“Kayaktivists” Call On Gov. Hogan To Reject TransCanada Fracked-Gas Pipeline in Protest on the Potomac River

Protest Encampment Inspired by Standing Rock Reaches Its Culmination

SHARPSBURG, MD — On Friday, August 11 at 1:00 pm, dozens of activists — many in kayaks — spanned the Potomac River in a powerful showing of opposition to TransCanada’s proposed pipeline under the Potomac. Activists paddled down the Potomac with large protest banners, drawing attention to the treasured river through which the pipeline is proposed to be constructed. The group called on Governor Larry Hogan to complete the statewide fracking ban by stopping fracked-gas infrastructure and ultimately reject the project.
Sen. Richard Madeleno (D-18), who supported the recently-passed statewide fracking ban, stated: “At long last, Governor Hogan supported our groundbreaking ban on fracking, but fracking infrastructure still threatens the drinking water of Maryland citizens. For the water and health of all Marylanders, Hogan must complete the ban and reject TransCanada’s fracked-gas pipeline.”
The “kayaktivist” action was among the latest actions of a months-long rolling encampment titled “Standing Rock to Hancock: Camp Out to Stop the Potomac Pipeline,” which has been taking place throughout the summer with camp-outs along the C&O canal near Hancock, Maryland. This is the first extended encampment of its kind used to protest fossil fuels in Maryland history.
Momentum is building and the encampment is growing as part of efforts to urge Gov. Hogan to reject the Eastern Panhandle Expansion Project. When TransCanada held a forum about the pipeline in February, more than 100 residents of Maryland and West Virginia showed up to oppose its construction. Now, dozens of activists have camped out each weekend since the protest encampment launched July 30, and hundreds of calls and comments have been sent to Governor Hogan and the Maryland Department of Environment (MDE), which has the authority to deny the permit necessary for the pipeline’s construction.
Patricia and Dean Kesecker, West Virginia landowners whose land was forcefully claimed by Mountaineer Gas to build the pipeline were also present. Patricia Kesecker stated: “Mountaineer Gas has wrongly taken our land for eminent domain, a process meant to be used for public good. But no good will come of this pipeline. They have taken our rights to our own land, and threaten the rights of everyday citizens to access healthy land and clean drinking water. Mountaineer and Transcanada are trampling on those rights for the sake of their pocketbooks.”
Tracy Cannon, organizer with Eastern Panhandle Protectors, stated: “A leak or spill from this pipeline would result in catastrophe. As we’ve seen in Ohio with the ETP’s Rover Pipeline and even more recently in Pennsylvania with Sunoco’s Mariner East Pipeline, blowouts and leaks of drilling mud during horizontal directional drilling are not uncommon. Tourism is the economic driver in the Eastern Panhandle. We cannot afford to damage our pristine environment for the sake of a pipeline that would bring more harm to our neighbors.”
The proposed Eastern Panhandle Expansion Project is three-mile long pipeline that would carry dangerous fracked gas from Pennsylvania through Maryland and into West Virginia. It would threaten millions of residents in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. who rely on the Potomac river for drinking water.
In order for the proposed Eastern Panhandle Expansion Project to move forward, the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) would need to grant the 401 Water Quality Certificate under the Clean Water Act. Hogan has the ability to direct the MDE to reject this certificate. The MDE has stated that it will hold a public hearing on the permit application in coming weeks.
Brooke Harper, Maryland Policy Director with the Chesapeake Climate Action Network and Environmental Chair for the Maryland State Conference NAACP, stated: “This pipeline would bring no benefits whatsoever to the state of Marylanders, only risks. the pipeline would deepen our dependence on dirty fossil fuels for years to come. With the impacts of global warming accelerating, we cannot afford to wait any longer to switch to clean energy. Instead, TransCanada wants to threaten the public health and drinking water of our communities.”
Before the press conference, campers joined a cave tour at Crystal Grottoes to view the region’s fragile karst geology, which is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves and is easily susceptible to transmission of pollutants through connected underground aquifers. The pipeline could degrade pristine streams and further threaten public and private water supplies. Using hydraulic directional drilling under streams in karst geology would create pathways for water to drain down the bore holes and dissolve the limestone around the piping. This activity can create sinkholes that could impact the integrity of the pipeline, causing subterranean ruptures and even explosions, further threatening the Potomac River.
Organizations participating in the encampment include the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Eastern Panhandle Protectors, Potomac Riverkeepers, Food & Water Watch, Waterkeepers Chesapeake, and the Sierra Club Maryland Chapter.
 

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To view more photos from this event, check out our photos of the Kayak Action and the Crystal Grottoes Tour

CONTACT:
Denise Robbins; Chesapeake Climate Action Network; denise@chesapeakeclimate.org; 608-620-8819
Brooke Harper; Chesapeake Climate Action Network; brooke@chesapeakeclimate.org; 301-992-6875

FERC’s final Atlantic Coast Pipeline report a sham

Citizens turn to states to scrutinize environmental impacts

 
The Trump administration’s final environmental report issued today for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which would carry fracked-gas through West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina, utterly fails to independently assess whether the project is even needed. This is the core issue upon which all other considerations of the controversial project are based, says a coalition of community groups and legal and technical experts.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission relies solely on the project developer’s claims of need for the 600-mile, $5.2 billion pipeline, which would yield substantial profit for Dominion Energy and the other private companies behind the project, while the public would be saddled with the financial, environmental and health risks.
“FERC’s action is an affront to American democracy, ignoring the thousands of citizens who participated in the public comment process and handing over the private property rights of hundreds of families to corporate interests.  As landowners and business leaders, as ratepayers and conservationists, as parents and grandparents, we insist that the state agencies serve the public trust and rigorously examine the impacts of this pipeline in full view of the public,” says Lew Freeman, a Highland County resident and executive director of  the Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance. The coalition comprises 52 local community groups and other organizations in Virginia and West Virginia.
FERC has authority to grant the power of eminent domain for interstate projects, but by law must first determine that the projects serve the public interest. The agency’s Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline fails to do so, says the alliance, whose member groups represent thousands of citizens, including hundreds of families along the pipeline route who are facing the taking of their land against their will.
The alliance points to numerous studies in recent years showing that the gas and utility sector is overbuilding natural gas infrastructure and that electricity demand is projected to grow much less than the pipeline developer’s inflated projections. These analyses are ignored in the impact statement.
The coalition also condemns the agency for glossing over the profound and permanent harm to water resources and drinking water supplies, forest ecosystems, wildlife and endangered species habitat, historic sites, agricultural resources, public lands including the Appalachian Trail and Blue Ridge Parkway, and local economies. The pipeline would also significantly worsen climate change impacts in the region due to the greenhouse gas emissions of drilling, producing, transporting and burning natural gas.   
“Regardless of FERC’s decision, the Atlantic Coast Pipeline is not a done deal. Far from it,” says Freeman. “State leaders in Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina will soon decide whether to grant water quality permits for the project. We call upon each state to give this project the environmental scrutiny it requires, and that they are obligated to do.”
A significant red flag for the coalition is FERC’s reliance on Dominion’s pledges to mitigate harm to water resources rather than requiring the company to provide upfront detailed plans to be shared with the public prior to granting federal certification and the power of eminent domain. The coalition has repeatedly expressed concerns that the standard control measures are insufficient to protect water resources given the scale of the pipeline proposal and the steep and highly erodible mountainsides that must be excavated during construction.
Coalition members are now concerned that state environmental agencies are similarly planning to approve the Atlantic Coast Pipeline before there is a thorough and public vetting of detailed water pollution prevention plans.
In Virginia, in particular, the Department of Environmental Quality has stated it will review those plans (stormwater management and erosion and sediment control plans) separately from its review under the Clean Water Act Section 401. As a result, the State Water Control Board’s decision whether to certify that construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline will not harm state waters will not be informed by the essential details that the erosion and runoff control plans should provide.
Key points from the Final Environmental Impact Statement:

  • Need: FERC fails to make an independent assessment of the need for the ACP, instead relying on the developer’s claims that the project should be built. In doing so, it short circuits any meaningful consideration of the alternatives that could avoid or minimize the harm caused by this project.
  • Public lands. The ACP would cross 21 miles of national forest, destroying 430 acres and threatening the survival of seven federally listed species and native brook trout. The project would be a disaster for the mountain and forest headwaters of the Potomac and James rivers.
    • Public process. The FEIS fails to correct or address the numerous, substantial defects in the draft EIS that government agencies and citizens alike pointed out during the public comment period. In addition, the final document fails to incorporate significant new information that has come to light since the end of the public comment period on April 6, including more than 400 pages submitted in May.
    • Climate: The FEIS continues to ignore the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of the project. It entirely fails to consider emissions from fracking that this massive pipeline would trigger and seriously discounts the emissions from burning the natural gas.
    • Environmental justice: The FEIS notes that the Buckingham Compressor Station #2 could have serious health and safety impacts on three census tracts within one mile with predominantly low-income, minority populations, yet claims the impacts would be temporary or mitigated without adequately detailing the mitigation plans or considering any impact to safety or property values in those communities.
    • Forests: Operation of the ACP (and the companion “Supply Header Project”) would have long-term or permanent effects on about 3,456 acres, including about 2,744 acres of upland forest (deciduous, coniferous and mixed). The recovery time for a closed canopy of mature forest and wildlife habitat could take up to a century or more.
    • Mountain slopes: The project would cross more than 100 miles of slopes greater than 20 percent. Constructing the pipeline and access roads in steep terrain or areas prone to landslide increases the potential for landslides to occur.
    • Ridgetop removal: The FEIS does not require Dominion to make any changes to minimize ridgetop removal, which would impact approximately 38 miles of ridgetop and result in 247,000 trips by large dump trucks to remove the overburden.
  • Alternatives: The FEIS completely fails to even consider renewable energy as an alternative to this project.

 
 
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The Allegheny Blue-Ridge Alliance  is a coalition of 52 organizations in Virginia and West Virginia, founded in September 2014, that opposes the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline because of the ecological and economic harm it would cause the affected region, communities and landowners.  www.abralliance.org
 

Hypocrisy: McAuliffe’s Climate “Alliance” Means Nothing If He Supports Fracked-Gas Pipelines

Statement from Mike Tidwell, executive director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, on VA Gov. McAuliffe joining the U.S. Climate Alliance:

“Governor Terry McAuliffe announced today that he has committed the Commonwealth to an ‘alliance’ with 12 other states to move forward on the principles of the Paris Climate Agreement in the wake of President Trump’s withdrawal from the accord. However, Gov. McAuliffe’s announcement will forever ring hollow as long as he continues to support Trump’s plans to build two massive fracked-gas pipelines through Virginia and to drill for oil off of Virginia’s fragile coastline. The Governor’s commitment to fracking and offshore oil will — if realized — cause Virginia to dramatically INCREASE greenhouse gas emissions in coming years, a total violation of the principles of the Paris Agreement. It is, frankly, hypocrisy for the Governor to support both Paris and violent drilling for oil and gas in and across the state. The best thing Gov. McAuliffe could do to support Paris and oppose Trump is to drop his tragic support for offshore oil drilling and for the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast Pipelines for fracked gas.”

CONTACT:
Denise Robbins, Communications Director; denise@chesapeakeclimate.org; 240-396-2022
Mike Tidwell, Executive Director; mtidwell@chesapeakeclimate.org; 240-460-583

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Photo at the top from Flickr user Edward Kimmel with a Creative Commons license. 

Appalachian Trail Hikers Protest McAuliffe’s Support of Fracked Gas Pipelines

Dozens of hikers in full backpacking gear rally and deliver compasses to Governor, demanding a new “course” on fracking and pipelines that would harm iconic trail

 
RICHMOND, VA – Dozens of Appalachian Trail hikers in full backpacking gear rallied outside Governor Terry McAuliffe’s office on June 2 — the eve of National Trails Day — to oppose the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and Mountain Valley Pipeline. The hikers highlighted the fact that both pipelines for fracked-gas, each of which would cross the Appalachian Trail, would severely impact the viewsheds and water sources along the iconic trail. Following the protest, the hikers delivered dozens of compasses to the Governor’s office, demanding that he chart a new direction for the state.
Companies building the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast Pipelines would lay nearly 1,000 miles of fracked-gas pipeline infrastructure across West Virginia and the Commonwealth, threatening hundreds of waterways and endangered species. Recent data show that the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, supported by McAuliffe and proposed by controversial power company Dominion Energy, would blast away the tops of 38 miles of mountain ridges in West Virginia and Virginia, much of it near the Appalachian Trail. The proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline would likewise deforest and harm valleys and mountains along the trail, causing permanent damage to iconic views.
“The Mountain Valley Pipeline and Atlantic Coast Pipeline are both unnecessary and dangerous projects,” said Jessica Sims, lifelong hiker from Midlothian, Virginia. “They would be irreversibly traumatic to Virginia’s landscape — physical manifestations of disregard for the environment. They are attacks on that which I love: Virginia, the Appalachian Trail, the Blue Ridge Mountains, our park systems, our tourism industry, our water, our ecosystems and our history.”
“I know these mountains, these waters, these forests, and how fragile they are,” said Kathleen “Kit” Johnston, a member of Wild Virginia and Appalachian Voices from Reva, Virginia. “That’s why McAuliffe must say NO to cutting hundreds of miles of pipeline access under and through our ancient mountains, invaluable forests, and irreplaceable waters.”
Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), which McAuliffe oversees, recently abandoned its promise to conduct thorough, site-specific reviews of the impacts that the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast pipelines would have on water quality. Now, the agency wants to abdicate that responsibility to President Trump’s Army Corps of Engineers, which is expected to issue a blanket one-size-fits-all permit that does not look at each individual stream crossing, and therefore does not fully protect these water bodies.
“I’ve been a proud hiker of the Appalachian Trail since I was a kid,” said Mike Tidwell, member of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. “But with the Governor’s support, the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Mountain Valley Pipeline for fracked gas would decapitate mountains within view of the trail and plow through geologically fragile areas. The pipelines would threaten not only water along the trail, but also water for farmers and communities across 13 counties. This is horrifying, and must be stopped.”
The hikers also referred to the climate change impacts of the pipelines. The two pipelines would together create annual greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to doubling all of Virginia’s current power plants combined. If built, these pipelines would lock us into another generation of unacceptable and unnecessary fossil fuel extractions.
“Climate change threatens our mountains, our forests, our rivers, and the entire ecosystem that we depend on,” said Lorne Stockman, lifelong hiker from Staunton, Virginia and senior researcher at Oil Change International. “These pipelines will not only disrupt the Appalachian Trail, but also fuel the destruction of our climate. With Trump pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Accord, it is up to us to defend our future and stopping these pipelines is at the top of our pack list.”
This rally was one of the largest political acts ever in Richmond held by defenders of the Appalachian Trail.

 
CONTACT:
Stephanie Weber, Virginia Director, Chesapeake Climate Action Network; stephanie@chesapeakeclimate.org; 757-871-8639
Denise Robbins, Communications Director, Chesapeake Climate Action Network; denise@chesapeakeclimate.org; 608-620-8819

Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC Will Defy President Trump on Climate Policy

Statement from Mike Tidwell, director, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, on Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement:

THE BAD NEWS: President Trump today sealed his reputation as an economic and environmental wrecking ball with few rivals in US history. Locally, his decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement threatens to reduce jobs and shrink our regional economy. It would do so by embracing fracking and a dying coal industry over the jobs-creating markets for wind and solar power. Trump has endangered our coastal military bases in Virginia with more sea-level rise. He has endangered DC citizens with more life-threatening urban heat waves. He has endangered Maryland agriculture with more erratic weather that harms everything from fruit trees to livestock.

THE GOOD NEWS: President Trump CANNOT stop the growing local movement toward clean energy or the broader international effort to stabilize our global climate. Locally, states are moving faster toward clean energy than ever before because of Trump’s criminal rejection of climate science and sound policy. Virginia has just announced the state’s first-ever carbon cap on power plant pollution. DC is moving toward a citywide carbon fee that creatively cuts pollution while boosting individual incomes. And Maryland has just banned fracking while approving the country’s largest offshore wind farm. This robust state action cannot and will not be slowed by Trump’s federal rejection of climate truth and economic sanity. The citizens of Maryland, Virginia, and DC should rest assured that our states – along with progressive states across the country – will continue to grow our economies with clean energy while fulfilling our historic collective duty to help solve the climate crisis for our children and the rest of the world.

CONTACT:
Denise Robbins; Communications Director; denise@chesapeakeclimate.org; 240-396-2022
Mike Tidwell, Executive Director; mtidwell@chesapeakeclimate.org; 240-460-5838.

McAuliffe officials reverse promise on pipelines. Time to act.

Seven weeks ago, we applauded the McAuliffe Administration’s announcement that it would conduct thorough, site-specific reviews of the impacts that the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast pipelines would have on water quality. After years of public pressure, the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) was finally planning to give these massive pipelines the thorough environmental review they deserve.
On Wednesday, DEQ abandoned that promise. 
The agency says it made a mistake. It was never planning to look at the pipelines’ impacts to Virginia streams, DEQ now says. Instead, the agency wants to abdicate that responsibility to President Trump’s Army Corps of Engineers, which is expected to issue a blanket one-size-fits-all permit that does not look at each individual stream crossing, and therefore does not fully protect these water bodies.
This is Gov. McAuliffe’s responsibility! DEQ works for him. Tell McAuliffe the state MUST do more to protect VA’s waterways.
Back in April, the DEQ was unequivocal. We will look “at each wetland, stream crossing … separately, to determine specific requirements that would be necessary” to protect Virginia waterways, a DEQ spokesperson told the Roanoke Times.
This was hopeful news. If the DEQ carries out thorough, site-specific reviews, we believe it will have had no choice but to reject these disastrous pipelines. There’s no doubt that building the pipelines across steep, well-watered, forested mountain landscapes will harm water resources, including heavy sedimentation of streams, alteration of runoff patterns and stream channels, disturbance of groundwater flow, and damage to springs and water supplies.

The Army Corps process does not involve site-specific analyses. We have no confidence that the Corps’ permit will be sufficient for such a complex project across the state’s steepest mountains. The DEQ is evading its responsibility to conduct thorough reviews of all threats to water quality posed by these pipeline projects.
The state must do more to protect Virginia’s waterways from pipelines. Call McAuliffe today.
 

Virginia Military Veterans Speak Out Against Fracked-Gas Pipelines

New letter signed by military veterans from all branches announces opposition to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and Mountain Valley Pipeline

RICHMOND, Virginia– Military veterans from across Virginia released a letter today opposing two proposed fracked-gas pipelines: Dominion Energy’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline and EQT’s Mountain Valley Pipeline. These pipelines would cross through pristine areas of Virginia, taking private property by use of eminent domain, removing mountain ridgetops, and threatening valuable drinking water resources. The veterans view this as contrary to their service to protect and defend the freedom and security of American citizens.
Their letter, released on Thursday, May 25th, is signed by 14 Virginia veterans from all five branches of the military. The veterans signing the letter state: “We stand together to support our citizens and our Constitution. We stand against [the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and Mountain Valley Pipeline] because we stand against the seizure of private property for corporate gain. Both of these proposed pipelines would create new sacrifice zones and abuse eminent domain to strip property owners of land that, in many cases, has been in their families for generations. This direct attack on the constitutional rights of landowners goes against the oath we all took when we volunteered to serve this great country.”
“As veterans we took an oath to support and defend the constitution of the United States from all enemies, foreign and domestic,” said Adam Fischbach, Hospital Corpsman Second Class, U.S. Navy. “The Constitution was written to protect the rights of American citizens. Now, when we allow a private corporation such as Dominion to overpower individual rights in the name of unjustified business profits, we have lost what it means to be American and to our right of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We, as veterans must take a stand to ensure that individual rights are not stepped on in the name of economic advancement for the fossil fuel industry.”
The letter discusses the battle between indigenous communities and police forces at Standing Rock, when thousands of military veterans showed up to form a human shield around the water protectors when their communities were under threat from the Dakota Access Pipeline. The signatories state: “We will continue to embody that spirit to protect our communities against the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley Pipelines.”
“Pipeline companies target communities like Newport, Virginia because they think we won’t make trouble for them due to our rural values,” said Russell Chisholm, US Army, Desert Storm and Newport resident. “They ignore the fact that people of faith live here. Veterans and active duty service members live here and we take our oath to ‘support and defend’ as a life-long promise. We stand up when Americans are threatened. You better believe we are going to stand up when fellow veterans are threatened.”
In the letter, released on behalf of Veterans Service Corps., the signatories renounce the pipelines for ensuring “that Virginia remains shackled to fossil fuel extraction for another generation.” They call for action on climate change, noting a “proven demand for a future that is powered by clean energy and innovation.”
“It’s time we stopped looking backwards at dirty energy technologies of the past and started creating jobs in energy efficiency, solar, and wind energy,” said Dave Belote, Colonel (retired), U.S. Air Force. “Hampton Roads should be the center of a mid-Atlantic offshore wind industry that can employ thousands, maximize the use of our port facilities, and point the way to a clean, resilient future.”
The joint letter will be sent to Governor Terry McAuliffe as well as each of the five Virginia gubernatorial candidates: Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam, Tom Perriello, Ed Gillespie, Virginia Senator Frank Wagner, and Corey Stewart.
 

The letter can be read in full here.

 
Contact: Jamshid Bakhtiari, jamshid@chesapeakeclimate.org, (757) 386-8107.
 

 
Photo at the top from Flickr user Joe Brusky with a Creative Commons license. 

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe Proposes Statewide Carbon Cap Through Executive Action

Advocates Now Call On Governor To Drop Support For Offshore Drilling, Fracked-Gas Pipelines

Governor Terry McAuliffe today announced an executive action paving the way for Virginia to significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions from fossil-fuel power plants. The governor announced a directive which, by the end of this year, could create a legal framework for the state to create its own carbon cap program to annually lower power-plant pollution. That program would most likely be linked to the highly successful Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a cap-and-trade system now in place from Maine to Maryland — or to California’s cap-and-trade system.
To date, McAuliffe’s policies on climate and energy have earned him very poor grades from many environmental, faith, student, and justice groups. See this 2016 “report card” giving the governor a D-plus grade on climate and energy policies. And see this “open letter” to the governor last June.
But today’s action will significantly improve the governor’s grade. The governor can further cement a positive legacy on climate change by finally dropping his support for offshore oil drilling in Virginia and – most importantly – drop his support for two massive proposed pipelines to transport fracked gas from West Virginia to Virginia. The global warming emissions from the two pipelines – the Mountain Valley Pipeline and Atlantic Coast Pipeline – would, if built, create a new pulse of greenhouse gas pollution that would completely undo any reductions stemming from the governor’s executive action today on power plants. It is possible – and hoped – that the executive action today could itself dampen the market for fracked-gas pipelines and new gas-powered plants in Virginia. It could do this by rewarding carbon-free generation like wind and solar over gas combustion and the attendant pipelines. But this is unclear at this point.
Statement from Mike Tidwell, Executive Director, Chesapeake Climate Action Network:

“Though late in his administration, Governor Terry McAuliffe did the right thing today in announcing a pathway for Virginia to significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. The governor’s executive ‘directive’ unveiled today is precisely what environmental advocates have been asking the governor to do for over two years now. With President Trump dismantling climate policies nationally, it’s reassuring that Governor McAuliffe has at last responded in a powerful way. This move could soon allow Virginia to cap carbon pollution in a systematic way, likely linked to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative now in place from Maine to Maryland. Now, the governor should further cement his climate legacy by opposing offshore drilling for oil and opposing the massive fracked-gas pipelines that Dominion and other companies want to build across the state.”


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CONTACT:

Denise Robbins; Communications Director; denise@chesapeakeclimate.org; 240-396-2022
Mike Tidwell, Executive Director; mtidwell@chesapeakeclimate.org; 240-460-5838

Photo at the top from Flickr User VCU ANS with a Creative Commons license. 

In Historic Move, Maryland Public Service Commission Approves Two Offshore Wind Farms

The Maryland Public Service Commission today awarded offshore wind renewable energy credits (ORECs) to two projects, bringing what will become the nation’s largest offshore wind farms to Maryland’s shores. The two projects will bring 368 megawatts of wind energy capacity, together yielding over $1.8 billion of in-state spending, spurring the creation of almost 9,700 new direct and indirect jobs and contributing $74 million in state tax revenues over 20 years, according to the PSC.

Mike Tidwell, Executive Director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, stated:

“After years of visionary advocacy from citizens and businesses across Maryland, the state’s Public Service Commission today approved two major offshore wind farms off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland. These wind farms will be truly pioneering facilities, leading Maryland and the nation toward a 21st century economy that combats climate change and creates jobs in droves at the same time.

The Chesapeake Climate Action Network commends the PSC for correctly assessing the economic, health, and environmental gains integral to these projects. Major thanks must also go to the Maryland General Assembly for passing landmark legislation in 2013, which created incentives and guidelines for offshore wind development. And major credit must go to former Governor Martin O’Malley (D) and his staff who, for years, lead this fight with a vision filled with climate urgency, a sense of social justice, and a devotion to sustainable and vibrant economic growth. This major move toward offshore wind power would not have happened without Governor O’Malley.

Now CCAN is optimistic that the PSC approval today will quickly lead to near-term construction of nearly 400 megawatts of offshore wind. This marks the real start toward an extensive offshore wind industry that will one day soon stretch from Cape Cod, MA to Cape Hatteras, NC and provide as much as a third of the East Coast’s electricity

CONTACT:

Denise Robbins; Chesapeake Climate Action Network; denise@chesapeakeclimate.org; 608-620-8819

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Leaders Unveil “Carbon Fee and Rebate” Plan for the Nation’s Capital

Local Groups Propose Plan to Penalize Carbon Pollution, Rebate Millions of Dollars to City Residents, Invest in the Green Economy, and Create Tax Credits for Businesses

WASHINGTON, DC – Local faith leaders, economic justice advocates, labor organizers, environmentalists, and others gathered on the front steps of D.C.’s city hall on Thursday to unveil a dynamic “carbon fee and rebate” plan to reduce global warming pollution in the city of Washington, D.C. The plan would charge polluters for their carbon emissions and rebate the overwhelming majority of the revenue back to every resident of the District.
The groundbreaking plan, released in the wake of April’s massive Peoples Climate March in D.C., outlines how the District of Columbia can reduce carbon pollution in the city while increasing employment. The plan will also boost incomes in the District through a universal “carbon rebate” paid to every resident on a quarterly basis, including an enhanced rebate to low-income District residents. The plan would also make investments in green infrastructure throughout the city. Finally, the plan proposes using a small share of the carbon revenue to create a tax credit for local businesses.
“After months at the table, community leaders representing the vast majority of D.C. residents have put together a remarkably fair and effective policy to address climate pollution,” said Jeremiah Lowery, a Ward 4 resident and organizer for the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “This policy would significantly reduce carbon pollution in the city, create a badly needed new source of income for residents, and grow the D.C. economy at the same time.”
On the heels of last autumn’s unsuccessful carbon tax initiative in Washington State, the D.C. campaign to put a “price” on carbon is backed by a unified alliance of labor leaders, environmentalists, and economic justice advocates. These include the D.C. Sierra Club, the Service Employees International Union Local 32B (32BJ SEIU), Interfaith Power and Light, the Working Families Party of D.C., Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Black Millennials for Flint, and more. The groups are unified under the “Put a Price On It D.C.” campaign.
The proposed policy would apply to natural gas and oil consumed in the District as well as carbon-intensive electricity and emissions linked to transportation (exempting public transportation). It would rebate 75% of the carbon revenue to all D.C. residents, invest 20% in green energy projects, and use 5% to reduce property taxes for local businesses. Legislation proposed by the group would be called “The Healthy Climate, Healthy Business, and Family Rebate Act of D.C.”
“Carbon pollution and climate disruption threaten the health of our children and the future of our community,” said Mark Kresowik, a Ward 4 homeowner, father, and Deputy Regional Director for the Sierra Club.  “Our diverse coalition has worked together and found common ground to ensure polluters pay for their damage, help those who have been overburdened by pollution and underserved by economic opportunities, and make clean energy and transportation more available to families, workers, and businesses.”
Advocates released economic data showing how a rebate-oriented carbon fee – beginning at $20 per ton of CO2 in 2019 and rising to $150 per ton in 2032 – would benefit local businesses, workers, and household incomes in D.C. Advocates enlisted the services of the well-known D.C.-based think tank called the Center for Climate Strategies (CCS) to run sophisticated computer model runs based on these carbon fees for the District. For this purpose, CCS employed an energy/economic computer model from the highly respected company Regional Economic Models, Inc., and found that the mix of 75% rebate, 20% investments, and a 5% property tax cut for businesses produced maximum benefits while reducing carbon pollution by 23% in the city by 2032.
Said Josephine Chu, co-founder of local D.C. catering company, Zenful Bites: “Zenful Bites is proud to be part of the ‘Put a Price on It D.C.’ coalition. This policy will expand our customer base and make our city a healthier, safer place to live. We’re happy to help move this campaign forward for a more sustainable economy.”
Starting on day one, the money raised through carbon pricing would be returned to every D.C. resident through a quarterly rebate, with extra money earmarked for low-income residents.  In just the first year of this policy, every family would receive over $500/year, and every low-income family would receive nearly $900 per year. This amount would steadily increase over time to more than $1,600 and $2,750 by 2032 for average families and low-income families respectively. Roughly 75% of D.C. residents would see their net incomes increase, with low-income residents seeing a rebate of roughly four dollars for every dollar they pay through the carbon fee. Only the wealthiest D.C. residents, who use substantially more energy than average households, would pay more through the fee than they see in rebate. This progressive rebate structure, combined with green investments and local business tax reductions, will ensure that D.C. reduces carbon while creating net job growth and boosting average incomes. This proposal, for example, would create new jobs in construction, food service, and other high-employment sectors of the economy.
“It is time to put the health and welfare of our communities before polluters’ profits, as communities of color, working families and immigrant communities disproportionately suffer the devastating impacts of toxic pollution and climate change,” said 32BJ SEIU member and private security officer, Judith Howell. “Our communities are targeted and our air and water are poisoned first. But we can work together to overcome and hold polluting corporations and their lobbyists accountable, so we can change the direction of climate change.”
“So many of our D.C. faith communities understand that climate polluters should pay for the damage they’re doing to our common home, and should take responsibility for the harm that their pollution is causing for our most vulnerable neighbors,” said Joelle Novey, Executive Director of Interfaith Power & Light (DC.MD.NoVA). “Looking forward, we anticipate that our country will ultimately put a national price on carbon. We’re getting started today by joining with all people of goodwill in the District to make climate polluters pay.”
See our fact sheet here for more information.


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