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:
State/Tribal Environmental Policy Toolkit
The National Caucus of Environmental Legislators released a policy toolkit providing a basic foundation for working with Tribal Nations. This toolkits includes short case studies, policy options, and examples of good relationship-building
We’re Hiring: Executive Director
Virginia Conservation Network is looking for our next Executive Director to serve as a dynamic leader of the organization and drive the mission for Virginia’s environmental community.
VIDEO: PFAS Spread on U.S. farms Threatens Food Supply & Livelihoods
A recent news feature explained PFAS potential harms and impacts on farmers across the U.S., including a spotlight on a Virginia farmer's story.
Video: Energy Storage 101
Virginia Conservation Network hosted a webinar providing a foundational overview of what energy storage is, the range of technologies available, and how storage works alongside solar and wind to meet energy demand.
Video: Meeting Demand With Clean Energy
Virginia Conservation Network hosted a webinar exploring a recent modeling exercise on different possible projections in which clean energy reliably and affordably meets worst-case demand scenarios in the Commonwealth—without new fossil fuel infrastructure.
Video: Virginia’s Clean Energy Pillars – VCEA & RGGI
Virginia Conservation Network hosted a webinar diving into two key pillars of Virginia’s clean energy transition—the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).