So far, the special General Assembly session on transportation has been shaping up as a flounderfest: no one agreeing on anything, everyone just flopping around. But Sen. Frank Wagner, R-Virginia Beach, has thrown a wild card into the game.
In a news conference today, Wagner linked offshore drilling for natural gas with Virginia transportation. He called for Gov. Timothy M. Kaine to use his “considerable influence in national Democratic politics” to urge his fellow party members to lift the federal ban on off-shore drilling. And he promised to introduce legislation next week that would devote much of the state royalties from such drilling to transportation, Chesapeake Bay clean up and energy-related uses.
Wagner, who reminds readers in his press release that he was the chief patron of the bill calling for the Virginia Energy Plan, would establish the Offshore Energy Revenue Fund. Proceeds would be distributed as follows:
40% to the Transportation Trust Fund
40% for Chesapeake Bay cleanup efforts
10% to the Renewable Electricity Production Grant Fund
10% to the Virginia Coastal Energy Research Consortium
Now, some might accuse Wagner of cheap political grandstanding. After all, what can Gov. Kaine really do to influence the federal ban on offshire drilling? Further, what are the chances that a Democratic Congress, which looks forward to aligning itself within half a year with a Democratic president, will make a move that would anger its environmentalist base? Pretty low, I’d say.
Moreover, there is absolutely no logical nexus between offshore drilling and transportation. I can see a tangential connection to the Chesapeake Bay: If people are worried about the environmental impact of drilling, it sorta makes sense to dedicate some of the royalties to environmental clean-up. Drilling offshore would take place in the water… The Chesapeake Bay has lots of water… What more could you ask for?
Other than the fact that the Business As Usual interests are desperate for a new source of revenues to perpetuate Virginia’s failed transportation model, however, why should the revenues be dedicated to transportation as opposed to any other need? None that I can think of.
But the gambit is sure to generate a lot of headlines and absorb a lot of discussion. A special session that was shaping up as snooza-palooza just might be fun to follow after all.
