Author: caaver

The Climate Action Alliance of the Valley is pleased to provide Harrisonburg’s The Citizen with a monthly survey of energy and environmental news stories about Virginia.

With their permission, we are re-posting these pieces here after they appear in the Citizen.

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The link to this piece as first published by the Citizen is HERE.

Statewide Environmental News Roundup for September 2023, Part I

Energy

2023 Virginia Budget Amendments Passed, Finally!

Virginia Conservation Network provided a summary of pertinent provisions in an email update of September 7 (register to receive VCN’s newsletters here). Here are excerpts:

Clean Water

• GOOD: Hundreds of millions of dollars are earmarked for the state’s Water Quality Improvement Fund 
• GOOD: An extra $286M for implementing pollution-reducing, agricultural best management practices on working farms 
• BAD: $100M for Richmond City’s’ combined sewage overflow (CSO) improvements were dropped 

Resilience & RGGI Funds

• GOOD: $18M in flood relief funds for Buchanan and Tazewell counties, after the historic July 2022 flooding
• BAD: These funds were generated by raiding RGGI funds that are intended for desperately needed, low-income energy efficiency programs.
• GOOD: $100M for the Resilient Virginia Revolving Fund, a fund that provides greater flexibility for the state to support local governments and individual property owners impacted by flooding
• Note: This is in addition to and should not be viewed as a replacement for the Community Flood Preparedness Fund, the state’s first dedicated revenue stream, from RGGI. This Fund has already raised nearly $300M over 3 years to help Virginia localities prevent flooding.

Land Use & Transportation

• GOOD: $93M is dedicated towards trails funding: 1/3 of the funds will go towards 5 “priority” projects plus the Fall Line Trail as a 6th priority project and the remaining ⅔ of funding will go to projects throughout the rest of the state
• GOOD: Proposed funding to widen the I-81 highway was dropped
• BAD: $140 million in grants for “a data center operator” to incentivize data center development 

What’s next? Governor Youngkin will release his proposed 2024-2026 biennial budget this December, which the General Assembly will vote on in the 2024 General Assembly session. See a list of Virginia Conservation Budget Recommendations outlined in the Our 2024 Common Agenda to understand the funding we need to fully protect Virginia’s environment and natural resources.

Data Centers, Energy Storage, Grid Management

“Data centers are warehouse-like buildings filled with computer servers and hardware that powers and stores data for the IT infrastructure. The facilities, often at least two stories tall, require large amounts of water for cooling and consume massive amounts of electricity, which requires most sites to include power substations. Data center growth was spurred by a Virginia program that entices data center development via grants, which require matching funds from localities. The Fredericksburg area is popular because of the fiber optic lines that run along Interstate 95. Data centers also need to be near electrical transmission lines and have access to water, both of which prove crucial to the facilities.”

One of many NoVA examples: “In preparation for the expected incoming development of data centers, Stafford County moved forward with plans to guide how and where the facilities can be built.… [T]he Board of Supervisors approved motions on proposed comprehensive plan amendments for data centers and to remove the facilities from certain by-right uses. The board … voted to send the proposed comprehensive plan amendments back to the planning commission so a public hearing can be held…. Stafford is considering three proposed data centers.”

Data centers are being planned in areas outside NoVA. Some examples:

• Henrico County’s White Oak Technology Park has two large data centers and more may come. “Data centers are much sought-after economic development projects because they represent millions of dollars of investment, and local taxes…. And since that prospect means thinking about infrastructure — in this case, the high-voltage lines necessary to feed electricity into some of the biggest users of power around — a 1,170-page Dominion Energy filing at the State Corporation Commission offers a rare glimpse into the lengthy process that goes into landing a major economic development project. In the case of White Oak and the area around it, that glimpse comes because Dominion wants the SCC to approve a route for two new 4.69-mile transmission lines through mostly undeveloped woods, fields and wetlands.“
• Not too far away, “As a part of a $35 billion data center expansion project across Virginia, Amazon Web Services announced it plans to spend nearly a third of the budget on the creation of two data center campuses in Louisa County…. The data centers will be built in the county’s Technology Overlay District, … developed with “strict development standards” to attract technology businesses and support economic growth in the county while preserving its idyllic rural character, according to the … County Board of Supervisors.”
• “The 7.5 million sq. ft data center proposal in Virginia’s King George County still hasn’t been approved, even after a seven-and-a-half hour-long County meeting.” Developers “are looking to develop an 869-acre data center complex for use by Amazon in the county, a proposal that involves rezoning several land parcels from agricultural to industrial, a change in its Comprehensive Plan, and extending the borders of light industrial development to land adjacent to the Rappahannock River…. [Issues include tax revenues], impact on farmland, [power,] water, and the rural way of life.”

“Fueled by data center development, Dominion Energy projects a 214% growth in power demand in Northern Virginia over the next four years, according to a power delivery presentation for Culpeper County given to the Board of Supervisors [recently].”

Two recent articles address the question of NoVA data center sustainability. [The same question could apply to other areas of the state.

• “Northern Virginia’s Data Center Industry Is Booming. But Is It Sustainble?”
• “Northern Virginia data center industry faces supply and demand imbalance, report finds.”

“Spurred by an increasing number of power-hungry data centers, the keepers of the electric grid in NoVA are embarking on an ambitious, multi-billion-dollar plan to bring more electricity to the data center zones while shoring up other parts of transmission system. This plan far exceeds the handful of new transmission lines that Dominion executives have been discussing with community leaders and activists in Prince William County.” “Botetourt County supervisors voted … to approve a large battery power facility that would help tame peak demand across the region’s electrical network … [and would use arrays of Tesla batteries to store electricity gathered during non-peak periods, then release the power as needed to smooth demand curves. Similar facilities have been launched elsewhere in Virginia in recent years…. The storage facility would be made up of 144 aboveground installations … [and] would be operated remotely.”

Renewable Energy

A Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) attorney believes “Rural counties stand to play a critical role in Virginia’s move to solar. Rural counties are in an excellent position to help steer the renewable energy transition…. [He argues that this transition] is crucial if we are to avoid the worst effects of climate change [and that it] … means cleaner air, cheaper energy bills, and new economic development opportunities…. [He also thinks] communities must be in the driver’s seat and well equipped to take advantage of and manage the many utility-scale solar proposals being offered. And we need thoughtful and engaged project developers to support them.”

Mecklenburg County’s Planning Commission voted down a proposal for two dual-use “’agrisolar’ projects [that would enable] the use of open land for farming and solar energy at the same time…. Each of the projects would generate enough power to light up some 1,250 homes [and would be part of] Dominion Energy’s Shared Solar Program. Under that program, Dominion’s retail customers can purchase subscriptions in a shared solar facility owned by Dominion, and in return receive credit on their bills for a share of the project’s energy output.”

Clarke County is considering whether to approve a “50-megawatt solar power plant …proposed for a 400-acre site.” In 2021 a geotechnical consulting firm described the site as being “a karst risk for development.”

“The Town of Halifax is rethinking whether it should allow community-scale solar projects inside town limits, and if so, under what conditions.” Similarly, “Tazewell [County is] taking [a] proactive look at solar farms.”

“Stafford County is set get its first solar power [community solar] facility. The Board of Supervisors … approved a conditional-use permit for a solar facility on 171 acres…. The 5 megawatt site’s raised solar panels will send electricity into the power grid operated by Dominion.”

“Dominion Energy and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority ceremonially broke ground on [a] 835-acre … solar farm [at Dulles Airport in Loudoun County that] is just a small part of a huge push by Dominion to add 16,000 megawatts of solar capacity — enough to power 4 million homes — by 2035 as it seeks to comply with a state law requiring 100% of its non-nuclear energy production to be zero emission by 2045.” The project is “solar, battery storage and electric vehicle initiative that they said would be the nation’s largest renewable energy project at an airport.” “The [solar]panels — along with carport solar panels on … a parking lot at the airport — are expected to power some of the facilities at the airport and more than 37,000 homes in the region, according to Dominion. In all, it will generate 100 megawatts of solar energy. Batteries on site will be able to store up to 50 megawatts.”

Nuclear and Hydrogen

“Two tech hub bids seek to boost Virginia’s nuclear industry. Proposals led by the Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium and the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance have some common goals but also some key differences. They’ll compete for federal dollars against proposals based around additive manufacturing, artificial intelligence and autonomous transportation, among other critical technologies.”

Loudoun County has embraced both data centers and solar facilities. Now, it’s looking “Ahead to Small Nuclear Plants, Industrial Batteries.” As energy demands continue and current solar and wind are “not catching up “to that demand, “government and energy industry leaders [including some in Loudoun] are looking toward small modular reactors, a concept for smaller-scale nuclear reactors produced in an assembly line fashion, which would produce less power than today’s large-scale nuclear energy facilities but would also be quicker and easier to build and require much less land. Small reactors are those that produce up to 300 megawatts.”

“Virginia Tech has been awarded $1.5 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to establish the potential for storing hydrogen underground in depleted Appalachian gas fields. Subsurface hydrogen storage would provide a large amount of space without the need for massive above-ground infrastructure, according to a DOE announcement.”

Transportation

The proposed new Virginia budget, if the Governor approves it as passed by the legislature, “secured [$35 Million in] funding” for the Shenandoah Rail Trail, which is projected to inject $32.3M per year into local economy. The Trail will pass through “nine towns (Front Royal, Strasburg, Toms Brook, Woodstock, Edinburg, Mount Jackson, New Market, Timberville and Broadway) and three counties (Warren, Shenandoah and Rockingham)….”

Regulations

The Governor’s Office of Regulatory Management, headed by “Andrew Wheeler, a former EPA administrator, oversees the agency, [whose aim is to] reduce regulations by one-quarter…. The [400] proposed actions [in this fiscal year’s plan] touch on multiple aspects of life in Virginia and 13 percent of those reviewed for change or elimination will be environmental rules. These 48 actions include amending and reissuing expiring stormwater construction regulation, implementing emission standards for vehicles and removing Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.”

Last month, a blogger gave Dominion’s latest Integrated Resource Plan the “benefit of the doubt”, given its plan to extend the use of fossil fuel plants beyond 2045 because of data center growth, even though saying the plan shouldn’t be taken seriously. This month, noting the sky-high projections Dominion offered in all of its scenarios, she argued they may be way too high. “With none of its plans meeting the basic requirements of Virginia law, Dominion should be ordered to go back to the drawing board. The company should … design a demand-response program tailored to [the data center] industry. Then it should re-run its computer model with energy efficiency allowed as a resource, with no artificial constraints on battery storage and renewable energy, with federal and state compliance costs associated with fossil fuels fully included and with cost estimates for solar and storage consistent with industry norms.”

Climate and Environment

Chesapeake Bay

“Nearly 5% of the Chesapeake Bay watershed is covered by areas that block the filtration of water, according to a new analysis of data from the Chesapeake Bay Program. These areas are “impervious surfaces,” and include pavement and rooftops…. Soil, forests and wetlands, called pervious surfaces, act as sponges and soak up rainfall. The majority of Hampton Roads has a high percentage of impervious surfaces.” Losses of tree canopies exacerbate the effects of impervious surfaces.

For example, “In Newport News, there has been a net loss of about 200 acres of tree cover between 2014 and 2018 according to the analysis from the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Forestry Workgroup. Each year, the city’s tree cover reduces an estimated 302.6 million gallons of stormwater runoff. In Norfolk, there has been a loss of 128 acres in the same timeframe. Hampton has only lost 33 acres, and Virginia Beach has lost 1,893 acres.”

The “Virginia director of advocacy and outreach for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, said climate change leads to extreme heat and more intense flooding — and one way to protect residents of the watershed area from such events is to invest in tree canopy.” “The Virginia Department of Forestry is making use of state and federal funds to plant more trees in communities throughout the commonwealth…. The Virginia Trees for Clean Water Grant Program is offering $500,000 in grant funding to plant trees in community areas through the remainder of 2023…. The program was established in 2013 and is supported primarily by the Virginia Water Quality Improvement Fund, a special state fund created in 1997 to assist local governments, soil and water conservation districts, state agencies and others with reducing and controlling water pollution.

Recent budget surpluses have led to hundreds of millions of dollars being deposited in the fund, with over $644 million earmarked for deposit in a budget deal the General Assembly passed last week. An estimated 150,000 trees have been planted as part of the program to date, and nearly 50,000 of those plantings happened last year…. In addition to state funds, the Virginia Department of Forestry received $6.6 million in federal funding this year from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. The funds are intended to increase tree canopy and access to nature in disadvantaged communities.” 

Resilience

“Ten census tracts in Hampton Roads are among the most at risk in the nation to the effects of climate change and natural disasters, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The local spots are part of 483 nationwide announced this week as the first set of Community Disaster Resilience Zones. Each new resilience zone is a census tract that is especially vulnerable because of both environmental risks and social factors like lower incomes, language barriers and transportation challenges.” 

Drought and Flooding

Drought warnings were declared or anticipated for “for seven counties in the Shenandoah Valley’s northern region, including Clarke and Frederick” as well as Augusta and Rockingham, Stephens City, the City of Staunton and the City of Winchester. “Droughts have scientists concerned about a key drinking water source: the Potomac River [and] levels detected last week are the lowest seen since 2010 and have scientists beginning talks about whether steps should be taken to bring more water into the region…. The Potomac River supplies 75% of the region with its drinking water. For the District and Arlington, Virginia, the river is the only source for tap water.”

The proposed new Virginia budget, if the governor approves it as passed by the legislature, includes “a $10 million infusion for a new project designed to curb flooding and promote redevelopment near the Virginia Beach Oceanfront.”

“High tides alone could cause flooding in Norfolk for up to 19 days this year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That’s more than anywhere else on the East Coast and would be the area’s worst year of high tide flooding on record. Within a few decades, Norfolk could see high tide flooding for about a third of the year. The predictions are part of NOAA’s national high tide outlook …, which covers the time period from this May through next April.”

“Roanoke… announced the approval by the Federal Emergency Management Agency of new floodplain maps for the Roanoke River that reflect decades of flood mitigation work along the banks of the waterway. The new maps indicate the likelihood and severity of flooding for more than 1,400 parcels along the approximately 10-mile Roanoke River corridor within city limits, according to a news release from the city. Land development and flood insurance requirements are also updated.”

“[T]he University of Virginia’s Virginia Flood Resilience Initiative released an online “roadmap” to help southern Virginia areas assess their flood risks and resilience. A partner in the project is the Southside Planning District Commission, which spans Halifax, Mecklenburg and Brunswick counties. The Virginia Flood Resilience Initiative features a flood hazard dashboard that assesses flood risks in specific areas throughout the region. The dashboard provides a wealth of granular data to help Southside communities assess their vulnerability to overflowing rivers and flash flooding, an understanding that planners and builders have historically lacked — at times, with disastrous consequences.”

Wildlife

A Hampton Roads-area paper, in an editorial, praised the “Plan for waterfowl [that] protects the environment as HRBT expansion proceeds.” The HRBT expansion is “a $10 million plan to build a new, permanent island for the migratory seabirds” displaced by construction of the Hampton Roads tunnel.

Opinions

Three op-eds weigh in on Virginia’s opportunities in becoming part of the non-fossil-fuel energy transition:

• “Virginia must not miss the clean energy revolution” – authored by the Environmental Defense Fund director of climate and clean air policy.
• “Virginia’s clean energy revolution begins in the Southwest” – jointly authored by the managing partner of Coalfield Strategies and the executive director of the LENOWISCO Planning District Commission and member of the Southwest Virginia Energy Research and Development Authority.
• “We can use the free market to lower energy costs — so why is Glenn Youngkin fighting it?” – by the president of Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship

Check out …

• The new Raider’s Run mountain bike trail at Hungry Mother State Park.
• October and November events at the JMU Edith Carrier Arboretum, including Harrisonburg Songtuary Oct 21^st at 2:30, Remarkable Trees Field Trip to a Virgin Red Spruce Forest Oct 7^th 8 to 5:30, and 15th Annual Harvest Festival Saturday, October 28th | 11am-2pm, and others.
• Canary Media’s “end-of-summer reading list” of “climate books.”
• These two EV events – your chance to learn more about electric vehicle technology:
• National Drive Electric Week, Shenandoah Electric Vehicle Show, Saturday, September 23, 2023, 1:30 – 5:00 pm EDT, at Massanetta Springs Camp and Conference Center, 712 Massanetta Springs Rd., Harrisonburg.
• Ribbon cutting for EV Chargers at Jon Henry Country Store, 9383 N Congress St, New Market, 4pm, September 27th

Why not …

• Learn VA Tech’s Science Corner’s answer to “Are bullfrogs a sound of summer or sign of trouble?”
• Visit the “Shenandoah Electric Vehicle Show in Harrisonburg, Sep 23, 2023, 1:30 – 5:00 pm EDT, at Massanetta Springs Camp and Conference Center, 712 Massanetta Springs Rd, Harrisonburg”? Register here to attend.
• Help out our feathered friends by installing a birdbath? Here’s how.
• Sign the “#STOP the MVP Petition? The pipe meant to complete construction of MVP has been sitting in the open sun, in some cases, for 4-6+ years. This reduces the pipe’s integrity and potentially leading to weld failures & leaks, and increasing the risk of explosion. SIGN THIS PETITION to FERC urging them to issue a Stop Work Order until all MVP pipe safety concerns are met. [NOTE: In a formal notice, FERC “Federal Regulators Raise[d] Safety Concerns Over Mountain Valley Pipeline.”]
• Create a butterfly habitat at your home to alleviate habitat loss? Here’s how.
• Try some cider at Big Fish Cider? The cidermaker “is part of a wave of makers who are branching out from the juicy, sweet stuff in the grocery store. They’re creating what they call ‘vintage cider’ in smaller batches, toying with foraged fruit and wild fermentation that’s more like natural wine….”
• Join the “Harrisonburg Climate March“, September 22^nd from 12pm-3pm, organized by JMU’s Environmental Management Club? Details are here. Goals:

1. Keep the global temperature rise below 1.5 °C compared to pre-industrial levels. 
2. Ensure climate justice and equity. 
3. Listen to the best united science currently available.
4. Bring a sense of locality and community organization, using this day to support groups with a common interest and learn from each other.

The Climate Action Alliance of the Valley (CAAV) is a non-profit, grassroots group in the Central Shenandoah Valley that educates legislators and the public about the implications of the Earth’s worsening climate crisis.

The Climate Action Alliance of the Valley is pleased to provide Harrisonburg’s The Citizen with a monthly survey of energy and environmental news stories about Virginia.

With their permission, we are re-posting these pieces here after they appear in the Citizen.

---

The link to this piece as first published by the Citizen is HERE.

Statewide Environmental News Roundup for August 2023

Energy

State Corporation Commission (SCC) and Utilities

“A state-mandated program to cap electric bills for eligible low-income Dominion Energy customers is set to start by the end of the year…. Dominion is proposing [that the SCC approve] a surcharge on other customers’ bills of less than a dollar a month to pay for the program … [to] would cap the participants’ bills…. It is intended for households earning up to 150% of the federal poverty level…. The Department of Social Services estimates that about 45,000 customers will participate in the program during its first year.”

In our May Perspectives Piece, we reported that “Dominion issued its latest long-range Integrated Resource Plan (IRP)”. “The plan calls for “new gas plants [and] advanced nuclear [that Dominion said] will be needed to meet soaring demand”; the company said it “may seek to keep most of its existing power stations online for decades to come and seek to build additional small natural gas and nuclear units.” In submissions to the SCC, “environmental groups and a clean energy trade association told the [SCC] that the plan’s electricity demand forecast is based on an unrealistic view about how many new data centers … are coming. [The] Dominion plan sees carbon emissions rising as electric use soars. [The groups] also say Dominion is not thinking aggressively enough about expanding solar and wind-powered generation [and that its plan] “is based on flawed modeling and assumptions.”

“A coalition of environmental groups have appealed Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s … move to withdraw the state from an interstate carbon-capping program, after the state government made the pullout official [July 31^st].” “[T]he groups … informed the Air Pollution Control Board, and the Department of Environmental Quality, and its director, that they will challenge this action in Fairfax Circuit Court.” The lawsuit was filed August 21. The program is the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). Another group declared “Virginians Will Pay the Costs of Gov Youngkin’s Misguided Efforts to Exit the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative [RGGI].” A Southwest Virginia news editor listed “some projects it’s funded in Southwest and Southside.” He noted that “The weatherization program completed 475 projects statewide, using about $6.7 million in RGGI funds…. Projects include addressing problems like leaky roofs, mold, non-functioning or unsafe HVAC units, water damage and electrical or plumbing problems. The housing program helped create 5,141 affordable housing units with $87.5 million in RGGI money statewide.”

Fossil Fuels

“The U.S. Supreme Court … gave Mountain Valley Pipeline the OK to resume construction activity following a lower court’s orders earlier … to halt such activity.” Subsequently, the “last lawsuits seeking to stop Mountain Valley Pipeline [were] dismissed” by an appeals court. There is still the question of the validity of Congress’ and the President’s action under the Constitutional separation of powers. “While the decision was unanimous, two of the three [appellate] judges raised questions about the precedent that was being set, with one wondering whether recent congressional action to eliminate the 4th Circuit’s jurisdiction over the cases is ‘a harbinger of erosion not just to the environment, but to our republic.’” “U.S. energy company Equitrans Midstream … said it still expects to complete the Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline by the end of the year….” “As construction on the … Pipeline picks back up again, protesters … haven’t held back from making their opposition known.” Some are consideringwhat can be done to ensure developers take necessary safety precautions, for which the state’s Department of Environmental Quality has jurisdiction. “A federal safety agency is calling for additional inspections of pipes that may have been compromised by exposure to the elements along the route of the … Pipeline. The U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration may also require an independent, third-party review of a process to inspect the steel pipes and, where needed, reapply a protective coating designed to protect them from corrosion once they are buried.”

Data Centers and Battery Storage

“By a wide margin, Northern Virginia is the No. 1 site for data centers in the country and the world. These highly specialized buildings house the computer servers and routers that make digital interconnectivity possible…. Ashburn, Va., is the epicenter of “Data Center Alley,” anchoring a collection of nearly 300 data centers, scattered across Loudoun, Fairfax and Prince William counties, handling more than a third of the world’s online traffic. Many more are in the planning stages or currently under construction.”

“Warning of the ‘wholesale destruction’ of historic landscapes related to major Civil War camps and troop burials, the new superintendent of Manassas National Battlefield Park [wrote Prince William County officials stating] his strong concerns about the Prince William Digital Gateway, a plan to build 28 to 34 new data centers on 2,133 acres directly north of the national park.” Nonetheless, county Supervisors rejected “a request to consider a county historic designation for two areas within the proposed data center corridor…. The board did, however, vote to initiate an evaluation of Blackburn’s Ford Battlefield, located near the county’s border with Fairfax County, as a possible new ‘county registered historic site.’” In “King George County, the Planning Commission recommended approving most of the rezonings sought by … [developers] to build a complex of several data centers that would total 7.5 million square feet and ultimately be operated by Amazon… [and located] … near the … [county’s] Regional Landfill.”

“As the construction wave of new data centers pushes west from Ashburn, the Town of Leesburg [in Loudoun County is] preparing to welcome them, but on its own terms. …, [with] the council [adopting] two amendments to the town Zoning Ordinance designed to better accommodate the needs of the industry, which is expected to significantly boost the town’s commercial tax base in coming years.”

Aside from the land use questions and concerns raised in opposition to the proliferation of data centers, there is the matter of who’s paying for them and the issue of how much of Virginia’s energy consumption they will require. One commentator asks: “Why are the rest of us expected to pay for infrastructure that’s only needed for data centers? Does the Governor understand that his deal to bring another $35 billion worth of new Amazon data centers to Virginia is driving up energy rates for everyone else? [She adds] Virginia’s data center problem is well known. Northern Virginia has the largest concentration of data centers in the world, by far. Data centers are Dominion’s single largest category of commercial power users, already consuming more than 21% of total electricity supply and slated to hit 50% by 2038. In addition to the new generation that will be required, data centers need grid upgrades including new transmission lines, transformers and breakers, with the costs spread to all ratepayers.”

Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency

“The corporate segment of the renewables industry has been one of the fastest growing markets over the last five years and it is no coincidence that data centers also rapidly increased their footprint over the same timeline. Of the roughly 26,000 MW of corporate-tied renewable capacity online or planned in the U.S., over 16,600 MW are contracted to technology companies with substantial data center operations.”

As numerous past Perspectives Pieces have highlighted, Virginia counties, cities, and towns have passed different zoning requirements regarding large utility scale solar facilities, with some favoring and some restricting them. The second July piece offered some examples of differing outcomes for such permit requests. It also described positions of two Virginia land conservation organizations on this subject. Prior pieces have included many other examples. “New laws passed by U.S. counties and townships are putting land off limits to renewable developers in a dynamic that could pose problems for decarbonizing some regions of the country, according to a new study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.” The study showed that “setbacks could reduce resource potential by up to 87% for wind and 38% for solar.” (“’Setback limits’ … require projects to keep a certain distance from houses or infrastructure.”) One of the authors said “’local restrictions may be going unnoticed in projections of renewables’ technical potential, which are sometimes cited in policymakers’ plans for decarbonization.’” The same author also noted: “The ordinances are shrinking the country’s untapped space for zero-emissions electricity…. Paradoxically, that could actually be a good thing for renewable development in some cases, since some ordinances may give companies clear signs as to where their projects may be best accepted.” The dilemma is described at length in this article titled “The Clean Energy Future Is Roiling Both Friends and Foes. Resistance to wind and solar projects, even from some environmentalists, is among an array of impediments to widespread conversion to renewables.”

Fauquier County Supervisors’ recent decision illustrates the above dilemma (the same county that is considering data centers): “Solar farm developers with an eye on the open spaces of Fauquier County are finding an increasingly difficult road to win approval even as demand for energy grows. The Fauquier County Board of Supervisors voted … to uphold an earlier planning commission ruling which blocked construction of a proposed 80-megawatt solar farm…. The decision presents a serious hurdle for the growth of solar energy in Fauquier County. Only one solar project has made it past the county planning commission since 2017 despite rising energy demand.”

“The Prince William Board of County Supervisors … allocated $1.2 million from the county’s year-end savings fund… [for a] one-time fee reduction program for residential solar [that] will waive all county fees associated with installation to incentivize residents and solar contractors to install equipment on houses in the county….. Neighboring Fairfax County waives all permitting fees related to residential solar installations. Prince William’s program takes effect Sept. 1, but the future of the program in subsequent years will be subject to funding availability and board approval…. The residential solar industry has seen exponential growth in Prince William County, from 14 total applications in 2016 to more than 1,000 in 2022 … [with] a 297% increase in solar applications between 2021 and 2022.” The growth is expected to continue. 

“Dominion Energy employs 17,000 people across the country. Now, about 1,000 sheep work for the power company as well. In a process known as solar grazing, sheep consume vegetation on solar farms to reduce the need for lawnmowers and other landscaping machinery. More research is being conducted in recent years to look into the benefits of solar grazing. Reducing costs and emissions from landscaping are two of the biggest pluses…. Richmond-based Dominion Energy started using sheep for solar grazing in October. The company deploys sheep at six of its solar farms….”

“The city of Hampton is working with a Virginia nonprofit to teach people about solar panels and to make installing them more affordable. Since 2014, the local energy alliance program has installed more than 1,000 solar system installations across Virginia.” 

A Botetourt County project that has been in the works for eight years is facing more delay. “Apex Clean Energy [project developer] says it hopes to begin major construction of its proposed wind farm next summer or fall, and complete it by the end of the following year. Earlier plans had called for work to begin this summer. A detailed site plan for how 13 turbines, each 643 feet tall, will be arranged and built along a ridgeline of North Mountain has yet to be approved by Botetourt County’s community development department…. Called Rocky Forge Wind, the renewable energy project has been slowed by permitting delays, legal action from opponents, design changes, the COVID-19 pandemic, and a lengthy search for a buyer of the power it will produce.”

“A grant from Clean Virginia will help local organizations get the word out about weatherization and energy efficiency programs for both homeowners and renters.” The organization leading the Harrisonburg and Rockingham County effort is profiled in this Appalachian Voices article.

Transportation

“Virginia’s two big electric monopolies are stalling on a regulatory order asking them to detail their roles in what is forecast to be a $700 million annual cost for the charging infrastructure needed for electric vehicles, the Sierra Club says. Dominion Energy, which serves most of the state, and Appalachian Power, the main utility in the western part of Virginia, filed their plans to address EV growth with the State Corporation Commission this spring.” The Sierra Club believes “these plans are inadequate and lack specific details for future investments and rate plans to handle the increased electricity demand from EVs…. [It] is urging the SCC to intervene and order the electric monopolies to submit compliant plans that include concrete details on how they plan to accommodate the charging needs of EVs. Currently, the utilities have made little progress and only offer vague plans for the future.”

A state transportation advocate believes “$3.2 million in rural rail crossing federal” funding will enable “upgrades [to] increase safety [and] lay the tracks for high speed rail” between Virginia and North Carolina.”

“Alexandria’s Buses Are Now Free And Frequent. And They’re Setting Ridership Records.”

Arlington County buys electric buses for its fleet. Arlington’s transit system, ART, is getting its first batch of battery electric buses, or BEB, as it pursues carbon neutrality by 2050, according to a press release. The vehicles will be deployed in late 2024 after work wraps up on the new Operations and Maintenance Facility on Shirlington Road. With $3.3 million in state and $1.2 million in local funds, the county is buying four American-made buses by the company Gillig, which drivers and riders tested out along with other options over the last year.

“To cut air pollution and long-term energy and maintenance costs, Loudoun County Public Schools is adding 16 electric buses to their fleet. The vast majority of the school division’s approximately 750 buses run on diesel fuel. The school division’s first five electric buses hit the road in 2021 through Dominion Energy’s electric school bus program, which began in 2019 as part of a long-term effort to replace diesel buses.”

“A $50,000 grant will go toward the installation of a new e-bike charging station and the construction of an amphitheater in the Russell County town of Honaker. The grant, which comes from the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority’s Tourism Capital Improvement Matching Fund, will help fund the projects in a park that’s situated along the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail.”

“The US Department of Transportation awarded the City of Harrisonburg a $14,368,180 RAISE Grant to convert one driving lane of US-11… to a two-way separated bicycle facility between the intersections of Main Street and Noll Drive, and Grattan Street and Liberty Street…. The new bicycle and pedestrian facilities are anticipated to increase bicycling and walking in the City, supporting Harrisonburg’s environmental sustainability, mobility, community connectivity, and economic development goals…. For more information about this project, view this City of Harrisonburg News Release.”

Climate and Environment

Chesapeake Bay

The “bipartisan Chesapeake National Recreation Area Act… would establish a new Chesapeake national park site, the Chesapeake National Recreation Area…. [The bill] would bring land‑based areas of the world’s largest estuary under the protection of the National Park Service [and] this new national park site would expand public access to the Bay’s shores and waters.” A Tidewater-area editorial board believes the new park would greatly benefit all of Hampton Roads.

“The Chesapeake Bay Conservation Acceleration Act of 2023 would fast track conservation goals in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.” A bipartisan group of Virginia and Maryland representatives introduced the legislation, which would “focus federal resources on approximately 83,00 farms in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to boost voluntary conservation efforts that help achieve water quality goals, increase soil health and provide economic benefits. The legislation would also provide solutions for developing a more robust agriculture workforce to get more technical assistance on the ground, and would simplify harvesting invasive blue catfish from the Bay.” Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania senators introduced a similar bill.

“Chesapeake Oyster Alliance members from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation [CBF] and Minorities in Aquaculture [recently dropped] around 12,000 young oysters and oyster spat-on-shell into the York River. The oysters will settle onto a sanctuary reef where they will grow to continue efforts to save the oysters and the bay. The oysters, including the oyster spat, were all grown by CBF…. Spat is a term for infant oysters that grow on recycled shells….”

“In the Chesapeake Bay, osprey are the region’s top avian predator, but recent research found many of their young aren’t surviving. In light of the research, the Richmond Audubon Society asked state fisheries regulators at the end of July to temporarily suspend the use of large fishing nets in the Chesapeake Bay for 30 days starting in August to allow osprey more menhaden to feed on ahead of their migratory travel south for the winter. The change would primarily affect the operations of Virginia’s long-established Omega Protein, which operates out of Reedville and uses purse seine nets to catch menhaden in the Bay before reducing the fish to meal and oil, as well as the menhaden bait fishery…. But Omega Protein disputes the conclusion that menhaden fishing is depleting stock to the detriment of ospreys.”

“A [federally funded] study is underway to see if a plan to shore up a disappearing island in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay is feasible. Tangier Island, Virginia, has lost about two-thirds of its land mass since 1850. Studies estimate what’s left will become uninhabitable wetlands around 2050 if nothing is done.”

 Land Use and Wetlands Conservation

Virginia’s senators have sponsored “The Shenandoah Mountain Act … to establish a 92,562-acre scenic area in Rockingham, Augusta and Highland counties…. [The legislation, if passed, would] protect the scenic, historic, recreational and natural resources in the specific areas, while allowing compatible uses such as outdoor recreation activities. The legislation would also boost local economies, protect drinking water sources and preserve endangered wildlife.”

“With a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision sharply curtailing federal oversight of streams and wetlands, environmental groups working to restore the Chesapeake Bay say they’re worried about gaps in state laws and enforcement practices that now leave those waters vulnerable to unrestricted development and pollution…. In the Bay watershed, the impact is somewhat muted. Five of the six states and the District of Columbia provide at least some protection under their own laws for wetlands and streams now removed from federal jurisdiction…. Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia each have comprehensive state laws that provide protection from disturbance for their wetlands and all waters, even groundwater…. [Environmental groups believe] ‘many questions remain’ about … Virginia’s response to the court ruling.”

“Ground broken in Chesterfield County is set to grow fresh produce – 30 feet in the air. Plenty Unlimited Inc. … has begun construction on a vertical indoor farming campus that, when completed, is expected to be the largest such operation in the world. The campus, to be developed in phases totaling $300 million, will sit on 120 acres in [a technology park]. Several structures will be built, with the first planned to be a 100,000-square-foot vertical farm that’ll be used to grow Driscoll’s strawberries.” Near Danville, “AeroFarm grows crops on a gigantic scale without soil or sunlight, and its executives say indoor vertical growing, one form of controlled-environment agriculture (CEA), produces nearly 400 times the harvest (in this case, greens) than farms using traditional methods.… At 138, 670 square feet, the AeroFarm operation is the largest operation of its kind in the world [though not for long.]”

Flooding

“Despite the mounting impacts of climate change, more people are moving into the country’s most flood-prone areas than out of them. Migration into high-risk regions … has more than doubled since the start of the pandemic, according to new analysis from Redfin, a national real estate brokerage. But the opposite is true in Hampton Roads: More people are moving out of the region than in. It’s the only major coastal area Redfin analyzed on the East Coast where that’s happening.”

“The city of Virginia Beach has broken ground on a massive project set to reduce stormwater flooding — and bring new recreational opportunities — over the next several years. The concept is called a ‘stormwater park,’ which cities across the country have begun using as flood prevention infrastructure. But after several years and a hefty price tag, the idea has come to fruition.”

Residents of Buchanan County, which experienced two significant flooding events in August 2021 and July 2022, have struggled with their losses. “FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] helped rebuild public infrastructure such as roads and bridges after both disasters, but the agency turned down two state requests for direct aid to individual homeowners.” “Virginians in flood-prone areas have more than just rising sea levels to worry about. They have rising flood insurance rates to worry about too…. [FEMA] announced its “new model for calculating rates, which went into effect last year for new policyholders and will be used for current policyholders when they renew their policies…. To encourage local governments to adapt to and prepare for flooding, FEMA administers a Community Rating System [CRS] that incentivizes localities to adopt floodplain management measures by allowing their residents to receive discounts on their premiums…. There are 28 localities participating in the CRS in Virginia, with most on the coast and in Northern Virginia. Roanoke City and Roanoke County are the only localities in Southwest Virginia to participate.” Not all localities have resources to participate. Part of RGGI funds are designated for community flooding preparedness.

Wildlife

“Virginia’s aptly named overlooked cave beetle is one of 10 species found in the state scheduled to be considered for protections under the Endangered Species Act. In response to a federal lawsuit filed by the national environmental nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed July 24 to expedite its decisions on 33 species…. Five species found in Virginia and throughout the Southeastern region of the U.S. – the Cumberland moccasinshell, Tennessee clubshell, Tennessee heelsplitter and Tennessee pigtoe freshwater mussels along with crustacean Morrison’s Cave amphipod – require a decision by Aug 15. Four species found exclusively in Virginia – the Hubbard’s cave beetle, Little Kennedy cave beetle, Shenandoah cave beetle and overlooked cave beetle – require a decision by Dec. 15. The spiny scale crayfish, also found in Virginia and throughout the Southeast, requires a decision by Sep. 1, 2025.”

Opinions

A long-time Virginia energy policy analyst and blogger wrote “I’m a climate alarmist (and you should be too), but we aren’t dead yet.” She offered relatively direct and brief summaries of where we are now in terms of the numerous implications of the climate crisis, where we (or our children and their descendants) will be by 2100, and what is and will be happening to improve our dismal prospects. 

Inside Climate News chatted with a Virginia State Senator “on the Commonwealth’s progress on reigning in the monopoly utility’s sway over legislation, and how Dominion may view Gov. Youngkin’s move to exit RGGI.”

A “retired professor, science educator, environmentalist and peace and justice activist who was awarded Plowshare Peace Center’s Peacemaker of the Year Award in 2013”, penned a Commentary titled “The time to act on climate change is now, locally and globally.”

His piece was published just ahead of the August 14 decision from a “Helena District Judge … [who] ruled in favor of plaintiffs Our Children’s Trust and a group of youth…. [They] challenged the state of Montana claiming the state had not upheld its constitutional obligation for a clean and healthful environment.” The judge wrote “’The right to a clean and healthful environment is a fundamental right protected by [the Montana Constitution]….’” Question is: Is this right protected by other states’ constitutions?

Check out …

• The Hahn Horticulture Garden on the Virginia Tech campus [that] is the site of the annual Simply Elemental outdoor art show now through Sept. 30.”
• This “free webinar on residential solar co-hosted by Appalachian Voices, Solar United Neighbors, and the IRS at 5:30 pm on Thursday, September 14th. This conversation will cover new financing mechanisms, solar installation resources, and how you can go solar in Virginia! … [It] will also include 30 minutes of Q&A so that you can directly ask experts about all of your questions and concerns.” Register here.
• Sierra Club’s new podcast on Virginia Offshore Wind (OSW), interviewing the authors of its new OSW Footprint report.

Why not … 

• Find out how to control the invasive Japanese stiltgrass? Listen to this recording and read this fact sheet.
• Go see some of Virginia’s “Big Trees” located in the Central Shenandoah Valley? There’s a “stately Fraser fir tree” in Harrisonburg’s Woodbine Cemetery and a “majestic Chinkapin oak” on a riverbank in Rockingham County. “The Virginia Big Tree Program, housed at Virginia Tech, keeps track of the largest specimens of more than 300 tree species across the state. Its database includes six national champions in the Shenandoah Valley and Central Virginia.”
• Take your kids to “A new electrifying exhibit at the Explore More Discovery Museum …? [It’s] a partnership between the museum and the Harrisonburg Electric Commission. The exhibit, “It’s Electric,” explores the world of electricity … and is for Kids of all ages [who] will be introduced to electricity through hands-on activities, interactive displays and imaginative play.”

The Climate Action Alliance of the Valley (CAAV) is a non-profit, grassroots group in the Central Shenandoah Valley that educates legislators and the public about the implications of the Earth’s worsening climate crisis.

The Climate Action Alliance of the Valley is pleased to provide Harrisonburg’s The Citizen with a monthly survey of energy and environmental news stories about Virginia.

With their permission, we are re-posting these pieces here after they appear in the Citizen.

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The link to this piece as first published by the Citizen is HERE.

Statewide Environmental News Roundup for July 2023 (Part II)

To begin, CAAV is pleased to announce that we “received a $35,000 grant from Clean Virginia and intends to partner with local organizations working with populations who struggle with high energy bills.”

Energy

A) State Corporation Commission (SCC)

“A major reform of how Virginia regulates the electricity monopoly Dominion Energy is cutting power bills [effective July 1]. It [ends] three surcharges.… it clears the way for a program to ease the impact of Dominion’s pass-through of fuel costs to ratepayers and gives the … [SCC] more power to see if the utility’s base rate is justified, a move the legislation’s advocates say should bring down that rate, which accounts for about two-thirds of a monthly bill.”

To address “the issue [of] … the profits Dominion earns from the money its customers pay,” the SCC “formally launched [a biennial review to] … determine if … [Dominion] is charging too much or not enough to cover its costs and the investments it needs to make in its system.”

“State regulators granted Dominion Energy permission to expand its Time of Use [TOU], or Off-Peak, Plan — an experimental program that incentivizes customers with smart meters to use less electricity during peak hours.” The SCC approved expansion of the program from 10,000 to 20,000 customers. “Program participants do not pay the same rate for their electricity as a typical Dominion customer. Instead, the cost of electricity fluctuates throughout the day — TOU customers get a discount for using electricity in off-peak hours and pay a premium to cover anything used on-peak.” As part of the biennial review, “Dominion seeks SCC approval to charge customers who opt out of smart meters.”

Notwithstanding the Governor’s imminent final regulatory action to withdraw VA from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), scheduled for July 31, Dominion received SCC approval “to charge customers again for carbon market participation [and] residential customers will see an additional $4.44 monthly charge … to cover the utility’s costs of participating in the market between July 31, 2022 and the end of this year…. Dominion initially recouped its costs through a bill rider that cost the average residential customer $2.39 per month. But in May 2022, Dominion asked regulators to suspend the rider due to Youngkin’s desire to withdraw from the market. The charge was halted July 31, 2022.” Noting the state’s scheduled withdrawal from RGGI, Cardinal News summarized numerous projects in Southwest and Southside VA that benefited from RGGI funds for both community flood preparedness and energy efficiency and weatherization improvements for low-income residents.

B) Fossil Fuels

“Environmentalists oppose [a Dominion-proposed] gas-burning power plant in Chesterfield County. “Construction on the plant could start as early as 2025, with full operations starting in 2027…. However, climate activists say according to the Virginia Clean Economy Act passed in 2020, Dominion will need to be fossil fuel free by 2045.” Dominion is also facing opposition to a proposed new 26-mile power line near Chase City, in Mecklenburg County. The SCC approved the proposed route; opponents objected during public hearings.

“A Surry County farmer is concerned the Virginia Reliability Project will destroy his land and livelihood…. The project plans to replace two sections of the Columbia Gas Transmission pipeline…. The pipeline project will go through … [his farm, which] is protected by an open-space easement with the Virginia Outdoors Foundation, which protects the stream, timber and forest through which the project is planned.”

C) Nuclear Power

“Gov. Glenn Youngkin visited Surry County on July 10 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Dominion Energy’s Surry nuclear plant [and] … to tout nuclear’s place in his 2022 “all of the above” energy plan, which calls for at least one small, modular nuclear reactor, or SMR, in Virginia within the next decade.”

Sharing “his vision for nuclear energy at Surry power plant [the Governor indicated he] wants Virginia to embrace emerging nuclear energy infrastructure, calling it the state’s ‘moonshot.’” “Lynchburg-based BWX Technologies … will make a nuclear reactor and fuel for the world’s first demonstration spacecraft to use nuclear thermal propulsion.” “A collaboration involving Lynchburg-area and Southwest Virginia groups will make the case that the region’s nuclear industry is the right candidate to receive tens of millions of federal dollars through a new economic development program called Tech Hubs.” “Environmentalists and Southwest Virginia residents are concerned about proposed sites for small modular nuclear reactors. The LENOWISCO Planning District’s final feasibility study [highlighted in CAAV’s June Perspectives Piece] shows these reactors will be near local businesses, schools and residential neighborhoods.

D) Data Centers

Dominion’s 2023 Integrated Resource Plan projected “carbon emissions rising as electric use soars.” “As more data centers come online and more electric vehicles hit the roads, Dominion Energy’s state-set goal to slash carbon emissions to zero by 2045 looks to be out of reach,” according to “a Richmond Times‑Dispatch analysis of the company’s latest long-term plan ….”

“More Data in the Cloud Means More Centers on the Ground to Move It. The need for data centers has soared, fueled by remote work and the growth of high-speed streaming. The Suffolk News-Herald Editorial Board said “Go all out for data centers.” But finding the necessary land and energy could be a challenge and, depending on the energy sources used, could significantly increase Virginia’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, including methane. Virginia’s data center “fevers” continue and may be “spreading” as evidenced by a “Catlett-area rezoning application [Fauquier County]”, maybe to Frederick County and King George County, and even to Southwest VA: “Elected boards from five Southwest Virginia localities … approved resolutions of support for efforts to attract data centers to the region, … [highlighting] their commitment to welcoming data center investments ….”

Spotsylvania County “is a popular target for proposed developments….” Its Supervisors passed “data center comprehensive plan updates … [officially incorporating data centers] into Spotsylvania County’s long-term plans.” “A planned data center on the south side of Route 50 near Stonecroft Blvd [in Fairfax County] is already stirring up some controversy, well ahead of a hearing before the Fairfax County Planning Commission.” Prince William County Board of Supervisors will consider whether to designate two historic farms “county registered historic sites … at the request of the Board’s appointed historical commission, which is trying to force the supervisors to hold a public discussion about opening local historic areas to data centers. The designation could offer some protection from industrial development, such as data centers, because the county’s “Cultural Resources Plan” suggests that such areas be developed only for residential, transportation, agricultural or recreational uses.”

Looking beyond large data centers, Loudoun County “planners, supervisors look ahead to large-scale energy storage … [as they] prepare to dive into an overhaul of the county’s zoning ordinance … [and consider] how to regulate what might be the next big thing: utility-scale energy storage.” However, “County supervisors … accelerated a project to lay out new rules on where data center development will be permitted, likely at the cost of further delaying the ongoing Zoning Ordinance Rewrite because of staffing constraints.” Hampton Supervisors “narrowly” approved a “use permit” for a battery storage facility, “which stores electrical power in large lithium-ion battery cells … [allowing] generated power to be stored for later use in the electrical grid.”

Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC), which focuses on land use over a wide swath of northern and central Virginia east of the Blue Ridge, noted that “The explosive growth of the data center industry represents a major challenge to achieving a clean energy future in Virginia.” It laid out its concerns about “Data Centers and Energy Demand” on its website.

E) Offshore Wind

A “Virginia Economic Development Partnership … competitive grant …[will assist] Virginia manufacturers entering the offshore wind supply chain by offsetting capital expenditures in equipment directly related to positioning the company to provide goods to the industry.” “The grant … will help assist manufacturers who are entering the supply chain by offsetting the cost of equipment needed to provide goods … [and] will run for a three-year period….” The Virginian-Pilot’s Editorial Board believes “Hampton Roads can be a clean-energy hub,” noting that “Offshore wind development is set to play a key role in the shift away from the carbon-based fuels to renewable, greener energy sources” and “Solar energy, too, has great potential, and it also offers possibilities in this region.”

F) Solar

Dominion “has an interest in developing smaller-scale solar projects … requiring five, 10 or 20 acres of land” and is beginning to hold meetings in rural areas to drum up landowner interest. Such projects are used for community solar projects, such as this one in DC that “Focuses on Equity for Virginia Climate Goals.” Dominion will build its second Virginia solar farm on re-used land “on [an] Ivy landfill”, near Charlottesville, with another one on an old coal mine in Southwest VA. Dominion and [German-based] RWE Clean Energy, LLC, signed “300 MW PPAs [for RWE] to provide solar power to Dominion … across seven projects, which include two currently under operation, one under construction and four under development.” One of the projects, Harrisonburg Solar, is a 15 MW project proposed in Rockingham County.

“As Dominion Energy looks to expand its commitment to distributed solar projects by leasing small plots of land for solar installations in Virginia, a coalition of solar stakeholders has petitioned state regulators to make it easier for entities other than Dominion to connect distributed solar to the grid.” In a formal petition to the SCC for relief, the Distributed Solar Alliance (DSA) argued “that Dominion’s interconnection rules have led to small-scale solar project delays” and cancellations. The petition is “asking that the rules be suspended until the SCC can rule on their legality.”

The Alliance for the Shenandoah Valley (ASV), which focuses on land use issues in the Shenandoah Valley, like PEC, wants Virginia to “get it right with solar”. Both organizations support distributed solar for residences and businesses. ASV hopes that “With the right local and state guidelines in place … solar projects in the Shenandoah Valley … [will] minimize negative impact and even benefit local communities.” ASV showcases a Shenandoah County farm that meets these criteria. Virginia Tech researchers will use a Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) grant to “study the environmental effects of utility-scale solar installations.” One focus area of DEQ’s efforts will be gathering data on  large-scale solar facilities’ effects on stormwater runoff.

Despite fierce opposition, commercial solar is coming to Staunton. “The City Council approved a 15.75 megawatt utility scale solar energy facility and a 5 megawatt community scale solar energy facility….” “Residents brought up [a] wide range of concerns, but the most prominent included the perceived rush to push the solar facility, issues with the comprehensive plan, and the impact the solar farm will have on surrounding properties and property values.”

“After delays and deferred votes, the [Norfolk] City Council … approved a large-scale solar farm at a former landfill site. In March, the city’s Planning Commission voted to delay a vote on a recommendation to council so the Washington, D.C.-based company building the solar field, Community Power Group, could engage with and educate nearby residents about it. The Campostella Landfill on Norfolk’s south side, behind the Diggs Town public housing development, was selected for development into an 8-megawatt solar field array.”

“At the same time Albemarle County supervisors are considering plans for a solar farm that could conservatively power more than half of the county’s households, they are also considering new ordinance amendments that could scale back the future of solar in the area. Local solar developers and climate advocates fear those regulations might unnecessarily limit Albemarle’s capacity for the renewable energy and make it more difficult to complete projects such as the 650-acre, 135-megawatt Woodridge Solar project in southeast Albemarle.”

Culpeper County’s Planning Commission, in split votes, both approved a utility-scale solar facility and confirmed that “it does not comply with [the County’s] comprehensive plan.” Chesapeake’s City Council approved two new solar “farms” on farmland. “Isle of Wight County supervisors … voted unanimously to approve what will be the county’s seventh solar farm.” Hanover County supervisors are evaluating “land-use policies … that would allow the integration of solar energy facilities in parts of the county … while striving to maintain the county’s rural aesthetic and scenic resources.” “Mecklenburg County Board of Supervisors voted … to cap development of solar projects in the county at 2,325 acres despite calls from local landowners to allow small-scale or community solar projects.” Brunswick County supervisors approved “a conditional use permit for a 350-megawatt (MW) utility scale facility ….” Madison County Supervisors and Planning Commissioners denied an application for a proposed solar farm that had been under discussion for several years. “Members of the Clarke County Board of Supervisors say solar facilities are taking away land needed for farms and open space. They’re ordering county planners to make changes to the county zoning ordinance that will prohibit any more from being established.” “The Henry County Board of Supervisors … approved … [a] zoning ordinance amendment that will limit the total amount of acreage that can be permitted for solar farm development to one percent of the total land mass of the county.

G) Transportation

“Amtrak ridership in Virginia saw more than [a] 50% increase in April 2023 compared to April 2022.

Recent ridership numbers show interest in regional passenger rail may be at an all-time high.”

Despite “Virginia’s interest in extending Amtrak service — pending support from Tennessee”, a “newly released Tennessee report doesn’t paint a rosy picture of the likely success of extending passenger rail service to Bristol.”

“The Shenandoah Rail Trail Exploratory Partnership continues to take steps toward its goal of creating a multi-use trail through Warren, Shenandoah, and Rockingham counties…. Following a series of 10 community input meetings held from February through April, the Exploratory Partnership has continued working with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB), and other state agencies to move the project forward….”

“The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission’s latest Commuter Choice grant round includes $48 million for transit projects across the region. Last month, the Commonwealth Transportation Board approved the NVTC’s list of 13 projects aimed at reducing congestion through improved transit service.”

The Valley Interfaith Action is exploring the feasibility of on-demand transportation in Rockingham County. Such a program exists in Southwest Virginia, called Mountain Empire Transit.

Climate and Environment

A) Chesapeake Bay

“The Virginia Marine Resources Commission voted … on catch rules for striped bass and blue crabs…. The commission also voted to increase blue crab catch limits slightly…. Catch limits were significantly lowered last year after the blue crab population reached a record low…. This year’s survey showed modest recovery in the population…. The vote lowered the maximum allowable size of striped bass … to comply with a May emergency action by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.”

Researchers believe “osprey in the lower Chesapeake Bay are failing to successfully reproduce … [and that] the osprey’s steep decline is due to increasing scarcity of menhaden tied to overharvesting…. Environmental and sportfishing groups have been pushing in recent years for a total ban on the menhaden harvest in the bay, arguing that it’s taking away the important fish from other species, including striped bass and osprey.”

Scientists studied “natural processes affecting Eastern Shore aquifers [because] ‘Environmental conditions that lower, recharge, or cause increases in groundwater withdrawals can have negative effects on groundwater resources’” They concluded that “’Withdrawal patterns appear [to] have been fairly steady for the past decade or so, with fluctuations based on changing environmental conditions.’”

“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [EPA], environmental groups and state governments filed a notice in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia … dismissing the 2020 lawsuit [alleging] that federal officials weren’t doing enough to stop Chesapeake Bay pollution originating in Pennsylvania…. The settlement requires EPA to, among other things, look for ways to reduce pollution from agriculture in Pennsylvania — the state’s biggest source of pollution – and stormwater runoff. As part of the settlement, EPA also commits to increase compliance and enforcement efforts. Under the settlement, EPA will prioritize efforts in Pennsylvania focused on the counties that contribute the most pollution to, or have the largest impact on, local rivers and streams….”

Maryland’s governor “announced a new tack in trying to restore the Chesapeake Bay, shifting away from broad-stroke efforts to return the nation’s largest estuary to its heyday. Instead, the state will focus on targeted strategies that rehabilitate specific, shallow-water habitats. The change to focus on many smaller sources of pollution — often flowing off private property — will require more coordination to implement.” Several Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia senators, along with some Virginia and Maryland representatives, introduced the “Chesapeake Bay Science, Education and Ecosystem Enhancement (SEEE) Act [that] aims to restore the health of the watershed, strengthen fisheries management and expand environmental education programs for residents.” The senators included Senator Manchin!

According to a study by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, “Underwater grass in the Chesapeake Bay continues to recover…. Grass volume is a good indicator of the watershed’s overall health….”

“A Department of Defense-supported program designed to combat climate change came to Virginia … [on July 10]. The Sentinel Landscape Partnership is tackling two new landscape projects in Virginia abutting its Maryland project, the Middle Chesapeake Landscape. The commonwealth landscapes comprise public and private lands in a swath of nearly three million acres that includes 10 military installations and stretches from Maryland to North Carolina….”

B) Flooding

A recent study concluded that the so-called “100-year floods” are happening with increasing frequency, indicating “that some “100-year flood” estimates may not reflect a changing climate…. Data from the study will be integrated into Risk Factor’s platform by the end of the month. Risk Factor’s data tools allow users to search for their home or ZIP code to view environmental changes and risks of major natural events, such as floods or fire.”

There are concerns about the recent “formal agreement between the city of Norfolk and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to move ahead with one of the biggest infrastructure efforts in city history: a $2.6 billion floodwall project dubbed Resilient Norfolk…. The new floodwall project largely won’t protect against the kind of flooding Norfolk sees regularly, which is caused by high tides or heavy rain and exacerbated by sea level rise. Instead, the project is meant to shield the city from being devastated by a catastrophic storm. It specifically targets storm surge — the abnormal rush of water generated during major storms like hurricanes.” The project “overlooks current climate risks, critics worry.” The Hampton Roads Sanitary Commission believes that “flooding threatens sewage infrastructure in Hampton Roads. [Its] new climate plan is their attempt to ‘how would we respond to a catastrophic event like that?’”

C) Land and Water

The U.S. Forest Service, through its Forest Legacy program, awarded the Virginia Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) $7.1M to protect 4,000 acres “next to the Shenandoah National Park at the southern tip.”

“Virginia DEQ [Department of Environmental Quality] … worked out an approach to splitting the difference between economic development and protecting wetlands and streams in light of the … Supreme Court decision in Sackett vs. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The ruling … limits Clean Water Act protection for wetlands to those with a “continuous surface connection” to other “Waters of the United States,” which will remove federal protections for the majority of the nation’s wetlands.” DEQ offered “wetland permit guidance following [the] … ruling, [which creates uncertainty over who will determine wetlands boundaries.”

Action Alerts:

• Attend the Harrisonburg Planning Commission Meeting September 19, 6pm, in Council Chambers, to learn from a Wetlands Watch expert about Climate Change and Resiliency Issues. There will be an opportunity for Q & A from the public. Prepare for the session by reviewing the AdaptVA website that Wetlands Watch developed.
• “JOIN THE MARCH TO END FOSSIL FUELS SEPT 17TH – 1PM – NYC”. Register here. Secretary General Antonio Guterres will join this effort. You can watch the YouTube video of the kickoff call: https://www.youtube.com/live/As3bAXBONBU?feature=share

Check out …

• This story about five earthquakes that have happened in Southwest Virginia recently.
• This commentary by the Coordinator for Our Virginia Outdoors, who lives in Harrisonburg, and believes that “The future of Virginia’s outdoors depends on us. By protecting our natural resources, we’re also protecting our economy and the jobs that depend on it.”
• The “EnChroma viewfinder – equipped with special lenses designed to help those with red-green color vision deficient to experience colors.” It’s newly” installed at Natural Tunnel State Park in Scott County” to help those with color-blindedness view fall colors.
• This essay, “A man and his yard: A crowded eighth-acre explained” to learn how the author transformed his yard into a wonderland of plants and wildlife habitat.
• These two stories about trees in the “Virginia Big Tree Program” located in Piedmont and Shenandoah Valley.
• This video about the effort to relocate a large bird colony from its current location (that is close to the Hampton Roads Tunnel construction project) to a man-made one. Virginia’s Department of Wildlife Resources is partnering with the Army Corps of Engineers. (It’s not clear how the birds will be persuaded to move!)
• The Virginia League of Conservation Voters 2023 Conservation scorecard.
• This Virginia Department of Transportation map displaying current and planned EV infrastructure locations in the state along the Alternative Fuel Corridor (major interstates).
• The Charlottesville Department of Parks and Recreation’s “unique approach of utilizing approximately 50 goats to … help control the damaging effects of invasive plant species in the city.”

Why not …

• Read this Augusta County farmer (and blogger) explanation of how his Shenandoah Valley farm and the Chesapeake Bay are connected? “Surf and Turf”, anyone? Don’t miss his recipe for no-filler crab cakes.
• Learn about some “William & Mary students [who lobbied] … Congress for action on climate change.”
• Read why Virginia college students want their schools to divest their investments in fossil fuels, how they’re making their views known, and why the issue is “complicated”?
• Look into the Solarize Virginia campaign of the Local Energy Alliance Program, if you’re thinking about going solar.
• Get some good ideas for planting a fall garden?

The Climate Action Alliance of the Valley (CAAV) is a non-profit, grassroots group in the Central Shenandoah Valley that educates legislators and the public about the implications of the Earth’s worsening climate crisis.

The Climate Action Alliance of the Valley is pleased to provide Harrisonburg’s The Citizen with a monthly survey of energy and environmental news stories about Virginia.

With their permission, we are re-posting these pieces here after they appear in the Citizen.

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The link to this piece as first published by the Citizen is HERE.

Statewide Environmental News Roundup for July 2023 (Part I)

This special edition provides updates to June’s top two stories: Mountain Valley Pipeline approval and Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) withdrawal. As the updates suggest, neither of these stories are over….

Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP)

The “Deal” and Initial Reaction

“This pipeline was snarled in court. Then Congress stepped in.” The Chesapeake Climate Action Network’s Director declared President Biden’s signing of the debt ceiling bill “will forever stain his legacy on climate and environmental justice … [as] the president who built the Mountain Valley Pipeline [MVP]. The president who locked in new fossil fuel infrastructure for decades to come at the most pivotal point in our climate journey. The president who stomped on more than half a century of bedrock environmental protections as a political favor.”

Permits Issued, MVP Actions, and More Reactions

“A final permit issued [June 23] may be enough to get the … [MVP] across the remaining rivers, streams and wetlands that have long blocked the project’s path to completion. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers gave its approval for construction through hundreds of water bodies in Southwest Virginia and West Virginia, as it was required to do by a recently passed federal law that fast-tracks the controversial project.” In a press release, the non-profit Appalachian Voices decried the Corps action, describing the enabling legislation as “’unprecedented — and unconscionable — congressional interference [that] has placed Virginia and West Virginia communities and waterways at risk by forcing agencies to issue … [MVP’s] permits.’”

“Questions linger over pipe integrity oversight as … [MVP] water crossing work nears.” Despite the pipe integrity concerns raised over pipe that has been “stored” outdoors for years, MVP “developers defend[ed] not remediating pipe offsite.” Construction resumed, and the company said, prior to issuance of two appeals court injunctions (see below), that the MVP “could carry natural gas as soon as this winter.”

A landowner, some of whose property was seized by MVP developers through eminent domain, and who achieved some fame as a protestor/tree sitter, is “despondent about the federal debt deal that cleared a path for the long-stalled pipeline project to be completed.” A Virginia energy blogger suggested that “stopping the MVP in court just got a heck of a lot harder….” She argued that the project never made economic sense and moving forward still doesn’t, adding: “Pulling the plug on MVP now would avoid not only the cost of completing the pipeline, but also the cost of fixing leaks, erosion damage and other problems critics believe are inevitable given the terrain and geology. That would be a much better result for everyone concerned than completing the pipeline to serve a market that doesn’t exist – a Pyrrhic victory if there ever was one.” FERC, however, ordered that the MVP can proceed with “all construction activities.” A West Virginia newspaper published a report on the “economic need for Mountain Valley Pipeline [continues to be] questioned”, noting that “although Congress may have taken care of the legality of the … [MVP], the economics of the project for years to come are out of its hands.”

More Lawsuits to Challenge the New Law

Recent filings by environmental groups argue that the law is unconstitutional, that Congress “overstepped its authority,” and that its action “violates the separation of powers between the legislative and judicial branches.” “Proving it, however, may be another matter,” wrote the Roanoke Times. Five Virginia Representatives filed an amicus brief in support of the lawsuit, arguing that “short-circuiting ongoing litigation to greenlight the MVP … is plainly contrary to the public interest.” A Federal appeals court panel stayed construction in the Jefferson National Forest “while it considers arguments that Congress violated the separation of powers doctrine” despite MVP calls for dismissal of the suit.

Numerous environmental groups continue to raise legal challenges “because it’s too dangerous not to.” The same appeals court panel “granted a [second] stay of construction activity on the Mountain Valley Pipeline, saying a dispute over the project’s impact on endangered species must be resolved before work can continue…. Environmental groups said they expect the order, issued by a three-judge panel of the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, will halt all construction activity on the 303-mile, 42-inch-diameter natural gas pipeline through Virginia and West Virginia until their case against the pipeline is decided.”

“Several lawmakers excoriated a federal appeals court ruling … granting a coalition of environmental groups’ request to block construction of” the MVP. A “West Virginia [legislator] … [called] for [the] pipeline developer to ‘ignore the 4th circuit and continue as scheduled’ constructing [the] pipeline.” The MVP developer “said the latest delay threatens its ability to complete construction by the end of this year [adding,] ‘We are evaluating all legal options, which include filing an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court …’.” The developer also “said it ‘will refrain from new forward-construction activities while resolving the legal challenges.’”

MVP Southgate Extension in North Carolina

In North Carolina, the “fate of [the] Mountain Valley Pipeline’s North Carolina extension [is] still unclear…. The Southgate project has drawn opposition from two local governments and numerous elected officials, many of them Republicans, who argue it interferes with private property rights and local tourism efforts. Slated to skirt the Haw River, cross the Dan River, and impact dozens of their tributaries, the pipeline extension has also been twice denied a necessary water quality permit from the state Department of Environmental Quality and has yet to reapply. Southgate also needs reapproval from [FERC]….” “The Mountain Valley Pipeline has requested an extension of its Certificate of Public Convenience of Necessity [that] is necessary for construction of the MVP Southgate pipelinefrom southern Virginia into northwestern North Carolina. Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan of Virginia’s District 4 sent a letter [June 29] to … [the] FERC … Chairman … urging the agency to lengthen the public comment period for the …MVP … requested extension.” Two North Carolina reporters provided historical details about the Southgate project and asked “Where do politicians stand?” regarding the extension request. “The deadline for public comment on the project is 5 p.m. on July 24.”

Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI)

Following the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board’s decision to approve the state’s withdrawal from RGGI, a northwest Virginia resident wrote that the Board should “respect air quality”, noting that “RGGI has been good for our budget, our air, and our health.” RGGI “generated over $650 million for the state, helping strapped Virginians make upgrades to their homes and allowing communities to gird their defenses against rising seas and flooding.”

The Governor finished his formal review of the final regulation to withdraw from RGGI; official confirmation is set for publication in the Federal Register on July 31, followed by a public comment period ending August 30. “The regulation calls for Virginia to leave the market Dec. 31, which is the end of the state’s current three-year contract to participate in it.… The publication of the regulation in the Virginia Register is when environmental groups like the Southern Environmental Law Center say a legal challenge of the withdrawal could be filed. A broad group of critics have said that withdrawing Virginia through regulatory changes is illegal and that legislation is needed.”

Home weatherization experts, environmentalists and legal analysts say that a cutoff in funds could reverse progress across the Commonwealth.” A VCU researcher and “expert in sustainability-focused energy policy [said]: ‘We have lost one of the more important tools in our toolbox.’”

Home weatherization groups, including Community Housing Partners (CHP) are seeking alternative funding sources and reassessing its staffing levels, despite evidence of continuing need for its services, especially among disadvantaged Virginians. (CHP has a presence in Harrisonburg and is working to perform energy efficiency upgrades, such as those for the Mosby Heights neighborhood.)

An “independent environmental consultant who served on the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board 2014‑2018” described the “RGGI repeal effort [as] “shortsighted [and leaving] Virginians in harm’s way, “asserting that RGGI’s track record clearly demonstrates we need not choose between clean air, affordable electricity and a strong economy.”

Check out …

• Virginia State Parks’ “Wandering Waters Paddle Quest, a self-paced program that rewards people for their time spent on the water. Visitors to all 31 parks can explore the water through a mixture of ranger‑guided programs and self-led adventures. Register here, go paddling, and record each trip…. The state also offers Trail Quest, a self-paced program that offers rewards for visiting state parks. For more information about either program, go to virginiastateparks.gov/contest.
• This story in The Nation magazine about what the recent primary results said about Virginia’s move toward clean energy.
• The opportunity to go solar with LEAP (Local Energy Alliance Program) through its Solarize Virginia program, which started July 5. LEAP is giving free solar assessments.

Why not …

• Plan and plant a hummingbird garden? Here’s how.
• Take a look at this Heat Mapping and Mitigation guidebook developed for Charlottesville that might provide some tips for residents on the west side of the Blue Ridge?
• Consider whether putting out bird feeders is a good or a bad idea for the local ecosystem?

The Climate Action Alliance of the Valley (CAAV) is a non-profit, grassroots group in the Central Shenandoah Valley that educates legislators and the public about the implications of the Earth’s worsening climate crisis.

---

The Climate Action Alliance of the Valley is pleased to provide Harrisonburg’s The Citizen with a monthly survey of energy and environmental news stories about Virginia.

With their permission, we are re-posting these pieces here after they appear in the Citizen.

---

The link to this piece as first published by the Citizen is HERE.

Statewide Environmental News Roundup for June 2023 

Energy

June’s two biggest stories are the debt ceiling deal that cleared the way for the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) completion and the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board’s vote to withdraw Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). Both stories made headlines in and outside Virginia. Both outcomes were setbacks for pipeline opponents and RGGI supporters. Here are the stories in headlines (with sources):

Mountain Valley Pipeline

“Debt ceiling deal includes surprise approval of natural gas pipeline championed by [West Virginia Senator] Manchin.” – Politico, May 28

“Debt limit deal would approve West Virginia pipeline, curtail environmental law.” – The Hill, May 28

“Environmentalists in Virginia and West Virginia Regroup to Stop the Mountain Valley Pipeline, Eyeing a White House Protest.” – Inside Climate News, May 28

 “The debt ceiling deal bulldozes a controversial pipeline’s path through the courts.” – NPR, June 1

“Kaine’s effort to remove Mountain Valley Pipeline provision from debt-limit deal fails.” – Cardinal News, June 1

“Donations from Mountain Valley Pipeline developers, gas industry have flowed frequently into WV congress members’ campaign coffers.” – Charleston Gazette-Mail, June 1

“Mountain Valley Pipeline approvals OKed as part of debt ceiling deal.” – Virginia Mercury, June 2

“Environmental groups blast Biden capitulation to Manchin on Mountain Valley Pipeline.” – Augusta Free Press, June 2

“MVP developers [said] project completion [is] expected by [the] end of 2023.” – West Virginia News, June 5

“With path cleared for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, opponents weigh next steps.” – Cardinal News, June 5

“Mountain Valley Pipeline seeks dismissal of remaining lawsuits.” – Roanoke Times, June 6

“Climate advocates protest Mountain Valley Pipeline outside White House.” – Washington Post, June 8

“What’s next for the court cases challenging Mountain Valley Pipeline?” – Virginia Mercury, June 9

“Environmentalists may challenge Congress on clearance for the Mountain Valley Pipeline” – WVTF/Radio IQ, June 13

“DEP reissues water permit for Mountain Valley Pipeline thrown out by court for not addressing water quality violations.” – Charleston Gazette-Mail, June 13

“Editorial: Including pipeline in debt bill dismantled a system protecting Virginians.” – Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press, June 14 (See Action Alert below.)

“Mountain Valley Pipeline asks FERC for extension to finish Southgate project in NC.” – NC Newsline, June 15.

RGGI

“Air Board votes 4-3 to remove Virginia from Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.” – Augusta Free Press, June 7

“State air board votes to leave Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.” – VPM, June 7

“Virginia regulators advance Youngkin plan to leave climate initiative he calls ineffective.” – AP News, June 7

 “Virginia Leaves Clean Air Initiative as Wildfire Smoke Fills Sky.” – Newsweek, June 7

“Youngkin Praises State Air Pollution Control Board’s Repeal of RGGI.” – The Roanoke Star, June 7

 “Youngkin continues to call RGGI participation a hidden tax, environmental groups considering litigation.” – Virginia Mercury, June 7

“Air Pollution Control Board votes to remove Virginia from Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.” – Southern Environmental Law Center, June 7

“Youngkin Moves Forward on Unlawful RGGI Repeal; Now Faces Legal Peril.” – National Resources Defense Council, June 7

“Va. regulators vote to exit regional carbon trading program.” – E&E News, June 8

“Repealing RGGI will only cost Virginians.” – LTE, Richmond Times Dispatch, June 17

“Amazon Has Spent $52 Billion And Counting On Northern Virginia Data Centers.” “Opponents of the Prince William Digital Gateway were dealt another blow … when a judge dismissed a second lawsuit challenging the … 2,139-acre data center corridor proposed just north of the Manassas National Battlefield Park ….” Spotsylvania County’s Comprehensive Plan was amended to be more favorable to data center development. It also changed the zoning for a specific area to allow technology campuses. The Board of Supervisors has several pending zoning requests, most from Amazon; public hearings will provide the opportunity for opponents and proponents to weigh in.” Fairfax County wants to look into what “guardrails” it could put into place given the proliferation of data centers in Northern Virginia. Dominion Energy recently reported that “Virginia power use hit [a] record in December, [and] data centers account for 20% of sales … [but] did not address how data center construction projects were disrupted in Virginia due to its transmission issues.”

“Dominion [Energy is] reviving plans to build a natural gas peaker plant in Chesterfield. [Its] proposal signals [a] shift from [its] renewables-heavy focus of the past few years … as part of its recently announced strategy to invest in more gas generation to meet growing grid demand in the coming years.” The Virginia Clean Economy Act mandates that Dominion “retire all fossil fuel plants [by 2045, well before the scheduled operational life of a new plant]. The law allows utilities to petition the SCC to keep plants open to ensure reliability of electricity supply.”

This ”old-fashioned story” [THE PLUTOCRAT VS. THE MONOPOLY] in The Atlantic is about “a recent victory … that united the Sierra Club, Americans for Prosperity, Amazon, Google, and progressive and conservative members of the Virginia legislature.” The subject: Dominion Energy’s historic influence over Virginia energy policy. A senior Dominion vice-president responded to the article, criticizing the author’s characterization of a 2023 bi‑partisan “reform bill”; decrying the author’s lack of curiosity about the “motivations of the “plutocrat” (Michael Bills, founder of Clean Virginia); and repeating Dominion’s often stated position that Dominion’s “all-in rates [have been] below the national average for many years.” The VP did not distinguish between Dominion’s customers’ rates as compared to their bills, omitting to mention that the latter have been rising, not because of basic rates but due to “rate adjustment clauses”, or riders, that Dominion adds to customers’ basic “rate”.

An Augusta County farmer’s opinion piece about a proposed solar facility provided responses to objections raised by attendees at a recent Staunton City Council. The Council tabled the proposal. Recommending readers contact the City Council, the writer concluded: “In a time when we witness atmospheric rivers, bomb cyclones, and rising seas, we need to move away from fossil fuels…. Staunton can lead the way by setting an example of how to do solar right.”

“More than 17 GW of offshore wind capacity is under construction in the Atlantic Ocean. Lease sales are expanding the industry to new waters as it works to meet federal and state goals.” “Tidewater Community College’s … Skilled Trades Academy is … ramping up all of the skilled trades that can support the offshore wind onshore…. TCC’s expansion is part of a larger effort by businesses, government officials, economic development groups and educators to prepare for an expected increase in demand for an array of skilled and unskilled workers.” “U.S. offshore wind represents a $109 billion revenue opportunity for businesses in the supply chain over the next decade, according to a 2021 report by the Special Initiative on Offshore Wind. ‘We really have a generational opportunity to grow the economy of Virginia,’ … [according to] Matt Smith, the director of energy and water technology for Hampton Roads Alliance….”

Near Virginia Beach, “A plan to bring high voltage cables ashore at Sandbridge as part of a new wind energy farm is … opposed by a group of residents living in and around the beachfront community, while others argue it should be embraced.” Some have concerns because the areas where the cables will come ashore are flood zones. North Carolina joined nearly a dozen other East Coast states [including Virginia] to create a financial compensation program [the Fisheries Mitigation Project] that would cover economic losses within the fisheries industry caused by Atlantic offshore wind development. The US General Accountability Office, the “independent watchdog agency of Congress agreed to look into the impacts that offshore wind development could have on the environment, fishing industry and other areas.”

A Southwest Virginia editor, referencing the Governor’s announced desire for small nuclear reactors (SMRs) in Virginia, noted that Virginia isn’t the only state looking at this technology and may well have competition. A “company [that] … designs and maintains power plants, hopes to train more nuclear technicians through its partnership with Central Virginia Community College in Lynchburg.” The LENOWISCO Planning District Commission (serving Lee, Wise, and Scott Counties and the City of Norton) announced results of an engineering firm’s study … showing that “far Southwest Virginia has the capabilities to be a ‘competitive hosting ground’ for small modular nuclear reactors … in “seven potential sites.”

“InvestSWVA, a public-private economic development initiative, hosted “a show of energy and economic development projects [in SW Virginia] for 20 officials representing coal communities in 10 states…. [The event was] designed to highlight programs and projects underway for economic diversification…. The first stop was … a former coal mine site … [now] home to the Wise Solar Project … [and] the first was about the region’s interest in becoming home to a … SMR.”

Climate and Environment

“Some [coastal] cities are putting water back into the ground, a process called managed aquifer recharge, to stabilize land subsidence” and to “stop their land from sinking.” Hampton Roads Sanitation District [that serves Norfolk] set up a pilot “recharge system that treated wastewater and recharged the aquifer with 1 million gallons a day…. [Because the land is still rising] a little bit, in 2026, they will operate their first full-scale facility, which will recharge 34 million gallons per day.”

“Albemarle County is part of a program designed to help both new and existing buildings reduce their impact on the environment. Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) is a program through which businesses can apply for financing to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions.” “Charlottesville emission levels [are] expected to rise slightly; new initiatives [are] ramping up.”

“Support from the Virginia Outdoors Foundation has doubled the size of the … [Chestnut Ridge Natural Area Preserve] to protect significant ecological forest core with old-growth trees. By purchasing 775 acres …Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) … brought the size of the preserve in Giles and Bland counties to 1,596 acres.” It was “named after the American chestnut.”

A blogger expressed concerns about the Canadian corporate behemoth that is removing so many menhaden from the Chesapeake that it may endanger the fish and also hurt Virginia’s fishing industry. “Menhaden, a kind of herring that has been called the most important fish in the sea, are a keystone species in the Atlantic, serving both as a critical food source for predatory fish, marine mammals and birds, and as a consumer of vast quantities of algae that would otherwise clog waterways and shade out underwater vegetation.” She blames regulators and politicians for not properly addressing the problem. “A group of anglers in Maryland has taken legal action against Virginia fishery managers over harvesting of menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay.” The same regulator is taking a different approach to managing the Bay’s crab population, “recommending increases to crab catch limits this fall and next spring but keeping in place the summer reductions instituted last year after surveys found the population had plummeted.”

 “A new report [The Worsening Winds report] details Coastal Virginia’s risk and susceptibility to future hurricanes as a result of changing weather patterns due to climate change…. [It’s] a risk assessment report that aims to quantify and measure how climate change impacts on hurricane winds 30 years into the future will impact local communities across the country…. Hampton Roads localities rank high in some of the report’s metric rankings. One example is the counties and cities [that] “will likely face the great absolute increase in their annual likelihood of experiencing Category 1 hurricane wind conditions.”

“The Northern Virginia Regional Commission evaluated the climate-change readiness of the region and its military installations – identifying 129 projects to address readiness gaps…. Of the 129 remedial projects identified, 43 target potential coastal and inland flooding hazards.… Thirty-two projects focus on energy provision, with the goal of ensuring access to stable energy sources…. Several involve building solar-powered microgrids to ‘maximize the capacity of renewable energy generation and battery storage to minimize reliance on diesel-powered generation.’”

“The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality added the Shenandoah and Northern Piedmont regions of the Commonwealth to its drought watch advisory. The Eastern Shore of Virginia … was already under a drought watch advisory. Now Augusta, Rockingham, Shenandoah, Frederick, Page, Warren and Clarke counties in the Shenandoah region are included. Greene, Madison, Rappahannock, Orange, Culpeper, Louisa, Spotsylvania and Stafford counties in the Northern Piedmont region are included.” “Drought conditions are getting worse in D.C., Maryland and Northern Virginia. The lack of rain across the region, 7 to 9 inches below normal since the beginning of the year, is raising concerns about water supply, causing tap water to taste and smell funny, and hindering the production of hay for feeding cows…. The rainfall deficit has also dried out soils across the region. Moisture content in the top 20 centimeters of soil are less than 20 percent of the historical average, with some areas at or less than 2 percent, according to data from NationalSoilMoisture.com…. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s precipitation outlook for late June shows a 33 to 40 percent chance of above-normal rainfall, while its outlook for July, August and September gives equal chances of above-, below- or near‑normal precipitation.”

The “Supreme Court [rolled] back Clean Water Act protections for wetlands”. “Virginia is home to about 1 million acres of wetlands, from Chesapeake Bay marshes to the Great Dismal Swamp to Blue Ridge fens. After last week’s Supreme Court ruling in Sackett v. EPA, many of them are no longer protected under the Clean Water Act.” But “environmental groups say there will be little change in Virginia because of the state’s strong wetlands regulations…. [T]he Virginia Farm Bureau Federation … praised the ruling as a necessary reduction of bureaucracy for farmers.”

“[T]he University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences (UMCES) [annual] report card on Bay health [repeated its ‘C’ rating]…. Of the seven indicators [used], there were improvements in water clarity, nitrogen, phosphorus and aquatic grasses. The report “suggests that major adjustments are needed in existing programs — and perhaps public expectations — to improve the Chesapeake’s health.” Although conditions in the Bay overall are improving, many tributaries still have poor scores, and scores are particularly bad in many Eastern Shore watersheds.“ The report …”found strong disparities between communities in different parts of the bay’s watershed in terms of health, economics and social justice concerns.”

Action Alert…

There are safety concerns about the Mountain Valley Pipeline: “Pipe for the project has been sitting outside, in some cases for over 4 years, and is unsafe to use.” Wild Virginia and CAAV would like you to call Senators Kaine [(202) 224‑4024] and Warner [(202) 224-2023] and ask them to tell the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) “to require off-site recoating of the pipe for Mountain Valley Pipeline to reduce the risk of leak or explosion.”

Check out …

• This USDA Farm Service Agency survey of the top 25 Virginia counties’ farmland acreage. Rockingham County is 4^th; Augusta County is 2^nd.
• Virginia’s favorite flowers, according to a Gardening Chores study.
• This information about Harrisonburg’s June “Pollinator month” activities.
• A new bridge over “a relatively new hiking and biking trail in the George Washington National Forest…. The newest portion of the trail itself is multi-use single track that is part of the GWNF’s North River District and stretches across the Rockingham and Augusta counties’ lines.”
• The “2023 Virginia Hurricane Evacuation Guide which gives actions to take in the event of a tropical storm.”
• Our Virginia Outdoors Coalition that represents “land trusts, trail advocates and conservation groups and announced its official launch at the beginning of June — which was proclaimed Great Outdoors Month in Virginia this year by Governor Glenn Youngkin.” Details are here.

Why not …

• Learn about beekeeping?
• Learn how you can replace your lawn with a pollinator garden?
• Read a Harrisonburg resident’s opinion on whether you could replace your car with an EV bike?
• Watch this brief video showing how “Louisa County High School is giving students a head start in the [solar] industry by offering an energy and power class”? “Solar energy could power 40 percent of the nation’s electricity and provide as many as 1.5 million jobs in the next 10 years.”
• Learn how to achieve savings from energy efficiency and renewable energy purchases, using this US Department of Energy tool.
• Find out about the spread of the “red imported fire ant, an invasive species known for its painful sting, from Southeast Virginia … to other parts of the state.” Let’s hope they don’t head north.

The Climate Action Alliance of the Valley (CAAV) is a non-profit, grassroots group in the Central Shenandoah Valley that educates legislators and the public about the implications of the Earth’s worsening climate crisis.

The Climate Action Alliance of the Valley is pleased to provide Harrisonburg’s The Citizen with a monthly survey of energy and environmental news stories about Virginia.

With their permission, we are re-posting these pieces here after they appear in the Citizen.

---

The link to this piece as first published by the Citizen is HERE.

Statewide Environmental News Roundup for May 2023 

Energy

Dominion issued its latest long-range Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). Governor Youngkin announced that the 2023 IRP “validates [his] energy plan released in October 2022….” The plan calls for “new gas plants [and] advanced nuclear [that Dominion said] will be needed to meet soaring demand.” “Renewables alone aren’t expected to meet a projected increase in demand for electricity in the coming decades, Dominion … said in [its] … filing …. That means the state’s largest electric utility may seek to keep most of its existing power stations online for decades to come and seek to build additional small natural gas and nuclear units.” A Dominion official “said Dominion expects to deploy 33,000 new megawatts of total generation in the next 25 years.” One critic concluded that the IRP “relies too much on fossil fuels.” An environmental advocacy group derided the “’unholy union between billionaire Governor Youngkin and Dominion’ … [as a] ‘corporate profit grab that would bankrupt Virginians and exacerbate climate change.’” A blogger wondered if Virginia would have “more nuclear power?” Another commentator reacted to the IRP this way: “Law? What law? Pandering to the governor, Dominion’s new plan ignores Virginia’s climate law. The energy giant’s IRP is a political document, not a serious approach to meeting Virginia’s electricity needs.” The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) said “The utility’s expanded reliance on fossil fuels stands out and works against the state’s requirements for reducing emissions as laid out in the Virginia Clean Economy Act.” Advanced Energy United echoed this view. Utility Dive pointed out that “Dominion Energy [IRP] projects adding up to 9 GW of new gas-fired capacity due to reliability concerns.”

The SCC has only one commissioner and two vacancies. The General Assembly, which has the responsibility to appoint, has failed to do so during the last two sessions. The reason is “political stalemate.” While complimenting the SCC staff, “The Virginia Ratepayer Protection Alliance, a group that includes Google, Amazon Web Services, the Virginia Manufacturers Association and the Virginia Poverty Law Center, told Virginia’s top lawmakers … that “these Commissioner seats have been vacant for too long.”

A “judge dismissed one of two lawsuits filed last fall in an effort to stop the 2,139-acre data center corridor proposed near the Manassas National Battlefield Park …, [a decision that] paves the way for the massive new data center development approved by the Prince William Board of County Supervisors last fall…. The [approved change to] … the county’s long-term plan … allow[ed] for up to 27 million square feet of data centers to be built on about 1,600 acres of once-protected agricultural land near the Manassas National Battlefield Park.” Discussions between the developer [Digital Gateway] and the county continue, with the latest “Digital Gateway plan [pitching] 28 to 34 data centers outside the Manassas battlefield. The July 2022 Prince William County “comprehensive plan amendment that would turn northern Prince William County into a massive data center amendment … depicted two large parks and hundreds of acres of green space as key to the project…. But [there are] no real plans for the parks. Instead, [the developer application] to rezone the land for data centers, the final step in the approval process …, made it clear that the big parks are not part of their projects at this point. Critics of the digital corridor see this as a betrayal.”

“As Northern Virginia continues to cement its position as a global base for data centers, Fairfax County leaders say the time has come to reevaluate the impact of the facilities and, potentially, set some boundaries for the future.” Loudoun County is considering a way to “leverage its booming data center industry, located entirely in eastern Loudoun, to fund a large-scale land-preservation project in the rural west without any use of tax dollars…. The idea of paying landowners to agree to a permanent prohibition on development is not unknown to the area. Neighboring Fauquier County … has the largest purchase-of-development-rights program in the state, a tax-funded system in which the county government pays the owners of working farms to give up development rights. Fauquier has preserved more than 13,000 acres at a cost of $17 million…. [L]andowners in western Loudoun could give up permanently the right to develop 97,000 acres of land —… or roughly two thirds of the county’s land area — for a combined total of $1.9 billion, all paid by data center developers in exchange for larger or taller buildings in eastern Loudoun.” Illustrative of what may become more prevalent, “Amazon data centers [will] replace at least 11 Loudoun, Fairfax office buildings.”

As noted in last month’s Perspectives piece, President Biden’s Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm came out in favor of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). It may have been a political decision, given West Virginia’s Senator Manchin’s position and continuing efforts to “overhaul” the permitting process for this project. SELC expressed its “staunch opposition” to Manchin’s “permitting bill”, which “includes provisions to complete the Mountain Valley Pipeline and other polluting infrastructure that would put communities across the South and nationwide at risk.” There is at least some chance that the bill (and others) may advance in Congress. “The U.S. Forest Service … approved Mountain Valley Pipeline’s passage through the Jefferson National Forest through West Virginia and into Virginia “despite past federal appeals court rulings determining developers had ‘inadequately considered’ the project’s environmental impact.” “The federal agency issued a record of decision … approving amendments to its Land and Resource Management Plan to do so. The pipeline project still faces additional legal hurdles.” The New York Times called the permit “crucial.” “Environmental advocates like Wild Virginia Conservation Director David Sligh said … that the Biden administration is favoring fossil fuels even as it “claims to advance environmental justice.” E&E News, Reuters, and Fox News also highlighted the Biden administration’s actions. Appalachian Voices is appealing the latest USFS decision.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) weighed in on the environmental impact of a proposed pipeline expansion in Hampton Roads, saying “they expect some, mostly short-term, environmental impacts from a proposed pipeline expansion that runs through Hampton Roads – but none that necessarily preclude it from moving forward…. The new environmental impact statement is a draft up for public review.” Local environmental groups and others oppose the project. A retired Army Corps of Engineers employee, citing the recent Ohio train derailment, argued that “Shutting down pipelines doesn’t magically make the transport of oil and gas less necessary. Communities rely on these resources, and limited pipeline access will lead to fuel being transported using less safe methods.”

“As Virginia moves to pull out of carbon market [Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, RGGI], housing groups worry about funding loss. Millions in RGGI money has gone toward low-income energy efficiency projects since 2021…. [C]ommunity housing developers worry about the loss of the funding the program generates to upgrade existing homes and build entirely new ones that more efficiently consume energy…. How those funds will be replaced if Virginia withdraws from RGGI isn’t clear.”

A “2022 state law [appointed a stakeholder group] to determine whether it’s feasible for Virginia to set methane reduction goals and craft a plan to meet them. That group, which has held one meeting since the passage of the law and is expected to provide recommendations to the state Department of Environmental Quality for a report due July 1, stopped short of setting any specific reduction targets or defining what ‘feasible’ means. And while industry members argued Virginia regulations are unnecessary, environmental groups said state rules could fill in any gaps within federal proposals…. Methane, a primary component of natural gas, is the second most abundant greenhouse gas on the planet, behind carbon dioxide, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Although not as prevalent as CO2, methane is 25 times more potent at trapping heat in the atmosphere. As concern about climate change has grown, federal regulators have increasingly looked to reduce methane emissions.”

“Two years after … 16 businesses [in and near Charlottesville] made carbon‑reduction pledges, 10 more firms have pledged some steps to reduce climate emissions by joining the Green Business Alliance…. Susan Kruse — the director of the group that created the alliance, the Community Climate Collaborative — said that the first cohort of alliance signees pledged in 2021 to reduce their carbon emission 45% within five years…. ‘These founding members have … already achieved a 29% emission reductions in just two years,’ Kruse said [, adding that] the new cohort of 10 members has committed to reduce their emissions by 35% by 2027 … [and noting] that each member has also made an individual pledge to take action, ranging from a minimum of 30% and a maximum of 90%.”

Dominion Energy told the SCC it expects the number of EVs in Virginia to double by the end of 2024 and double again by 2026. “After five years, in 2027, Dominion expects there will be 220,000 electric vehicles in its Virginia and northeast North Carolina territory. It will mean a roughly six-fold increase in electricity usage, with EVs accounting for roughly 600,000 megawatt hours of electricity a year in 2027.” As increased EVs and more data centers increase the demand for electricity, “Dominion Energy is proposing to expand a program intended to incentivize customers to shift when they use electricity to lessen the load on the grid and cut down on their bills at the same time…. Virginia’s Office of the Attorney General, which advocates for utility ratepayers, is supporting the proposal but also calling for some changes to the program to ensure it provides customers sufficient benefits.”

Nuclear energy in Virginia continues to receive attention. This Canary Media podcast explores a future with more nuclear providing energy. In a series of posts, a blogger called attention to a “big market: industrial power plants independent of utilities and the grid (and thus not requiring State Corporation Commission approval.” He also reported on a new Westinghouse reactor that may be available by 2027. In addition, he responded to a reader’s question about nuclear power safety. And he discussed a two‑year old position paper on nuclear power by Bill Gates and current Energy Secretary Granholm. Additionally, he provided a response from Clean Virginia after he asked for their position. The response: “Clean Virginia recognizes SMRs as a nascent technology that has neither been fully tested nor proven to be cost‑competitive. Thus, it is our view that this technology warrants further study by the state. Specifically, we hope state agencies lead a process with stakeholder input to understand and research SMRs and other technologies like hydrogen to determine their viability and the pathways to deploy these technologies in the safest and most cost-effective way possible.” A study funded in part by the VA Department of Energy concluded that “Far Southwest Virginia is a ‘competitive hosting ground’ for small modular nuclear reactors.”

Support for solar over closed landfills is growing. A conservative Virginia organization, Energy Right, believes that, “As renewable energy reshapes the grid … it needs to be a winning proposition and developed the “right way” in rural Virginia, a magnet for solar companies seeking open expanses of land.” Virginia localities continue to wrestle with whether to approve so-called “large (or utility) scale solar farms”. In Dinwiddie County, NIMBY is a common reaction. Shenandoah County approved new rules governing such facilities. Isle of Wight County has recently received “an influx of proposals for new solar farms over the past two months. [They have] come as Isle of Wight supervisors [approved] an ordinance [imposing] a near-moratorium on solar development by capping the cumulative acreage of existing and proposed solar farms to 2% of the county’s “prime” farm soils, or a maximum of 2,446 acres.” A similar scenario is playing out in Louisa County. Chesapeake’s Planning Commission approved two “more proposed solar installations [for] southern Chesapeake, a trend that has been transforming acres of farmland in the city into renewable energy projects.” In Rockingham County, a 2,700 solar panel array “to produce renewable energy for the Massanutten Waterpark” will be up and running this fall, with more solar possible going forward. County supervisors turned down, for the second time, a proposed “19-acre solar energy farm to Honeysuckle Road in Elkton…. Removal of trees and stormwater run-off were two environmental factors brought up in the conversation.” Some Mecklenburg County residents have concerns about the cumulative effects of both solar farms and data centers “on the rural character of Southside’s farm[s] and timberlands and endangering the environment and its many historic, pre-historic and archeological features.”

USDA “announced the availability of nearly $11 billion in grants and loan opportunities that will help rural energy and utility providers bring affordable, reliable clean energy to their communities across the country.” The two programs — Empowering Rural America and Powering Affordable Clean Energy — present “a once-in-a-generation opportunity to help combat the climate crisis while also enhancing Virginia’s rural quality of life,” said [the] USDA Rural Development Virginia State Director.”

Climate and Environment

“The Environmental Protection Agency … proposed a settlement with Virginia and several other states in the Chesapeake Bay watershed in a case alleging the agency failed to enforce bay cleanup efforts. Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and Washington, D.C., filed suit in 2020, along with the nonprofit Chesapeake Bay Foundation…. Pennsylvania has consistently lagged behind the other states, though officials acknowledge no state is fully on track to meet the standards in two years…. Under the new settlement, the agency would step up its oversight of Pennsylvania’s efforts, including ensuring funding goes toward the most efficient actions and pursuing judicial enforcement when warranted. Federal officials would also agree to evaluate how each bay state fared in meeting the 2025 goals by the end of the following year.”

“A new report finds rising sea levels in Chesapeake Bay will cost the surrounding regions jobs. The Resources for the Future report finds, in Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay area, almost 180,000 — or 7.4% of jobs in the region — will be exposed to 100-year floods by 2050. In turn, this means $6.1 billion in wage income is at risk during the same period. Of Virginia’s 134 counties, 42 will be impacted by rising sea levels by 2050.”

“Blue crab numbers are bouncing back from record lows, the latest count shows. But regulators are still feeling cautious because the number of juvenile crabs caught in this year’s Bay-wide Winter Dredge Survey remain low, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission said.” “The Striped Bass Management Board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, is the body that oversees all fishing in state waters along the East Coast.” In response to the “unexpectedly heavy recreational catches in 2022 [that] raised alarms about whether the struggling Atlantic Coast population could rebound as hoped by the end of the decade, … [set a] new limit, which went into effect May 3 and will last through Oct. 28, [that] forbids recreational fishers in the Chesapeake Bay and along the coast from taking any striped bass more than 31 inches long….”

“New research out of Virginia Tech suggests officials need to start focusing more on … [the fact] that land in Hampton Roads is sinking at about twice the rate that waters are rising. The study, which calls the issue a “hidden vulnerability,” was published recently in the journal Nature Communications.

Roanoke is now a Bee City USA affiliate city. “Bee City USA was launched in 2012 with the goal of promoting healthy, sustainable habitats for bees and other pollinators. In 2022, Roanoke City Council voted to adopt a resolution proclaiming Roanoke as a Bee City USA. The goal of joining Bee City USA is to promote, protect, and provide support for our pollinators by providing healthy habitats free of pesticides, using native plants, and encouraging community participation.” “According to Lawn Love’s report 2023’s Best States for Beekeeping, the Commonwealth is the fifth best state for number of beekeepers associations and sixth best for number of honey suppliers.”

“Shenandoah National Park [now has] nearly 1,000 acres at Tanner’s Ridge thanks to three families” in what may be the second-largest donation of land to a national park. These Page County woodlands are protected in perpetuity. “The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation has expanded Chestnut Ridge Natural Area Preserve by purchasing 775 acres of land.” “Funds for the latest acquisition were awarded through VOF’s Forest Community Opportunities for Restoration and Enhancement Fund, which was established to mitigate for forest fragmentation caused by the Mountain Valley Pipeline.”

Check out …

• C3 Collaborative’s Webinar Series (details here)
• The Dirt on Composting: Why At-Home Composting is a Climate Solution Wednesday, May 31 at Noon. Register here.
• Solar Webinar for Businesses on Wednesday, June 14 at Noon. Explore the benefits of solar energy and gain the knowledge and tools you need to make the switch for your business.
• Before You Go Solar: Tips for Homeowners on Wednesday, June 28 at Noon (tentative). Learn how to get your home solar-ready.
• Blue Ridge PRISM’s Spring/Summer Invasive Plant Program, June 9, 10 am – I pm, at Rockfish Valley Trail, Nellysford, fee $25. Participant limit is 25. Register here.
• “The best picnic spots in the D.C. area, according to park rangers.”
• JMU’s Edith J. Carrier Arboretum’s free Summer Brown Bag Lecture series on Wednesdays at noon May – July. Bring your lunch and enjoy a new guest speaker each week. Details here.
• Virginia Science Museum’s “The Green”, in Richmond.  It’s “a former parking lot turned several‑acre urban greenspace, right in the middle of the city [on Broad Street,] featuring native trees, lighted walking paths, benches, public art and more.”

Why not …

• Attend this Virginia League of Conservation Voters’ virtual training session Wednesday, May 31, 6 – 7pm? One of the fastest ways we can fight climate change is by pushing the EPA to update rules regarding pollution so they can take stronger actions to protect our planet. Learn exactly how the executive rulemaking process happens and draft your own comment in support of stronger regulation of carbon pollution. Register here.
• Learn about Virginia Tech’s Virginia Big Trees program? VT “maintains a list of state champions for more than 300 species. ‘Many of these champion trees … [are] … oftentimes … located at places that have either cultural or historical significance.’”
• Plant some native trees and take advantage of discounts offered by three participating nurseries through the Department of Forestry’s “Throwing Shade VA” program?
• Visit the Natural History Museum’s “low-lit” exhibit, “Lights Out: Recovering Our Night Sky”? Its purpose is to “illustrate what’s been lost as artificial illumination bleaches out the heavens. Most of the information presented is scientific, but the show also spotlights myth and lore.” See it by December 2025.
• Read about details of environmentally friendly new Amazon headquarters complex in Arlington?

The Climate Action Alliance of the Valley (CAAV) is a non-profit, grassroots group in the Central Shenandoah Valley that educates legislators and the public about the implications of the Earth’s worsening climate crisis.