Wal-Mart to the rescue

Considering we’re talking about a geographically challenged Democrat governor this could fall under the heading of “blind squirrel” but this story by Jim Nolan in the Richmond Times-Dispatch shows some pretty good thinking by Virginia Governor Tim Kaine.

But it wasn’t necessarily all his doing, as several other states are using Wal-Mart to conduct similar energy audits for their state buildings. The article by Nolan also points out a report from the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) that Virginia could cut its energy usage by 20 percent by 2025 if they adopted some steps outlined in the piece. Of course, coming up with the $11 billion to implement all of these recommendations is one difficult part of the equation and what Suzanne Weston of ACEEE doesn’t make clear is the first and most obvious question I would ask: what is the payback period for that $22 billion in savings she promises?

I’ll tell you why the energy audit as performed by Wal-Mart is a pretty brilliant idea: you’re using the resources of a company which is dictated by its market to make things as efficient as possible, thus getting the best possible prices for its customers while assuring themselves and their investors a healthy return on investment. If they’re going in to do an energy audit chances are they’re loaded for bear.

It’s truly unfortunate though that this Wal-Mart approach is only going to apply to energy efficiency in buildings. The issue at hand is that government by nature tends to be less than as streamlined as it could be; mainly it’s the idea of those who draw their paychecks from government not to overwork themselves out of a job. If government ever truly fixed a problem, the department, bureau, or agency set up to deal with it would no longer have a reason for existing.

But fear not, denizens of the left wing, Governor Kaine hasn’t fallen off the liberal wagon yet. As the Nolan piece also notes:

The governor’s climate change panel has set a goal of reducing greenhouse gases 30 percent by 2025. The panel’s full report is due Dec. 15.

Kaine yesterday outlined his strategy for Virginia. It includes conserving 400,000 acres of open space, some 260,000 acres of which already have been preserved.

Kaine also said Virginia has allocated $600 million to Chesapeake Bay cleanup over a two-year period and is limiting development along the oceanside waters of the Eastern Shore.

With 40 percent of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions attributable to transportation, Kaine said the administration is promoting increased use of public transit and commuter and freight transportation by rail.

Would it not make a little more sense to limit development along the bay that they’re paying to clean up? My guess is that the ruling class in Virginia has more money invested in development along the western side of Chesapeake Bay than they do on the Eastern Shore. (If you’re not familiar with Virginia’s Eastern Shore, there’s not a lot there to begin with – its two counties account for less than 1% of Virginia’s population and Governor Kaine is limiting its potential even more.) Certainly the Eastern Shore of Virginia isn’t looming large on the radar screen for mass transit or rail transportation either.

At least the citizens who inhabit that backwater of Virginia do have a Wal-Mart or two to shop at.

Author: Michael

It's me from my laptop computer.

One thought on “Wal-Mart to the rescue”

  1. Early in my college career, there was a pretty severe ice storm that basically shut down west/NW Missouri and a good portion of midwest. My college was in a small-ish town- pop. 15,000 but pretty isolated. The ice storm shut down the electricity in the WHOLE town… except for Walmart! Leave it to Walmart to have a generator when the city’s electricity was out!

Comments are closed.