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:
Who is Andrew Wheeler? Youngkin’s Choice for Secretary of Natural Resources and his Environmental Record
What you need to know about Virginia Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources nomination and former Trump EPA chief, Andrew Wheeler - a former coal and chemical industry lobbyist.
Virginia Transit Tool
The Community Climate Collaborative released their Virginia Transit Tool, which provides data and metrics that support community efforts to organize and advocate for better transit and contribute to an improved environment.
2022 State of the Blueprint
Chesapeake Bay Foundation released its 2022 State of the Blueprint, assessing the clean-up efforts of Bay states to meet the 2025 implementation deadline for the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint.
Podcast: Rising Seas Can Also Mean Failing Septic Tanks
Wetlands Watch's Skip Styles discusses how failing septic tanks are signaling flood resiliency issues in NPR's "All Things Considered" podcast.
EV Charging Dashboard
Check out StreetLight Data's EV Charging Dashboard, which provides a high-level view of which areas within a given region may be most suitable for installing new charging stations.
Virginia Conservation Network Summer 2022 Environmental Fellowship
This summer, the Virginia Conservation Network is kicking off our inaugural paid summer fellowship for individuals looking to launch their career in the environment - who may not otherwise have the ability to take an unpaid summer internship.