Comment: I love the following statement, Thanks so much: "I and the conservation community oppose lifting the ban because of the potential risks to human health and safety." Strange, we do not need uranium mining or nuke plants in the area of the shake in VA but the whole east coast. Keep the Uranium Mining Ban!
Posted by afp on Aug 17, 2011
The Governor’s 2011 Conference on Energy has been announced for October 17-19 at the Richmond Convention Center. Once again the logo for the conference proclaims “Virginia: Energy Capital of the East Coast.”
If the slogan is to indicate the debates that are likely to take place in the Commonwealth next year on energy issues, it might be a better fit.
The Energy Capital of the East Coast is likely to see intense debates next year on uranium mining, off-shore drilling, wind farms, fracking, and renewable energy sources.
A move on the part of uranium mining interests will attempt to repeal the ban on mining uranium that has been in place for several decades.
While the current focus is on mining in Southside, a repeal would affect all deposits in the state including those closer to the water supply of Northern Virginia.
I and the conservation community oppose lifting the ban because of the potential risks to human health and safety.
Of much greater interest recently has been the prospect of wind farms off the Virginia coast to generate electricity. Technical studies have found that the wind off the Virginia coast is strong and sustainable enough to support wind turbines to generate electricity. The gigantic turbines would be far enough off the coast so as to be barely visible from land. Financing of such a project seems to be the major hurdle.
With these heavyweight issues, alternative energy will not receive much attention.
Maybe Virginia is the energy-debate capital of the East!
Ken Plum is a member of the Virginia House of Delegates.
Read more:
http://augustafreepress.com/2011/08/17/ken-plum-energy-capital-of-the-east-coast/
