Virginia Conservation Network Blog

PHOTO GALLERY: More than 250 Advocates Meet with Legislators for 2020 Conservation Lobby Day

MORE THAN 250 ADVOCATES MEET WITH LEGISLATORS FOR 2020 CONSERVATION LOBBY DAY On Tuesday, January 21, more than 250 conservation advocates met with legislators for VCN's 2020 Conservation Lobby Day. Advocates completed more than 50 meetings int he Pocahontas building, lobbying their state representatives on legislation including the Virginia Clean Economy Act, cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay, and a variety of additional goals for the conservation community. The sold out event began with a charge from Dels. Bulova, [...]

January 22, 2020|

Conservation Updates from the 2020 General Assembly – Week 2

EARLY BIRD ENDS JANUARY 17 AT 11:59 PM Hundreds of clean energy supporters joined CCAN and the Sierra Club for the Rally and Lobby Day for Clean Energy (Photo credit: Adrienne Eichner). Updates on VCN Priorities VCN endorses the Virginia Clean Economy Act (HB1526/SB851). The VCEA moves the Commonwealth to a 100% carbon-free electricity grid and eliminates pollution from utilities by 2050. The bill takes the following four steps to get us there: using energy efficiency to lower bills and reduce energy demand, [...]

January 17, 2020|

Kristie Smith: Virginia Clean Economy Act primer

OPINION: Virginia Clean Economy Act VCN’s own Kristie Smith, Climate & Clean Energy Policy & Campaigns Manager, is featured in Energy News Network discussing the Virginia Clean Economy Act. Virginia environmentalists have reason to be giddy and emboldened as the General Assembly delves into lawmaking this month. For one, Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam has been on a green tear. And, voters flipped both the House of Delegates and the Senate from red to blue during the November election [...]

January 14, 2020|

Conservation Updates from the 2020 General Assembly – Week 1

SIGN UP TODAY! Happy Hour Primer "Madam Speaker." For the first time in the 400-year history of the Virginia General Assembly, a woman was elected Speaker of the House. Del. Filler-Corn was sworn in on Wednesday and joins Charniele Herring, the first woman and African American Majority Leader, and Suzette Denslow, the first woman Clerk of the House of Delegates and Keeper of the Rolls, up on the dais. More than 2,400 bills have already been filed (woah!). This time last year, around 1,600 [...]

January 10, 2020|

Thank you for a great year for conservation in the Commonwealth

2019 was a big yearThis year, we pushed a unified agenda, gaining historic investments for our rivers and streams, and a plan to clean up coal ash in Virginia. We kicked off the third and final phase to clean up the Chesapeake Bay by 2025, ratcheted up our effort to address climate pollution from transportation – the largest source of emissions in Virginia – stood up against rollbacks to the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act, celebrated as [...]

December 20, 2019|