Press

Stephen D. Haner
August 19, 2024

The Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA), with its demand to eliminate hydrocarbon fuels for electricity in Virginia, will soon take a deeper bite out of bank accounts for many Virginia families and businesses. As of September 1, Dominion Energy Virginia residential bills will rise 11%. Adding to that, next summer...

Christian Braunlich
August 15, 2024

It has been 30 years since Ronald Reagan walked off the American political stage; two decades since he was laid to rest in the lengthening shadows of Simi Valley’s “golden hour.” But with the coming August 30 release of the big budget biographical film Reagan, he will again spring to life, albeit on...

Derrick A. Max
August 10, 2024

Renowned playwright Tom Stoppard famously wrote, “It’s not the voting that’s democracy; it’s the counting.” His point is both pithy and insightful — without fair and accurate counting of votes, we can’t be sure every voter’s voice is heard. Transparency and election integrity is key to a truly democratic system. One need only...

Christian Braunlich
July 26, 2024

The Youngkin Administration is trying to jumpstart the creation of independent public charter schools in Virginia, in order to provide students additional high-quality options for their education. This effort is long overdue.  But the road to quality choices in Virginia is a steep climb. First established in Minnesota 32 years...

Christian Braunlich
July 23, 2024

Governor Glenn Youngkin’s Executive Order for developing policies restricting or eliminating cell phones in schools – a concept garnering widespread support among parents, with 61 percent favoring requiring students to leave their phones in secured locations during the day – responds to a clear and rising mental health, academic and...

Stephen D. Haner
July 22, 2024

An electricity drought is looming, not only for Virginia but also for much of the United States, if the political hostility toward the most reliable forms of electricity generation is not reversed. Warnings that wind and solar power alone will not be sufficient resonated like a drumbeat from the podium of a two-day...

Derrick A. Max
July 11, 2024

While most of the post-debate news coverage is still rightly focused on the mental acuity (or lack thereof) of President Biden, the use of the term “Black jobs” by former President Trump in the context of low-income, unskilled jobs that will be impacted by our open southern border, bothers me...

Derrick A. Max
July 10, 2024

The first hurricane of 2024, Hurricane Beyrl, is now in the books. Beryl reminded us that hurricanes are a powerful force of nature – a force that causes much fear and anxiety. The stronger and more destructive the hurricane, the deeper it becomes ingrained in our collective consciousness. Katrina, Andrew, Sandy, Harvey –...

Stephen D. Haner
June 25, 2024

There is a growing recognition that the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) as written is going to fail. Those who strongly believe in its goal of ending the use of hydrocarbon fuels, and those who consider that idea nothing but fool’s gold, both see major problems on the horizon. There...

Stephen D. Haner
June 20, 2024

A senior Democratic state senator is leading an effort to review and possibly revise the 2020 Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA), which orders the future elimination of hydrocarbon fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal) used in making electricity. His goal is to conduct a stakeholder process and bring legislation to...