Last Saturday at the 10th Annual Vegetarian Festival in Bryan Park, Richmond, Virginia I experienced my first day petitioning with the Chesapeake Climate Action Network as we began our new campaign – Safe Coastlines. Throughout this campaign we will be collecting thousands of petitions and calling on Virginia policymakers and Dominion power to develop energy efficiency and clean energy, as well reducing the current climate impacts that were already noticing. I was excited to see that virtually everybody was as passionate about protecting Virginia’s coastline from climate change devastation as I am.
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.
Dominion: It's Time for Virginia Offshore Wind
On Tuesday morning, CCAN’s Virginia team and members of the newly created VA4Wind coalition came together to formally announce our campaign to bring offshore wind energy to Virginia. Because Dominion Virginia Power is the commonwealth’s largest electric utility, the coalition is calling on the company to develop a large-scale offshore wind energy project off of Virginia’s coast. We hope to compel Dominion to include offshore wind in its September 2011 Integrated Resources Plan (IRP).
At the event, VA4Wind leaders touted the plentiful benefits of offshore wind energy and the opportunities it provides for the commonwealth, including the addition of thousands of new jobs and a new revenue source for Virginia’s economy, cleaner air and water, and stable long-term energy prices. With plentiful offshore winds, a deepwater port and a skilled and experienced labor force, Virginia could easily be the east coast capital for America’s new offshore wind industry.
In just a matter of weeks, VA4Wind has already collected more than 3,000 signatures from Virginians who want to see Dominion take concrete steps towards developing offshore wind power. In addition, more than 60 Virginia businesses and organizations have already pledged their support for offshore wind energy.
Sign the petition today, and if you own a business or non-profit, please add your business’ name to our platform sign-on letter here. Continue reading
A tale of 3 cities and 2 very bad bills
Two bills before the General Assembly right now, SB 128 (McDougle) and HB 1300 (Kilgore), would limit the Air Board’s authority to regulate polluters in non-attainment areas. When a region fails to meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, set by the EPA to protect public health, the EPA will designate that area as a non-attainment region. Currently only Northern Virginia is listed as a non-attainment region in Virginia. However, Richmond and Hampton Roads are expected to be designated as non-attainment areas by March 2011.
Living in a non-attainment area is bad for your health. Smog and soot, measures used to determine ambient air quality, are linked to So2 and NOx which are in turn connected to decreased lung function, aggravated asthma, chronic bronchitis, irregular heartbeat, heart attacks, premature death. According to the American Lung Association, “Ozone smog threatens the health of infants, children, seniors and people with . . . lung disease. . . . Even healthy young adults and people who exercise or work outdoors can suffer from high levels of ozone pollution.”
Not only is a non-attainment area a major health issue but it is an economic development issue as well. Regions of non-attainment encounter significant federal restrictions. Businesses looking to develop in Virginia do not want to locate in Non-Attainment areas because of these increased restrictions. Getting out of non-attainment is critical for public health and economic development.
Now, back to the bills. SB 128 and HB 1300 would limit the Air Board in how it regulates a non-attainment area. Currently, the Air Board can prohibit major polluters in non-attainment areas from purchasing credits for excess pollution, thus forcing them to actually clean up their acts. With the passage of these 2 bills, the Air Board would no longer be able to prohibit this trading practice. What this means is that major polluters can continue to pollute in non-attainment areas while small businesses will continue to be heavily regulated, making it that much harder for areas to clean up their air.
SB 128 was amended to exclude existing non-attainment areas (NoVA) from this new regulatory change. Delegate Kilgore, the patron of HB 1300, promised he would make the same amendment, but this morning as he presented the bill before committee, he kept it as is. The bill passed out of committee without the NoVA carve out. If both bills pass they will be placed in conference committee to reconcile the differences. Either way, this isn’t good news for Richmond or Hampton Roads. Please call your state senator today and ask them to vote NO on HB 1300 when it comes to the floor.
Mile Long Petition
You really owe it to yourself to watch this video. It’s funny, it’s inspiring, and it’s all about great people coming together to fight climate change. Continue reading
UPDATE: No New Coal Resolution in Richmond
The City Council of Richmond is officially the first and only locality to kill a resolution against the Wise County coal plant. Why? Because City Council President Bill Pantele didn’t like it. In fact, Mr. Pantele went out of his way to kill this resolution.
The resolution was originally scheduled for a full council committee hearing at the beginning of February but it was postponed at the very last minute by, you guessed it, Mr. Pantele. The decision was so last minute that not even the sponsors of the resolution knew that it had been removed from the agenda until walking into the meeting. Pantele told me himself that everyone on council had been getting “a lot” of phone calls from constituents on this. Apparently the wishes of his constituents are irrelevant.
While we waited for the resolution to be rescheduled, Dominion representatives had time to meet with each member of City Council. Continue reading