Virginia Archives - Page 4 of 21 - Checks and Balances Project

Op-Ed: Corruption put “The Virginia Way” on life support

2014-12-22

This op-ed originally appeared in the Virginian-Pilot and PilotOnline.com. By Scott Peterson © December 21, 2014 For years, Virginians had confidence that their state government was run efficiently and well – at least compared to other states. “The Virginia Way” set us apart from other states with seemingly incorrigible corruption in their capitols. All that… Read more »

2014-11-19

Professor Michael Karmis is evading basic questions about whether clean energy experts were consulted in his critical cost-benefit analysis of how Virginia can meet its federal Clean Power Plan (CPP) goals. This raises the possibility that Dr. Karmis, director of the Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research, is shielding donors from legitimate public scrutiny…. Read more »

2014-11-3

The Christopher- Karmis Mystery Continues In my recent post, “Is Coal Center Too Conflicted to Analyze How Virginia Responds to Fed’s Clean Power Plan?” I raised questions about who in Virginia government chose a professional coal advocate to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of how Virginia should best meet the Clean Power Plan standards. The advocate in… Read more »

2014-10-16

I was in Richmond for Gov. McAuliffe’s unveiling of the 2014 Virginia Energy Plan. There, I had an opportunity to pursue questions about why Dr. Michael Karmis, Director of Virginia Tech’s Center for Coal Research, was chosen to write the critical cost-benefit analysis for Virginia’s response to the federal Clean Power Plan (CPP). A cost-benefit… Read more »

2014-09-30

Earlier this year, the Virginia legislature passed a bill that requires the McAuliffe Administration to evaluate the costs and benefits to the state of complying with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan. That plan would require Virginia to reduce carbon emissions by 37.5% by 2030 from 2012 levels. Carbon pollution from such sources… Read more »

2014-09-3

2014-08-18

Today the Checks and Balances Project filed a second request for records for information into the reasons behind Governor Kasich’s decision to freeze clean energy jobs in the state. This request comes after the Kasich administration’s legal team ducked the clear questions asked in our first request. Our new request asks for: “any and all… Read more »

2014-08-11

After more than a month of waiting, Governor Kasich’s administration has responded to our request for answers to basic questions about the clean energy job freeze, SB 310. Our ask was simple and clear. What we got back can charitably called an evasion. The response we received is from an administration that doesn’t want to… Read more »

2014-08-7

It has now been more than one month since the Checks and Balances Project made a formal request for information from Governor Kasich. We asked that his administration make public records of discussions they may have had with Koch Industries representatives and Ohio utilities in the run up to the Governor’s freeze of the state’s… Read more »

An Open Letter to FirstEnergy

2014-07-25

Ohio utility FirstEnergy was a major supporter of freezing the state’s renewable energy and energy efficiency standards. The company has made more than $600,000 in campaign donations in the past two years to Ohio elected officials. The Checks and Balances Project is concerned that this money is coming from FirstEnergy customers. We want to… Read more »