Cap and trade cavalcade

All of a sudden, pending federal legislation to reduce pollution has become an issue in Virginia's statewide elections this year.

Or perhaps more accurately, some Republicans are trying to make it an issue.

This week, GOP gubernatorial nominee Bob McDonnell and incumbent Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (he's running for re-election) both waded into the fray over H.R. 2454, an energy bill sponsored by Democratic U.S. Reps. Henry Waxman (CA) and Ed Markey (Mass.).

In a statement Wednesday, McDonnell called the cap and trade bill a "job-killer" that would "increase taxes and unemployment in Virginia," harm the state's "competitiveness in the world economy" and result in higher elecricity rates for consumers.

The term cap and trade refers to an approach to limiting pollution emissions.

Under cap and trade arrangements, companies that exhaust pollutants are given a cap. If their emissions exceed that cap, they must purchase (trade) credits with companies below the cap.

Thursday, Bolling echoed McDonnell's sentiments and called on his Democratic opponent, Virginia Beach resident and former state finance secretary Jody Wagner to oppose the bill.

"Cap and trade is a bad policy that is based on political consideration, not sound science," Bolling said.

Those responses follow a letter sent by the American Solutions for Winning the Future advocacy group to McDonnell and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Creigh Deeds that urged both candidates to oppose the federal energy bill.

That group is chaired by former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

This spring, McDonnell and Bolling presented an energy proposal that includes renewable, or green, energy components, but also supports offshore drilling, which many environmentalists oppose.

Reached Thursday, Wagner spokeswoman Elisabeth Pearson said the candidate is "looking forward to a conversation on Virginia's future energy solutions." She also renewed Wagner's call for a series of debates with Bolling during the campaign.

In an e-mail, Deeds' spokesman Jared Leopold said the state Senator from Bath County supports bi-partisan efforts to keep utility rates low, preserve coal jobs and reduce greehouse gases.

"Creigh Deeds is not running for Congress, but he hopes Congress will focus on legislation to address the very serious problem of global warming," the statement reads.

-- Julian Walker

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for following agreed-upon rules of civility. Comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its Web sites. Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the "Report Violation" link below the comment.