Energy Policies

"The blunt truth about the politics of climate change is that no country will want to sacrifice its economy in order to meet this challenge, but all economies know that the only sensible long term way of developing is to do it on a sustainable basis." — Tony Blair

PPV will specifically address the following issues, among others, as we encourage the debate about how citizens in our democracy can change governmental policies to deal with climate change:

• Decoupling:  Over 20 states have changed the way they regulate energy utilities to reward investors not only for the energy they sell, but for the conservation they support. It is for this reason, among others, that per capita use of energy in California is one-half of Virginia's use rates. PPV will be addressing how we can move forward on serious conservation, keep investors content, and reduce the need for new, polluting power facilities, such as the coal fired plant at Wise.
  
• Carbon fees:  Most of us know that reduction of fossil fuel use is the only way to reduce carbon loading. The two means to this end that are most feasible are "cap and trade" and carbon fees. The former is part of a bill introduced by Senators Lieberman and Warner. The latter is supported by most economists and businesses. See www.carbontax.org/issues/carbon-taxes-vs-cap-and-trade for a discussion of this issue.
  
• Dillon Rule modifications:  Virginia is saddled with the Dillon Rule (www.courts.state.va.us/opinions/opnscvwp/1990031.doc), which limits what local governments can do without approval from the General Assembly. The climate crisis is a clear case where localities need to be free to innovate to develop ways better to save and use energy. The urgency of this requires the G.A. to rethink it's approach to local government powers.
  
• Planning:  Most scientists (www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg3/ar4-wg3-spm.pdf) agree that current carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere will lead to sea level rises of about one meter (at a minimum) from the expansion of ocean warming alone in this century. To this must be added the yet indeterminate amount of water that will result from the melting of ice caps around the world. What are Virginia localities doing to prepare for this near certainty? Climate change, however, will not affect only the coastal region of the Commonwealth, but upland areas as well, as populations shift, drought conditions expand and warming influences existing economies.

Subsections of This Issue

• Cap and Trade
• Carbon Fees
• Decoupling
• Renewable Energy Credits

Also Related

Green Choice Virginia