The Jefferson Journal
Commentary
(This first ran in the Richmond Times Dispatch) Senators Jim Webb and Mark Warner soon, possibly this week, will have a chance to strike a blow in favor of responsible environmental policies that are balanced with common sense about the nation’s, and Virginia’s, economic future. Their support is needed for...
The hotly protested firing of University of Virginia president Teresa Sullivan should draw more attention to the cost crisis in higher education—a national crisis that has begun to put academic officials under great pressure in their long-privileged environments. But even in that more important debate, anger based on the manner...
On July 3rd Loudoun County’s supervisors are to decide whether to spend taxpayers’ money supporting Phase 2 of the $2.8 billion rail extension to Dulles Airport and beyond. They have three strong reasons to decline their support: First, the proposed transit service will be slow, and Loudoun residents value their...
Last September, Dominion Power announced it would shut down a coal-fired power plant in Chesapeake, Virginia that will take 638 megawatts of affordable and reliable electricity off the grid. Unfortunately for the state, this is the first of many power plants forced to retire early due to increasingly stringent U.S....
Now, let’s look at the public policies that have shaped land use since World War II and view them through the prism of conservative principles. Land use codes. The underlying premise of zoning codes is that different land uses — residential, retail and commercial — should be rigidly segregated. Of...
(Reprinted from the Richmond Times Dispatch) The manufacturing sector in Virginia added about 2,000 jobs in February and March. That might not seem like much in a state that employs 3.7 million people. However, the manufacturing sector declined almost continuously since 1990 and shed a total of 164,000 jobs in...
Smart growth is too important to leave to liberals. Conservatives must articulate their own vision for creating prosperous, livable and fiscally sustainable communities. (Part One of three — This essay has been adapted from a speech delivered at the 2012 Congress for the New Urbanism.)Few aspects of government policy touch...
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson says we face grave threats to human health, welfare and justice. She’s absolutely right. However, the dangers are not due to factory or power plant emissions, or supposed effects of “dangerous man-made global warming.” They are the result of policies and regulations that her EPA is...
(Publisher’s note:This “Just Facts” analysis is presented in order to provide all of us here Virginia will a better understanding of government spending on our lives and livelihoods. It is important to understand in impact of federal government spending.) Writing for the Wall Street Journal, economics reporter Justin Lahart declares...
(Publisher’s note: Virginia counts on public private partnerships to help our infrastructure needs,. Restricting these partnerships would be a significant blow to our state. This article is reprinted from Surface Transportation Innovations, a publication of the Reason Foundation.) Despite growing opposition from state DOTs and numerous transportation groups, Sen. Jeff...