Trump’s Energy Promises Face Hurdles in Anti-Hydrocarbon Virginia
Once inaugurated, President-elect Donald Trump is expected to immediately mount a major effort to roll back the anti-hydrocarbon fuel agenda of the Biden-Harris years. The positive impact on Virginians will be limited because of our own similar anti-hydrocarbon laws at the state level. The centerpiece of Trump’s multiple energy campaign promises is expansion of production of American […]
It Doesn’t End With Electing ‘The Right Candidate’
It’s all too easy to conflate the roles of political parties with those of public policy “think tanks.” Both gravitate around policy ideas falling along conservative or progressive lines, and their supporters tend to divide along those same lines, as well. Advocacy of progressive ideas is usually driven by Democratic elected officials, while those backing […]
Senator Surovell: The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative would have no impact on hurricanes or hurricane preparedness — to say otherwise is pure politics.
Was Senator Scott Surovell’s recent article in the Richmond Times Dispatch, “Helene sends a message: Virginia must rejoin RGGI,” an honest misunderstanding about hurricanes and about how the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) works (or doesn’t work) or was it a blatant use of a serious weather tragedy to score political points against a popular Governor — […]
Dominion Energy Virginia Wants More Natural Gas, More Money to Keep Energy Reliable
With the release of its latest 15-year plan to expand energy generation in the Commonwealth, Dominion Energy Virginia has increased the projected cost of residential electricity in 2035 to almost $216 per 1,000 kilowatt hours, a 24% increase over the same projection in its 2023 planning document. If the $216 comes to pass, it will represent about […]
Education Funding Reform Needs to Build Accountability to Help Those Who Need It
When the Virginia State Board of Education approved a new state accountability system, it predictably drew attacks from the usual sources. The new system places greater emphasis on student mastery of subject information (50-65%) over student growth (20-25%). But while growth is critical and should be recognized, under the process approved during the McAuliffe-Northam Administrations, […]
The Spanberger-Graves Social Security Fairness Act is Unfair
By Andrew Biggs, American Enterprise Institute Over 300 Members of Congress from both parties, including Virginia Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Rep. Abigail Spanberger, are pushing for legislation that would grant a nearly $200 billion Social Security benefits windfall to a group that neither paid for these benefits nor truly needs them. That legislation, called the Social […]
It’s Car Tax Day, Let’s Move Forward on Governor Gilmore’s ‘No Car Tax’ Pledge
By Kimberly Pinter and Callahan Burton Governor Gilmore was right. His “No Car Tax” slogan resonated with all Virginia vehicle owners and catapulted him to the Virginia Governor’s mansion in 1997 with 56% of the vote. The tax is universally hated and perceived as unfair. You pay good money for a car (plus sales tax!), […]
No, RTD, Hurricane Helene Not Proof of ‘Climate Change’
The Richmond Times-Dispatch no longer has a climate alarmist on staff, so today it fell to one of its liberal political columnists (it still has two of those, they will be the last employees out the door) to blame Hurricane Helene on “climate change.” It was a terrible storm, no question. But it wasn’t the first terrible […]
A Transparent Effort to Increase General Assembly Authority to Eliminate Hydrocarbon Fuels
Any doubt that some members of the Virginia General Assembly’s reconstituted electricity regulation commission intend on taking full control of our energy economy was dispelled at its second meeting Wednesday. With that control, the goal is to then impose a full anti-hydrocarbon energy agenda. Three proposed legislative initiatives were floated. None were voted on, and opposition quickly surfaced from […]
Will Virginia’s Vote for President Disappear?
As anyone with an email address or cell phone knows, Republicans and Democrats have ramped up their November battle. The near-term focus has meant Democrats concentrating on Getting Out the Vote and Republicans placing a new emphasis on Election Integrity. What conservatives are ignoring, however, is the Left’s look over the horizon with a progressive plan to ensure […]