Virginia Climate and Energy Facts:

• The National Climate Assessment identified sea level rise and extreme heat to be two of the most pressing climate impacts affecting theSoutheast United States. Flooding troubles of Norfolk are a prime example.  Norfolk has experienced a foot and a half of sea level rise during the last century.
• According to the Yale Map Project on Climate Change Communication 64% of Virginia residents recognize that global warming is happening. While only 52% are worried about warming now, 61% think warming will harm future generations.
• As part of the Clean Power Plan, Virginia is working towards its goal of reducing state emissions by 31.6% by 2030.  And Virginia has set a target of deriving 15% of its energy from renewable sources by the year 2025.
• As of 2014, there are 2,000 Virginians employed in the solar industry, across 180 companies.  Between renewable energy and efficiency projects, Virginia’s 11,000 clean energy workers outnumber Virginians employed by coal-producing companies. Additionally, future renewable projects will likely grow that figure, with around 10,000 jobs created by Dominion’s new offshore wind project.
• The Yale Map Project on Climate Change Communication also gauged Virginia’s support for regulating CO2 and funding renewable energy. The project revealed that 77% of Virginians support funding renewables research.  It also found that fully 74% would support regulating CO2 as a pollutant, and an estimated 63% would support setting strict CO2 limits on existing coal-fired power plants.