Proving it still has some teeth left despite the General Assembly's best efforts, the State Corporation Commission has rejected billions in proposed spending by Dominion Energy it had sought permission to recover from its customers under the sweeping utility regulations signed into law last year.Though the commission did approve...
Clean energy and climate action are mainstream concepts with the public these days, but at Virginia’s General Assembly they have yet to gain much traction. Last year saw one renewable energy bill after another die in committee, along with legislation mandating lower energy use through energy efficiency and climate...
Environmental advocates tried again to staunch the flow of plastic bags into Virginia's waterways Wednesday, but to no avail.Sens. J. Chapman Petersen, D-Fairfax City, and Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, proposed allowing localities to add a 5-cent tax to plastic bags. Petersen's bill would have limited the range of the bill...
In an ideal world, we might expect agencies charged with protecting people and the environment to always do the right thing within the limits of the law regardless of who sits in the governor's mansion. But because we live in the real world, of course, political leadership matters a...
A Virginia region that is an unlikely but critical partner in the commonwealth’s efforts to clean up the Chesapeake Bay has been selected as one of the recipients of more than $1.7 million in federal and matching funds: the Shenandoah Valley.Last month, the U.S. National Fish and Wildlife...
This week the State Corporation Commission approved a request from Appalachian Power Company to offer its more than 500,000 Virginia customers the option of buying electricity entirely from renewable sources. The sources will be primarily wind and hydro, with some solar to be added as it gets built.Participants who...
EDITOR'S NOTE: The Mercury made the post below this morning, referencing reporting by NC Policy Watch. Since then, several edits and corrections have been made to the Policy Watch story. The Mercury's post has been edited to reflect those changes.American Indian tribes along the Atlantic Coast Pipeline route, including...
The State Air Pollution Control Board unanimously approved a controversial permit that will allow a compressor station in Buckingham County for Dominion Energy’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline. "I support this project without reservation," said board member William Ferguson, after explaining he thinks the larger pipeline project would benefit Hampton Roads, where...
Last in a series looking ahead to the General Assembly session that starts Wednesday.Expect much of the environmental debate this session, for the third year in a row, to center on Dominion Energy's plans to close coal ash impoundments containing millions of tons of the potentially toxic by-product of...
For the first time in 10 years, a biennial report meant to measure the Chesapeake Bay's recovery shows that its overall health declined last year, receiving a D+ grade compared to a C- in 2016."The bay suffered a massive assault in 2018," said William Baker, president of the Chesapeake...
