State's Beach Closings Decrease Environment Virginia Calls for Faster Pollution Testing

by: JRTOLBERT

Thu Jul 30, 2009 at 13:18:24 PM EDT

DC Council says: Want Paper or Plastic, 5 cents please

by: A Siegel

Tue Jun 02, 2009 at 23:00:59 PM EDT

Plastic bags are a scourge on the globe. From the plastic ocean in the Pacific, to the stomachs of choked birds, to the fences of highways, the billions of annual bags are infrequently reused or recycled and often don't even make it into the dump.  

Facing increasing levels of pollution on the Anacostia River, with a high percentage of collected trash being a rainbow of colors of plastic bags, the Washington, DC, City Council voted earlier today to institute a five-cent fee for bags to help drive reduced use and, as well, to help raise funds for the cleaning of the Anacostia River.

Council member Jack Evans said the bill can be viewed as a "first step" toward the long-term goal of severely limiting plastic bags and bottles nationwide.

"There is not a river I go to, a park I go, a stream I go to, where I don't see plastic bags everywhere," Evans (D-Ward 2) said. "The fact is our country is becoming inundated with plastic bags and plastic bottles. . . . This is the first step to try to address this issue."

The bill, passed unanimously by the 13-member Council, actually has a thoughtfully innovative element: rewarding businesses for giving discounts for those who bring in their own bags.

Under the plastic bag legislation, called the Anacostia River Cleanup and Protection Act, businesses would keep a penny for each bag sold, and the other four cents would go into a fund to clean up the Anacostia. If businesses offer a discount to consumers who bring reusable bags, they would get to keep two cents for each bag sold.

Who stood up to fight this step toward a sustainable DC? (more on the flip... )

Quick Questions: Who is your Utility? And Where is Dendron VA?

by: Eileen

Thu Feb 19, 2009 at 07:48:45 AM EST

Whoever pays the electric bill in your house knows the answer to this question.  Who is your utility?  

Depending on where you live in Virginia you may be a customer of one of the nine Electric Coops in Virginia that collectively want to build a new coal plant in Surry County. Please let us know if you are customer of any of the following Electric Coops. E-mail stopsurrycoalplant@gmail.com, letting us know who you are and which Coop you belong to.  

BARC Electric Cooperative:
• Serving Bath, Alleghany and Rockbridge Counties

Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative:
• Serving Augusta, Rockingham, and Shenandoah Counties

Rappahannock Electric Cooperative:
• Serving Albemarle, Caroline, Culpeper, Essex, Fauquier, Goochland, Greene, Hanover, King & Queen, King William, Louisa, Madison, Orange, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Town of Bowling Green

Northern Neck Electric Cooperative:
• Serving King George, Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond, Stafford, and Westmoreland

Southside Electric Cooperative:  **LARGEST CO-OP in VA**
• Serving Amelia, Appomattox, Bedford, Brunswick, Buckingham, Campbell, Charlotte, Chesterfield, Cumberland, Dinwiddie, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Nottoway, Pittsylvania, Powhatan, Prince Edward, Prince George and Sussex counties, and the towns of Altavista, Blackstone, Crewe, Hurt, Kenbridge and South Hill; plus the City of Petersburg

Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative:
• Serving Brunswick, Mecklenburg, Charlotte, Pittsylvania, Greensville, Southampton, Halifax, Sussex, Lunenburg

Prince George Electric Cooperative:
• Serving Dinwiddie, Isle of Wight, Prince George, Southampton, Surry, Sussex Counties

Community Electric Cooperative:
• Serving City of Suffolk, Isle of Wight and Southampton Counties, along with portions of Sussex and Surry Counties

ANEC:
• Serving Accomack and Northampton on Virginia's Eastern Shore

Also heads up... MEETING NOTICE: ODEC will be holding a Public Forum meeting on the proposed Surry coal plant (aka "Cypress Creek Power Station") on Thurs., Feb. 26, 6:30-8:30 pm, at the L.P. Jackson Middle School, 4255 New Design Road in Dendron, the soon to be hometown for the coal plant, and one sitting just 18 miles as the crow flies from downtown historic Williamsburg.  

BREAKING: EPA Decision Overturns Control Prohibitions on Coal Plant Pollution

by: Eileen

Tue Feb 17, 2009 at 13:04:36 PM EST

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."

Is Kaine No Longer Tilting at Windmills?

by: Eileen

Fri Feb 13, 2009 at 13:02:31 PM EST

While similar pacts have been signed with California, Florida, Wisconsin and Michigan, what makes the Virginia partnership different is the fact that the UK is the largest foreign investor to Virginia's economy, providing as many as 10,000 jobs and more than $1 billion in defense industry related goods and services to the UK.

The partnership will also hopefully teach Virginia a thing or two about going greener...

"The island nation produces more energy from offshore wind generation than any other country", writes the RTD. Their leadership in clean energy hasn't always stood true. "Once a mainstay of its energy generation, coal accounts for only 10 percent of its current energy supply."

Kaine admitted that the U.S. and Virginia had a long way to go to be as successful as the UK has been with its clean energy generation. He mentioned again that none of the 10 largest solar energy companies are in the U.S. And as we all know unfortunately all too well, clean energy bills are facing a tough time in the Virginia General Assembly, especially in Del. Jeff "Diss Darwin" Frederick's House of No.  

But there is one little glimmer of hope for Virginia. From the RTD...

In response to a question, the governor said yesterday said he had "not seen enough to make me believe" that a proposed new coal-fired plant in Surry County is necessary.

Clean energy is just that, Gov. Kaine. It's the definition of "clean" as embraced by the science now making a come-back. Please don't be afraid of it any longer!