As the Bush administration tries to lock in oil and natural gas leases off the Virginia coast before President-elect Obama can take office, the Richmond Times-Dispatch offers this handy rundown of the gubernatorial contenders' positions on drilling: As the Bush administration tries to lock in oil and natural gas leases off the Virginia coast before President-elect Obama can take office, the Richmond Times-Dispatch offers this handy rundown of the gubernatorial contenders' positions on drilling:
Republican candidate Bob McDonnell wants to drill baby, drill.
Democratic contenders R. Creigh Deeds and Terry McAuliffe want to poke around.
And Democratic candidate Brian Moran is reluctant to dig into the deep "at this time."
Del. Moran deserves credit for taking a strong stand against drilling. Even if the Interior Dept. is right and there are 130 million barrels of recoverable oil off the Virginia coast, that would only quench America's current oil thirst for all of two weeks. And how much could be recovered without interfering with the U.S. Navy's Virginia Capes Operating Area?
"Our first priority should be alternative and renewable energy sources, not drilling for more of a 19th-century energy source," [Moran spokesman Jesse] Ferguson told the Times-Dispatch.
As for McDonnell ... I mean, did he see Jim Gilmore flop, baby, flop when he tried to score points with that line? Voters want clean energy. If McDonnell can't bring his energy policies out of the 1800s, it would be a big opening for Moran.
Another Democratic prospect, Del. Brian J. Moran of Alexandria, opposes exploration for oil and gas "at this time," according to his spokesman, Jesse Ferguson."Our first priority should be alternative and renewable energy sources, not drilling for more of a 19th-century energy source," Ferguson said.
Ferguson also said it has not been proved that Virginia oil and gas reserves are a "long-term solution" to energy needs.
He said Moran believes offshore exploration is a potential threat to the environment and to the appeal of Virginia Beach, among other shore points, as a tourist destination.
With Governor Moran at the helm, maybe we'll concentrate instead on offshore wind which delivers not only as much as 20% of the Commonwealth's power demand and more jobs to Hampton Roads than offshore drilling but also comes at prices now comparable to dirty coal.
Governor Moran will also join Governors in New Jersey, Maryland, and North Carolina in objecting to offshore drilling and he'll join them in hooking up all the various wind farms off our coasts to create another Atlantic strategic interconnected offshore grid system and thus relieving the pressure asserted on our existing onshore transmission corridor.
Washington Post, Raise the Gas Tax
Dominion Resources has given $13,000 to both Moran and Deeds. There's other polluters in the Commonwealth like Smithfield, right? Moran & Deeds have received $1500 from them. Altria is anti-environmental, right? They gave Moran and Deeds over $20,000. $0 to McAulliffe on all 3, but we'll see what happens. That's got to be worth something from an environmental point of view.
This blog put a ton of effort and energy last year into Sen. Petersen's Clean Energy Future Bill.
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Neither Moran or Deeds co-sponsored it although many others did - Sens. Edwards, Reynolds, Ticer, Whipple, & Dels. Barlow, Bouchard, Brink, Ebbin, Eisenberg, Englin, Lingamfelter, Marsden, Plum, Poisson, Scott, Toscano, Valentine & Vanderhye.
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bi...
Miles - I'd like to see comparisons on other green issues also. Do you have of the candidates' positions on any other Green issues?
"Another Democratic prospect, Del. Brian J. Moran of Alexandria, opposes exploration for oil and gas "at this time," according to his spokesman, Jesse Ferguson."
Just like on transportation ignoring certain existing solutions makes no sense to this realist centrist.
The resources are right here. We need to do everything to get out of this mess. wind, solar, hydro, AND nuclear, oil, gas, clean coal (yes it exists)
I echo Texas2Vadems call to see what is practical and realistic in these times of economic slowdown.
HOT lanes are very regressive and instead of promoting car-pooling or public transportation, they permit the rich to drive in their own "Lexus" lanes and this does not serve the environment well.