Town Hall Meeting

Green Means Go In This Economic Recession

Congressman Bobby Scott spoke to the City of Richmond in a Town Hall Meeting about the new American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

By Laura Peters petersle@vcu.edu

Tuesday night marked a momentous occasion for the American citizens. Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to provide clean energy and green jobs to the people of America.

Tuesday night’s Town Hall Meeting held at the Adult Career Development Center at 119 W. Leigh St. with Congressman Bobby Scott was to bring awareness to the people of Virginia that there are new opportunities that await. Offering new jobs, tax cuts, investments in roads, bridges, mass transit and much more.

“A lot of jobs are created through investment in green jobs, most of which cannot be outsourced,” said Scott. “So we’re optimistic.”

J.R. Tolbert, an advocate for Environment Virginia, a citizen-based environmental advocacy organization, said that this was only one of the three town hall meetings being held in Virginia this week. Another meeting will be held in Fairfax.

“The goal is to let people know the environmental benefits of the green recovery package, as well as the job opportunities that can be created through investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency and mass transit options,” said Tolbert.

“When I watched the president talk today and sign that, tears came to my eyes,” said Karl Bren, part of Green Visions Consulting, a green organization that helps corporations with events and planning. “We’ve been needing this for a long time. The world changed today. And it’s got to change.”

The new bill passed Tuesday is to create and save 3.5 million jobs and give 95 percent of American taxpayers an immediate tax cut.

The bill will also help will the school system, according to Scott. The school’s K-12 will get a significant amount of money directly through the school system as well as Colleges will get an extra $500 bonus to their bell grants, said Scott. School construction is also a major part of the stimulus in the bill.

Michael Schewel, Chair of the Corporate Department at McGuire Woods, a legal practice and former Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade said that to have green jobs, they have to make money. He also noted that going green is expensive.

According to Glen Besa, the Director of the Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club, an environmental organization, there many sources in this bill to help invest in those green alternatives.

“There’s a tremendous amount of money in there and programs in there directed at green jobs,” said Besa. “I think that’s important for a lot of reasons. One….is the issue of climate change. We need to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.”

“Experts have announced that in this decade, the 2000s carbon emissions worldwide have been increasing at a rate of 3.5 percent a year,” said Dr. Thad Williamson, an assistant professor of leadership studies at the University of Richmond. “Which is a rapid increase from what happened in the 90s, which was at an increase of only 1 percent.”

Bill Kuster, a volunteer for the Democratic Campaign said that he is excited about the new credits that are going to be given with the bill.

“I’m a new homeowner so I’m interested in windows credit, tank-less water heater credit and a lot of things like that,” said Kuster. “You know there are guys that have been dying to install windows in my house, and I’m kind of glad I waited till this year because this year there’s a tax credit.”

With the new American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, education will be invested in, science and technology will transform the economy, and workers hurt by the recession will be helped.

The new bill passed Tuesday is to create and save 3.5 million jobs and give 95 percent of American workers an immediate tax cut.

The bill will also help will the school system according to Scott. The school’s K-12 will get a significant amount of money directly through the school system as well as Colleges will get an extra $500 bonus to their bell grants said Scott. School construction is also a major part of the stimulus in the bill.

Michael Schewel, Chair of the Corporate Department at McGuire Woods and former Secretary of Commerce and Trade said that to have green jobs, they have to make money. He also noted that going green is expensive.

According to Glen Besa, the Director of the Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club, there is a lot of money in this bill to help invest in those green alternatives.

“There’s a tremendous amount of money in there and programs in there directed at Green Jobs,” said Besa. “I think that’s important for a lot of reasons. One….is the issue of climate change. We need to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.”

“Experts have announced that in this decade, the 2000s carbon emissions worldwide have been increasing at a rate of 3.5 percent a year,” said Dr. Thad Williamson, an Assistant Professor of Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond. “Which is a rapid increase from what happened in the 90s, which was at an increase of only 1 percent.”

Bill Kuster, a volunteer for the Democratic Campaign said that he is excited about the new credits that are going to be given with the bill.

“I’m a new homeowner so I’m interested in windows credit, tank-less water heater credit and a lot of things like that,” said Kuster. “You know there are guys that have been dying to install windows in my house and I’m kind of glad I waited till this year because this year there’s a tax credit.”

With the new American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, education will be invested in, science and technology will transform the economy, and workers hurt by the recession will be helped.

Economy and Its Effect on Restaurants

Richmond's Residents are Full with the Economy

With the economy in a rut, restaurants in the Monroe Park area of the City of Richmond don't seem to be hit hard by tough times.

By Laura Peters petersle@vcu.edu

With the economic recession hitting the citizens of Richmond hard these days, everyone still needs to eat. Despite closings of some business in the Richmond area, like Circuit City, restaurants in the Monroe Park area don’t seem to be suffering as bad.

Sam Chase, a server at the Village Café at 1001 W. Grace St. said there hasn’t been much change in business, maybe even an improvement.

“We’re not in a regular market space,” said Chase. “There’s 30 some odd thousand kids at VCU and they have to walk between the dorms and here so we kind of get a good break … Everyone has to eat.”

It’s not all about eating; it’s also about the atmosphere. Chase said that The Village is one of the few restaurants smoking is permitted in early in the morning and may be the reason why people keep coming back.

After the holidays are over some businesses struggle to keep their customers coming back.
Grayson Collins, a manager at the Strawberry Street Café at 421 Strawberry St. said business is down.

“Our business is down some,” said Collins. “But it typically is in January…the holidays. We’re probably down 5 percent from what we’d normally be.”

Collins also said Strawberry Street Café offers specials for lunch and brunch. He isn’t too worried about his business though.

“We’ve got a lot a history here and a lot of regulars,” said Collins.

Jeremy Dunn, a server and bartender at Mojo’s Philadeli at 733 W. Cary St. said that their business is pretty steady. They only thing he’s seen change in the five months he’s worked there is that there’s only one waitress working during the day rather than two. Mojo’s also offers a new budget section on its menu for customers.

The business at Crossroads Coffee & Ice Cream at 26 N. Morris St. remains in good standing as well. Owner Jeff Kroll said it’s the same crowd, same people and regular business.

“We have not necessarily seen a drop in business as much as we have probably seen changes in what customers are buying,” said Kroll. “Instead of a $4 latte they’re buying a drip coffee. Instead of buying a sandwich, they’re buying a muffin.”

Kroll said that at Crossroads he hasn’t changed anything from the way he ran his store before. They only thing he said that has changed is making sure that there aren’t workers that don’t need to be there.

To keep customers coming back he said that it’s more of a routine for customers to come to his shop.

“I’d say it’s a cross between loyalty and routine,” said Kroll. “They don’t want to stop that routine just because they’re a little light in the pocket.”

The Roxy Café at 1104 W. Main St. has actually improved in business. Jason Quintana, a server and bartender at Roxy said after ownership switched last year numbers have been up. Roxy is also offering specials where everything is $5 and putting in a dart room to make it more appealing to get more customers in.

“It’s been up and down,” said Quintana. “It hasn’t really changed too much in that at night we pretty much still have the same crowd…but food sales are kind of if-y.”

Even though the current economic crisis has hit some places hard, the restaurants are still surviving.

Mountaintop Removal

There’s Coal in Thar Mountains

The Appalachian Mountains are no longer purple mountains majesties but now stripped bare for the consumption of coal.

By Laura Peters petersle@vcu.edu

Students at Virginia Commonwealth University are voicing their opinions on efficient energy sources and the end of mountaintop removal. It is a big controversy that people need to become more aware of, according to organizations like Appalachian Voices, an organization trying to stop the practice. All Dominion Power users in Richmond are contributing to it, because Dominion gets its energy from a plant in Hopewell, which uses mountaintop removed coal.

Mountaintop removal is a quicker way of obtaining coal when the top layer of the mountain is removed to access coal. According to Appalachian Voices, mountaintop removal has an effect on the environment by creating deforestation, contaminating drinking water, and destroying mountains.

“The reason we have a demand for coal is the way the utilities are structured. It makes it more economically attractive to them to produce electricity from coal powered because they make more money that way,” said Hilary Lufkin, the Virginia Campus Organizer for Chesapeake Climate Action Network.

The CCAN’s main goal is to fight global warming in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.

“We can avoid all of our projected energy use up to the year 2025 by simply investing our money in available efficiency technologies,” said Lufkin. “That’s actually economically better for the consumer, but Dominion isn’t making as much money that way…coal companies aren’t making as much energy that way.”

More efficient technologies include solar, wind, and thermal energy; all sources that are renewable.

According to Dominion’s report Dimensions in 2008, coal is the most abundant and inexpensive fuel source. Dominion also believes that any attempt to improve the nation’s energy must include coal. Dominion Power and the Hopewell plant run by James River Cogeneration Company were contacted several times but refused to comment for the purpose of this article.

The Energy Information Administration says coal is a nonrenewable energy source because it takes millions of years to be created. Once it's used, more can't be made, all that is left is what has already been produced.

“I became interested in clean energy sources primarily because the idea of global warming scares me,” said Chris Stoicsitz, a biology major at VCU. “Even though it probably won't have a huge impact on me during my lifetime, I don't want my kids coming up later and being like, ‘Hey thanks, Dad, because of you, we're living under a mile of ice.’”

Mountaintop removal causes rapid changes to landscape and habitats for animals, according to ILoveMountains.org, a site that gives information on mountaintop removal and ways to be active in stopping it. The Environmental Protection Agency states that the burning of coal emits carbon gases which causes greenhouse gases to rise.

“With mountaintop removal you're drastically changing the landscape,” Stoicsitz said. “Forests don't grow overnight, so hypothetically speaking when they're finished mining and have a reforestation attempt, you're still talking about a long time before that forest actually grows back.”

Peter Defur, part of VCU’s Center for Environmental Studies, thinks that it is important for the U.S. to move more towards clean energy, because it has the largest carbon dioxide emissions per person in the world.

“We have to get that emission rate down in order to slow and reverse global warming,” said DeFur.

Chris Dorsey, a member of the peace rallying organization RVA4PEACE, is a big advocate for ending mountaintop removal.

“The energy we’re using is destroying the planet,” Dorsey said. “Specifically with mountaintop removal and coal. Coal is the most climate changing carbon that we can put into the atmosphere.”

DeFur said ways to get involved in informing people of mountaintop removal and its effects are through on-campus chapters, such as the Sierra Club, talking about the issue in classes, sending in letters, or organizing public forums.