Virginia Releases Climate Action Plan
On December 15, 2008, the Virginia Governor’s Commission on Climate Change released its Final Report: A Climate Change Action Plan. Governor Timothy Kaine created the Commission and set a greenhouse gas emissions goal of 30 percent below business-as-usual projections by 2025 when he signed Executive Order 59 in September 2007. In the Final Report, the Commission provides a series of recommendations for the state to achieve its 30 percent reduction goal as well as a several measures for Virginia to prepare for and adapt to the likely consequences of climate change.
The Commission’s recommendations address different sectors, including expanding the states’ voluntary Renewable Portfolio Standard from 12 percent in 2022 to 15 percent in 2025 and reducing vehicle miles traveled through land use planning, improving vehicle alternatives such as public transit and bike- and pedestrian- friendly roads, and pricing mechanisms to discourage vehicle travel. Several recommendations also correspond to priorities identified in the Virginia Energy Master Plan, released in 2007. The Commission’s recommendations also address adaptation to climate change, including shoreline protection and adjusting transportation infrastructure and other development in coastal areas to account for sea level rise and flooding possibilities.
Many of the commission’s other recommendations for climate change mitigation relate to federal action, such as the adoption of a federal cap-and-trade program, stronger nation-wide vehicle efficiency standards, and federal funding for renewable energy, energy efficiency and conservation, and carbon capture and storage.
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