|
January | Issue #58
Quick Links: Maryland | DC | Virginia | Students
FROM DIRECTOR MIKE TIDWELL
 Dear [[First_Name]],
“Outrageous” is a very strong word. But it applies to Dominion Virginia Power when it comes to supplying “renewable” energy to the state. Under a 2007 law called the Renewable Portfolio Standard Act, Dominion receives a ratepayer premium if it increases the flow of renewable energy into the state’s grid. So, five years later, how much solar and wind power has Dominion brought to the grid? Answer: Zero. Zilch. Nada.
Instead, the company buys mostly pre-existing hydro power – often from out-of-state reservoirs built before WWII – and sells the power to Virginia ratepayers, earning tens of millions of dollars in premiums without helping the environment or the climate at all. It’s a shell game! Check out this chart for more details.
As the General Assembly sessions opens in Richmond this month, CCAN will be working with our partners to fix the loopholes in this state renewable energy law so that ratepayers stop getting ripped off while pollution levels barely change. Here’s what you can do to help: join us at our Clean Energy Day of Action on Feb. 2.
See full note from director >>
CCAN takes on the Virginia RPS
The 2012 Virginia General Assembly session is in full swing and this year, CCAN’s highest priority is to strengthen the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). Instead of spurring local development of clean power and green jobs as was intended, electric utilities are shuffling papers to earn the rewards of the RPS without giving Virginians the intended benefits. Dominion is getting a $76 million bonus from ratepayers for energy generated at facilities that were built decades before the RPS was passed, many of them out-of-state. And they’re not even required to give the public a full tally of what kind of energy they’re getting credit for. That’s why we're working with Delegate Rust (R-86) and Delegate Toscano (D-57) on H.B. 656 to strengthen Virginia’s RPS, which will incentivize the utilities to put actual steel in the ground in the commonwealth. Another priority of ours, S.B. 382, patroned by Senator McEachin and its house companion patroned by Delegate McClellan, requires specific information to be included in the utilities' annual reports about how they are meeting the RPS. To learn more about these bills, and to see a full list of the bills we are supporting and opposing this session, please check out our Virginia legislative webpage.
Clean Energy Day of Action Feb. 2
Join us for a day in Richmond to make strengthening the RPS an issue that lawmakers can't ignore - the Clean Energy Day of Action on February 2nd. We’ll start with a quick briefing on the legislation, meet face-to-face with lawmakers and come together outside the State Capitol for a rally and to hand out flyer to legislators as they pass by. With your help, it’s sure to be the biggest action for clean energy this year!
Conservation Lobby Day 2012
CCAN and other Virginia Conservation Network partners, the Garden Club of Virginia, and volunteers from across Virginia will come together in Richmond on January 23rd for Conservation Lobby Day 2012. This annual event brings together conservationists, clean energy and environmental supporters to lobby legislators on issues from renewable energy to uranium mining and water quality in an effort to build support for these key issues. General Assembly members respond the most when constituents let them know which priorities they support, and we’ll make sure you have all the information to educate them effectively. Sign up for this year’s Conservation Lobby Day, and learn more about CCAN’s priorities this session.
We've Got Our Eye on Fracking in 2012
While we’re fighting for the good during this legislative session (offshore wind), we’ll also be tackling the bad (fracking). We’re gearing up for a number of bills to address recommendations from the Maryland Department of the Environment and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. These would help protect landowners and provide funds for studies on the potential costs and benefits of fracking in Maryland. Let’s make sure these agencies can do their job properly and fully study all of the concerns associated with fracking in Maryland's Marcellus Shale. Stay tuned!
Maryland Offshore Wind -- We're back
The 2012 Maryland General Assembly kicked off on January 11th and if gauged by the number of activists at the Wind Works rally on Lawyer’s Mall that morning, offshore wind is the most energetically-supported issue facing lawmakers this session. More than 100 citizen clean energy advocates attended the event to help maintain the grassroots momentum from a statewide series of packed town hall forums. Legislators took notice, including the majority leaders of both houses and chair of the House Economic Matters committee Dereck Davis, who stopped by to chat with campaign representatives. According to one Annapolis insider, we definitely “won the first day of session” on offshore wind.
Now comes the real challenge: Winning the rest of the legislative session! To do that we need your help with the next few grassroots pushes. Here’s how you can plug in:
1. Help with our constituent call-in day on Feb. 2: Click here to sign up to make a call, or click here to help recruit other callers by phone.
2. Set up and/or attend a constituent lobby meeting: Do you live in a district represented by a key delegate or senator? Please click here to find out and sign up to attend a lobby meeting.
3. Attend the 2012 Maryland Environmental Legislative Summit: Once again, a coalition of state environmental groups has made offshore wind one of its top priorities in 2012. Attend the summit to learn more about this and the group's other legislative priorities and show your support!
Join Dr. James Hansen at the 7th Annual Polar Bear Plunge
On Saturday, January 21st at National Harbor, CCAN will hold its 7th Annual Polar Bear Plunge into the Potomac River. This year we have set our highest fundraising goal ever -- $75,000! You’ll join hundreds of other activists who will take one short leap into the water to help raise money for the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. And you’ll be in good company too – leading U.S. climate scientist Dr. James Hansen will join us at this year’s plunge! Let's show Dr. Hansen our appreciation for his decades-long leadership on the climate by making this plunge our largest one ever. Save the polar bears! Save the humans! Keep winter cold! It's not too late to join us! Please sign up today.
Blow the Whistle on Big Oil Corruption Jan. 24
Bill McKibben and 350.org have called for a major demonstration in DC next Tuesday afternoon to blow the whistle on big oil corruption. Three days after issuing the call, more than 500 people have already signed up.
Why this action now? Because Big Oil is buying votes in Congress and it's time to blow the whistle on that injustice. We'll be gathering on Capitol Hill dressed in referee uniforms (yep, stripes and all), and then heading to the American Petroleum Institute - Big Oil's top lobby - to do the same.
Join CCAN Director Mike Tidwell and CCAN Policy Director Ted Glick at this important action next Tuesday, Jan. 24th at 3:00pm on Capitol Hill. Sign up to get more info here.
Maryland Student Climate Coalition (MSCC) To Rally for Offshore Wind!
Mark your calendars! On February 22nd, students from all over Maryland will take Annapolis by storm for a rally and lobby day for offshore wind! At the MSCC leadership training on January 8th, students came together at the University of Maryland - College Park (UMD) for a day of skills trainings and planning for this huge event in February that will be sure to let the Maryland General Assembly know exactly how students and higher education feel about offshore wind! In addition to making lots of noise outside of the State House, we’ll be hand delivering letters supporting offshore wind from university heads, campus sustainability offices, and other campus VIPs to show that some of the state’s biggest energy customers are willing to invest in offshore wind now in order to reap all of its benefits and long-term savings. Students will also lobby their legislators and encourage them to pass offshore wind legislation in the 2012 session. Want to get in on the action? Email
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
to get plugged into to Wind Works for Students campaign!
"Windy with A Chance of Pancakes" and Other Stories from the Field
UMD for Clean Energy launched a new tactic to educate their fellow students about offshore wind: events co-hosted by the Residence Hall Administration called "Windy with a Chance of Pancakes." Participants chow down on free pancakes and ice cream in their dorm, while learning about offshore wind power. Wildly popular (for obvious reasons), these events have succeeded in educating the UMD community and increasing the number of signatures on the group's petition encouraging the Board of Regents (decision-makers for the Maryland university system) to endorse offshore wind legislation.
Students at Johns Hopkins are working to build a coalition of environmental groups from across the Hopkins community of schools to convince University President, Ronald J. Daniels, to come out in support of offshore wind! Julia Bradshaw, Tippy Patrinos, and Joni Sliger from Students for Environmental Action are leading the charge to get all the green-focused groups, from the Homewood Campus, Carey Business School, and the Medical School to work together and ensure that State Senator Pugh hears from President Daniels on this issue!
CCAN is Hiring
Do you want to fight global warming while gaining valuable grassroots organizing knowledge and experience? If so, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network has the perfect job for you. We are currently hiring a Virginia Campus Organizer to work out of our Richmond office.
For ten years, CCAN has been working in Maryland, Virginia, and DC to fight climate change by standing up to polluters and working to pass clean energy policies. We’ve made a lot of progress, but still have a long way to go and we need your help! Bill McKibben recently called CCAN “the best regional climate organization in the world.” Apply for a job with us today.
MEET CCAN VOLUNTEER JIM CONKLIN
Why CCAN loves Jim: Jim is a ball of climate-fighting energy. Advocacy is a volunteer gig for him, but when phone banking or knocking on doors, he outshines most professional organizers! There is hardly a phone bank, canvass, rally or other event that CCAN has organized in the past few months that Jim hasn't had a hand in helping to pull together. If only we could clone him we'd have this climate crisis thing licked in no time.
 Your name: Jim Conklin
Your age: 74 and proud of it
Your profession: Work has included teaching at the university and high school levels, first in the Department of Physics at the University of Florida, teaching physics at both undergraduate and graduate levels plus some specialized math; more recently teaching high school math and physics at Chelsea School in Silver Spring. In between were almost thirty years of managing computer and information technology services for academic institutions of higher education and as director of the BITNET Network Information Center. (BITNET was a predecessor to the Internet for email between colleges and universities throughout the world.) My education includes SB, MS, and ScD degrees from MIT.
Where you live: Silver Spring, Maryland
Why are you a CCAN volunteer? I'm really concerned about climate change and now that I'm retired from teaching, I want to do everything that I can to make global warming less likely and to move us to renewable energy instead of fossil fuels.
What has inspired you most working with CCAN? I've really enjoyed having the chance to work with people who are dedicated to promoting a livable climate and the lifestyle and political changes that are necessary to bring it about. The CCAN staff are great to work with and have helped me to get involved more effectively than I'd have been able to do on my own. And it's fun meeting and working with the staff and with other volunteeers who have the same goal of a clean, stable environment.
What have you contributed to bringing about a clean energy revolution that you are most proud of? I'm proud to have been a part of helping to stop the Keystone XL pipeline, at least for the time being, and I'm glad to have been a part of the ongoing effort to bring renewable energy to Maryland through our efforts in support of legislation to develop offshore wind power. Both goals, I think, will require a sustained effort, and I look forward to being an active part of that.
What do you hope to see happen in terms of climate in the next year? I'm hoping for lots more distributed solar installations, the passage of good wind power legislation leading to many new wind farms operating off the coast of Maryland and elsewhere in the country, more large-scale solar installations feeding the grid, installation of large-scale power storage (batteries, pumped hydroelectric, and rotating inertial storage units), an improved power distribution and transmission grid, the closing of more coal-fired power plants, and the permanent defeat of the Keystone pipeline and others serving the Canadian tar sands oil fields. I'd like to see these and similar developments throughout the world make a serious reduction in the production of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (or at least in their rate of increase), to provide a real begining to bringing us back to a stable climate worldwide. I also hope for much greater understanding and acceptance, by the general public, of the science behind global warming so that more people push the politicians to stop giving handouts to the fossil fuel industry and institute a carbon tax to cover some of the real but indirect costs of fossil fuel use. Achieving this last goal will take a lot of public education by organizations like CCAN.
What do you like to do when you’re not working on climate change? I enjoy doing things with my family. My wife and I garden, and we take walks and ride our tandem bicycle, often joined on bicycle trips by our son. We frequently entertain our grandson and enjoy visiting with his parents, our daughter and son-in-law. We all like reading, and my wife and I enjoy music and theater. I'm active in my church.
Who would you high five? The CCAN staff and volunteers, the Sierra Club and Interfaith Power and Light staff and volunteers, Friends of the Earth, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Union of Concerned Scientists, and the League of Conservation Voters; Governor O'Malley, Tom Hucker, Jamie Raskin, and all the other Maryland legislators and senators working hard for the environment; Donna Edwards, Barbara Mikulski, Ben Cardin, and the other Maryland Congress-people and Senators who are trying hard to protect the environment; Bill McKibben; and so many others who are working at the local and national level to protect our climate. Hooray for all the people who care and act on it!
|
|
|
