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Virginia’s unemployment rate hits lowest level in 11 years
Virginia’s unemployment rate fell for the third month in a row, hitting the lowest number since 2007, Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration announced. “The September 2018 seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Virginia was down 0.7 percentage point from a year ago and is the lowest rate since the June 2007 rate of 2.9 percent,” Northam’s office […]
Virginia’s pipeline projects and the aura of inevitability
This week, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission gave Dominion Energy permission to begin cutting down trees in Buckingham County to clear the way for a massive compressor station the company wants to build as part of its Atlantic Coast Pipeline. FERC’s letter Tuesday allows “non-mechanized” tree-felling — that means using handheld chainsaws — at the […]
A solution for nitrogen pollution?
Nitrogen pollution from fertilizer runoff is one of the main sources of low oxygen “dead zones” in the Chesapeake Bay. And it’s a problem throughout the world, as the modern agriculture that sustains human life is itself dependent on commercially-produced nitrogen fertilizers. “Humans have nearly doubled Earth’s natural flow of fixed nitrogen, overwhelming the capacity […]
Redistricting theatrics expose our electoral absurdities
A filing last month by Virginia Republicans, part of an attempt to defend their pick for a “special master” to help a federal court redraw 11 House of Delegates districts ruled to be racially gerrymandered, contained a striking passage. “Drawing near-even splits of Republican and Democratic voters into the same districts means nearly half the voters in […]
State of emergency declared as Michael’s remnants barrel into Virginia
Gov. Ralph Northam has declared a state of emergency in anticipation of severe weather from the remnants of Hurricane Michael, which made landfall Wednesday on the Florida panhandle. “As Tropical Storm Michael turns to the commonwealth, I want to urge all Virginians to prepare for the serious possibility of flash floods, tropical storm force winds, […]
Report takes a dim view of Dominion’s grid ‘transformation’
A report released by a new California nonprofit that advises on modernizing electric systems takes a generally dim view of Dominion Energy’s plans to upgrade Virginia’s grid under the expansive and expensive regulatory overhaul the utility pushed through the General Assembly this year: the Grid Transformation and Security Act. “Grid modernization offers many potential benefits […]
Mountain Valley Pipeline loses permission to cross Virginia waterways
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has suspended a permit allowing the Mountain Valley Pipeline to cross hundreds of Virginia streams and wetlands, The Roanoke Times reports. The action comes three days after a similar permit for West Virginia water crossings was vacated by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Advocates are calling for […]
GOP leader cancels redistricting floor session
Virginia House of Delegates Speaker Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Heights, canceled a floor session scheduled for Oct. 21 and 22 after Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, announced plans to veto a Republican-drafted map to fix 11 House districts a court has ruled were racially gerrymandered. Cox filed a status report with the Eastern District Court “noting […]
Northam’s energy plan met with acclaim, but how much will it push the envelope?
Gov. Ralph Northam put out his administration’s energy plan Tuesday, a non-binding planning document that lays out a vision for the next decade of energy policy in Virginia. But it was met with some effusive praise by environmental groups and renewable energy and energy-efficiency interests. “This plan represents the first time in Virginia history a […]
Court vacates U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit for Mountain Valley Pipeline
The latest big pipeline decision out of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Richmond strips the Mountain Valley Pipeline of its federal authority to cross waterways in West Virginia, and opponents contend, should halt work along the entire 300-mile route from West Virginia to Pittsylvania County. “Because the MVP’s certificate from […]
Pipeline’s federal review is looking a lot less ‘thorough and exhaustive’
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission may have to soon figure out how to paper over another defect in the federal permitting process for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Environmental groups asked FERC Tuesday for another stop-work order on the 600-mile, Dominion Energy-led project after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Richmond issued […]
New report says Virginia could be a leader in coming offshore wind boom
A new report says Virginia’s port infrastructure, experienced maritime workforce and geographical advantages make it an ideal candidate for becoming a hub for the East Coast offshore wind supply chain. The report, by BVG Associates and commissioned by Virginia’s Sierra Club chapter, says the window for action won’t be open forever, however. “A number of […]