Virginia’s DMME is “concerned” with the system’s stability given the ongoing industry contractions, said Division of Mine Land Reclamation Director Randy Casey in an email to the Mercury, pointing out that “major industry-wide forfeitures would strain any bonding system, not just those in Virginia.”Fixes, however, won’t be easy. In Virginia, any major alterations to the current system would need to be passed by the General Assembly, and many industry players disagree on the best way to proceed given the belief prevalent among regulators that if coal operators are...…    Virginia’s DMME is “concerned” with the system’s stability given the ongoing industry contractions, said Division of Mine Land Reclamation Director Randy Casey in an email to the Mercury, pointing out that “major industry-wide forfeitures would strain any bonding system, not just those in Virginia.”Fixes, however, won’t be easy. In Virginia, any major alterations to the current system would need to be passed by the General Assembly, and many industry players disagree on the best way to proceed given the belief prevalent among regulators that if coal operators are...WW…

12:36BriefThe General Assembly Prayer Breakfast, held in 2019 at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. (VCU Capital News Service/ Jan. 9, 2019)Xby Sarah Vogelsong, April 6, 2020by Sarah Vogelsong, April 6, 2020The Army Corps of Engineers has received orders from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to convert three convention centers identified by Gov. Ralph Northam last week into temporary hospital facilities.The facilities — the Dulles Expo Center in Northern Virginia and the Richmond and Hampton Roads convention centers — will be able to provide beds for 1,107 acute patients or...…12:36BriefThe General Assembly Prayer Breakfast, held in 2019 at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. (VCU Capital News Service/ Jan. 9, 2019)Xby Sarah Vogelsong, April 6, 2020by Sarah Vogelsong, April 6, 2020The Army Corps of Engineers has received orders from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to convert three convention centers identified by Gov. Ralph Northam last week into temporary hospital facilities.The facilities — the Dulles Expo Center in Northern Virginia and the Richmond and Hampton Roads convention centers — will be able to provide beds for 1,107 acute patients or...WW…

0:01News StoryDominion Energy, Virginia’s largest electric utility and a major U.S. energy company, is headquartered in Richmond. (Ned Oliver/Virginia Mercury)The Integrated Resource Plan released by Dominion last Friday incorporates many of the commitments fervently sought by clean energy advocates, including a roadmap for adding 16 to 19 gigawatts of new solar, five gigawatts of offshore wind and 2.7 gigawatts of energy storage over the next 15 years, with just under a gigawatt of natural gas energy as a “placeholder” to remedy potential reliability problems.A press release issued by the...…0:01News StoryDominion Energy, Virginia’s largest electric utility and a major U.S. energy company, is headquartered in Richmond. (Ned Oliver/Virginia Mercury)The Integrated Resource Plan released by Dominion last Friday incorporates many of the commitments fervently sought by clean energy advocates, including a roadmap for adding 16 to 19 gigawatts of new solar, five gigawatts of offshore wind and 2.7 gigawatts of energy storage over the next 15 years, with just under a gigawatt of natural gas energy as a “placeholder” to remedy potential reliability problems.A press release issued by the...WW…

0:01News StoryBunker or menhaden fish, seen while whale watching off Long Beach, N.Y. (Vicki Jauron, Babylon and Beyond Photography via Getty Images)“In a region where the (seafood) industry has an economic impact of $4.6 billion and supports more than 30,000 jobs, the wider ripple effects of an industry collapse will be devastating,” said Chesapeake Bay Foundation Federal Executive Director Jason Rano in a statement.Xby Sarah Vogelsong, May 12, 2020by Sarah Vogelsong, May 12, 2020Virginia’s waters are unusually still this spring.Ordinarily, May 1 is the start of the charter boat season, a...…0:01News StoryBunker or menhaden fish, seen while whale watching off Long Beach, N.Y. (Vicki Jauron, Babylon and Beyond Photography via Getty Images)“In a region where the (seafood) industry has an economic impact of $4.6 billion and supports more than 30,000 jobs, the wider ripple effects of an industry collapse will be devastating,” said Chesapeake Bay Foundation Federal Executive Director Jason Rano in a statement.Xby Sarah Vogelsong, May 12, 2020by Sarah Vogelsong, May 12, 2020Virginia’s waters are unusually still this spring.Ordinarily, May 1 is the start of the charter boat season, a...WW…

0:02News StoryCoal stacks at the now-closed Potomac River Generating Station in Alexandria, Va. (Sarah Vogelsong/Virginia Mercury)Exactly whether Northam has the legal authority to issue such a moratorium is unclear. Michael Kelly, chief of staff for Attorney General Mark Herring, said in an email that “the specific question of authority is legal advice that we would only be able to provide to a state government client.”However, he wrote, “Attorney General Herring is extremely skeptical of the environmental and economic wisdom of significant new fossil fuel infrastructure at a time when we...…0:02News StoryCoal stacks at the now-closed Potomac River Generating Station in Alexandria, Va. (Sarah Vogelsong/Virginia Mercury)Exactly whether Northam has the legal authority to issue such a moratorium is unclear. Michael Kelly, chief of staff for Attorney General Mark Herring, said in an email that “the specific question of authority is legal advice that we would only be able to provide to a state government client.”However, he wrote, “Attorney General Herring is extremely skeptical of the environmental and economic wisdom of significant new fossil fuel infrastructure at a time when we...WW…

0:01News StoryCoal piles in Wise County, July 2019. (Sarah Vogelsong/ Virginia Mercury)Much of Blackjewel’s former coal empire in Virginia remains in disarray, even as a federal judge signed off on a bankruptcy settlement this week. if the bonds fail to cover necessary expenses.Those disagreements are both extensive and byzantine, involving numerous companies. The trouble was apparent early on: in August 2019, Lexon complained in one court filing that the quick auction after the bankruptcy was declared meant that “But while most legal ownership disputes involve two parties each trying...…0:01News StoryCoal piles in Wise County, July 2019. (Sarah Vogelsong/ Virginia Mercury)Much of Blackjewel’s former coal empire in Virginia remains in disarray, even as a federal judge signed off on a bankruptcy settlement this week. if the bonds fail to cover necessary expenses.Those disagreements are both extensive and byzantine, involving numerous companies. The trouble was apparent early on: in August 2019, Lexon complained in one court filing that the quick auction after the bankruptcy was declared meant that “But while most legal ownership disputes involve two parties each trying...WW…

22:13News StoryDominion’s Chesterfield Power Station, once the largest fossil-fuel powered plant in Virginia. (NBC 12)While RGGI funds are nonreverting, meaning agencies won’t lose them at the end of the fiscal year, most are eager to get the funds out of the door immediately.This story has been updated to clarify that while agencies are working to spend money before the end of the fiscal year, they are not required to.Xby Sarah Vogelsong, March 17, 2021by Sarah Vogelsong, March 17, 2021The $43 million was “in the state’s hot little hands,” Mike Dowd told the group. So what next?That...…22:13News StoryDominion’s Chesterfield Power Station, once the largest fossil-fuel powered plant in Virginia. (NBC 12)While RGGI funds are nonreverting, meaning agencies won’t lose them at the end of the fiscal year, most are eager to get the funds out of the door immediately.This story has been updated to clarify that while agencies are working to spend money before the end of the fiscal year, they are not required to.Xby Sarah Vogelsong, March 17, 2021by Sarah Vogelsong, March 17, 2021The $43 million was “in the state’s hot little hands,” Mike Dowd told the group. So what next?That...WW…

0:58BriefDominion Energy’s Whitehouse solar farm in Louisa County generates 20 megawatts on a 250 acre site. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality is imposing more stringent stormwater regulations for solar development. (Dominion Energy)Xby Sarah Vogelsong, March 16, 2021by Sarah Vogelsong, March 16, 2021Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Virginia topped almost other states in solar installations in 2020, ranking fourth behind only California, Texas and Florida. According to findings from the analysis released Tuesday by the Solar Energy Industries Association and energy...…0:58BriefDominion Energy’s Whitehouse solar farm in Louisa County generates 20 megawatts on a 250 acre site. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality is imposing more stringent stormwater regulations for solar development. (Dominion Energy)Xby Sarah Vogelsong, March 16, 2021by Sarah Vogelsong, March 16, 2021Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Virginia topped almost other states in solar installations in 2020, ranking fourth behind only California, Texas and Florida. According to findings from the analysis released Tuesday by the Solar Energy Industries Association and energy...WW…

7:28News StoryA wildlife camera captured a photo of a bear and cubs off of Interstate 64 near Charlottesville. (Photo courtesy of VDOT)Xby Sarah Vogelsong, March 9, 2021by Sarah Vogelsong, March 9, 2021From numbers that had dwindled to around 1,000 at midcentury, Virginia’s black bears have been making a comeback. For the past few decades, thanks to reforestation and state management, the black bear has become more and more common in the commonwealth. And while population estimates aren’t an exact science, relying as they do on factors like hunting data and human-bear interactions, one...…7:28News StoryA wildlife camera captured a photo of a bear and cubs off of Interstate 64 near Charlottesville. (Photo courtesy of VDOT)Xby Sarah Vogelsong, March 9, 2021by Sarah Vogelsong, March 9, 2021From numbers that had dwindled to around 1,000 at midcentury, Virginia’s black bears have been making a comeback. For the past few decades, thanks to reforestation and state management, the black bear has become more and more common in the commonwealth. And while population estimates aren’t an exact science, relying as they do on factors like hunting data and human-bear interactions, one...WW…

0:01News StorySnowy egrets and mallard on eroding marsh near Poplar Island in Talbot County, Md., on May 20, 2010. (Photo by Alicia Pimental/Chesapeake Bay Program)Researchers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science have found that the Chesapeake’s dead zone, which appears along its main-stem in the summer, and as much as 5 percent of its volume.Xby Sarah Vogelsong, June 18, 2020by Sarah Vogelsong, June 18, 2020Thanks to a less rainy spring, the Chesapeake Bay’s “dead zone” is likely to be slightly smaller this summer than normal, though it will still be bigger than long-term targets...…0:01News StorySnowy egrets and mallard on eroding marsh near Poplar Island in Talbot County, Md., on May 20, 2010. (Photo by Alicia Pimental/Chesapeake Bay Program)Researchers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science have found that the Chesapeake’s dead zone, which appears along its main-stem in the summer, and as much as 5 percent of its volume.Xby Sarah Vogelsong, June 18, 2020by Sarah Vogelsong, June 18, 2020Thanks to a less rainy spring, the Chesapeake Bay’s “dead zone” is likely to be slightly smaller this summer than normal, though it will still be bigger than long-term targets...WW…