Hi Jonathan,
YOU MADE A DIFFERENCE! THANK YOU!
Thank you for taking our Calls to Action. We adopted 2 dozen bills as priorities and to date have sent 22,410 emails to legislators on the Committees that hear those bills! Congratulations! (One delegate's Chief of Staff called to let us know that flooding legislators on the House Commerce & Labor Committee with our emails has made a HUGE difference!)
PLEASE TAKE A MINUTE TO SUPPORT 2 NEW CALLS TO ACTION. Click the links below.
Reduce Electricity Costs to Consumers – Require Data Centers to Lower Demand. Yes on SB371. Massive data center growth is straining Virginia’s electricity grid and is causing customer bills to rapidly increase. SB371 directs the SCC to establish a demand flexibility program, which would require data centers to lower demand during periods of peak electricity use. This will eliminate the need for new polluting power plants and provide significant savings on electricity bills to Virginia families.
In Senate Committee on Monday 9 Feb, take action by Sunday PM: Support SB371
You Took This Action for the House. NOW Please Take it for the Senate.
Stop Dirty Diesel. Data Centers are Polluting Our Air. Yes on SB619. Over 2000 enormous so-called “Back Up” data center diesel generators have been permitted for 24/7 use. Stop non-emergency use of dirty, polluting diesel generators NOW!
In Senate Committee on Monday 9 Feb, take action by Sunday PM: Support SB619
All our current actions are HERE, with many of the promoted bills, e.g. on battery storage and tying data center tax incentives to clean energy, also docketed for Monday 9 Feb, so the last push is on. We update priority bill status HERE.
INQUIRING MINDS - HOW DOES THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS WORK?
In brief, Delegates submit their bills in the House and the Speaker of the House assigns the bills to specific committees. If the bill is passed out of a committee, it is voted on by the full House of Delegates. If the House votes in favor of a bill, it “crosses over” to the Senate. The same process occurs on the Senate side. If both the House and Senate pass the same bill, it goes to Governor Spanberger, who either signs the bill into law or vetoes it. If either the Senate or House amends each other’s bills during “crossover,” a small conference is convened to see if the two sides can reach agreement. The last date for a bill to ‘cross over’ this year is February 17th.
MAKE YOUR VOICES HEARD:
Still time to sign up to join other Activists in Richmond for Climate Lobby Day on the last day before Crossover, February 17, 8 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Sponsored by the Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club and Chesapeake Climate Action Network. Sign up for Climate Lobby Day HERE. See you in Richmond!
Constituent Voices are Important ! Many legislators are hosting in-district town halls to update on proceedings in the General Assembly near the halfway point of session. Show up and make sure your issue concerns are heard.
You may also wish to send a constituent letter - take the partner action with Sierra Club to write both your Delegate and Senator on bills related to data center regulation, the most impactful issue across multiple environmental concerns.
Thank You!
