Bacon's Rebellion

  • Smooth Test Ride for Potomac Ferry

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    James A. Bacon

    Reaching speeds of 31 miles per hour yesterday, a twin-hulled catamaran made a trial run from Quantico to Washington, D.C., in less than an hour. “Not bad,” said Alan Gray, president of MetroMarine, a joint venture partner in the Potomac River Express. “Fifty-eight minutes from Quantico. Beats the blazes out of Route 1, doesn’t it?”

    The test cruise was the first of many before Potomac River Express will start carrying commuters, but the performance in rainy and choppy conditions was encouraging. As envisioned, the proposed commuter ferry would target Department of Defense workers, civilian and uniformed commuters who travel the Interstate 95 corridor, reports the Manassas Journal-Messenger.

    Richard W. Hausler, the developer of Harbor Station in Woodbridge, is also involved in planning the commuter ferry route and an accompanying dock at Harbor Station. “This is about revisiting the river,” he said. “This is the first step in that effort to try some water transportation.”

    If successful, the Potomac River Express could provide a template for other ferry routes. To generate sufficient traffic to support the service, there must be a population mass at both ends of the trip. Existing urban centers — Washington, D.C., downtown Norfolk — could anchor one end of the ferry routes. It’s possible that large, mixed-use developments like Harbor Station, where the ferry dock is within walking distance of hundreds or thousands of residents, could anchor the other end.

  • Nichol on the Hot Spot… Again

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    James A. Bacon

    College of William and Mary President Gene Nichol is in hot water again, this time over his characterization of a revoked alumni pledge. See the story in the Daily Press.

  • You Say Illegal Immigrant, I Say Illegal Alien

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    James A. Bacon

    Members of the Coalition on Illegal Immigration agreed that illegal immigration is a big problem, but they didn’t agree on much else.

    The group, represented by a dozen or more municipalities, assembled in Culpeper yesterday to explore issues, exchange information and possibly press for legislation. But they even quibbled over the proper term for calling illegal immigrants. Reports Donnie Johnson with the Free Lance-Star:

    “Illegal alien is the proper term,” said Herndon Town Councilman Dave Kirby. “There’s no such thing as an illegal immigrant according to the IRS because all immigrants are eventually issued a green card. An alien enters this country illegally and is deportable.”

    The lack of easy consensus is probably a good thing: We don’t want any lynch mobs forming. There are no simple solutions for illegal immigrants/aliens. Indeed, some purported remedies might be worse than the problem. The general tenor of the gathering seemed temperate and responsible, according to accounts in the Free Lance-Star and Times-Dispatch. The coalition may have something positive to contribute to the illegal immigration/alien debate.

  • “Journey” Takes Another Big Step

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    James A. Bacon

    At last. The U.S. House of Representatives has approved the designation of the Journey Through Hallowed Ground, a corridor running from Charlottesville to Gettysburg that encompasses presidential homes, Civil War battlefields and other historic sites, as a National Heritage Area. The measure now moves to the Senate for approval.

    (For previous Bacon’s Rebellion coverage of the JTHG and its market-oriented approach to conserving Virginia’s northern piedmont, click here.)

    Let’s hope the Senate can move faster than the House did. There is no time to lose in preserving this country’s previous historical heritage.

  • CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE

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    James A. Bacon

    Credit where credit is due and paying the full cost of location decisions. Given the chaotic situation on the ground and the time delay between filing a story and the paper hitting the door step, Karl Vick did a splendid job of covering the current firestorms in the southern part of California in today’s WaPo.

    Why is this of interest in a Virginia Centric Blog? We have covered this issue in Bacon’s Rebellion – “Fire and Flood,” 3 Nov 2003, “Down Memory Lane with Katrina,” 5 Sept 2005, “Big (Gray, Brown) Sky Country,” 23 Oct 2006 and “A Second Stroll with Katrina,” 4 Sept 2007. The reason for raising it again is the same. Virginia is creating unsustainable settlement patterns just like Montana, California and Louisiana.

    Back to Karl’s coverage. He does a fine job of reporting and the headlines are great: “Mother Nature vs. Human Nature: In Calif. Sprawl, Homes are Vulnerable to Fire.” He makes a sharp point with respect to the public cost of protecting private property put in jeopardy by stupid decisions.

    There is one thing missing: Would all those citizens be so sure they would move back onto the same street in the same configuration (you can live “near the beach, near the desert, near Mexico, near the mountains” and near the same “nice people” without living next to a leaking gas tank) if they had to pay the full cost?

    The cost of fire protection is one thing to add to the monthly budget, so is the cost of a fireproof roof. But how about the cost of insurance. Perhaps what is sold as “homeowner” and “household” insurance should be called “sort of insurance until something bad happens.” That is the case with past Florida Hurricanes and for water and wind damage from Katrina and Rita either by weasel words or by insurer bankruptcy.

    Would it not be fair to allocate the true cost of the risk with a guarantee to pay the full cost of relocation and recovery if the projected disaster strikes?

    There will not be functional human settlement patterns until there is a full allocation of all location variable costs. That is Mother Nature vs. Human Nature and the imperative of a free market and democracy.

    (Full Disclosure: We are following these fires with more than just professional interest. A family friend of 40 years owns a house in Green Valley Lake, CA. Go to http://www.inciweb.org/incident/1005/ to see his current condition. Green Valley Lake is in the center of the donut hole in that map.)

    EMR

  • Another Player in the Transmission Line Debate

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    James A. Bacon

    The Coalition for Reliable Energy, an offshoot of the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce, has entered the debate over Dominion’s proposed high-voltage transmission line through Virginia’s northern piedmont. Citing a 2006 Department of Energy study, the Coalition backs Dominion’s contention that Northern Virginia’s electricity infrastructure faces “severe overloads” as early as 2011.

    The Coalition supports construction of the transmission line, as well as energy conservation and “longer term planning to meet our energy needs.”

    It will be interesting to see how the coalition is perceived. It’s not exactly a corporate Who’s Who of Fairfax County. (See a list of the members here.) Besides the Chamber, the most prominent member is… Dominion Virginia Power. Among the region’s Fortune 500 companies and major IT players, the only name I recognize is EDS.

    While the group purports to make energy conservation one of its top priorities, its page of “conservation tips” is, to be generous, on the meager side. The two concrete recommendations: Install compact fluorescent light bulbs and buy Energy Star appliances. My advice, guys: Add some more meat or people will laugh at you.

    Now, back to the issue we raised yesterday in “Virginia As New Jersey’s Extension Cord“… Jim Norvelle with Dominion responds that Virginia Commitment’s main claim, that Dominion’s ulterior motive for building the transmission line is to wheel power to states north of Virginia, “is not a new one.” Three different studies — Dominion’s, one from PJM Interconnection and one from the international firm KEMA (available on the Coalition for Reliable Energy website)– all project power shortages by 2011.

    Says Norvelle: “The Virginia economy continues to grow. People continue to move into our state for jobs, for schools, and for our state’s quality of life. Dominion – and only Dominion – has the legal obligation to keep the lights on in Northern Virginia. We will meet this obligation.”

  • RTD Catches Up to Bacon’s

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    James A. Bacon

    On the idea of using a sliding price scale for water use:

    It might take action by the General Assembly to permit such price flexibility, but consider the likely result: Everybody would conserve more — at every spigot and tap. Those who water their lawns three times a week might find they really need to do so only once a week. Those who take 15-minute showers in the morning might realize they can get just as clean in five — and that they can rinse out a coffee cup by hand rather than running it through a cycle in a nearly empty dishwasher.

    Few people would find it necessary to wash their cars daily — yet those who absolutely had to do so could. They would simply have to pay painful sums for the privilege.

    Sounds good to me.

  • Is There Any End to Virginia College Tuition Hikes?

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    James A. Bacon

    The old excuse of Virginia colleges and universities for rising tuitions — we’re just making up for past freezes and rollbacks ordered by the General Assembly — is beginning to wear thin. Here are some numbers from a Daily Press article drawing upon a Monday report by the College Board.

    The average price of community college in the United States is $2,361, compared to $2,556 in Virginia. The average price of a public four-year institution is $6,185 nationwide, compared to $7,005 in Virginia. Students attending four-year, private universities in Virginia get a break, according to the report. Across the country, tuition and fees rose 6.3 percent, to $23,712; in Virginia they rose 5 percent, to $21,454. …

    The prices at four-year public universities in Virginia went up by 7 percent this year to $7,005 per year. Countrywide, students saw their fees rise by 6.6 percent to $6,185.

    Bottom line: Virginia college tuitions aren’t just “catching up” with national averages — they’re surging ahead.

    Question: Is there a point — any point — at which Virginia institutions of higher education will concede that they’ve made up for the freezes and rollbacks? Or will they simply charge what the market will bear as long as they can get away with it?

    Update: Jeff Kraus with the Virginia Community College System notes in the comment section that the College Board report inaccurately characterizes community college tuitions in Virginia. Here is the VCCS’s response. Here’s another response on VaHigherEd.com.

  • Tax Hikes in Arlington to Pay for Mass Transit

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    James A. Bacon

    As a rule, I have been laudatory of Arlington County’s transportation and land use policies, which have created an urban environment supportive of walking, bikes, buses and Metro rail as an alternative to the one-man/one-car lifestyle. But there is a downside: It’s expensive.

    Yesterday, Arlington County moved one step closer to hiking taxes on retail and commercial properties in order to raise $37.5 million in transportation improvements, including the Columbia Pike trolley and the Crystal City Potomac Yard transit project. Reports Kirstin Downey with the Washington Post:

    If the tax increase is approved, as appears likely, Arlington would become the second Northern Virginia county, after Fairfax, to take advantage of a provision in the state transportation agreement passed by the General Assembly in April that allows local jurisdictions to increase commercial tax rates and keep the money to spend on transportation projects. The state previously required that governments impose a uniform tax on residential and commercial properties.

    Local Republicans, a powerless minority in Arlington, have protested the proposed tax increase. But Downey says the business lobby has generally been supportive “because of widespread belief that transportation improvements are vitally needed.”

    Here’s the question that Arlingtonians need to ask: What’s the cost/benefit ratio for the proposed transportation projects? How much will Arlingtonians save in reduced traffic congestion and/or the ability to shift to a one-car-per-household lifestyle in comparison to the cost of funding the projects? The Washington Post does not ask the question. Citizens and taxpayers should.

  • One Small Miracle of Traffic Light Synchronization

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    James A. Bacon

    Here’s an illustration of what rejiggering traffic light timing can accomplish to ameliorate traffic congestion on a micro level: The Virginia Department of Transportation has cut in half the time it takes to drive a three-stoplight stretch of State Route 2 in Spotsylvania County, traversed by more than 22,000 cars a day.

    Reports the Free Lance-Star:

    VDOT has changed the signal timing to cycle more cars through the bottleneck. Now, once a driver reaches the Lansdowne signal, it should take about 2 1/2 minutes to pass Shannon Park Drive, which is adjacent to a Wawa gas station.

    That’s down 46 percent from the previous wait of 4.7 minutes.

    VDOT engineers added a new sequence of timing options. The three signals have weekday morning, midday and afternoon schedules, a weekend schedule, and an off-peak schedule. Under the old timing schedule, the signals had only morning and afternoon patterns.

    So simple. So cost effective. Sadly, there’s no juice in it for the political class, so Virginia doesn’t give the attention to traffic light synchronization that it deserves.

  • Virginia As New Jersey’s Extension Cord

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    James A. Bacon

    The high-voltage transmission line that Dominion wants to build across Virginia’s northern piedmont would supply six times the electricity needed to accommodate growth in Northern Virginia, maintains a new study conducted by Energy and Environmental Economics, Inc., a California consulting firm. The driving force behind the proposal is to wheel cheap electricity from power plants in the Ohio River Valley to high-cost states north of Virginia.

    The study was commissioned by Virginia’s Commitment, an advocacy group that has popped up in opposition to the 500-kilovolt transmission line. Describing itself as “a coalition of concerned citizens, homeowners, landowners, consumers and business people” seeking 21st-century energy solutions, the organization posts a Woodstock address on its website (that’s the Woodstock in Shenandoah County, folks, not the Woodstock of 60s-vintage sex-drugs-and-rock ‘n roll fame), and its executive director is Dave Jeffers, president of Indelium LLC, an Arlington communications advisory firm.

    The group has not posted a copy of the study online, but it does hit the highlights in a press release. States the press release:

    E3 reviewed Dominion Power’s filing with the State Corporation Commission (SCC) and found that the proposed line has the capability to carry 3,250 megawatts. E3 said Dominion Power quantified the size of Northern Virginia’s overloading problem at 514 megawatts, if the line is not constructed by 2011.

    “This review shows that Dominion Power’s filing is incomplete,” said David Jeffers, executive director of Virginia’s Commitment. “E3’s review raises serious questions about where Dominion Power really intends to send the electricity transported over this proposed line.” …

    “Dominion Power’s solution is to first buy dirty power from coal-fired generators and transmit that power across 12-story high monster towers that would scar Virginia landscapes and communities,” said Jeffers. “Then the power company would sell a small portion of the electricity to Northern Virginia and ship the rest to urban areas north of Virginia.

    “They want to use Virginia as an extension cord to connect the Ohio River Valley with New Jersey and New York,” he said.

    Virginia’s Commitment advocates what it calls an “integrated resource portfolio” approach that would include:
    • Upgrading Dominion Power’s existing lines to increase capacity.

    • Developing a more diverse mix of Virginia-based power, including natural gas and cleaner coal sources.

    • Investing in energy efficiency and conservation.

    • Burying the lines in locations along the way, especially in places of scenic, historic, environmental and community importance.

    • Incorporating cost-effective levels of demand-side management.

    • Building a “distributed generation” network powered by wind, solar, natural gas and other sources of energy.

    Cool. Sounds like what we’ve been advocating here at Bacon’s Rebellion — although, I have to concede, I didn’t realize it was possible to upgrade Dominion’s existing power lines to increase capacity. Wish I’d thought of that. For what it’s worth, the analysis is very similar to the case made by the Piedmont Environmental Council, which has led the attack on the transmission line so far. (Note: PEC is a major funder of Bacon’s Rebellion.) I’ve asked Dominion for a response to the E3 study. I don’t anticipate it will take them long to get back to me.
    Update: In an e-mail to me, David Jeffers is careful not to characterize the E3 conclusions as the result of a “study” or “report,” but rather a “review” of Dominion’s 1,000-page application to the State Corporation Commission.

    (Image credit: Virginia’s Commitment.)

  • Virginia and $90 Oil

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    James A. Bacon

    The global surge of energy prices to a permanently higher plateau may be occurring even more rapidly than I had expected. The price of oil has surged past $90 per barrel, up from $80 when I last took note on this blog. And if a new study by German-based Energy Watch Group is anywhere near correct, it could shoot far higher. That study, as reported by the Guardian, predicts that oil production peaked in 2006 and could decline as rapidly as 7 percent per year. Global oil production could tumble to half current levels by 2030. Folks, that’s only 23 years away.

    “The world soon will not be able to produce all the oil it needs as demand is rising while supply is falling. This is a huge problem for the world economy,” said Hans-Josef Fell, EWG’s founder and the German MP behind the country’s successful support system for renewable energy.

    Now, I’m not as pessimistic as the authors of this study, who have an explicit renewable energy agenda. I give more credit to the ability of capitalism to adapt. Higher energy prices will incentivize oil companies to explore in ever more remote places and make it economical to tap previously unprofitable reserves. We’ll see more deep-sea oil production, and more mining of shale and oil sands (with the attendant environmental costs). We’ll see more money plowed into solar, geothermal, nuclear and biomass forms of energy, more money spent to develop hybrids, fuel cells and electric cars.

    But if the German study comes even close to accurately forecasting the future — even if oil production only declines at a rate of 2 or 3 percent per year — Virginia’s auto-centric, oil-dependent economy is in for a world of hurt. With global demand continuing to rise, prices will soar. One day, $90-per-barrel oil will seem like a bargain.

    Virginia’s transportation system is designed for cheap energy: Virginians drive more than other Americans on average, which means we drive more than almost everyone else in the world. Because we consume more gasoline than almost anyone else, our standard of living is more vulnerable to rising petroleum and gasoline prices. Making matters worse, the higher price of petroleum also drives up the price of asphalt, a major constituent of roads: asphalt. The more lane-miles of road we build, the greater the ongoing maintenance cost we incur.

    Virginia lawmakers, and the public, are still living in a dreamworld where they think that building more roads can solve our transportation problems. Wrong. Maintaining our current policies will not only prolong the traffic-congestion crisis and harm the environment, it will undermine our standard of living as the cost of gasoline claims an ever greater share of Virginians’ disposable income.

  • What Bobby Jindal Means for Virginia

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    James A. Bacon

    Even the New York Times gets it…. Sort of. In reporting on Bobby Jindal’s extraordinary victory — garnering 53 percent in a field of 11 gubernatorial candidates — in Lousiana yesterday, Adam Nossiter wrote:

    Mr. Jindal, with his decisive victory on Saturday, appears to have overcome a significant racial hurdle that blocked him in 2003, according to analysts: race-based opposition in the deeply conservative northern and eastern parishes of Louisiana that once supported the Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.

    Wow, what a turn-around! In just four years, all those racist, conservative white Lousianans decided they weren’t as prejudiced against dark-skinned people as the New York Times thought they were.

    By contrast, The Washington Post, finding little of interest in the fact that a culturally conservative, Southern state like Louisiana could elect the dark-complected Jindal, an ethnic Indian, buried the story on page A-8. The Post article stressed Jindal’s reputation for competence and wonkery.

    Why bring this up on Bacon’s Rebellion, a blog about Virginia? Because it’s a recurring theme in the comments sections that the cultural conservatives opposed to uncontrolled illegal immigration into Virginia must be motivated by xenophobia and/or “prejudice against brown-skinned people.”

    Let us hope that Bobby Jindal’s impressive victory will encourage defenders of illegal immigration to reconsider this offensive meme.

  • The RTD’s Endorsements

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    James A. Bacon

    A mixed-bag of endorsements for local legislative candidates appears in today’s RTD.

    Lightly or unchallenged incumbents get the paper’s nod, though there is not a little buttering-up of folks like Jennifer McClellan, Kirk Cox and Ryan McDougal.

    More interesting is the paper’s endorsement of incumbent Katherine Waddell over former Richmond city council president Manoli Loupassi. His name isn’t even mentioned. Conversely, the paper does manage to take a swipe at the former incumbent, Brad Marrs, by saying that Waddell’s “…responsiveness and attention to constituents’ concerns are welcome and refreshing.
    It seems the paper still has it in for ol’ Brad, for some reason.

    Also,, the RTD picks up on something a friend brought to my attention a couple of weeks back, namely, the 11th Senate District race between incumbent Steve Martin, former Delegate Alexander McMurtrie and independents Roger Habeck and Hank Cook. Some people wonder if this might just be a sleeper race where Republicans could stumble. I’m still not convinced, but the paper’s position raises a couple doubts on the outcome:

    Habeck presents an intriguing possibility: He has mounted a strong campaign, and he could serve with distinction. Yet the partisan makeup of Chesterfield points toward another Martin victory. As we noted as far back as 1999, Martin wins in Chesterfield because he is ideologically and temperamentally in tune with the county’s citizens. Voters should follow their consciences in this race.

    I still think Martin wins. But if the winds lashing the GOP elsewhere gather even more force, the 11th might just be one to watch.

  • Bowden Pondering Run for Congress

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    James A. Bacon

    If you’ve been wondering why Bacon’s Rebellion contributor James Atticus Bowden has been missing in action on this blog lately, it’s because he’s become intensely actively engaged in Hampton Roads electoral politics — first as First District Committee chairman of the Republican Party, then as an activist in getting Republicans elected to the General Assembly this fall, and now… (drumroll)… because he is “seriously considering” running for Congress.

    Jim announced on his blog, Deo Vindice, two days ago that he had resigned from the first district chairmanship in order to avoid any appearance of conflict between his duties as chairman and a candidacy for the seat left vacant by the death of Rep. Jo Ann Davis.

    He would join Davis’ widower, Chuck Davis, and fellow Republican Sherwood Bowditch, in seeking the party nomination, according to Chelyen Davis with the Free Lance-Star.

    Bacon’s Rebellion doesn’t endorse candidates (or prospective candidates) — even when they’re columnists and contributors. But I would like to see Jim run: I think he would elevate the level of debate. Jim has been a polarizing figure on this blog, vigorously advancing his strongly held views on politics and culture. One reason I valued his contribution is that he made me look moderate! While I didn’t always agree with him — especially his emphasis on culture-war issues — he always expressed his views thoughtfully and without rancor in the face of withering, and often belligerent, criticism. Further, he based his positions on a coherent set of principles, which he stuck to doggedly.

    I wish Jim the best of luck in whatever course he decides to follow.

Now Available

Book cover of 'Dust Mites: A Second American Revolution' by James A. Bacon, featuring astronauts planting a flag with a blue and white emblem on a lunar landscape, with Earth visible in the background.
For sale on Amazon.com

The year: 2075. The American colonies on the Moon are getting restless under Washington’s tyrannical rule….

This second edition of “Dust Mites” has a snazzy new cover, includes helpful lunar maps, and is 5,000 words tighter than the original. The sequel, “Trogs,” is scheduled for publication this summer.

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Bacon’s Rebellion is Virginia’s leading politically non-aligned portal for news, opinions and analysis about state, regional and local public policy. Read more about us here.

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