Posts by Jalmer Johnson

The nationwide attack on Public Broadcasting Services spread to Virginia this year when Governor Bob McDonnell utilized his line-item veto to cut state funding for public broadcasting. Public radio is a favorite punching bag for conservatives. But in this case, the facts and rhetoric couldn't be more different, and unintended consequences loom. This unfortunate decision will force Virginia's public schools to spend more tax dollars for less quality.

Plant fertilizer does a great job providing extra nutrients to your lawn or garden, but it is also having a disastrous effect on the Chesapeake Bay. Whenever a big storm rolls through the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, an area that encompasses six states and at 64,000 km2 is about the size of Florida, rainwater runoff carries everything around it into the Bay. This includes the large amounts of fertilizer used by Virginians on their lawns and gardens.

Talk about turning a lemon into lemonade--or a tasty garnish. Over the past three years, with the help of an innovative federal grant, watermen from Virginia have removed over 28,000 abandoned ‘ghost’ crab pots from the Chesapeake Bay. The effort has provided a surprising trove not only for job creation but for environmental amelioration, and could prove a model for similar breakthroughs.

As oil prices continue to climb, and gas prices have eclipsed the four dollar per gallon level, our country's need for alternative energy sources becomes clearer. One of the cleanest forms of energy is wind turbines, and Virginians could become benefactors of wind energy in the near future. These efforts deserve strong grassroots support.

Virgina is increasingly known around the country for the quality of our wine, and wineries have created hundreds of jobs around the Commonwealth. Twenty years from now could Virginia also be known across as a hard cider state? That was the hope of the Virginia General Assembly on February 3, 2011 when they unanimously passed House Bill number 2295.