Climate Activist running for Virginia Delegate Seat could lead to power blackouts

If John McAuliff wins the Virginia House of Delegates District 30 race in November, Virginians can expect their energy bills to rise and the power to go out.

According to energy policy analysts who discovered radical green money in McAuliff’s campaign finance reports, McAuliff was a big fan of the environment.

McAuliff is running against Republican incumbent Geary Higgins and has publicly backed the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative as well as the green energy mandates that are attached to Virginia Clean Economy Act. This act is also called the Virginia Green New Deal. Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy is a free-market think tank that has warned of rate hikes and blackouts if Virginia continued to embrace VCEA’s green energy mandates or if it rejoined RGGI.

McAuliff is a candidate that climate activists who oppose affordable and reliable energy see as a good investment. McAuliff received $5,000 this year from the Jane Fonda Climate PAC, and $4,000 from Cabinet Climate PAC. Fonda is a Hollywood actor who has been referred to as “Hanoi Jane”, for her treasonous actions during the Vietnam War.

According to Open Secrets the Fonda Climate PAC has been classified as a Carey Committee. This means that it is not affiliated with any candidate. The Fonda Climate PAC can also function as a traditional PAC that contributes funds to a campaign committee and as a Super PAC which allows it to make independent expenditures. Tom Steyer is a billionaire climate activist and hedge fund manager from the far left who donates to Fonda PAC. McAuliff has benefited from a variety of interconnected relationships. The Cabinet Climate PAC, which is also a Carey Committee, has “Hanoi Jane” as one of its biggest donors.

The Clean Virginia Fund is the other major financial supporter. It has given McAuliff $10,000 to date. The Clean Virginia Fund, a PAC of Clean Virginia is a non-profit organization that advocates radical green energy policies.

Double Down on Costly Climate Action

McAuliff, who served as Del. David Reid is a Democrat from the 28 ^th congressional district. He celebrate that he and Reid were instrumental in getting the state to join RGGI, and used the VCEA with the goal of transitioning Virginia from fossil fuels by the year 2050.

The climate activism of the aspiring delegate is not restricted to his home state. McAuliff, who is not related to the former Clinton advisor and Virginia gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe, also served as senior advisor at the Biden White House and Office of Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation. He was responsible for briefing John Podesta – President Biden’s advisor on climate change – as well as working with external stakeholders. McAuliff is most relevant to the campaign of the 30th District because he supports higher energy taxes and mandates for green energy.

RGGI is a multistate climate agreement based on “cap-and-trade” regulations which generate carbon taxes to ratepayers. Gov. Glenn Youngkin is the Republican incumbent governor of Virginia. He withdrew Virginia in 2022 from RGGI. A circuit court judge last year ruled that Youngkin’s decision was illegal, but he also agreed to freeze the ruling until the outcome of the appeal by the governor. Virginia will not be included in RGGI until the appeal of Youngkin is resolved.

David Stevenson, Director of the Center for Energy & Environment of the Caesar Rodney Institute, Delaware, gave public remarks in support of Youngkin’s decision to leave the initiative in March of 2023. Here is what he had to say:

Virginia’s electric generation dropped 12% between 2020 and 2022. The regional grid’s power imports grew from 12 to 30 percent of the demand, and they expect a shortage in electricity by 2030. The CO2 emissions in the state fell by 6.6 millions metric tons between 2020 and 2022. However, increased electricity imports caused emissions to increase elsewhere by 10.3 million tonnes for a total of 3.7 million tons. The $523 million RGGI revenue is being added to the electric bill, while generators in the state lost $840 millions in revenue from electric generation. Virginia could lose $25 billion over the next decade due to RGGI. Virginia must abandon RGGI.

Stephen D. Haner is a senior fellow at the Thomas Jefferson Institute for energy and environment policy. He has identified another issue with RGGI in his study. His carbon tax plan would increase Virginia’s dependence on imports especially as wind and solar power enters low-production phases.

Haner envisions a scenario in which blackouts may occur, as VCEA increases Virginia’s dependence on intermittent renewable energies. He cites alarming reports by the regional trading entity PJM, and the North American Electricity Reliability Corporation which indicate that Virginia’s electric grid is already at a high level of stress. Haner, who credits Youngkin with vetoing legislation that would have implemented Green New Deal-type schemes, is concerned about the future.

The next Governor will decide the fate of RGGI

Youngkin will leave his office in January, as Virginia law limits him to one term. Abigail Spanberger has stated her support for RGGI. She is a former Democratic Member of Congress who is now running for Governor of Virginia. Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle Sears, her Republican rival, backed Youngkin in his decision to withdraw from RGGI by 2023. Earle-Sears, however, is behind at the polls.

According to the PAC’s money trail, McAuliff is a reliable voter for Spanberger in order to add additional regulatory burdens to the VCEA as well as to rejoin RGGI. This is the type of two-pronged attack that could increase the likelihood of power blackouts in Virginia.

District 30 encompasses the western part of Loudoun County as well as a portion of Fauquier County. House members are elected for two-year terms. Higgins won easily when he first was elected to the House in 2023. However, the PAC funding for McAuliff indicates that the Democrats are interested in the seat.