Beth Kemler, Virginia State Director
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Beth Kemler has been campaigning to protect the environment and public health for more than ten years. She got her start as a student, leading numerous activist groups at St. Mary's College of Maryland and canvassing door to door for progressive organizations during her summers in Philadelphia. Over the years, she has contributed to a variety of campaigns, from passing a law to clean up smog-forming emissions from Connecticut's "sooty six" power plants to convincing Victoria's Secret to stop making its catalogs out of endangered forests to getting young people out to vote in Virginia's 2005 gubernatorial election.
Most recently, she directed the field work of Oceana's Campaign to Stop Seafood Contamination. Among its victories, the campaign got seven outdated chlorine manufacturing plants to stop using an old technology that releases large amounts of mercury into the environment. Key to this victory were local campaigns targeting plants in Georgia and Tennessee run by field organizers whom she managed. Before working for Oceana, she organized student activists with Free The Planet! and Connecticut Public Interest Research Group. As Director of Free The Planet!, she was one of the founders of the Energy Action Coalition, in which CCAN is now an active member.
Blog Posts by Beth Kemler, Virginia State Director
After an amazing grassroots uprising of protesters against the Keystone XL pipeline, President Obama recently chose to delay his decision on the tar sands pipeline until 2013.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, help us thank Obama for delaying his decision; but also let him know that we’ll keep organizing until the pipeline is rejected.
Please participate in our social media day of action on Tuesday, November 22, 2011.
Facebook Instructions:
1. Go to the White House FB page: http://www.facebook.com/WhiteHouse
2. LIKE it.
3. Post this LINK: http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org/file-uploads/ccan-admin/Obama_KXL_Thank_You_Photo.png
4. Add this comment: "Thanks, President Obama, for the Keystone XL pipeline delay! We’ll keep working till Keystone XL is rejected. We’d love for you to join us!"
5. Share the link to this page with your friends!
Sample Tweets:
(Please make sure to tag your local Obama For America campaign office for maximum impact)
Virginians Plz RT: Thanks @BarackObama & @OFA_VA for the KXL pipeline delay! Now fully reject it. #NoKXL http://bit.ly/sniInY
Marylanders Plz RT: Thanks @BarackObama & @OFA_MD for the KXL pipeline delay! Now fully reject it. #NoKXL http://bit.ly/sniInY
DC people Plz RT: Thanks @BarackObama & @OFA_DC for the KXL pipeline delay! Now fully reject it. #NoKXL http://bit.ly/sniInY
History was made in the announcement of the 12+ month delay of the Keystone XL pipeline, and in the undeniable proof that people power still works. The tireless hours you put into fighting this pipeline, and all dirty energy, made all the difference. You made Obama, the president himself, think twice.
The delay of the pipeline is a monumental win, but not a full victory. To be clear, this fight is not over until we see Transcanda, and all dirty energy, pack their bags.
While we will continue to hold President Obama accountable to his campaign promises for clean energy, we must acknowledge when we win. We must own it.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, here’s your opportunity to tell the Obama Administration that you’re thankful for the Keystone XL delay, and thankful for all the future decisions they’re going to continue to make in the right direction.
This is a perfect opportunity to harness the momentum that came from organizing and continue good work that will lead to even more wins.
By CCAN Virginia State Director Beth Kemler and Sieraa Cluv Virginia State Director Glen Besa
While Bart Hinkle's Sept. 13 column "Renewable energy: too cheap to meter?" that quoted us contained a number of exaggerated claims, he got one thing right — when it comes to electricity, what many people care about the most is cost. What he left out is what it's costing us not to develop Virginia's renewable energy resources, especially our vast offshore wind resource.
By Virginia State Director Beth Kemler
Last Wednesday, I watched Gov. Bob McDonnell sign a number of bills aimed at promoting clean energy projects in Virginia, including one that my organization backed that encourages the installation of solar panels. While the aim of many of these bills is laudable, their focus is too narrow to make Virginia the "energy capital of the East Coast," a goal McDonnell repeats often.
We got word this morning that GenOn has agreed to close its Potomac River coal-fired power plant in Alexandria, a victory for CCAN, Sierra Club, Greenpeace and Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light, which have been working together with local residents to convince the company to shut it down. We've collected petition signatures, held rallies and even held a candlelight vigil at the plant.
Just this Tuesday, we publicly launched our joint campaign with the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter, Green Jobs Alliance and Virginia Interfaith Power & Light asking Dominion to work with us to invest in offshore wind power. So today I spoke at the shareholder meeting in support of a proposal for the company to set and pursue a goal of 20% renewable energy generation by 2024. Specifically, I spoke about the fact that while offshore wind power does require a greater investment up front, it carries fewer long-term financial risks than investing in fossil fuel power plants. The risks of building new fossil fuel generation include:
- --volatile prices for coal and natural gas that are set by an increasingly global market
--the potential need for pollution control upgrades in order to comply with future environmental laws
--and the risk of accidental releases, like the catastrophic spill of coal-ash that Tennessee Valley Authority had in 2008, which could cost millions in clean up expenses, not to mention the public relations fall-out.
"A Risky Proposition: The Financial Hazards of New Investments in Coal Plants" lays out the multitude of reasons that it's bad for business for electric utilities to make new investments in coal-burning power plants, such as Old Dominion Electric Cooperative's proposed power plant in Surry County, VA.
While CCAN opposes this plant because it would spew out about 15 million tons of global warming pollution
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE), the agency within the DOI that oversees the development of energy resources on the Outer Continental Shelf, has opened a public comment period on the Wind Energy Areas, which lasts until Friday, March 11. Please show your support for wind energy off the coast of Virginia and Maryland by signing our petition. We'll deliver it to BOEMRE by the end of the comment period.
Virginia Residents: Take action here
Maryland Residents: Take action here