Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell's Renewable Energy Push

For a couple of years now, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell has blatantly announced and followed his renewable energy agenda. Aside from being a huge supporter of drilling for oil and natural gas in the Atlantic, the governor is also a big fan of renewable energy, citing Virginia’s need to reduce its dependence on foreign energy. Thus, a huge amount of the state’s budget is being spent on renewable energy programs like wind and solar power, even though these forms of energy are clearly not the best route to go economically.

In fact, Governor McDonnell’s love for wind power has raised concerns. Many cite what has happened in Europe: there was a huge push for wind energy long before the United States popularized the idea, and since then they have decreased wind power due to the high costs and low return. Simply put, there is not enough wind available for a wind powered electricity plant to meet peak demand during the middle of the day, leaving the need for backup plants run with traditional methods. From a monetary point of view, it would make more sense to derive electricity from clean coal and natural gas, but McDonnell still uses the state’s budget for renewable energy projects.

Last year, Governor McDonnell announced that Virginia would also attempt to be one of the first and leading states in the use of electric cars. This would mean creating an infrastructure for charging and servicing electric vehicles, like the structure of gas and service stations that exists for traditional vehicles. Undoubtedly, the state will spend millions more on this agenda as electric cars become more and more popular. It will be interesting to see how far McDonnell can stretch the state’s budget in the name of going “green” in the near future.

last time modified: July 14, 2011, 5:35 a.m.