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## § 45.2-1705 – Legislative findings

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The General Assembly hereby finds that:

1. Energy is essential to the health, safety, and welfare of the people of the Commonwealth and to the Commonwealth’s economy;

2. The government of the Commonwealth should facilitate the availability and delivery of reliable and adequate supplies of energy to industrial, commercial, and residential users at reasonable costs so that such users and the Commonwealth’s economy are able to be productive;

3. The Commonwealth would benefit from articulating clear objectives pertaining to energy issues, adopting an energy policy that advances such objectives, and establishing a procedure for measuring the implementation of such policy;

4. Climate change is an urgent and pressing challenge for the Commonwealth. Swift decarbonization and a transition to clean energy are required to meet the urgency of the challenge; and

5. The Commonwealth will benefit from being a leader in deploying a low-carbon energy economy.