wastebook

Derrick A. Max
September 18, 2025

As early voting in the gubernatorial race in Virginia is about to begin, students in the Commonwealth hang in the balance.  While Governor Youngkin was able to implement a landmark school accountability measure that will help inform parents and the public about our students’ true performance, most of his other...

Derrick A. Max
September 14, 2025

For several years now, Virginians have been told that the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) is necessary to save Virginia and is a necessary step to save the planet. We’ve been told that rising seas, worsening storms, and other supposedly catastrophic impacts of man-made climate change justify a radical restructuring of Virginia’s...

Derrick A. Max
September 12, 2025

Dear Friend of TJI, While we are all still processing yesterday’s tragic news of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, I find great comfort in knowing that Charlie is in a better place. Charlie wasn’t just an evangelist for freedom, he was a cultural missionary, of sorts, calling people to know and love...

Stephen D. Haner
September 6, 2025

Based on the most recent carbon tax imposed on the member states of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), Virginians will pay about $500 million more per year for electricity if Virginia again becomes one of those member states. Your vote in November may determine that.  Democratic nominee for governor Abigail Spanberger has pledged to...

Derrick A. Max
September 3, 2025

Since 1982, residents of these Northern Virginia counties: Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, Stafford and the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, and Manassas Park, have been subject to a mandatory vehicle emissions testing program, a policy enacted in 1982 under the 1970 Clean Air Act to combat significant regional air pollution....

Stephen D. Haner
August 22, 2025

Every solar facility in Dominion Energy Virginia’s expanding fleet of silicone panels is failing to perform up to its initial energy promises, according to a State Corporation Commission staff analysis. In many cases the shortfalls are dramatic. A high confidence in the ability of solar power to replace Virginia’s dominant natural...

Christian Braunlich
August 10, 2025

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger wants voters to believe she’s a moderate. That’s understandable.  At a time when the Democratic Party’s favorability is at 33 percent and with an avowed socialist as the party’s nominee in the most highly visible election in the nation, the smart money is for Democrats...

Stephen D. Haner
August 6, 2025

The State Corporation Commission’s (SCC) decision on whether Dominion Energy can build a new natural gas-fired power plant will depend on which expert or set of experts it believes, and which of the many computer models that dominate the testimony it judges best predict Virginia’s energy future. Dominion has filed...

Stephen D. Haner
August 1, 2025

Should the 2026 Virginia General Assembly choose to conform state tax laws to the full set of new tax rules at the federal level, Virginia families and businesses might save as much at $1.4 billion annually. That is a fresh estimate from the Tax Foundation, which looked at the impact...

Jefferson Forum
July 29, 2025

Education is a top concern for voters in Virginia. As President Trump closes the Federal Department of Education, shifting funding and control to the states, the issues surrounding education policy are more important now than ever.  Below is a look at the state of education in Virginia, the Thomas Jefferson Institute’s...