 | By Corrina BeallLegislative and Political Director |
The following update was originally sent to our more than 70,000 email subscribers. To recieve rapid action alerts such as this one, sign up for the Rapid Action Email list.
The 2017 Virginia General Assembly session is almost halfway over! Have you contacted your State Delegate and Senator to share your views?
Tuesday, February 7 is "crossover," the final day the Virginia House and Senate have to act on their own bills before the bills move for consideration in the other body. This deadline means there are just a few days left for our representatives to act on some important bills. Session will end on the 25th of February.
Last week was action-packed, so please check out the updates below on coal ash, coal tax credits, fracking and solar, and act now to protect Virginia's environment!
Progress on Cleaning Up Toxic Coal Ash!
On Thursday, we won a partial victory in the General Assembly when a bill on toxic coal ash clean-up received bipartisan support. Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee members voted to support Senate Bill 1398, a bill that would require a detailed assessment of each coal ash site's conditions and closure options, so that the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has the tools and information it needs before a closure method is approved.
Send these Senate Committee Members a thank-you message!
DEQ currently lacks the authority to require all the necessary information to make the best decision for issuing coal ash pit closure permits. SB1398 will give DEQ the tools it needs to approve the safest closure permits.
Despite the dangers associated with coal ash, it remains both ever-present and under-regulated. Coal ash is the second largest industrial waste stream in the United States.
Contact your Senator and Delegate and tell them to vote yes on SB1398, too!
Urge Gov. McAuliffe to Veto Tax Credits for Coal
Last year, Governor McAuliffe's veto pen ended decades of corporate welfare for Big Coal. Virginia taxpayer dollars no longer subsidize bad actors like Alpha Natural Resources. But this year, two legislators are trying to bring back tax credits for big coal.
Over the years, Virginia has spent over $610 million subsidizing coal companies. Unfortunately, this money didn't help to create the jobs in Southwest Virginia that proponents claimed it would, and it propped up big polluters for decades. According to The Commonwealth Institute, between 1988 and 2014 coal mining employment in Virginia fell 67 percent. Coal mining employment fell an additional 23 percent, down to just 2,850 jobs, in 2015 alone.
Now is the time for Virginia to invest in innovative, cleaner and growing renewable energy industries, like solar. According to The Solar Foundation, over the next 12 months, employers expect to see total employment in the solar industry increase to over 239,000 workers. That's three times as many solar jobs as coal jobs nationwide.
Despite their large fiscal impact, coal tax credits do not effectively promote coal employment. Bringing back the subsidies will not bring back coal jobs, and will further hinder our ability to expand access to renewable power.
Tell Governor McAuliffe to Veto HB2198 and SB1470.
Oil and Gas Industry Aims to Hide Fracking Chemicals
Two dangerous bills in the General Assembly pose a frack attack against our water. These bills would give oil and gas companies exemptions from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Peer-reviewed science documents that certain fracking chemicals have adverse impacts on our health and our environment. It is critical that if a Virginian comes forward with a problem stemming from the use of these chemicals, the proper public health and environmental experts should have access to all the facts and all the information.
If these industry-proposed bills become law, the chemicals used in fracking operations in Virginia would be dubbed "trade secrets," and be inaccessible to the public. Not even Virginia's Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ) or Dept. of Health (VDH), state agencies tasked with protecting the health and safety of Virginias and the environment, would be able to access that information to take a look at the risks. This denial of public information is dangerous and wrong.
Tell your Senator: Oppose FOIA-Exemptions for Fracking!
Community Solar Speeding Ahead
Senator Wagner, Wexton and McPike's Senate Bill 1393 creates a three-year pilot program for utility-administered "community solar." The program will guarantee growth in the solar industry in the Commonwealth, with a minimum utility commitment to build 10.5 megawatts (MW) of solar, while simultaneously providing access for those who either cannot afford the upfront cost or whose homes are not suitable for solar power.
This bill isn't perfect, but it's pretty good. Many of the details will be left to a subsequent State Corporation Commission (SCC) proceeding. Nevertheless, the program creates a real opportunity to expand access to solar power in Virginia.
Potential benefits include:
- Direct access to solar power at little to no upfront cost for customers
- No long-term subscription requirements
- Potential for long-term economic benefit
- Community solar subscribers will consume the entirety of their solar subscriptions first and will only buy "brown" power if and when their consumption exceeds their solar subscription
- Portability - Virginians may transfer their subscriptions within a utility's service territory without losing continuity of program participation
- New solar construction - No pre-existing facilities may be part of the program
- Opportunities for low and moderate income customers will built into the program at the SCC