Environment

Part 1: 

Wave Power to Virginia? Scotland Shows the Way 

This week, we’re reporting on marine energy – power generated from waves, currents and tides.  As a state with 112 miles of coastline, Virginia should be a prime candidate for development of this resource, but so far there’s no sign of an industry.  To understand why, reporter Sandy Hausman traveled to Scotland, ground zero for efforts to exploit marine energy in Europe.

Smithfield is the world’s largest producer of pork in the world – a Virginia-based company with farms and packing plants in the U.S., Poland, Romania along with joint ventures in Mexico. Each year the firm raises 16 million animals, and it buys another 14 million from independent farmers to supply the world with bacon, ham and other products made from pigs. 

Most owls are nocturnal and we're lucky to see them. We usually hear them.
That's the great horned owl with a "Who! Who!" we associate with owls. But these are the other owls in Virginia.

(owl sounds)

That was the Barn, Eastern Screech, and Barred Owl.  According to Sabrina Garvin, Executive Director of Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center, those four raptors are not only majestic but vital:

A yearly consensus is about to begin in waterways leading to the Chesapeake Bay.. a count of nesting bald eagle pairs. There was a time when their very survival in Virginia was in doubt, but as Evan Jones reports, their numbers now may be nearing the saturation point.

Virginia’s coal economy has endured boom and bust cycles for generations.   But this time may be different. Competition from cheaper fuels and climate concerns are creating a downward spiral for the industry. What some see as a ‘war on coal’ others see as a timely transition to new energy sources, but everyone is wondering what that future will look like.