Through resolutions and re-imaginings of classic paintings, Virginians urge Dominion to stop leading the way toward an unrecognizable future of climate disruption and marred landscapes

RICHMOND—Dominion Resources CEO Thomas Farrell is putting his own company and Virginians at risk by promoting dirty energy in a rapidly warming world, according to shareholders and grassroots activists protesting at the company's annual meeting in Richmond today. While shareholders present reform resolutions inside, activists are exhibiting altered artwork outside to represent the unrecognizable future of rising seas, extreme weather disasters and destroyed mountains they say Dominion is leading Virginia toward. The company is Virginia's biggest climate polluter and a major purchaser of coal from mountaintop removal mining.

Ahead of key hearing, students and parents deliver youth artwork, nearly 1,000 petitions to utility's Richmond offices in opposition to Brunswick plant

Dominion urged to go beyond token 'green' efforts and make a serious plan to cut its carbon pollution

RICHMOND—A group of Virginia parents and students observed Earth Day today by delivering youth-created artwork and nearly 1,000 petitions to Dominion Virginia Power's Richmond offices. Ahead of a key public hearing, they are calling on the utility to reconsider a proposal to build another fossil fuel-burning power plant in Brunswick County and instead make an immediate plan to reduce its destructive carbon footprint, which threatens the health and future of children in Virginia.

Chesapeake Climate Action Network applauds General Assembly for passing landmark offshore wind legislation, while expressing disappointment that 'black liquor' and fracking moratorium bills fell short

ANNAPOLIS—The 2013 Maryland General Assembly session will be remembered as a historic turning point for clean energy in Maryland, as legislators passed landmark legislation to develop offshore wind power, the state's most abundant clean energy resource. However, the General Assembly's overall record on climate and clean energy issues was a mixed bag this year, as two bills that would significantly impact the climate fell short: the "black liquor" bill (SB 684/HB 1102) and the fracking moratorium bill (SB 601/HB 1274).

Activists use spoof video and news headlines to launch 'Project Planet' campaign and counter Dominion's greenwashing of its climate pollution

RICHMOND—Newspaper boxes near Dominion Virginia Power's downtown Richmond offices, as well as the social media feeds of thousands of Virginians, featured an astounding headline this morning, "Dominion Power to go carbon neutral." Or not. A Virginia climate advocacy group used some April Fool's Day satire to launch an Earth Month campaign targeting the utility's expanding footprint of climate pollution.

1-8 vote could mean Maryland ratepayers will lose millions more to old, out-of-state mills that burn a dirty waste byproduct – instead of gaining new, job-creating clean energy

ANNAPOLIS – Today HB1102, known as the "black liquor bill" came one vote short, 11-8, of the 12 needed to advance out of the House Economic Matters Committee, just one day after a companion bill (SB 684) passed the full Senate with overwhelming, bipartisan support.

For Immediate Release
March 27, 2013

Contact:
Kelly Trout, 240-396-2022, kelly@chesapeakeclimate.org
Tom Carlson, 651-587-0730, tom@chesapeakeclimate.org

Environmental leaders call SB684/HB1102 a common-sense, must-pass bill that will close a costly loophole in Maryland's clean electricity standard while creating jobs and reducing toxic air and climate pollution

ANNAPOLIS—Maryland's environmental community is calling on state senators to seize the opportunity to dramatically improve the state's core clean electricity law today when SB 684, the so-called "black liquor" bill, gets its third reading on the Senate floor.

The bill would close a massive loophole in the state's Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) law that is shoveling millions in Maryland ratepayer dollars to old, out-of-state paper mills for burning "black liquor," a carbon-intensive waste byproduct. After a critical compromise was struck that will protect in perpetuity the only Maryland paper mill that burns black liquor, Luke Mill, SB 684 passed the Senate Finance committee by a bipartisan, 9-2 vote.

For Immediate Release
March 26, 2013

Contact: Beth Kemler, 804-335-0915, beth@chesapeakeclimate.org

RICHMOND—Beth Kemler, Virginia State Director at the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, issued the following statement in response to news reports that Governor McDonnell will keep the annual hybrid car tax alive, amending it to $64 a year:

"While Governor McDonnell bent to public outcry and reduced the hybrid car tax, he should have vetoed it altogether, as thousands of Virginians urged. The hybrid tax remains an unfair and unreasonable policy. A $64 fee is just as arbitrary as the whole policy is to begin with.

For Immediate Release
March 18, 2013

Contact:
Kelly Trout, 240-396-2022, kelly@chesapeakeclimate.org; Molly Haigh, 907-750-1999

Dozens of Students, CCAN, 350.org, EAC join forces to demand Warner oppose toxic pipeline

RICHMOND, VA—With a vote on the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline looming in the US Senate, dozens of concerned Virginians rallied outside Sen. Mark Warner's office today to demand that he vote against the project. While the senator has been vocal about his concern for climate change in the past, constituents wanted a guarantee that he stands with them in opposing a toxic pipeline top climate scientists have referred to as "game over for the climate."

For Immediate Release
March 13, 2013

Contact:
Kelly Trout, 717-439-0346, kelly@chesapeakeclimate.org
Mike Tidwell, 240-460-5838, mtidwell@chesapeakeclimate.org

Energized by close Senate committee vote on fracking moratorium bill, more than 100 concerned citizens attend morning rally at the State House in Annapolis, vow to continue the fight

ANNAPOLIS—Concerned Marylanders from across the state converged at the State House in Annapolis on Wednesday and vowed to continue their fight for legislative action to address the risks of fracking. Activists said they have more determination than ever after falling just one vote short of passing a bill to place a statutory moratorium on the controversial drilling practice in a Senate committee last week.

Wearing bright red t-shirts and resounding chants across Lawyer's Mall, around 150 activists—Western Maryland residents on the front lines of drilling, nurses, students, teachers and grandparents—rallied with one message for their legislators: "Get to work now protecting our communities and climate from the harms of fracking."

For Immediate Release
March 8, 2013

Contact:
Mike Tidwell, 240-460-5838, mtidwell@chesapeakeclimate.org
Tom Carlson, 651-587-0730, tom@chesapeakeclimate.org

CCAN applauds historic Senate vote; bill is now destined for Governor O'Malley's desk

ANNAPOLIS—The Maryland Senate today passed the Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act of 2013 (HB 226) by a vote of 30 to 15, pushing this landmark clean energy law over its final major hurdle, and ensuring it will reach Governor O'Malley's desk.

The bill will incentivize development of more than 200 megawatts of wind power ten miles off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland. Advocates say this is just the first step toward a goal of over 1,000 megawatts of ocean-based wind development in coastal Maryland. Regionally, the legislation is another concrete step toward a major new and clean power source for the East Coast. Construction of the Cape Wind offshore project in Massachusetts will begin later this year while New Jersey, like Maryland, is moving forward with incentive policies.

In Maryland, today’s Senate passage of the offshore wind bill follows House passage two weeks ago. The bill is the culmination of a broad, unprecedented grassroots campaign. Over the past two and a half years, hundreds of environmental, health, labor, business, faith and student groups, and thousands of ordinary Marylander voters, joined together to push lawmakers in Annapolis to take this step forward and make offshore wind power a reality in Maryland.