Commemmorating the 2nd Anniverary of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and prolonged, enormous oil leak, residents of Virginia Beach demonstrated this past Friday. 

Led by Oceana Virginia, the action included a mock oil spill, a fisherman whose livelihood was suddenly threatened, a sickened oil-covered dolphin, and a greedy oil tycoon profiting while people and wildlife suffer. Rarely do we see such a clear contrast between the risks of dirty energy for many and the wealth it brings a few.

Now is a critical time to note the dangers of offshore oil development. Offshore seismic testing threatens Virginia's coast. Offshore seismic studies for oil and gas clearly signify a first step toward drilling. We know that would only prolong our dependence on fossil fuels and cause more climate pollution, so please take action to oppose seismic testing. If you are able to attend the hearing in Norfolk this Tuesday, we are counting on you to tell the federal government that we cannot allow seismic testing for oil and gas. To stop global warming, slow sea level rise, and protect our coast, we need to develop renewable energy now.

 

Hopefully the resolution will pass in a strong form, but sea level rise is not the only negative effect of Virginia relying on fossil fuels. Coal-burning power plants not only put out greenhouse gases, they emit heavy metals that contaminate water and make fish from local rivers unsafe to eat. They cause asthma and disproportionately affect lower income and minority Virginians with the health effects of living in polluted communities downwind of these toxic facilities.

Returning to the conclusions that the Governor’s Commission on Climate Change made, we need to think hard about what our energy system is doing to our coastal areas and what we need to do differently. Then we’ll address a big cause of sea level rise, and a host of other problems, and not just treat a symptom.

 

Today, CCANers from all over Virginia visited the Capitol to express frustration, disappointment, and even outrage at all the ways our renewable portfolio standard has been weakened during this legislative session.

 

 

The campaign for offshore wind power in Virginia has launched into the fall season full-steam, and with a backdrop of beautiful weather and some highly contested elections in Hampton Roads, our volunteers got out there and made a big splash over the last few weeks!

Today, President Obama's bus tour stopped at a fire station south of Richmond, and CCAN was there to remind him that he can stop the Keystone XL pipeline. Our volunteers braved swarming crowds, traffic, police tape, and inclement weather to make sure he got our message.

As the bus drove by us, we saw the President looking out  the many signs in the crowd, and I'm excited to report that he and his staff saw our banner! The banner we used has been traveling the country helping local organizers to hold the President accountable on today's most important climate issue, and is now on its way to Cleveland for a midwest tar sands action! Richmond CCANers are proud of our solidarity with tar sands activists around the country.

150 Virginia citizens, 5 strategic ways to take action, one purpose: moving Virginia toward a future of clean power and good jobs from offshore wind energy. That was the Energize Virginia summit that CCAN proudly hosted this past Saturday in Richmond!

If you were among the many activists that joined us on Saturday, thank you! We hope you had as much fun and felt as inspired as we did! If you couldn't be there, hopefully these pictures can begin to capture the day's palpable excitement!

Energize Virginia was foremost about Virginians coming to the state capitol from as far as Alexandria and Virginia Beach, from the Valley and from the Southside and everywhere in between, to learn and to take action to bring affordable, carbon-free energy online in Virginia. But we did even more than that.

We took a stand demanding that the leaders in our state act faster and more decisively to begin changing where Virginia gets its energy. With help from experts like business leader Terry McAuliffe, Joe Bouchard, Oceana's Jackie Savitz, and Sierra Club Beyond Coal's Vanessa Pierce, we made the case for large investment in Virginia's best renewable, efficient energy source and how our state can become a leader in our region. It's crucial that we keep it going full blast this year and continue to creatively and clearly demonstrate the need for installing wind power off our coast.

Feeling energized? Share it with the world! You can join our Virginia offshore wind power photo petition right from your home. Saturday produced dozens of great images to help put a face on this issue, like the one on the right, and you can Do-It-Yourself right now!

Check out our photo petition here, then download our signs or write a personal message or draw a picture about why you want an offshore wind farm for Virginia, and add your smiling face to our petition! Please email these pictures directly to us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . You can find out how to do more by contacting your local CCAN organizer for upcoming summer volunteer opportunities!

Changing over to new energy sources like offshore wind requires trying some new tactics! In Richmond this week, CCANers got together at a local ale house, but it wasn't just your usual happy hour.



Richmond Climate Happy Hour met this week and used a new strategy to spread the word about Richmond's upcoming offshore wind conference Energize Virginia. On a spacious outdoor patio, the team took advantage of the modern cell phone age to conduct a "Lightning Phonebank". The group whipped out their cell phones and called dozens of local supporters and friends, and invited them to the first-ever grassroots conference on offshore wind in the commonwealth. The atmosphere was fun and relaxed, but with a purpose: to get folks to come out and get down to business to bring an offshore wind farm to Virginia.

Here's the next step in our recruitment experiment, and it depends on you! Register now online to attend Energize Virginia in Richmond on Saturday, June 4th

Coming up Saturday, June 4th is our chance to stand up and call for clean, homegrown energy for Virginia at the Energize Virginia: A Citizens' Summit on Offshore Wind Power. Read more below, and register here.

Sponsored by the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, the Virginia Sierra Club, and Interfaith Power and Light, Energize Virginia is the first-ever grassroots gathering to promote development of an offshore wind farm in the area off Virginia's coast. We expect attendees from as many perspectives as there are compelling reasons to bring wind to Virginia, from local clean energy jobs supporters, to environmentalists urging decreased dependence on coal, to families who want to see reliably low energy bills as fossil fuel prices climb.

Be there for an opportunity to learn, ask questions, and join the discussion about harnessing the winds off the coast. Details: Saturday, June 4th, 10 am to 3:30 pm, CenterStage, Richmond, VA.

We invite you to sign up now! Purchase a ticket, and you are entitled to a premium-quality lunch, a program featuring appearances by exciting speakers who will inspire action, and the opportunity to be a history-maker at a summit with a positive and lasting impact on Virginia's energy future.

Last month, Virginia Beach residents visited Senator Webb's district office defending the EPA. Now today, legislators will likely act on several measures attacking the agency's authority. Over the past few weeks, citizens from across Virginia have shown their solidarity with communities where pollution hits folks hardest. We still have time to echo their powerful message to our legislators: oppose any efforts to block the EPA's ability to protect our waterways pollution from fossil fuels.

This afternoon, the U.S Senate and House of Representatives are considering amendments that would gut the EPA. If you have not called your Senators, you can still help fight against these attacks on the Clean Air Act by asking your Senators to renew their commitment to protecting the EPA. Take action now-- http://wiseenergyforvirginia.org/call/