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We are a group of environmental advocates united in providing a one-stop source for Virginia's environmental news. We each focus on different issues, but share the vision of a Commonwealth that preserves and protects its natural resources. Please join us!
There are many things that are being said about the shortcomings of the Copenhagen negotiations, but with the science telling us we must take action now if we are to protect our climate as well as the people impacted by climate change and the rich bio-diversity of this planet we call home, there is little time to debate the outcome. The time has come to act.
Coming out of Copenhagen, we have a political agreement by the leaders of the largest emitter nations who, eye ball to eye ball, hammered out the Copenhagen Accord; an agreement that goes beyond Kyoto to secure first time commitments to reduce emissions from the US as well as developing countries like China, India and Brazil.
Admittedly, the agreement does not go far enough to keep the average temperature of the earth from exceeding two degrees centigrade, but these new commitments by the US and by developing countries are a historic step forward, as President Obama noted in comments after the agreement was struck. The objection to the agreement of small island nations like Tuvalu, that face extinction if further progress is not achieved, is understandable. Clearly, this first step can not be the last.
For Americans who recognize the risks of climate change, there is one overwhelmingly important task that flows from this agreement: we must pass a clean energy and climate bill in 2010, and with mid-term elections bearing down on us, it is essential that Congress act before Earth Day, April 22, 2010.
President Obama has taken the political risk to commit the United States to the vision of a clean energy future with greenhouse gas emission reductions consistent with the legislation now pending before the Congress. It is now up to us to compel the Senate to act. We must not fail, we can not fail, in taking this first step toward a clean energy future protected from the risks of climate change.
Glen Besa, has spent the last two weeks in Copenhagen as a member of the Sierra Club's delegation to the UN Climate Conference. He is the director of the Virginia Chapter of Sierra Club.
(Great job! Peebles is a summer intern with the Chesapeake Climate Action Network aka CCAN. - promoted by Eileen)
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 to save the health of their community, their children, and the irreplaceable beauty of the surrounding environment.
The Coalition to Keep Surry Clean, spearheaded by a group of energized residents and neighbors, has brought the fight against dirty coal to a national level. The evening kicked off with an outdoor potluck, featuring democratic gubernatorial candidate, Brian Moran (the only of the three in opposition to the plant). Under the watchful eye of national and local media, citizens called for a Surry that would be free of excess pollution, harmful chemicals and obtrusive, dangerous, 600-foot smokestacks. Coalition spokeswoman, Beth Roach, cast an air of humility over the audience as she called on all people to consider and ensure the health and happiness of future generations. Through the timeless words of Iroquois leader, Peacemaker, the message requires little interpretation:
"Think not forever of yourselves, O Chiefs, nor of your own generation. Think of continuing generations of our families, think of our grandchildren and of those yet unborn, whose faces are coming from beneath the ground."
At yesterday's community meeting on Virginia offshore wind development, I opened my remarks by talking about the crisis of global warming and how that weighed into the Sierra Club's support for clean renewable energy development.
The crisis we face with global warming is real, here and happening faster than most had predicted.
- Virginia communities rank highest in the world in terms of total assets vulnerable to sea level rise. Virginia Beach is ranked in the top 10 cities in terms of high exposure and vulnerability to climate extremes.
- According to an Ernst & Young survey, the top insurance risk in 2008 is climate change. Fifty-five percent (55%) of insurance companies in the mid-Atlantic area have stopped writing new policies in Virginia's 19 coastal communities.
- Sea level rise, higher salinity and water temperature increases caused by global warming are already having a devastating effect on fish and wildlife in Virginia. Keep in mind that in 2005, Virginia's fishing industry alone took in more than $1.23 billion.
- Global warming is already affecting people's health. Virginia is seeing an increasing number of severe heat waves. Warmer temperatures lead to greater smog levels which damages lung tissue, increases respiratory and heart disease and death, and causes asthma in children. It causes spread of illnesses, allergens, mosquito-borne disease like West Nile virus, and food- and water-borne diseases like salmonella.
- Sea level rise combined with greater storm surges hitting Virginia's coast areas create nightmare scenarios for evacuation efforts, taxing greatly our already sub-standard public infrastructure.
Here's Pierce Brosnan on the same subject:
We're writing to you as parents and Sierra Club supporters to ask you to join us in helping President Obama's administration as they take an important first step to combat global warming and reduce our dependence on dirty coal and oil.
Dylan, our oldest son, was born just twelve years ago in 1997, and in his lifetime, U.S. global warming pollution has grown by nearly eight percent. Now, after years of delay President Obama's EPA is proposing to acknowledge what the scientific community has long known - that global warming pollution threatens us all. Quickly finalizing this finding will give the EPA both the authority and the obligation to regulate the global warming pollution that endangers children like Dylan and future generations.
This was not a terrible accident, but an act of desperation: suicide. These were Indian farmers who lost everything due to drought.
Whats just as bad is that this is only the beginning. What was once a tragic act of mother nature is now on our hands...with climate change these problems are only expected to continue.
"The water level has gone down below 250 feet here. It used to be at 40 feet a few years ago," Shatrughan Sahu
A few of you may remember our posts about the deadly Australian fires this summer. They were a phenomenon many blamed on climate change, and all agree are likely to become more common over the years.
Lets never forget the stakes are high...
Read the full story here
The following is a letter to the editor (lte) appearing in the Virginia Gazette, a local paper not available online. The following was transcribed by Dr. Chris Llewellyn with Williamsburg Climate Action Network.
Coal Plant is Dangerous by Helen Cooke Eggleston, Wakefield
What is going on in Surry County? First we find that sewage sludge is being dumped on the cutover forest land behind a friend's house. Then we discover while attending Planning Commission meetings that the county is encouraging development will-nilly without any regard for greenspace. Next we find out the governor is trying to give our homes, farms and forestland to the Navy without consulting any of us*. Now, a power plant co-op wants to set a huge coal-fired power station in the tiny, quiet town of Dendron.
A coal-fired power plant? We had no idea of the dangers to health and the environment and were excited about potential benefits. We hadn't a clue about an article written by four research scientists from Oak Ridge National Laboratories in a 1978 issue of Science magazine. The scientists concluded that Americans living near coal-fired power plants are exposed to higher radiation doses than those living near nuclear power plants that meet government regulations.
We started going to the Dendron Town Council meetings and met a group of men who owned a 2,900 acre tract of land that is partly in the town and partly in the county. They've logged every tree on the place and now want to sell what's left to another group of friendly guys who are proposing to build a coal-fired power plant on the property.
They tell town council that it will be the cleanest coal-fired plant on the East Coast. It will provide a lot of jobs and imply that it will generate taxes for the town and county.
Dendron has everything: space, transmission lines, water can be piped from the James River, and a rail spur can be run from Norfolk and Southern. Man, we were feeling good.
(Unfortunately that reality is lost on too many in Virginia! - promoted by Eileen)
The "Economist" looks at the difficult future of carbon capture and storage technology.
The folks at the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE), a PR front group for the coal industry, are working hard to get us to believe that coal can be c!#@n. Their funders want us to believe it so badly that they have supplied tens of millions of dollars to run commercials on network television during the news hours, the Super Bowl, and presidential debates; ACCCE has launch an aggressive online advertising campaign on news websites, Gmail sidebars and through Google Adworks that all lead you to their website AmericasPower.org. The website's latest tag lines borrow from the Obama campaign saying (I'm paraphrasing) "'Yes We Can' capture carbon from coal plants". The reality is, we can't.
I used to not understand what they meant by 'c!#@n coal'. It certainly doesn't exist so what do they even mean? I thought their whole goal was just to put the words 'c!#@n' and 'coal' together in the media so many times that people just associated the two automatically. I still think this is a large part of their strategy however, more and more, I've noticed that the noxious phrase that I loathe to repeat is being tied specifically to carbon capture and sequestration (CCS).
While there are many reasons to believe CCS is at best 15 or so years away and at worst a completely false solution, a lot of the criticism of the experimental technology originally came from environmental groups but now is coming from economists and the economy itself. In the March 5th, 2009 edition of the Economist takes a good look at the issue saying:
"Now, it doesn't take a genius to realize that coal is a natural resource that has not been linked to any environmental harm. In fact, it is a clean burning alternative fuel source," writes the Virginia GOP House Caucus in trying to accuse gubernatorial candidate Brian Moran of "trying to skirt alternative energy" for believing that "a proposed coal plant in Surry County will cause global warming and harm the Chesapeake Bay".
Just as folks here in Virginia were getting over the good laugh we had over that blog entry, comes this little ditty from the folks who spent $10.5 million trying to sell us on "clean coal" c/o the This Is Reality blog.
[Question:] Can you just answer that yes or no? If you believe that burning coal causes global warming?
[Joe Lucas:] I don't know, I'm not a scientist.
All kidding aside, unfortunately it is this flat earth society existent still in Virginia that is going to make it difficult to pass climate legislation. Science is obviously not working on many in Virginia's House of No. But perhaps economics will.
As The Green Miles so aptly points out, Dominion's rates have gone up because of the cost of building Wise County coal plant. Meanwhile there's a 15% increase from last year in electricity cut-offs due to nonpayment. Meanwhile, ODEC proposes building a $6 billion coal plant 18 miles upwind of Williamsburg in Surry County, VA.
Something's gotta give pretty soon. Ignorance won't be bliss for too much longer.
10,000+ people are descending on Congress to lobby on climate change as part of Powershift 09. And, many of those will participate in what might be the largest climate change disobedience action in history: the Capitol Climate Action against the coal-fired Capitol Power Plant. Meanwhile, the DC area (along with much of the East Coast) is hit with a major snowstorm. The Federal Government is on a two-hour delay and schools around the area are shut down.
For those who don't get that weather isn't climate, a snowy day in March is not some contradiction of science on Global Warming, they are confused when mass efforts to highlight the seriousness of the climate crisis intersect with major weather events that seem (SEEM) to contradict the realities of the dangerous changes that humanity is recklessly driving. Some joke about "The Gore Effect", suggesting that the best predictor of a DC snow storm is Al Gore being scheduled to testify before Congress. (They will, of course, forget when he is there in hotter weather if they can find a snow or ice event ...) Today reinforces that shallow observation.
President Obama has issued a clear call for climate action, saying on Tuesday night, "I ask this Congress to send me legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more renewable energy in America."
Want to know which Virginia companies will benefit from a cap on carbon pollution? Check out this new interactive map of Virginia from the Environmental Defense Fund.
For just one example, the furthest southwest icon on the map belongs to Royal Mouldings in Marion. It makes cellular vinyl, a lumber substitute that insulates 70 percent better than wood for a substantial energy savings (plus, no chopping down trees).
Roanoke County Sets Aggressive Emissions Reduction Target, Recognizes Work of Cool Cities Coalition and Affiliates
Culminating nearly two years of planning and analysis, the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors approved three resolutions yesterday, paving the way for a multi-year campaign to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions are widely acknowledged to be a principal cause of global climate change. Prior to introducing the resolutions, Cave Spring District Supervisor Charlotte Moore acknowledged the work of county staff, local scientists who provided technical expertise, Roanoke Valley Cool Cities Coalition and several of its affiliates, and Roanoke Cement, a Titan America Company that provided funding for expert assistance to the County in this project. All three resolutions passed by unanimous vote of the five members of the Board of Supervisors.
Following the Board action, Roanoke Valley Cool Cities Coalition's Diana Christopulos commented, "We're so grateful to Charlotte Moore, without whose efforts this great achievement might not have been possible. We are very excited to be a part of this landmark decision, and we look forward to working with the new citizens' committee, the Board of Supervisors, and county staff, as they sustain their quest to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and strive toward a smart, clean energy future for our community."
It is important that we pass meaningful energy efficiency legislation this year, because it is the cheapest, quickest and cleanest way for Virginia to meet its growing energy demands.
* CHEAP: It can help customers lower their end of the month electricity bills through weatherization, more efficient appliances & heating and cooling systems, lighting.
* QUICK: Utility programs can be rolled out immediately;
* CLEAN: Reducing electricity usage also reduces air pollution, including emissions contributing to climate change.
HB 2506 will be voted on in the Senate THIS WEEK! SB 1248 (Northam), which is now comparable to HB 2506, could be voted on in the House of Delegates as early as TODAY!
This is our last chance in 2009 to pass legislation to move energy efficiency forward in Virginia!
This week the Obama administration announced it'll take another look at regulating global warming pollution from coal-fired power plants. The New Republic's Bradford Plumer talks about what that means:
In a letter today to the Sierra Club, EPA director Lisa Jackson announced that it would reconsider a Bush-administration 11th hour policy memo prohibiting controls on global warming pollution from coal plants.
In response, David Bookbinder, Chief Climate Counsel for the Sierra Club issued the following statement:
"Today's victory is yet another indication that change really has come to Washington, and to EPA in particular. This decision stops the Bush Administration's final, last-minute effort to saddle President Obama with its do-nothing policy on global warming.
"Not only does today's decision signal a good start for our clean energy future, it also signals a return to policy based on sound science and the rule of law, not deep pocketbooks or politics. Lisa Jackson is making good on her promises to bring science and the rule of law back into the center of the decision making process at EPA.
"With coal-fired power plants emitting more than 30 percent of our global warming pollution, regulating their carbon dioxide is essential to making real progress in the fight against global warming.
"Holding coal-fired power plants accountable for their global warming emissions was one of the top actions the Sierra Club has been encouraging President Obama to take on global warming as soon as possible as part of the "Clean Slate" agenda. Building on the monumental economic recovery package to be signed today and his administration's quick decision to reconsider the California clean cars waiver, this is one more part of President Obama's vision for building a clean energy economy that will create millions of new green jobs while curbing global warming.
"Today's announcement should cast significant further doubt on the approximately 100 coal-fired power plants that the industry is trying to rush through the permitting process without any limits on carbon dioxide. New coal plants were already a bad bet for investors and ratepayers and today's decisions make them an even bigger gamble."
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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.
UPDATE: Another LTE is in the comments.
From Mark McClain, 
It is important that we pass meaningful energy efficiency legislation this year, because it is the cheapest, quickest and cleanest way for Virginia to meet its growing energy demands.
In a letter today to the Sierra Club, EPA director Lisa Jackson announced that it would reconsider a Bush-administration 11th hour policy memo prohibiting controls on global warming pollution from coal plants.
