For Immediate Release:
Thursday, Aug. 29, 2019
Contact:
Lee Francis | Deputy Director
Virginia League of Conservation Voters
(804) 225-1902 | lfrancis@valcv.org
RICHMOND – Today, Dominion Energy announced its plans to begin efforts to provide school districts in their service territory with emission-free electric buses. The news comes as Virginia’s largest electric monopoly continues to be on the wrong side of news headlines over its beleaguered Atlantic Coast Pipeline and corrupt business model.
In response, Michael Town, executive director of the Virginia League of Conservation Voters, issued the following statement.
“Virginia’s children deserve to ride to school without breathing in toxic exhaust fumes, and we support Dominion’s efforts to address that problem. But we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that this is the same electric monopoly that burns coal and other harmful fossil fuels that send hundreds of kids to the emergency room and put children’s health at risk every year, while continuing to threaten our coastal communities and our climate on a daily basis.
Overall, it’s not surprising that Dominion is looking to make positive news. Their misguided, flawed, and environmentally reckless multi-billion-dollar Atlantic Coast Pipeline continues to face setback after setback, as they are now desperately working to get the Trump Administration to save it from failure.
Today’s announcement was also suspiciously timed with a report from the State Corporation Commission that found Dominion had earned nearly $280 million more from captive ratepayers than they should have under Virginia law in 2018.
We can only hope that Dominion’s efforts to clean up school buses are earnest and not the latest in a series of ploys to profit more at Virginians’ expense.”
About us:
The Virginia League of Conservation Voters serves as the political voice of the state’s conservation community, working to make sure Virginia’s elected officials recognize that our natural heritage is an environmental and economic treasure for all. Virginia LCV works with conservation leaders across Virginia and strives for a conservation majority in state government. We secure good public policies on the state level and hold public officials accountable for their positions on environmental issues. For more information, visit www.valcv.org.
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