Starting at noon on February 13th, over 800,000 people across the U.S. signed a petition urging Congress to stop the Keystone XL Tar Sands pipeline – 800,000! Equally impressive, Virginians made up over 19,000 of those signatures. All in just 24 hours. And today a dozen volunteers delivered that message loud and clear to Senators Warner and Webb.

The 24-hour action was set in motion after organizers gained intel that members of Congress in the pocket of the fossil fuel lobby were trying to force through approval of the pipeline through amendments to unrelated bills. Late last Thursday, we learned even more sudden news that a vote could be imminent – as soon as this Tuesday or Wednesday – on an amendment to a federal transportation bill.

Northern Virginians stood with Appalachians and activists across the commonwealth today by visiting Senator Warner and Webb's district offices and calling for an end to mountaintop removal coal mining. Representing a wide array of interests and constituencies, they all came with one message: oppose any efforts to block the EPA's ability to protect our waterways from mountaintop removal mining and pollution from burning fossil fuels.



The lead pastor of Accotink Unitarian Universalist Church in Burke spoke about the moral obligation to protect the earth from damage due to climate change and the entire life cycle of coal. He made the point that climate and the environment is a rare issue that so many faiths can come together on

When thinking about coal in Virginia, one's mind often goes to destructive mountaintop removal coal mining in the Appalachian mountains of southwest Virginia, Dominion's coal plant under construction in Wise County, or the Hampton Roads coal plant proposed by the Old Dominion Electric Cooperative. In short, it is easiest to think of dirty energy projects in rural and southern parts of the state. Yet coal is in Northern Virginians' backyards as well.

Monday night, over 60 local activists, community leaders and organizers came together to fight dirty coal in Alexandria. The coal-fired power plant on the bank of the Potomac is making local communities sick and contributing to climate change as one of the top sources of planet-warming carbon emissions in the DC area. The former "Mirant coal plant" is now owned by GenOn, a Houston-based corporate polluter keeping the 514 MW plant burning on standby for the sake of their own profits.

Families and kids rallied outside the EPA this morning to urge them to keep children and communities safe from toxic coal ash that needs to be regulated. With just two days left before the end of the public comment period on choices between regulations, today CCAN helped with the Sierra Club to pull out all the stops in support of Subtitle C

Governor McDonnell and Attorney General Cuccinelli are making a name for themselves on the national climate denier scene. They've engaged Virginia in a lawsuit against the EPA and have gone as far as accusing leading scientist Michael Mann of fraud by seeking public funding for his research. So the irony was not lost when Gov. McDonnell yesterday announced that the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture has designated 59 counties as primary natural disaster areas because of the excessive heat we've seen in 2010. Farms in this area

It's been a great week for wind power, with the signing of the first permit for offshore wind in the U.S. and, more locally, Northrop Grumman's announcement that they will be building offshore wind turbines in Hampton Roads. Unfortunately, the only down side is that these developments are such big news in the U.S. While exciting developments, they also go to show how far behind we are in the global clean energy economy. Last year, China doubled its wind power capacity, accounting for a third of all new capacity around the world. Their market grew over 100%, while the U.S. market grew by less than half that.

That's why Virginia is welcoming Northop Grumman's announcement and the jobs it will bring to the Hampton Roads area. Even Gov. McDonnell praised the project as a source of new jobs for Virginians. The best part? It is just the start of what offshore wind can offer the state.

According to the Virginia Coastal Energy Resources Consortium, developing offshore wind in Virginia would create over 10,000 jobs. There's enough wind potential off Virginia's coasts to replace half a dozen of your average, dirty coal-fired power plants. Furthermore, when over 100 coal plant proposals have been taken off the table since 2001, developers are actively pursuing investing in offshore wind in Virginia.

From individual climate activists to big-time businesses like Northop Grumman, support is growing for offshore wind. We're getting to where we need to be, but not nearly fast enough. That's why this Sunday, supporters from Alexandria to Virginia Beach will be erecting mock wind turbines with a united message: It's time to get to work promoting offshore wind and a clean energy economy! At this crucial time for wind power, will you join us?

Media reports of the massive and important One Nation Working Together demonstration at the Lincoln Memorial yesterday reported on its diversity, the mix of cultures and issues represented. Indeed, when compared to the Tea Party/Glenn Beck, virtually-all-white event on August 28th, the contrast is striking.

This isn't surprising, of course, given that the Tea Party is essentially re-packaged, big money-supported, ultra-right-wingism: hostile to affirmative action, immigrants, an African American President, low-income people, the idea of health care for all, equality, justice and much more.

Regarding diversity at yesterday's rally, the Washington Post commented in its news story that "members of the mine workers union rallied with environmental activists."

It was intriguing to read this just a few days after helping to organize and participating in the very successful "Appalachia Rising" (www.appalachiarising.org) conference and demonstration September 25-27 in Washington, D.C. The major emphasis of this mobilization was to demand an end to the devastating practices of mountaintop removal and strip mining. On a rainy Monday morning, the 27th, hundreds of Appalachia residents joined with hundreds from outside of Appalachia, 2,000 or more strong, for a rally at Freedom Plaza in downtown D.C. and a march to the White House.

At the White House, in the biggest climate-related civil disobedience action ever in the United States that led to arrests, 118 people were arrested as they conducted a sit-in in front of the White House. Four others were arrested down the street at a sit-in inside PNC Bank, one of the major financers of mountaintop removal coal mining.

The importance of this action for the climate movement and for the broader progressive movement cannot be overstated. As Gary Houser put it in an article about Appalachia Rising on the Common Dreams website, "Those who traveled to Washington DC to take part in

The jury presented its verdict on climate change a long time ago. The science says our climate is changing and the results for Virginia and the planet will be catastrophic. The Supreme Court, the EPA, Virginia's own Commission on Climate Change and even former President George Bush recognized the consequences of climate change.

Yet, amidst typos and lawsuits, today's press conference a the state capitol in Richmond was a breath of fresh air. It is refreshing to see 19 members of General Assembly standing up for their constituents and allowing the science to speak for itself. The Science that tells us that Virginia is vulnerable to sea level rise, that the Hampton Roads area is ranked #2 in terms of vulnerability. Number one is New Orleans. These threats are real and Virginia is ready to address them head on.

I applaud Senators McEachin and Northam as well as Delegate McLellan for initiating today's press conference and the other 16 state legislators that joined them to show their support for the science. Addressing climate change and diversifying our economy here in the Commonwealth is no easy task. It's going to take forward thinking and leadership from Richmond to embrace our potential. It's also going to take reasonable investments.

The big thing highlighted in today's conference is the pure fiscal irresponsibility of our Attorney General's lawsuit. He wants to slap tax payers with $250,000-$500,000 bill to pursue a frivolous lawsuit against the Federal Government, it's lawyers and its environmental agency on an issue already decided by the Supreme Court. Given the state of Virginia's economy this is just not acceptable and I am proud that so many legislators had the courage to stand up for their constituents health, the climate and the well-being of the Commonwealth.