Wind power

There’s nothing clean nor cheap about wind power.

Without government largesse, aka taxes and credits, it doesn’t get built.

Without rare earth mining and the “cost“ in environmental damages, it doesn’t get built.

Without ratcheting up our electricity bills and sending vast numbers of Americans to collections for bills they can’t pay, it doesn’t get built.

Without the military caving on the loss of functional radar capabilities, it doesn’t get built.

Without gas and nuclear as a back-up when the wind doesn’t blow, it doesn’t get built.

Without real great public relations that we reduced the cost per kilowatt hour or the meme we’re lowering carbon dioxide emissions (see China’s hundreds of new coal-fired plants), it doesn’t get built.

Without a lawsuit to recapture tax money that Dominion Energy can afford to pay from its profits, it doesn’t get built.

So, no, wind isn’t the be all and end all savior.

Nuclear and gas would have been better safer choices, just not as “feel good.”

Stephen Restaino, Chesapeake

Broken system

Re “Indefensible” (Our Views, Dec. 28): National security is a legitimate concern for any energy project. But when a project has spent 12 years completing federal reviews, secured every required approval, and begun construction — only to be halted months from completion — something is broken in our system.

Dominion’s offshore wind farm followed the rules. Billions were invested and thousands of jobs created, all based on the reasonable expectation that completed permits mean something. Whether you support this particular project or not, the precedent should concern every American who cares about economic competitiveness.

When any administration can override years of completed permitting through broad executive discretion, no investor can plan with confidence — whether they’re building wind farms, pipelines, transmission lines or manufacturing plants. The result is an unstable business environment where long-term projects become gambles on who occupies the White House.

This isn’t a partisan problem. Across administrations, executive overreach into permitted projects has created uncertainty that drives investment overseas and raises costs for consumers — even as Virginia faces surging energy demand. This decision should be reversed. But reversing one bad decision isn’t enough.

Congress is actively debating permitting reform, but the conversation must go beyond streamlining initial approvals. These recent actions underscore the need to establish clear boundaries on executive authority throughout a project’s life cycle — so that completed permits provide certainty regardless of political winds.

Congress must reassert its authority over energy policy through comprehensive permitting reform that creates predictability across administrations.

Alaina Coppa, Blacksburg

Disenfranchisement

Re “Let’s end felony disenfranchisement. Virginia may lead the way” (Other Views, Dec. 22): I read with interest the guest column urging an end to Virginia’s “outdated system of felony disenfranchisement.” One thing missing from that column was an accounting of what percentage of Virginia’s convicted felons had ever voted, or even registered to vote, before they committed their crimes. I wonder why Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger and her fellow Democrats are so eager to restore voting rights to persons who never bothered to exercise that right.

Dianne G. Ringer, Portsmouth

Taxes

Re “Credit union mission creep is costing Virginia communities” (Other Views, Dec. 24): Corey Connors’ guest column states if credit unions in Virginia were taxed like banks they would have contributed more than $100 million in tax revenue in 2024. As a taxpayer I can see his point, but he then goes on to list how that tax money could have been spent: “by educating 6,000 students, hiring 2,000 firefighters or providing Medicaid to 27,000 low-income children.”

All his suggested recipients are currently funded whether the credit unions pay Connors’ tax or not. What I don’t read is a suggestion to refund that $100 million in taxes to Virginia’s 3.3 million working families.

J.C. Snead, Virginia Beach

https://www.dailypress.com/2026/01/01/letters-for-jan-2-nothing-clean-nor-cheap-about-wind-power/