Why would a guy from Maine with a degree in sociology pack up his car and move 739 miles to Fredericksburg, Virginia? Social justice
Transparency…What is that?
In our recent efforts to educate member-owners and ratepayers of the Rappahannock Electric Cooperative through phone calls and door-to-door visits, I have realized that this campaign goes so far beyond stopping a coal plant. Of course at an estimated 110,000+ pounds daily of toxic emissions daily, this would be one big smokestack of doom for the Chesapeake watershed. But this is not simply an environmental issue disguised as a transparency/accountability issue to involve co-op members that are not necessarily eco-minded.
Our educating co-op members really is empowering people.
Canvassing yesterday I heard from several member-owners that they
$6 Billion Coal Plant?!
This blog post is written by Stephanie, a CCAN fellow reporting from Fredericksburg, where CCAN has just opened a new office to educate local electric co-op members that they have a say in whether the $6 billion coal plant that’s been proposed for the Hampton Roads area of VA goes forward. Throughout the summer, our fellows will be writing posts on our progress.
Since starting two weeks ago I have learned a lot about the proposed coal plant and all of the devastation it would cause to the sensitive Chesapeake Bay ecosystems, many of them already struggling. As well as the more immediate effects it would have on the people of the electric co-ops who would necessarily see an increase in rates, one that as I have heard could break some of these families or older couples already experiencing tough times in this economy. What’s more, even if they are not in such dire financial straits, they are going to be paying for this $6 billion plant whether they support it or not and most of them have never even heard of it! One of the most motivating things about the campaign (in addition to the purely environmental) is finding out and then changing the fact that almost none of the co-op member-owners seem to have any clue about what kind of dirty energy their money is being invested in!
The most fun thing I’ve done on the job with CCAN is in
How clean are your local waterways?
In a recent report released by Environment America, The Commonwealth of Virginia comes in second in the country for the most polluted waterways. Not a designation any Virginian should be proud of to say the least. The data used in this report comes from the EPA’s very own Toxics Release Inventory.
The report also found that nearly half of our country’s waterways are too polluted for fishing, swimming or other recreational activities because polluters are continuing to use them as major dumping grounds. As I blogged about previously, coal-fired power plants are one of the biggest threats to our waterways yet there are no federal regulations on the proper disposal of toxins from these plants into nearby rivers and streams.
It’s time polluters cleaned up their act and federal and state governments started cracking down. One way our state government can begin working toward removing our beautiful Commonwealth from this list is by refusing to allow new coal plants such as the one proposed for Surry County in the Hampton Roads region. This coal plant would be the largest in the state, if built, and would only be a mere 35 miles from our precious Chesapeake Bay.
Want to join the fight? You can sign our petition or attend the public hearing on November 23 in Surry County. Tell your friends and family to get involved too. We can do better for our waterways and ourselves.
Coal is the Word– Spread it!
Today the Virginia Air Board had its quarterly meeting and looking at the agenda one thing is crystal clear: Coal is impacting air quality all over the Commonwealth.
As I write this from the meeting room, and the Air Board is hearing reports on problems associated with coal-fired power plants from one end of the state to the other, an indication of the growing focus on issues related to mining and burning coal in Virginia. No fewer than seven coal-related issues are on today’s agenda.
Currently I am listening to the preliminary findings from ongoing monitoring of air quality in residential areas of Wise County (Roda to be specific). These areas are affected by toxic dust from trucks transporting coal from mountaintop removal sites to nearby processing facilities. So far I’ve heard from two Department of Environmental Quality employees and one representative for Cumberland Resources (the coal company creating the dust). Public testimony from the community is yet to come but a pattern is clear in regards to what the coal industry thinks about the dust issue in Roda: Yes, there’s toxic dust in air but it’s no one’s fault. Could be attributed to faulty data perhaps or bad roadways, but we certainly shouldn’t be concerned if it’s only dangerous to breathe a couple of days a year. Apparently air is not connected: air tested at one person’s house doesn’t mean the community’s air is dirty.
Last I checked breathing wasn’t something we can decide to do only on days when the air isn’t filled with toxic dust.
They Air Board is also reviewing a proposal by Old Dominion Electric Cooperative to build a 1,500-megawatt power plant in Surry County, which would be the single largest coal-burning plant in the Commonwealth. During the public comment period, we got to hear from several residents from Surry County who have serious concerns with regards to this plant. The Surry coal plant discussion came right after testimony on “High Priority Violators,” which highlighted that coal plants in Hampton, Charlottesville and Russell County are all exceeding their air pollution permits. It’s no surprise that the citizens of Dendron and surrounding Surry County are opposed to having a monstrous 1500 MW facility in their backyards. Preliminary air permit applications have indicated that this plant will dump plenty of toxic emissions into the air and water — from mercury to carbon dioxide to fly ash to lead.
I think it’s fair to say you hear pretty regularly about the impacts of CO2 as an endangerment to public health given the recent Environmental Protection Agency finding, and people do what they can to moderate their fish intake due to mercury concerns.
One issue you don’t hear about in the front of the news is lead, mainly because the jury isn’t out debating the impacts on lead. We’ve been pretty clear on how dangerous lead is for a while now and it’s been removed from all aspects of our lives (even in amounts as small as what used to be in our pencils!).
Betsy Shepard, who lives in Surry County got it right when she offered public testimony and held up a Thomas the Train toy that her son plays with. She noted that toys containing lead paint are to be removed from her children at once because they are a risk. Then she noted that the Surry coal plant is projected to emit 1000 pounds of lead each year for the next 50 years!!! What is Betsy supposed to do if this plant is approved? How is she to remove the risk that air will pose to her family?
There is a lot on the agenda today, lots of concerns have been raised with regards to coal’s cumulative impact on the Commonwealth. I have hope that a new energy future is not far off as we begin to make the connection between air quality and public health and coal and our electricity. As the true cost of our energy enters the public domain, we will begin to transition to a clean energy economy that will expand the Commonwealth’s economy and ensure public health.
Dendron, Va. chooses its own future.
Dendron, Virginia, has more than its share of challenges. The community of around 300, located in the southern corner of Surry County, struggles with an outdated municipal water system, crumbling sidewalks and no major businesses within the town.
Prior to the Great Depression, Dendron had been a company town of more than 3,000, fueled by the lumber industry’s presence there. Private business thrived in a town that revolved around the processing and export of timber across the country. Despite its character as an industrial one-trick-pony, the town of Dendron had something to stand for, and an industry to be proud of.
Today’s Dendron little resembles that historic vision of the 1900’s boomtown. Largely forgotten by the industry that once supported a thriving community, and facing serious municipal and community problems, such as an unexpected $10,000 water bill, you’d think the small town would take anything at this point to give it an economic boost.
The Old Dominion Electric Cooperative assumed this to be true when executives within the cooperative approached Dendronites with a plan for a new 1,500-megawatt coal-fired power plant, the second largest of its kind in Virginia. ODEC presented the Cypress Creek project with the promise of new jobs, tax revenue, and the idea that one major industry would bring others to the cash-strapped community. Despite local environmental effects and immediate hazards to human health, ODEC worked to assure Dendron residents that they stood to benefit from such a plant’s construction. ODEC also assumed that they’d buy into it without any major hiccups.
The cooperative, which has endlessly dispelled misinformation concerning the proposed plant (see “Hope for Surry Shines through smog”, 3 June), encountered a major hiccup Monday evening. As the Dendron Town Council met for its third meeting to deliberate the adoption of an ordinance that would allow the coal-friendly county board of supervisors to assume the community’s zoning rights, tensions
Hope for Surry shines through the smog
Surry, Virginia, is about as picturesque as they come. A portrait of the rural south, Surry and its neighbor, Dendron, offer testament to the unique charm and unavoidable beauty that accompanies the idea of small-town America. Wary of outsiders and exceptionally warm toward neighbors and friends, the residents of Surry County understand the inherent splendor of a life that is unhindered by external influence. Naturally, it comes as no surprise that Old Dominion Electric Cooperative’s proposed dirty, unhealthy, coal-fired power plant has been received with very few open arms in the community. Of course, this has not dampened the large cooperative’s desire to take advantage of a small town with its share of economic difficulties. With the promise of new jobs and increased tax revenue, ODEC has repeatedly stressed the so-called benefits to be won from the massive plant’s construction. On Monday evening, Dendron’s town council brought these claims to task during their regular meeting. Dendronites are engaged in a fight against the health of their community, their children, and the irreplaceable beauty of the surrounding environment.
Is a Coal Plant in Surry County a Bad Idea? CCAN Asks Terry McAuliffe
This morning the Chesapeake Climate Action Network successfully caught the attention of Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe at a rally he hosted at the 17th Street Farmer’s Market in Richmond, Virginia. Richmond Town Councilman Marty Jewel kicked off the morning, and former President Bill Clinton introduced Mr. McAuliffe. The theme of the rally was “New Energy for New Jobs,” and the candidate’s speech centered repowering the commonwealth and creating new jobs for Virginians. CCAN wanted to ask Mr. McAuliffe about his position on a recently proposed coal fired power plant for Surry County, a Hampton Roads community. Well, we got his attention!
Got $6 billion? Another new coal plant proposed for VA
On Tuesday, good ol’ king coal proposed another new coal plant for Virginia, but this time it’s going to be over 3 times as expensive and in Richmond’s back yard. Old Dominion Electric Cooperative says it will cost $6 billion to build the plant, which is necessary “to meet energy demand that the cooperative projects will double in the next two decades.”
Of course this is outrageous. Despite the climate crisis, and the fact that 72% of Virginians believe that immediate action is needed to address global warming, the coal barons of Virginia are still trying to sneak through midnight coal plants.
It’s ironic that this announcement has come on the heals of Governor Kaine’s Climate Commission report. The report calls on the state to reduce its total carbon emissions 80% by 2050. Despite this goal, based on the findings of climate scientists around the world, the Wise and Surry County plants would result in millions of tons of additional greenhouse gas pollution undermining efforts to actually reduce emissions.
Says Glen Besa in a press release by CCAN and our allies in our fight against the Wise County plant: “Utilities in Virginia seem to be in denial about global warming.”
The Surry site is about 60 miles from Richmond and 40 from Virginia beach. Local pollution of methane, sulfur and NOX can be expected to increase, as will mountain top removal mining in Appalachia.
The ACEEE report recently released in VA shows clearly how Virginia can eliminate the need for any new coal plants through efficiency alone. By enacting strong policies that set strong targets, reduce peak demand and incentivize efficiency, Virginia can hold energy use steady and start investing in clean energy like wind and solar. It’s time that our leaders start investing in what Virginia really needs, not another new coal plant.