I've been doing a lot of Dominion-related reading lately, as I finished up the story we printed last week and absorbed the reaction to it. There have been some noteworthy headlines about everyone's favorite big utility. For one thing, the Smartgrid program— I referenced it only briefly, but it was a big deal when it came to Charlottesville last summer—seems to have hit some snags.

One of those hurdles is criticism from the State Corporation Commission, which is interesting because on the day my story was published, a major source—Cale Jaffe at the Southern Environmental Law Center—was in Richmond to speak before the SCC about Dominion's proposal for a slate of 12 energy-efficiency programs. Smartgrid is one of those. From this account of the day, it sounds like Dominion had less than smooth sailing.

Meanwhile, the coal industry (via its government mouthpieces) is freaking out because the EPA might declare coal ash to be hazardous waste. It's not clear to me how such a designation might affect operations at Dominion's new Virginia City coal plant, but it would be a big change for the industry.

Zooming out from the local for a sec, here's Grist's take on what Bill Gates is saying about climate change.

And now back home. Here's a nice review of a deer hunting class that happened locally last fall. And here's ol' Tom Perriello being written up as one of the 10 political races to watch this year, environmentally speaking. (Hint: View that story as a single page.)

Finally, I had no idea that the Blue Ridge Parkway gets more visitors than any other unit in the National Park system. Huzzah! (Except boo for all that car exhaust making it an even bluer ridge.)