Virginia Must Move To Clean Energy

This letter to the editor appeared in today’s Richmond Times-Dispatch.

At Gov. Bob McDonnell’s energy conference, the participation spoke for itself. Virginians want renewable energy. As an attendee at the conference, I was struck by the fact that the sessions covering renewable energy topics were relegated to tiny meeting rooms, while the sessions about traditional fossil fuel sources were granted huge spaces similar to a college lecture hall.

The irony of this? The renewable energy sessions were jam-packed while the fossil fuel sessions were nearly empty. After the first day, event organizers moved the “dirty energy” sessions into much smaller spaces, but a common theme emerged during the three-day conference: We want clean energy but the state is falling behind the pack.

Presenter Cody Nystrom from SJF Ventures noted that companies located in states with mandatory renewable portfolio standards (RPS) have a much greater chance of receiving funding for clean energy projects than non-RPS states like Virginia.

Meanwhile, McDonnell claims to be fully committed to his “energy capital of the East Coast” idea. If he’s serious about that, he must not sit idly by and continue to allow surrounding states to reap the benefits of tax revenue and jobs from new clean energy projects.

Following the conference, it became more clear than ever that Virginia is ready to move beyond dirty fossil fuels and we have the strong economic incentives and necessary support from state energy professionals to make this overdue shift. It’s high time McDonnell and the General Assembly stopped planning energy conferences and started acting to give the burgeoning clean energy sector the support it sorely needs. We’re ready.

Chelsea Harnish
Richmond

CO-OPting the Power

In the climate movement, we often find ourselves butting heads with utilities, fighting their resistance to investments in energy efficiency and renewables and constantly working to match their financial influence on policy with people power. Usually, customers are powerless to the energy decisions of their utility and don’t have much of a say in whether their electricity comes directly from a dirty coal-fired power plant or clean alternatives such as wind and solar.

However, that story is changing in Virginia and across the country as electric cooperative members, where ratepayers are also part owners of their utility, are building power and making changes in their coop. In electric cooperatives Continue reading

Supporting wind in Virginia

Op ed in the Roanoke Times
September 2, 2010

From the severe winter storms in the Mid-Atlantic to the horrendous flooding in Pakistan and the intense heat waves facing many areas of the world, it is clear our climate is changing. While no one weather event can be linked to global warming, there is mounting evidence that climate change will result in more severe weather events, as the world has been experiencing over the last nine months. Because of this pattern, it is more urgent than ever that society acts to stop climate change by whatever means necessary. Every step we can take, big or small, brings us incrementally closer to solving the climate crisis. Locally, one such step is the Poor Mountain wind project.

Wind power is a clean, renewable energy resource that does not pollute our air with dirty fossil fuel emissions, which is why the Chesapeake Climate Action Network is giving its full support to the Invenergy Poor Mountain project. As the first grassroots, nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to fighting global warming in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington DC, we see the need to move forward with clean, renewable projects to seriously curb the harmful effects of climate change. With more than 3,000 miles of shoreline, Virginia is extremely vulnerable to sea level rise, making it imperative that every region of this great Commonwealth does its part. This wind project has the potential to reduce carbon emissions by 98,000 tons annually in the Roanoke region, which is the equivalent to taking 20,000 cars off the road. In 2008, Virginia’s Commission on Climate Change recommended that Virginia return to year 2000 greenhouse gas emissions levels by 2025. Virginia cannot meet this goal without reducing its reliance on fossil fuels. Continue reading

What happens when a priest, a rabbi, and an imam ask their senators to get serious?

Over one hundred Virginia clergy have united to send a message to Senators Webb and Warner that climate change is moral issue and their action is required. They delivered their letters to the senators’ offices and got some great press hits. See below for Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light’s release on the letter’s delivery:

RICHMOND, Va. — As the US Senate prepares to take up climate and energy legislation, over 100 religious

leaders from across Virginia delivered letters to Senators Webb and Warner today, making a moral case for comprehensive

climate legislation that includes strong emission reductions, international adaptation assistance, and protections for low-income families.

The letters were delivered in person to senate staff during meetings in Richmond today by a representative group of signers. Numerous others are calling the Senators’ DC offices to deliver their message. Transcending the intense lobbying from special interest groups, the faith community is calling on lawmakers to honor the values of caring both for our neighbors and for God’s creation.

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VIDEO: Share the dirty secret of mountaintop removal.

Mountaintop removal is devastating hundreds of square miles of Appalachia; polluting the headwaters of rivers that provide drinking water to millions of Americans; and destroying a distinctly American culture that has endured for generations.

Watch this new commercial from our friends at the http://www.ilovemountains.org and help share the dirty secret of mountaintop removal.

**commercial may not play in some browsers (like google chrome)… you’ve been warned**

MD General Assembly 2010 – Clean Energy Victories and Session Summary

This year, CCAN and our partners continued the fight to keep Maryland at the national forefront on clean energy policy. We fought for a number of bills aimed at shoring up Maryland’s hard-won carbon cap and building on other clean energy policy victories of recent years. It was a tough fight, given the state budget difficulties and a state Senate that environmental groups were ready to declare an environmental dead zone at the end of the session. But, thanks to the hard work and dedication of grassroots activists across the state and many dedicated environmental advocates, we managed to score some victories for the climate at the final hour. At the top of our agenda this year was the fight to get a comprehensive energy plan for Maryland. Having a statewide comprehensive plan is absolutely essential to ensuring that Maryland is able to meet its ambitious climate and clean energy policy goals while creating thousands of new clean energy jobs in the process. House Bill 522 and Senate Bill 910, if passed, would have required the creation of a state energy plan that is consistent with all state environmental laws and required the Public Service Commission to review proposals with respect to that state plan. Sadly, both bills died in committee. However, thanks to the clear public support for this important energy blueprint, some legislative leaders recommended administrative action. So we are now working with Governor O’Malley and his administration to create a comprehensive energy plan. Stay tuned for more info on this effort. In addition to the comprehensive energy plan, CCAN fought for a variety of other important clean energy initiatives including an expansion and acceleration of the solar portion of the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard, the creation of clean energy loans programs, improvements the state’s net-metering policies, and an effort to prepare the state to cope with the stronger storms we are starting to face as a result of climate change.

Here a summary of how those bills fared:

Solar Energy: SB 277/HB 471 (WIN!) The Administration bill accelerating solar energy production in Maryland passed. However, the targets for accelerating the solar energy production were significantly weakened in the final version passed by the House.

Net Metering: SB 355 and HB 801 (WIN!) Both bills will improve our net metering law, requiring utilities to pay for excess power generated by solar power or other on-site generators.

Clean Energy Loans: SB 720/HB 1014 (LOSS) This common sense bill would have helped property owners afford clean energy projects, but was ultimately defeated, largely because of hard-fought lobbying efforts by the banking industry, which would have faced competition from the loan program.

Climate Adaptation: SB 1092 (LOSS) This bill would have empowered the state to study the connection between this past winter’s historic snowstorms and climate change, assess the future likelihood of such strong storms, and take steps to finance our emergency and disaster preparedness forces to deal with such future storms. Despite dying in Finance committee, the committee leadership is planning to work with the governor’s office to try to accomplish the goals of the bill.

With three wins and two losses, this Session wasn’t a perfect one for climate and clean energy policy but it certainly was one in which we carried Maryland further down the path towards the clean energy future. Big thanks to all of you amazing activists out there who proved that even in a tough year for environmental legislation, the power of grassroots action can achieve wins for the climate. We’re looking forward to continuing to work alongside you next session, and in the coming months in our ongoing efforts to win victories for the climate.

Reason #12: China is winning the global clean energy race

Forty years after the first Earth Day, the world is in greater peril than ever, but there is also an unprecedented opportunity to build a new future.

We need an “Earth Day Revolution” to bring about historic advances in climate policy, renewable energy, green jobs, and to catalyze millions who can make personal commitments to sustainability by mobilizing the power of people to create change. We need the Senate to stop stalling and start acting on clean energy and climate solutions for America.

That’s why we’ve joined others in presenting Congress with 40 reasons to take action. Every day until Earth Day activists will deliver another reason to offices of Congressional leaders.

CCAN’s very own Chelsea Harnish joined others to deliver reason #12 to Senator Webb and Warner’s Richmond offices. Her message? China is winning the global clean energy race. Her method of communicating her message? An actual race.

Clean Energy: Betting on the Future

Cross-posted from: here

I have a column out in the Diamondback today about why despite the opposition of the fossil fuel industry, America needs to pass a strong Federal climate bill in order to thrive in the 21st century.

Clean energy: Betting on the future

This past June, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a landmark global warming and clean energy bill called the American Clean Energy and Security Act. Now Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) is doing something exciting for a change by introducing the Senate counterpart to the House bill called the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act.

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