Why Won't McAuliffe Say No to Dirty Coal?

I spent a lot of time thinking about which candidate to support in the Democratic primary for Virginia governor. I was on the fence until Terry McAuliffe pushed me off with his refusal to say no to the proposed massive new $6 billion coal-fired power plant in Surry. Brian Moran may have stayed quiet through the debate about the new coal-fired power plant in Wise County, but on Surry, he's taking a clear stand against it.

Now there's a video that connects the dots on McAuliffe and his continuing support for dirty coal, putting him in stark contrast to climate activists like Al Gore and James Hansen (there's also a special appearance from The Green Miles):



You can watch my full clip on Why "Clean" Coal is Like Dragons & Leprechauns at my YouTube channel.

(Note - I don't know who put together the McAuliffe video and though I certainly don't object to the use of my clip, I wasn't asked whether I wanted to be in it.)

The Green Miles Rides the Tire Swing

The Green Miles has now been to two "blogger dinners" hosted by Democratic candidates in the Virginia governor's race. One was hosted by Terry McAuliffe, the other by Brian Moran. I went to Terry's because I wanted to hear him make his case for his candidacy. I went to Brian's because if the primary was held today, I'd vote for him.

Some bloggers who attend these dinners claim they have absolutely no impact on their objectivity. These blogger dinners are no different than reporters riding John McCain's tire swing. You may not think you're giving up your objectivity, but in this case, as The Rock might say, it doesn't matter what you think. It's perception that matters.

Me? I'll happily own up to being in the tank for all of the Democratic candidates for governor. While I may support Brian because he's the best of the three Democrats environmentally, no matter who the nominee is, he'll be vastly better on environmental issues than presumptive Republican nominee Bob "Drill, Baby, Drill" McDonnell.

Moran Reiterates Opposition to Offshore Drilling

In the wake of his pleasantly strong energy proposal, Democratic Virginia gubernatorial candidate Brian Moran today restated his strong opposition to offshore oil drilling.

Offshore drilling benefits only one constituency: Big Oil. The Bush administration's own Energy Information Administration has said that even if you drilled everywhere Big Oil wants to drill -- off the mid-Atlantic, off Florida, in Alaska, etc. -- it would only cut prices at the pump by a few pennies, if that. In return, we'd get more global warming pollution, higher risk of a spill, and no progress towards clean, made-in-America renewable energy sources.

Moran's stand also sets up a strong contrast with presumptive Republican nominee Bob McDonnell, who still parrots the "drill, baby, drill" slogan that sent dozens of Republican candidates down to defeat last fall.

Want to get really creeped out? Visit McDonnell's issues page (which actually has no issue positions on it). Among the highlights:

• McDonnell's creepy artificial glow
• The crowd behind him appears almost 100% white with maybe one or two Hispanic faces. The best part? It's photoshopped! Couldn't they pick a picture to photoshop with at least one black person in it? Apparently even the best cutting-edge technology can't make Republicans look multicultural.
• From the same photoshopped crowd, the guy with the McCain-Palin sticker in the front row. Again, couldn't airbrush that out?

I'm already fired up about beating this guy. And it's only January.

Moran's Renewables & Efficiency Plan: Raising the Bar

Brian Moran, running against Creigh Deeds and Terry McAuliffe for the Democratic nominaton for governor in Virginia, unveiled his plan for a renewable energy and efficiency standard today:

“I have proposed a bold step, which will make Virginia a leader in renewable energy,” Moran said. “The next governor needs to be looking toward the future and creating an environment which will attract good high-paying green jobs, and help Virginia grow in the green economy. My commitment to our environment and our economy is too strong to do anything less.”

Under Moran's plan, Virginia would need to get at least 25 percent of its power by 2025 (and 20 percent by 2020) through renewable energy or increases in energy efficiency.

Some quick takes:

• Lumping renewable energy and efficiency together is a bit clumsy. It also makes the campaign's claims the plan would "put Virginia in the top ten states nationally" pretty dubious since most of those states don't allow utilities to use efficiency to meet the goal. Ideally, Moran wouldn't include efficiency in his 25 percent by 2025. If he does, he needs to specify how much of the 25 percent can come from efficiency improvements.
  
  
• Moran's plan puts him far ahead of McAuliffe, at least for now. Terry has been talking about taking Virginia's voluntary 12 percent by 2022 renewables & efficiency standard and making it mandatory. He'll need to come up with a much stronger plan if he wants to hold the mantle of the boldest candidate on clean energy.
  
  
• In such a tight race, Creigh Deeds risks fading into the rear view mirror if he doesn't at least match Moran's plan.

What are your initial thoughts on Moran's renewables and efficiency plan?

McAuliffe Pushes Mandatory Clean Energy Standard

Last night, The Green Miles and some other Virginia bloggers were invited to dinner with Terry McAuliffe, the former Democratic National Committee chairman who's now exploring a run for Virginia governor.

McAuliffe brings seemingly boundless energy to the race. Even though he'd just spent over three hours in the car coming back from Virginia Beach, McAuliffe spent 90 minutes talking with us -- then ordered a double espresso and talked for another half an hour.

Terry told us he's running on his business experience, promising to grow the economy and create jobs. (He's also promised to raise massive sums of money to help Democrats take back the House of Delegates.)

He also threw out some bold ideas to change the status quo in Richmond. McAuliffe wants to eliminate the Dillon Rule, allowing local governments greater flexibility to act without asking Richmond's permission. He also wants to set a mandatory renewable electricity standard.

I'm waiting for the candidates to announce detailed plans on energy and the environment before I make any decisions about the primary. But I agree with Not Larry Sabato that McAuliffe's aggressive stands will push likely competitors Creigh Deeds and Brian Moran to keep up. Deeds' environment page recaps about what Creigh has done in the past, but doesn't yet lay out any ideas for the future. Moran stood out in September for his strong speech to the Virginia Sierra Club, but we're still waiting on details.

Whether he be Deeds, McAuliffe or Moran, we need a Democratic nominee for Virginia governor who'll advocate bold, specific solutions to lower energy bills and begin to address the climate crisis. Pushing for full implementation of recommendations from the Virginia Commission on Climate Change would be a good place to start.

Until then, when you see one of the candidates at a campaign stop, ask him about his plan for clean energy and climate action.

Deeds: Four More Years of Kaine's Environmental Policies?

Just noticed this on Creigh Deeds' website:

Today he's working with Governor Tim Kaine to keep Virginia moving forward with an energy policy that will cut greenhouse gases by 30 percent over the next two decades and a pre-kindergarten program that will put children on the path to success from the start.

Does Creigh Deeds really think Old Kaine Coal is the model of gubernatorial green? Apparently so, since he's picking up Kaine's false advertising about his energy plan. As Lowell has explained many times, Kaine's Virginia Energy Plan would only cut greenhouse gas emissions 7 percent by 2025.

I don't mean to single out Deeds. At least Deeds has a page dedicated to environmental issues. But neither his site nor Brian Moran's site offer any sort of defined policy goals for protecting consumers from rising energy bills or easing our growing dependence on imported fossil fuels. Polls show Deeds and Moran evenly matched and Kaine's numbers slipping. Meanwhile, Bob McDonnell's site clearly lays out his a campaign strategy of trying to terrify Virginians into voting for him.

Yet still, Deeds and Moran seem united behind the energy policies of the past. Will one of the contenders stand out from the crowd by following Barack Obama's lead on clean energy?

Cross-posted from RK

Opportunity Lost: Virginia Dems & the Wise Co. Power Plant

Virginia's Air Pollution Control Board last week approved Dominion's permit to build a coal-fired power plant in Wise County. You can read a first-hand account at the Chesapeake Climate Action Network's blog. The Southern Environmental Law Center has vowed to continue the fight against the Wise County plant in court.

The biggest losers are Virginia consumers who will now have to pay high costs in both the short term and long run. In the short term, we'll be paying at least $1.8 billion to build the plant. And in the long term, we'll bear the burden of skyrocketing coal prices along with any national carbon pricing.

But the plant decision also represents a huge opportunity lost for Virginia's leading Democrats:

• Opportunity lost for Gov. Tim Kaine, a relentless cheerleader for Dominion and coal who has seen his national standing tarnished and his statewide approval rating drop to 46 percent. There are many factors to Kaine's plummeting popularity like the ongoing gridlock on transportation solutions and his signing of the estate tax repeal. But his have-it-both-ways environmental stance - talking tough but refusing to take a stand on coal - has managed to tick off everyone, angering both flat-Earth conservatives and climate activist liberals.
  
  
• Opportunity lost for U.S. Senate candidate Mark Warner, who put forth a strong energy plan but passed on an opportunity to put his principles into action. Warner instead pandered on the power plant while in southwest Virginia, calling it the proposed plant "an economic engine for the whole region" even though the SCC has said the plant would result in a net loss statewide of 1,474 jobs. Is Warner a Kaine clone - saying one thing in Northern Virginia and another down south?
  
  
• Opportunity lost for gubernatorial candidates Creigh Deeds and Brian Moran, who've chosen to stay completely silent on the most critical environmental issue our state has faced this year. Environmentalists fought hard to elect Tim Kaine, only to see him take environmental stances so soft they should be served in a mini-helmet covered in strawberry sauce and walnuts. Why should environmentalists bother fighting for either Deeds or Moran if they side with Dominion and coal over clean energy and climate action?

If Virginia Republicans were savvy, they could follow the models of Gov. Charlie Crist (R-FL) and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA), using environmental issues to win over moderate voters. But they're much too busy targeting immigrant families, trying to ban all abortions, and blocking funding for transportation solutions.