Bob McDonnell’s office says it has received over 5 times the number of requests to keep the ban

According to Gov. McDonnell’s office, 894 calls, emails, letters, and faxes have been received in support of maintaining the ban on uranium mining while only 171 have supported uranium mining in Virginia.[1]

For anyone who has been following the issue in Virginia, the results are not surprising. Virginians throughout the commonwealth have CLEARLY stated their support for the ban on uranium mining.

Yet, the issue persists in no small part due to one company, Virginia Uranium Inc. (VUI)[2], the self-proclaimed arbiter of Virginia’s energy future. With the help of puppet legislators, VUI has been able to put the legislature under its thumb and almost lift the ban on uranium mining.

But as I, and many others have argued, economic benefits and energy independence (benefits that VUI claims uranium mining will bring to Virginia) are not goals that can be or should be strived for at any cost. 

Yes, job creation and economic benefits along with energy independence would be great, but at what cost, and who would really win and who would really be taking the short end of the stick, so to speak?

When any company fights as hard as VUI has, and is, to win on an issue, there is obviously a mega-payoff somewhere in the future. While this is in and of itself not problematic, it becomes a problem when billions of dollars are on the line: it tends to blind ones judgment!

So for all of the lamentations by members of the General Assembly and VUI about how concerned citizens of Virginia who oppose uranium mining are “not being reasonable,” the sad irony is that greed has blinded many of the proponents of uranium mining within VUI and the General Assembly to the potential and significant consequences of this process.[3] 

---

[1] http://www.nbc12.com/story/21089999/va-governor-hearing-from-public-on-uranium-mining

[2] http://www.virginiauranium.com/

[3] http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20091808-19572.html

Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine discuss looming sequestration with NOVA business community

Organized by the Northern Virginia Technology Council, a majority group of government contractors breakfasting in Reston were told by U.S. Sen. Mark Warner that the sequester will be “worse than you can imagine”[1] if it goes into effect.

At the gathering in Reston, both U.S. Senators from Virginia, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner (both of whom are on the Senate Budget Committee), spoke about the short-term and long-term consequences of the looming sequestration, a budget grinding stone that would cut $1.2 trillion out of the federal budget on March 1 if the U.S. Congress fails to reach a deal.

For the defense industry, the cuts across the country would be severe. According to one estimate, the sequestration could cause the loss of over 207,000 jobs in Virginia alone.[2]

The sequestration talks before the defense contractors in Reston on Friday was only the latest effort by Sens. Warner and Kaine to discuss how Virginia’s business community can ‘prepare’ for the budget cuts.

Said the financial sage Mark Warner, “Thinking about managing the largest enterprise in the world – the federal government – and the Defense Department budget on two- and three-month intervals is absolutely stupid.” The American people agree.[3]

Sen. Warner’s words were on the mark but they mean little if he and his fellow senators and legislators in the U.S. Congress are unable to avoid these “stupid” cuts. Disturbingly, both sides of the political aisle appear resigned to allow the sequestration to take effect[4], at least for a time, while each side reverts to blaming the other for the irrevocable economic damage that has been and is being wrought.

For many Americans, it’s difficult to imagine what is going through the minds of our country’s legislators as our economy, and with it the world economy, teeters on economic default. Why don’t they put it together for the good of the country?!!

Both political parties seem to believe that compromise is no longer electorally sexy. That is, compromise will leave elected officials vulnerable in the next round of elections.

But if the sequestration occurs, both sides will be to blame (albeit, one side more than the other). This madness has gone on for far too long. It’s time for both sides to hash out a deal before the sequestration takes effect unless these legislators would like America’s memorial to read: “Here lies the greatest country in world history, a victim to its own narrow-mindedness and arrogance.”

---

[1] http://arlington-va.patch.com/articles/warner-sequestration-would-be-worse-than-you-can-imagine

[2] http://secondtonone.org/resource_center

[3] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/08/poll-republicans-congress_n_2649067.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

[4] http://www.politico.com/story/2013/02/sequester-cuts-ticking-time-bomb-87363.html?hp=l2

90 coal workers lose their jobs in VA, a chance for fed and state governments to offer assistance

For the time being, the U.S. has shunned its friend King Coal in favor of ‘cleaner’ and cheaper sources of power like natural gas. And there’s no better example of this phenomenon than the recent announcement by SunCoke[1] Energy Inc. that 90 workers at Dominion Coal’s No. 36 mine in Buchanan County will be laid off.

According to the SunCoke Energy’s vice president for coal operations, James M. Mullins, the No. 36 mine has “been hit by a “significant downturn” in the coal market.”

Included in the layoffs are 39 underground contractors and 51 miners.

While the layoffs are an unfortunate consequence of America’s shifting emphasis onto cleaner burning sources of power, the move away from coal is an unequivocally necessary step towards reducing America’s global temperature-raising emissions.[2]

Coal, whether in its so-called ‘clean’ variety’ or not, also has a number of significant and negative health-related consequences that also make its use immoral in light of the cleaner alternatives available. By now you probably know many of the arguments related to coal’s negative health effects.[3]

It is here, in this arena of unemployment that the federal and respective state governments have a role to play.

Individuals who are laid off in the coal sector of our economy should receive some form of government training and short-term financial assistance to reintegrate them into a more viable sector of the economy. For as much as I disdain coal, the men and women in the coal industry have powered our ways of life for generations. These individuals are akin to U.S. soldiers fighting an unpopular war that sustains our way of life but that few people know about or are willing to acknowledge.

America must continue to move away from coal and encourage other countries to do so as well. But this shift away from coal should also include programs that retrain and support those individuals who have lost their job due to America’s shifting power source demands.

---

[1] http://www.nbc12.com/story/21087084/suncoke-energy-lays-off-90-workers-at-sw-va-mine

[2] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/05/power-plant-carbon-pollution-greenhouse-gases_n_2624789.html?ir=green&utm_campaign=020513&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Alert-green&utm_content=Title

[3] http://www.coal-is-dirty.com/the-coal-hard-facts

Six GOP legislators from Southside Virginia ask Gov. McDonnell to retain ban on uranium mining

In yet ANOTHER call by elected representatives from Southside Virginia, 6 Republican legislators wrote Gov. McDonnell urging him to keep the moratorium on uranium mining in the commonwealth in place.

Following the defeat of Sen. John Watkin’s (R-Powhatan) attempt to lift the uranium mining moratorium in Virginia[1], the legislator from Powhatan requested the governor use his power to force relevant state agencies to begin drafting uranium mining regulations anyways. Someone got to tell Watkins that the will of the people overrides his own.

For Watkins, Virginia’s deposit or uranium ore is a “blessing,” and failing to dig it all up and consume it “is to bury our heads in the sand along with the Nation’s most valuable uranium deposit.”[2] Yes, it is quite valuable! But is it safe, I mean unequivocally safe? No!

The senators from the Southside who wrote McDonnell with their concerns are as follows: Del. Tommy Wright[3] of Lunenberg County; Del. Danny Marshall[4] of Danville; Del. Don Merricks[5] of Pittsylvania County; Sen. Bill Stanley[6] of Franklin County; Sen. Frank Ruff[7] of Mecklenburg County; and Del. James Edmunds[8] of Halifax County.

Unfortunately, there is cause to be concerned that Gov. McDonnell is seriously considered pushing relevant state agencies to begin drafting uranium mining regulations.

HB 1790[9], which will establish the so-called Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium Authority, appears to be the perfect vehicle for undermining the democratic process by actually developing regulations for uranium mining.

According to the Daily Progress, the VNECA “would be exempted from a whole raft of laws that are designed to protect the public — the Freedom of Information Act, as well as provisions of the State and Local Government Conflict of Interests Act, Investment of Public Funds Act, Government Data Collection and Dissemination Practices Act, Public Procurement Act.”[10]

That’s right, folks, it looks like McDonnell and his uranium mining supporting backers have pulled the old smoke-screen political trick. Give the public something to focus on while another gem is slipped through the legislature that achieves the same goal. Multiple fronts are used but only one gets the public’s attention. I’m almost tempted to tip my hat to them for their incredible duplicity.

But both sides should know by now that neither side will relent, not anytime soon. Just as there is a lot of money on the line, there are also the lives of thousands of Virginians at stake. Big deal, right?!

And so the battle for a clean environment and untarnished human health continues…

---

[1] http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=131&typ=bil&val=sb1353

[2] http://hamptonroads.com/2013/02/dont-move-ahead-uranium-southside-legislators-tell-mcdonnell

[3] http://dela.state.va.us/dela/MemBios.nsf/a2f5951900d28c0d8525738a00664b71/94a9cac6d661371585257535005773ef?OpenDocument&Click=85256823005F1997.f0a3d2c6f9f07af1852570bd00646e36/$Body/0.1A96

[4] http://dannymarshall.com/

[5] http://www.donmerricks.org/

[6] http://senatorbillstanley.com/

[7] http://www.frankmruff.com/

[8] http://www.friendsofjamesedmunds.com/

[9] http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?ses=131&typ=bil&val=hb1790

[10] http://www.dailyprogress.com/opinion/editorials/article_bd7a0d08-706d-11e2-b737-001a4bcf6878.html

Virginia Uranium Inc.’s (VUI) favorite investment in the General Assembly

When Virginia Uranium Inc.’s (VUI) favorite investment in the General Assembly, Virginia Sen. John Watkins, withdrew his own bill that would have lifted Virginia’s 3-decades old moratorium on uranium mining in the state, it was a victory in so many ways for so many Virginians.

On the one hand, it demonstrated what an active group of concerned citizens can achieve when pressed to act; David defeated Goliath in the first round. The victory on Virginia’s uranium mining moratorium was also a win for protecting human and environmental health in Virginia and conceivably in North Carolina as well.

But as recently as Wednesday, a Bob McDonnell spokesman said that the governor is “reviewing”[1] a request made by VA Sen. John Watkins to use his executive authority to instruct Virginia’s agencies to draw up draft mining regulations. Thus, even though Virginians and their elected representatives spoke in favor of retaining the moratorium, Sen. John Watkins believes that “emotion and fear” have “overcome the science and engineering.”[2] Which science and engineering is Sen. Watkins referring to, VUI’s? Otherwise, there are plenty of scientists who have voiced skepticism over mining uranium in Virginia.[3]

Aside from the argument that a legislator from Powhatan shouldn’t have a final or significant say in what processes go on in Southside Virginia that could have a tremendously negative impact, the idea that legislators can simply request action on the part of the chief executive if they don’t get their way in the General Assembly is preposterous and disturbing at the very least.

Try as you might, however, Sen. Watkins, the people of Virginia won’t lay down their opposition to uranium mining in Virginia until it is unequivocally safe to do so. Real people stand to lose their entire ways of life, whether it be through an ‘unforeseen’ accident or the mere stigma of uranium mining in the surrounding area.

The level of opposition to uranium mining in Virginia should have dissuaded any fair-minded politician from supporting this potentially catastrophic process in our state. But Sen. Watkins has drunk the kool-aid and is more akin to a heroin addict looking for his next fix than a rational legislator weighing the costs and benefits of his actions.

If the will of the people still means anything to Gov. McDonnell then his royal excellency will not move to inform Virginia’s relevant agencies to draft up uranium mining regulations.

The majority of Virginians HAVE spoken and it’s time to finally listen.

---

[1] http://hamptonroads.com/2013/02/uranium-mining-efforts-persist-below-surface

[2] http://www.wpcva.com/news/article_f7179bba-6bf5-11e2-a018-0019bb2963f4.html

[3] http://mobi.timesdispatch.com/richmond/db_/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=Qwkx8LZx&full=true#display

Gov. McDonnell continues his “review” of uranium regs while Virginians have already spoken

When Virginia Uranium Inc.’s (VUI) favorite investment in the General Assembly, Virginia Sen. John Watkins, withdrew his own bill that would have lifted Virginia’s 3-decades old moratorium on uranium mining in the state, it was a victory in so many ways for so many Virginians.

On the one hand, it demonstrated what an active group of concerned citizens can achieve when pressed to act; David defeated Goliath in the first round. The victory on Virginia’s uranium mining moratorium was also a win for protecting human and environmental health in Virginia and conceivably in North Carolina as well.

But as recently as Wednesday, a Bob McDonnell spokesman said that the governor is “reviewing”[1] a request made by VA Sen. John Watkins to use his executive authority to instruct Virginia’s agencies to draw up draft mining regulations. Thus, even though Virginians and their elected representatives spoke in favor of retaining the moratorium, Sen. John Watkins believes that “emotion and fear” have “overcome the science and engineering.”[2] Which science and engineering is Sen. Watkins referring to, VUI’s? Otherwise, there are plenty of scientists who have voiced skepticism over mining uranium in Virginia.[3]

Aside from the argument that a legislator from Powhatan shouldn’t have a final or significant say in what processes go on in Southside Virginia that could have a tremendously negative impact, the idea that legislators can simply request action on the part of the chief executive if they don’t get their way in the General Assembly is preposterous and disturbing at the very least.

Try as you might, however, Sen. Watkins, the people of Virginia won’t lay down their opposition to uranium mining in Virginia until it is unequivocally safe to do so. Real people stand to lose their entire ways of life, whether it be through an ‘unforeseen’ accident or the mere stigma of uranium mining in the surrounding area.

The level of opposition to uranium mining in Virginia should have dissuaded any fair-minded politician from supporting this potentially catastrophic process in our state. But Sen. Watkins has drunk the kool-aid and is more akin to a heroin addict looking for his next fix than a rational legislator weighing the costs and benefits of his actions.

If the will of the people still means anything to Gov. McDonnell then his royal excellency will not move to inform Virginia’s relevant agencies to draft up uranium mining regulations.

The majority of Virginians HAVE spoken and it’s time to finally listen.

---

[1] http://hamptonroads.com/2013/02/uranium-mining-efforts-persist-below-surface

[2] http://www.wpcva.com/news/article_f7179bba-6bf5-11e2-a018-0019bb2963f4.html

[3] http://mobi.timesdispatch.com/richmond/db_/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=Qwkx8LZx&full=true#display

Virginia Senate votes in favor of A-to-F grading system for public schools

Here’s a simple rule of politics : if it seems like a quick fix, is perceived to be a quick fix and could possibly act as a quick fix, give it a shot. And lo and behold, Virginia’s legislators (mostly Republicans) in the state Senate followed this simple rule on Tuesday when it passed a bill requiring the Virginia Department of Education to evaluate schools on an A-to-F scale.[1]

Democrats in the Virginia Senate derided the A-to-F evaluation scale “as a gimmick” and just as predictably, Republicans in the state Senate argued that it would improve transparency and spur interested parties to get more actively involved in their school’s success.

Echoing my own feelings about the grading scale for public schools, Sen. Mamie E. Locke (D-Hampton) said, “No school assesses a student’s overall performance with a single letter grade. They provide parents with detailed progress reports, and there is nothing that is going to make this a good bill.”[2]

So, for instance, if a school receives an “A” on their evaluation report card, how did the school go about achieving an A? If another school receives an “F,” what steps can that school, the county its located in, and the state, take to correct the poor grade?

The bill and its proponents make it sound as if communities and parents of children in failing schools will act differently now than when they were told in different terms that their schools were failing.

While the grading system might be easier for Virginians to comprehend and act upon, it doesn’t reduce important factors that play a role in failing schools, factors like affluence, neighborhood crime, access to diverse resources of learning, and so on.

It’s a platitude but education is an investment. If Virginia is unwilling to appropriately invest in all of its schools, lackluster results will continue to show in the state.

---

[1] http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/article_0936bec2-6fe1-11e2-bf4c-0019bb30f31a.html

[2] http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/article_0936bec2-6fe1-11e2-bf4c-0019bb30f31a.html