Virginia has been ground zero for battles over the #MeToo movement, racial tensions with Democrats seeming to be intent on imploding the whole Virginia Democratic Party. It has been fun to watch.
The latest bizarre fight is over a Green New Deal for Virginia. The Bluefield Daily Telegraph reported on March 5, 2019 “while there has been plenty of media coverage of the controversial Green New Deal advocated by Democrats in Washington, what area residents may not realize is that a similar bill was introduced earlier this year in the Virginia General Assembly.” That deal includes “a moratorium beginning Jan. 1, 2020 on approval by any permitting agency on any new major fossil fuel projects. The legislation defined fossil fuels as ‘coal, petroleum, natural gas or any derivative of coal, petroleum, or natural gas that is used for fuel.’” The legislation includes a mandate that “80 percent of all electric generation in the state come from clean energy derived from ‘solar, onshore wind, offshore wind, geothermal and ocean tidal sources’ between calendar years 2028 and 2035.” This is insanity.
If renewables are the future of America, they should win on their own and without government help. A great test case is being fought in Spotsylvania, VA, over a private deal on private land with U.S. manufactured solar panels. There are some locals who are putting up a fight and calling this part of the Virgina “Green New Deal,” yet this one project seems to be completely outside of that legislative mandate, and it is being done on private land. This has become a private property rights issue with many conservatives lining up against the project, because they see this as a first battle to defeat the Virginia Green New Deal.
The more you learn about this project, it seems like a good one. The Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star reported on February 9, 2019 that “this $615 million private investment will have a significant economic ripple effect and will be a job creator, hiring 800-1,000 local employees during construction, including electricians, site contractors, landscapers, mechanics, heavy equipment operators, engineers, waste management, and security guards. Initial construction will generate $110 million in economic output and another $164 million over the life of the project. It will also generate approximately $13 million in new gross tax revenues for the county, which reflects a 1,800 percent increase over current tax generation without impacts on schools, public safety, transportation or other county services.” As long as this is done without any mandates and no government cash to support the project, it seems like a good test case to see if renewables work and are cost effective.
Let’s not lose our minds over opposition to a Green New Deal – a deal that should be strenuously opposed – to engage in this distraction of a fight in Spotsylvania. This seems like a situation where a bunch of private companies want to try out renewables and are willing to pay another private company to set up some solar panels. If this effort turns out to lose money for the companies, they will abandon the solar project, and all will be well in Virginia.
