Editor, Gazette-Journal:
In April 2024, Donald Trump asked oil, gas and coal executives for a $1 billion campaign “donation.” By year’s end, fossil fuel industry tycoons delivered over $450 million to Trump and Republicans.
Their return on investment? The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA)—a sweeping rollback of solar and wind tax credits, paired with expanded subsidies for fossil fuels. Why? Because solar and wind growth are a direct threat to the fossil fuel industry’s near-monopoly over electricity generation. To protect their profits, they need to slow or stop the clean energy transition. A fabricated “energy emergency” then allowed Trump to keep dirty and expensive coal and gas plants operating through executive orders.
Virginia’s 1st District Representative Rob Wittman voted for OBBBA, claiming it would “protect Medicaid, cut wasteful spending, and lower energy costs.” Polling shows 54 percent of Virginians—including 59 percent of independents—oppose this legislation. Virginians ...