Take a hike, Keystone pipeline

The Baltimore Sun
By Mike Tidwell
I’m walking from Camp David to the White House starting Friday — 100 miles in the July heat. I’m doing this to honor the 19 firefighters who died fighting a wildfire near Prescott, Ariz., on June 30. These men died particularly horrifying deaths doing particularly heroic deeds. I’m also walking to honor the 50 men and women who died during the oil tanker train explosion this month in Lac-Megantic, Canada.
Continue reading

VP Biden: Virginians say no KXL

How do you get the attention of one of the most powerful decision makers in the world?

Many would say there is only one route: through his wallet. Though this past Saturday, I saw another way: through the people. After countless hours petitioning and phonebanking, the big day had finally come. We set up in front of the coliseum and waited for our activists to arrive. Over the course of fifteen minutes around seventy people showed up. We outfitted them with magic marker signs and homemade miniature wind turbines and began the slow march around the convention center.


 
Continue reading

Student activists protest pipeline

The Breeze

By IJ Chan

JMU students and Harrisonburg residents are joining the national fight against the Keystone XL pipeline.
The 2,147 mile long Keystone XL pipeline currently brings crude oil from Canada to the U.S. Midwest. A 1,700-mile long extension would carry the oil through to Texas. Many people nationwide are concerned that the installation of the pipeline would bring devastation to the environment by severely polluting the air, water and soil with excessive carbon emissions.

Continue reading

Senator Warner: Stand with Virginians, Not Big Oil!

When Virginia Senator Mark Warner decided to flip his stance on the tar sands pipeline, Virginians were ready to march to his door and let him know that if he claims to be a leader on climate change, he cannot support the Keystone pipeline!

Yesterday, over 20 climate activists, including students and constituents from across the state, stormed Warner’s Richmond office to voice their outrage over his recent support for the KXL.

Continue reading

Climate activists urge Warner to reject pipeline

Richmond Times-Dispatch

By Markus Schmidt

About a dozen climate-minded activists rallied outside Sen. Mark R. Warner’s Richmond office on Main Street on Monday, urging the Democrat to vote against the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

Warner recently told President Barack Obama that he supports the pipeline but hopes the project’s construction can be tethered to more effective energy efficiency policies.

Continue reading

Virginians rally at Sen. Warner's office ahead of Keystone XL vote

For Immediate Release
March 18, 2013

Contact:
Kelly Trout, 240-396-2022, kelly@chesapeakeclimate.org; Molly Haigh, 907-750-1999

Dozens of Students, CCAN, 350.org, EAC join forces to demand Warner oppose toxic pipeline

RICHMOND, VA—With a vote on the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline looming in the US Senate, dozens of concerned Virginians rallied outside Sen. Mark Warner’s office today to demand that he vote against the project. While the senator has been vocal about his concern for climate change in the past, constituents wanted a guarantee that he stands with them in opposing a toxic pipeline top climate scientists have referred to as “game over for the climate.”

Continue reading

Charlottesville climate activists tell Sec. Kerry: No KXL!

Virginia climate activists aren’t letting up on Keystone XL after Sunday’s hugely successful climate rally in DC. John Kerry came to the University of Virginia today to deliver his first official speech as the Secretary of State, and UVA students with CCAN and Central Virginia 350 turned out to urge him to oppose the dirty oil pipeline.

Armed with a huge banner and chanting “No tar sands pipeline!” the group drew attention from passersby and Secretary Kerry himself, who walked by with a wave to acknowledge our message. During his speech, Kerry came out swinging on climate change. He made the economic case for climate action, tying rising seas and higher temperatures to greater costs from extreme weather and other climate impacts. 

Secretary Kerry is right – we need to see climate action and we need to see it now. He and President Obama have a great opportunity, a great responsibility, to match their words with action.

Continue reading

CCANers to Ryan in Virginia: No KXL

The day after the Republican National Convention of 2012 concluded, Ryan appeared today at a rally in Richmond Virginia in stifling 100-degree August heat on an airport tarmac, and local climate activists greeted him with a clear message to pass on to his running mate Mitt Romney: No Keystone XL Pipeline.

While candidate Romney spent the day reaching out to Americans affected by flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Isaac, recalling the damage done by Hurricane Katrina and the risk of stronger storms hitting the Gulf Coast and mid-Atlantic as the climate changes, Ryan addressed a sizable swing-state crowd. As he began to bring up the issue of energy and speak about Virginia’s coal reserves and the need to use it, local activists took a stand for the climate and unfurled a banner for the candidate to read.

Continue reading

Barack Obama Drives Past CCAN Banner at Charlottesvile Rally

As excited motorists, bicyclists, and people on foot passed by, local citizens and I held up a banner telling the president that his “‘all of the above energy’ policy won’t stop climate change.” Even the air tingled with excitement, as the crowd’s cheers echoed from the pavillion and the ever-present security forces barely hid their anticipation. After getting politely removed to a nearby location on Market, I knew that the moment I was waiting for, when we would show the President our message for more clean energy, was near.

Continue reading