Lowkell Posts

The other day, I highlighted California Gov. Jerry Brown's State of the State address as a model for state-level energy and climate policy. In Gov. Brown's speech, he set ambitious goals: increasing "from one-third to 50 percent our electricity derived from renewable sources;" reducing "petroleum use in cars and trucks by up to 50 percent;" doubling the efficiency of buildings in the state.

California Gov. Jerry Brown just delivered his State of the State address, and it was a good one. Below, I've excerpted a key section on climate and energy policy which I'd love to see our own Governor, Terry McAuliffe, incorporate into his upcoming State of the Commonwealth address on January 14.

Even though "Name of the NFL Franchise in DC" isn't on any list of top concerns among Virginia voters, Ed Gillespie's campaign is running out of time and down by a score. Low on cash and down double digits in the polls with just days remaining, the GOP candidate had to throw a hail mary pass. With Dallas hosting Washington on Monday Night Football, Gillespie went on the record in a way that wasn't ostentatious or desperate at all.

What is this "Concerned Women for America" group, whose endorsement Republican candidate for Congress Dave Brat is touting? Get ready for a laundry list of looney: everything from anti-Harry Potter literature to the standard anti-gay rights tirade.

Steve Waters, a rabidly anti-gay bigot who is a leading Virginia GOP operative, has some interesting things to say about the evils of homosexuality. Whether it's wondering if Obama would fly the Christian Flag to the lack of liberals' tolerance to the perversion of marriage by men who put 'part of [their] anatomy where 'poop' comes out of," Mr. Waters certainly has a way with words.

Not that we should expect any better from a group funded by the Koch brothers and other fossil fuel interests, but the bizarre "60 Plus Association" has really outdone itself on this one. The group is crying wolf on an EPA study showing that electricity prices will rise under the new regulations by 2020, but ignoring the fact that the actual cost to consumers will dip by as much as 8.7 percent.

Opponents are weighing a motion for rehearing after feds approve massive $3.8 billion source of pollution without a full Environmental Impact Statement.

Treat Latinos coming over the border like FedEx packages – this is the incredible (and incredibly insulting) solution Virginia State Delegate (and obviously Republican) Barbara Comstock offered up at a recent debate.

From the Democratic Party of Virginia: "Speaker [William] Howell is in a pretty bad place if he's trying to distract Virginians from the Terry Kilgore scandal by drawing attention to... the other Terry Kilgore scandal."

As expected, the Virginia legislature's debate over Medicaid expansion was simply a farce. Republicans are scared of being 'primaried' in elections by even-further right tea partiers, and expanding health coverage to those who most need it is a non-starter.

While the banks have received a large chunk of the blame when it comes to the financial crisis the country still finds itself crawling out of, they haven't shouldered much — if any — of the responsibility. Enter Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring. On Tuesday, Herring announced a $1.15 billion lawsuit against 13 major banks for their role in "fraudulently misleading the Virginia Retirement System." In his statement, he promises that if you rip off taxpayers then "you will be caught and you will be held responsible."

The Virginia General Assembly is set to discuss the Medicaid expansion in an upcoming session. Problem is, the Republican contingent looks set to derail the process before it even starts.

Democratic Virginia Senator Mark Warner is absolutely trouncing his Republican opponent, Ed Gillespie, in a new poll by the Wason Center for Public Policy. It's an over 20 point lead, with even many conservatives voting for the incumbent.

Former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, now on trial for corruption as governor (and busy throwing his wife under the bus while rolling back and forth over her a few times, proving he's a complete cad as well as a sleazeball), has moved out of his home with Maureen and moved in with a priest: Rev. Wayne Ball of St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Richmond. Well, how about we meet the good Reverend.

How much of our hard-earned tax money are Republicans throwing away simply because of their Obama(care) Derangement Syndrome? According to a new study by the Urban Institute and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation — a shit-ton. Yeah, that's a technical term.

The level of ignorance behind marriage equality's opposition in Virginia shouldn't be surprising, but the sheer bigotry might shock you.

Obstructionist Republicans like to say that President Obama's unilateral move to cut carbon emissions at power plants is a shining example of autocratic hubris. Problem is, Virginia – much like the rest of the country – backs the move by wide margins.

Virginia, Kentucky and Florida were called out in yesterday's Supreme Court decision that gave greater protection to death row inmates seeking to prove they should not be executed because they are intellectually disabled. The court ruled 5 to 4 that state laws that draw a bright line on IQ-test results are unconstitutional.

President Barack Obama lambasted the media's penchant for false equivalency in a speech in Chicago Thursday night. We have a group (Republicans) who deny science, who continue to race bait, who's intractable political obstinance has caused the government to grind to a screaming halt. These positions are empirically wrong, plain and simple.

Two vetoes by Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe were upheld by the legislature. The two bills vetoed would have enshrined some of the "religious freedom" dogmas the far right has been pushing of late.