An excellent press release by Jody Wagner, as Bill Bolling's energy "plan" offers absolutely nothing for Virginia except the same things that haven't worked in the past. It's time to move from a 19th-century energy economy to a 21st-century green economy, and the McDonnell/Bolling approach simply has no clue how to do that.
"DRILL, BABY, DRILL" IS NO LONG-TERM SOLUTION, SAYS WAGNER
RICHMOND - Today, former Secretary of Finance Jody Wagner responded to the Bolling energy plan:
"The Bolling energy 'plan' is nothing more than a re-hash of discredited policies from the Bush Administration that can be summed up in three words: "drill, baby, drill." Instead of focusing on innovative renewable energy and conservation programs that will help position Virginia as a global leader in the emerging green economy, Bill Bolling just offers up faulty sound bites. The answer for Virginia isn't drilling for oil offshore-it's to prepare the Commonwealth for the future by investing in technologies like wind, solar, biofuel, wave motion and biomass energy. This will take a commitment to training the workforce of the future in our schools; expanding research and development opportunities at our colleges and universities; and providing the incentives necessary to ensure renewable energy businesses choose Virginia as their home."
U.S. Department of Energy estimates have shown that any available oil resources off the Virginia coast would have no real affect on production or prices until 2030. Current Virginia law (Code of Virginia, Chapter 3 of Title 67) supports federal efforts to determine the extent of natural gas resources 50 miles or more off the Atlantic shoreline, but have no provisions for oil exploration.
UPDATE: Statement by Jon Bowerbank added to the comments section. I found this interesting:
Unlike my primary opponents, I came out early and strongly against drilling off of Virginia's coast for exactly this reason. Let me be clear- there is not enough oil and natural gas in the area discussed off of Virginia's shore to be significantly commercially viable and under current federal law, not a dime of any revenue derived from these areas would go to the Commonwealth of Virginia.
