A Year in Review: VCN’s 2023 Annual Report
Thanks to highly coordinated efforts and despite political headwinds, VCN — in our role as the strategic facilitator of our 150+ Network Partners — was successful in holding onto major environmental and climate policy successes from the last few years while celebrating historic investments in conservation funding through the budget.
Our Annual Report reviews Virginia Conservation Network’s work from Spring 2022 to Winter 2023. While it feels almost impossible to cover everything we worked on last year in only a few pages, we did our best to squeeze in the highlights, including:
- our strategy to advance conservation initiatives year-round,
- our policy gains and challenges through the General Assembly session and beyond,
- our Network Partner engagement events,
- and more.
As we sent this annual report to the printer, we learned of the tragic loss of our Clean Energy & Climate Justice Policy Manager, Shawn Soares, on May 4th, 2023. Shawn was committed to devoting his career to bettering the Commonwealth and was a rising star in the climate movement. We are dedicating this annual report to him and are committed to working in his honor moving forward.
Read more of our recent updates from our blog:
Bay Act Resiliency Guidance
DEQ has updated the Bay Act resiliency guidance along with updated examples. A model ordinance, locality implementation checklist, resiliency assessment template, adaptation measure checklist, and nature-based adaptation measure list are also available.
ARTICLE: $600M provided to US communities for public electric vehicle chargers
The Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program provided more than $600 million to US communities for more public chargers for electric vehicles.
Biden Administration Announces Rules Aimed at Phasing Out Gas Cars
The Biden administration on Wednesday issued one of the most significant climate regulations in the nation’s history, a rule designed to ensure that the majority of new passenger cars and light trucks sold in the United States are all-electric or hybrids by 2032.
ROUNDUP: Local Leaders Oppose Gas-Fired Peaker Plant
Virginia Conservation Network Partners applaud the Central Virginia legislators for sharing a letter of opposition to the proposed gas-fired peaker plant in Chesterfield.
Report: Feeding the Plastics Industrial Complex
The Environmental Integrity Project released a report examining the disproportionate impact of 50 plastics plants on nearby vulnerable communities, including Black and Latino communities.
Bipartisan Support on Environmental Bills: Regulation of Toxics
Pat Calvert, Director of Clean Water and Land Conservation at Virginia Conservation Network, is quoted supporting a new law regualte toxic PFAS pollution.