Episode 26. Virginia Politics On-Demand. State Sen. Frank Wagner on energy policy and transportation.
While Democrats continue to offer very little in the way of solutions to our energy concerns, unless you count RAISING the price of oil (such as removing subsidies for energy companies, increasing the gas tax, etc.), some responsible legislators, including Virginia’s own State Sen. Frank Wagner, are trying to move the debate in a direction that helps America preserve its energy security.
Today, while President Bush was calling on Congress to lift the ban on off-shore drilling, Sen. Wagner was also calling on Gov. Kaine to use his “considerable influence in national Democratic politics” to do the same with his Democratic colleagues.
For next week’s special session, Wagner will introduce a bill which will establish the Offshore Energy Revenue Fund. Should the bill pass and the moratorium on offshore drilling be lifted, revenues from taxes collected from offshore drilling will be distributed to the following state budget items:
- 40% to the Transportation Trust Fund
- 40% for Chesapeake Bay cleanup efforts
- 10% to the Renewable Electricity Production Grant Fund
- 10% to the Virginia Costal Energy Research Consortium.
“Literally millions upon millions of dollars may be lying out of eyesight off our Virginia shores,” said Wagner. “Tapping these potential natural resources could improve our lot in three ways: Virginia motorists would be eventually pay less at the pump, vital government programs would be better financed, and our economy would receive a boost from the business activity generated by the exploration and drilling.”
Jim Hoeft intervviews Sen. Wagner as he travels home from Richmond:
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Tags: Frank Wagner