Overview Pollinators, such as honeybees and butterflies, are the unsung heroes of agriculture. However, their populations have been collapsing in recent years, creating a crisis for farmers who depend on them. Solar developers have started creating habitat sanctuaries to help reverse this trend.
This month, the Department of Energy released the “U.S. Energy and Employment Report”, an annual report that highlights employment data and trends for each of the energy sectors. While the report concedes that the solar industry employment data is difficult to measure, it suggests that the solar industry may have added 73,000 jobs in the past year, bringing total solar jobs to 373,000. To put this into perspective; the same DOE report puts U.S. coal jobs at roughly 86,000, total.
Yesterday, in advance of Governor McAuliffe’s meeting with the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, the Virginian-Pilot published an op-ed by VAEIC board president, Francis Hodsoll. Echoing last week’s report by VAEIC and the Advanced Energy Economy Institute, the op-ed highlights the economic opportunity the Clean Power Plan represents for Virginia. An excerpt: “This summer, we expect a final Clean Power Plan rule, the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s requirement that states reduce carbon pollution from electricity generation. The big question for Virginia:
