Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Editorial: Enough fumbling in the dark
With Washington ignoring the issue, Virginia could become a national leader by adopting a comprehensive energy policy.
From the RoundTable blog
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Despite broad economic, environmental and security issues related to the nation's energy needs, Congress and the White House have managed only anemic leadership on the issue.
Adopting a rational policy has, then, fallen to the states, and many have risen to the challenge. Virginia belongs on that bandwagon, helping produce a critical mass that will force national change.
Because electrons flow across power grids that do not recognize state borders and pollution does not linger over the power plants and vehicles belching it, a comprehensive national energy policy would best serve Americans. Yet the federal government offers only sops and capitulation to its friends and donors in the old-fashioned, fossil-fuel industry.
A secret energy task force, foolhardy permission to mine and drill in pristine wilderness areas and national parks, vehicle mileage standards based on antiquated technology, and minimally funded research into alternative fuels will not keep America moving and illuminated in the years and decades to come.
State Sen. Frank Wagner hopes Virginia will act where Washington has failed. The Virginia Beach Republican plans to introduce a broad energy bill to the General Assembly, which convenes Wednesday.
Wagner's proposal includes some reasonable ideas. He supports tax refunds for Virginians who purchase hybrid vehicles or install energy-saving devices in their homes. He also backs prodding the commonwealth to choose a site for at least one wind farm.
He would even have Virginia call on Washington to adopt better fuel-economy standards, probably a token gesture, but still welcome.
Wagner's grand plan includes plenty of bad suggestions, too. He would invoke the fossil-fuel fairy, easing restrictions on the status-quo energy companies that have led the nation into its current mess. He would also permit a long-opposed liquefied natural gas port that would be both a target for terrorists and an environmental disaster waiting to happen.
To circumvent neighbors' concerns about such a facility -- and about wind farms, too -- the state would choose sites unfettered by local zoning regulations and land-use plans. So much for local control.
Rational people can disagree about the specifics, but the plan should at least initiate debate and hopefully action. Wagner deserves recognition for having the gumption to put something on the table, if only partial credit for the details.
One by one, states have adopted the smart energy policies that Congress and the president have ignored. When California and Oregon did, they surprised no one. If Virginia demonstrates that it, too, is forward-looking and ready to take the steps necessary to secure its energy future, the rest of the nation will take notice.
