Youth Activists Ask VA Democrats To Support Green New Deal Bill

RICHMOND, VA — Members of the Sunrise Movement, a youth-led environmental group, occupied the office of Del. Eileen Filler-Corn, Virginia's new Democratic Speaker of the House, Monday morning, demanding she support a bill called the Green New Deal Act. With Democrats now in control of the General Assembly, the Sunrise Movement and other environmental groups are pushing state lawmakers to champion legislation aimed at drastically cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

"Virginia is demanding a Green New Deal today by taking over the Speaker of the House's office. Democrats ran for office on a Green New Deal and now Sunrise Virginia is making sure they commit to their promises," the Sunrise Movement said Monday in a tweet.

Del. Sam Rasoul introduced the Green New Deal Act, HB 77, in the 2020 session of the Virginia House of Delegates, a bill that would place a moratorium on state agencies approving the construction of new power plants powered by fossil fuels. The bill also would place a moratorium on state agencies from granting permits for the construction of natural gas pipelines that require the use of eminent domain to run pipelines through private property.

Inside the halls of the General Assembly Building in Richmond, activists expressed hope that their actions would lead to progress on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Virginia, including preventing the construction of new pipelines.

In conversations with Virginia lawmakers, the activists argued they should support HB 77 over the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which they contend is insufficient to address climate change.

Del. Joshua Cole of Fredericksburg expressed his support for the Sunrise Movement activists and the Green New Deal Act. "We have no more time to mess around — the time to act was YESTERDAY!" Cole tweeted after meeting with the activists.

The office of Speaker Filler-Corn had not responded to a request for comment from Patch at the time this article was posted.

Jennifer Lewis, one of the founders of the anti-pipeline advocacy group Friends of Augusta and a former candidate for the House of Delegates, told activists gathered inside the Capitol that 2020 could be the year that the Atlantic Coast Pipeline gets canceled. She noted that none of the natural gas pipeline's proposed route in Virginia has been built due to opposition from residents who live along its path.

Last week, a federal appeals court in Richmond threw out a permit needed by developers of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline to build a natural gas compressor station in a historically African American community in central Virginia.

Del. Wendell Walker, a Republican from Lynchburg elected to the House of Delegates in November, said in a statement that people should be good stewards of the environment. But he contends HB 77 would, among other things, create new regulatory burdens on businesses that would then pass down the cost of those regulations onto their customers.

"This legislation would also specifically target the primary way Virginians consume energy and I fear, if enacted, would do more damage than good," Walker said in a statement.

In response to Monday's protests in Richmond, Walker said: "I encourage all citizens to exercise their first amendment right to petition the government for a redress of grievances, communicating their thoughts on legislation. While I may disagree with the proposal, it is important all Virginians have the freedom to express their thoughts."