Virginia

A Aerial Photo Of Fredericksburg Va on a clear fall day

Rappahannock Tribe first in U.S. to enshrine rights of nature into constitution

By Peter Schulte / November 22, 2024

The Rappahannock Tribe in Virginia has become the first tribal nation in the U.S. to adopt a tribal constitution that grants legal rights to a river, specifically protecting the Rappahannock River’s rights to exist, flourish, and maintain clean water. The provisions allows legal cases on behalf of the river itself, with a tribal court system planned for 2025 to enforce these rights. The Rappahannock’s actions are part of a rights-of-nature movement that includes Ecuador’s constitutional recognition of these rights in 2008 and New Zealand granting legal personhood to the Whanganui River in 2017.

Offshore wind farm

Biden-Harris administration approves largest offshore wind project in U.S. history

By Peter Schulte / October 31, 2023

Located approximately 23.5 nautical miles offshore Virginia Beach, the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project will provide about 2,600 megawatts of clean, reliable offshore wind energy, capable of powering over 900,000 homes, and provide about 900 jobs each year during the construction phase and an estimated 1,100 annual jobs during the operations phase.

Paving road

Five U.S. states are repaving roads with unrecyclable plastic waste

By Peter Schulte / January 13, 2023

Pilot programs are ongoing in Missouri, Pennsylvania, Virginia, California, and Hawai’i are already seeing promising results.

Student in a library with back turned

Many U.S. states now allow mental health absences for students

By Peter Schulte / June 21, 2022

At least nine states now allow students to take mental health days. Other states using less expensive solutions like in-class mediation, mindfulness exercises, and social-emotional training.

Cop car

Virginia joins 20 other U.S. states banning ticket quotas for traffic cops

By Peter Schulte / June 15, 2022

The National Motorists Association says that “a speed trap exists wherever traffic enforcement is focused on extracting revenue from drivers instead of improving safety.”

Bald eagle

The Rappahannock Tribe has reacquired 465 acres of sacred land in Virginia

By Peter Schulte / April 4, 2022

The Tribe plans to educate the public about their history by constructing a replica 16th-century village and expand their “Return to the River” program.

Blacksburg

Solar projects transform abandoned coal mines in Virginia

By Peter Schulte / March 9, 2022

The Nature Conservancy hopes to bring clean energy jobs to the overwhelmingly rural and Republican area in Virginia that has lost more than 27,000 people since 2010.

Robert E. Lee statue

Richmond’s massive Robert E. Lee statue has been removed

By Peter Schulte / September 8, 2021

Lee’s statue was the largest Confederate monument in Richmond, Virginia and one of the largest in the country. Nearly every other Confederate statue in the city was removed last summer by protests or the city itself.

"I voted" stickers

Virginia restores voting rights for the previously incarcerated

By Peter Schulte / March 19, 2021

Under the new policy, Virginia joins Maine, Vermont, and Washington, D.C who all maintain voting rights for felons and even protect the right to vote for individuals during their prison time.

Seagrass

World’s largest seagrass restoration project grows from 600 to 9,000 acres off coast of Virginia

By Peter Schulte / October 29, 2020

Marine scientists and volunteers spread more than 70 million eelgrass seeds off Virginia’s shores. Led by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and with help from The Nature Conservancy, the project has grown to over 8,896 acres.