Dear Virginia Department of Environmental Quality,

My name is Jonathan Choi and I am a registered voter in Arlington County. Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the citizen petition filed by Ms. Susan Coleman to reduce and limit CO2 production from electricity generating units. As a concerned citizen and as an environmentalist I wholeheartedly support Ms. Coleman's petition. In addition to echoing Ms. Coleman's sentiments on the importance of regulating CO2 for the purposes of improving air quality and avoiding climate change, I would also like to address her specific point regarding potential improvements to the economy of Virginia. 

In particular, I would like to point to the example of the state of Vermont. While Virginia obviously has a larger population than Vermont, is a larger state by area, and also has larger and more dense cities than Vermont (a quick comparison of Burlington to Richmond or Arlington should suffice), Virginia is similar to Vermont in that much of the state remains as working lands. In fact, the Farmland Information Center notes that nearly 1/3 of Virginia's land is agricultural (http://www.farmlandinfo.org/statistics/virginia). Yet we also understand that farmers are struggling both as a result of changes in culture and in profitability.

One potential way to help ameliorate these issues and catalyze local industry is to encourage the adoption of solar or wind energy on these working lands. In providing tax breaks or other subsidies, the Virginia DEQ would be able to encourage not only local business and industry through the installation and maintenance of these alternative energy generating sources, but also enable farmers to have a more reliable source of income by generating and selling their own electricity. 

It is for these reasons and many of the reasons articulated in the original petition, that I support regulations by DEQ to decrease CO2 emissions.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment,

Jonathan Choi