to legislation in many countries imposing higher costs on those who burn coal, forcing utilities and factories to become more efficient and curtail its use. Climatologists warn that without technology to capture and store carbon dioxide emissions, burning more coal would be disastrous.

The more you learn about coal, the more you realize Virginia is some sort of Coal Bizarro World. Everywhere else it’s dirty, but here it’s clean! Everywhere else it’s scarce and getting more expensive, but here it’s cheap and abundant! Everywhere else they’re anticipating carbon cap legislation with plans for clean energy, but here we act like greenhouse gas pollution will be free forever.

And everywhere else, our governor is seen as doing the bidding of his energy donors, but here we know there’s still time for Gov. Tim Kaine to prove them wrong. If you haven’t done so yet, take a minute right now to tell Gov. Kaine to do the right thing.

Bad amendment pushes GWSA vote back

A bad amendment was introduced and passed by Sen. Exum today that would make the Maryland Department of Environment get approval from the legislature when we start trying to implement measures that reduce our global warming pollution under GWSA. This is one of three amendments that we knew that was coming, and which we have to fight to make GWSA as strong as it needs to be.

This is the usual back and forth that we see on the floor, so we’re not worried. Continue reading