My 2010 Predictions
There is no denying that we didn’t work very very hard in 2009. As a result of all the blood, sweat and tears, I’ll make the following predictions:
1. Bob McDonnell will be outed as the buffoon he is on all things energy related. All of us totally jazzed up about Virginia’s offshore wind will come to the conclusion that he provides only lip-service to the cause. His agenda is first and foremost to Big Oil and Big Coal. Bob ridiculously makes a lot of noise about something completely outside his control. And while visions of rigs drilling for oil in 2011 dance in his head, other Atlantic coasts states are erecting wind turbines in 2011. We lose unless other forces (perhaps the U.S. Navy?) can wrest the bull by the horns and act as the “public” in “public/private partnership”. The potential for Virginia is just too powerful, even for Gov. Bob and his cronies. Meanwhile, MMS unofficially postpones Virginia’s enrollment in the 2007-2012 OCS program and any drilling off Virginia’s shores is more appropriately considered with the rest of the Atlantic coasts states enrolled in the 2010-2015 OCS program.
2. Federal climate change legislation passes with both Sen. Mark Warner and Sen. Jim Webb voting “yes”. Webb’s vote will be earned as a result of a lot of compromises that will make this bill way less than perfect. But like the Clean Air and Clean Water acts which weren’t ideal, shit can be amended.
3. As a result of this Federal action, the Old Dominion Electric Coop will give up on the Surry coal plant. The now $6 billion price tag for this monstrosity will go up and potential investors will start backing away from it. The final nail in the coffin will be Hampton Roads cities, towns and counties, who stand to gain nothing from its construction and suffer only its ill effects, each one by one offering resolutions in opposition.
4. The public uproar over dirty Dominion will force GA legislators to stop kissing its ass. In 2010, Dominion will still get everything it wants but legislators finally finding balls will start to insist on certain accommodations, starting with fly ash disposal, mandatory renewable energy standards, and mandatory energy efficiency.
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January 8th, 2010 at 8:02 am
If Jeff McWaters is elected in the Eighth District Special Election, he will rubber stamp Bob McDonnell’s plan to return TOLL ROADS to our existing roads.
What Virginia Beach residents need to learn before Tuesday’s election is that with McWaters, no one will stand in the way of McDonnell returning Tolls to the VB-Norfolk Expressway.
Those of us who recall the traffic jams caused by the former VB-Norfolk toll plaza, will never stand for a return to such a backward and just stupid method of funding roads.
January 10th, 2010 at 10:04 pm
Vertical windmills…
Vertical windmills aren’t such a recent concept. In fact, despite that we are accustomed to seeing horizontal axis windmills, the first windmills invented were the vertical ones…