Virginians March BACKWARDS to Protest Youngkin’s Backward Climate Policies

Unusual backwards march around the State Capitol demonstrates opposition to Governor’s plan to withdraw from RGGI program that reduces carbon emissions while funding coastal resilience and energy efficiency

Richmond, VA – At 12 noon on Friday, July 1, Virginians will march BACKWARDS around the state capitol to protest Governor Glen Youngkin’s scheme to withdraw Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). This first-ever march of its kind in Richmond will be led by brass musicians and protesters chanting – while walking backwards – that Youngkin must stop moving the state backwards on climate change.

Friday’s march coincides with Youngkin’s scheduled completion of the process of stacking the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board with hand-picked members and using it to undermine the General Assembly. After only three days of public notice, this board could use an “emergency declaration” to march Virginia backwards – out of the popular RGGI cap-and-trade program,which provides essential funding for progress on climate solutions and clean energy. 

Since Virginia joined RGGI, industrial carbon polluters have paid over $300 million in fees. Those funds are used to insulate the homes of low-income Virginians and cover the cost of infrastructure improvements to minimize the impacts of sea-level rise and flooding associated with climate change. 

Youngkin’s plan to withdraw from RGGI ignores the desire of more than two-thirds of Virginians, who support the program, and directly conflicts with recent legislative votes and proposed budget amendments from the General Assembly. Youngkin has also declined to join 11 other East Coast states to partner more closely with the Federal government on offshore wind development. 

On Friday, Virginians from the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Third Act Virginia, Appalachian Voices and Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions will demonstrate against the Governor’s efforts to withdraw from RGGI. Live music and refreshments will be provided at Friday’s visually engaging event, where marchers will physically march backwards in protest. 

WHO:   Community members, environmental advocates

WHAT:   Demonstration with featured speakers, march

WHEN:  Friday, July 1 from 12 PM to 1 PM

WHERE:  The event begins on the Capitol Grounds at the Bell Tower with several speakers and is followed by a March Backward, starting on the sidewalk at 9th and Franklin Streets.   

Below are statements from several of the event organizers:

“Governor Youngkin portrays himself as a business leader – but his pro-pollution agenda is hurting businesses and damaging the climate. It’s becoming a national embarrassment. Currently, Virginia is benefitting tremendously from a market-based initiative that reduces carbon pollution while investing in coastal flooding protection and energy efficiency. Youngkin’s goal of withdrawing Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative would harm families and reward polluters. It’s a giant step backwards. The Governor must be stopped.”
– Mike Tidwell, Chesapeake Climate Action Network  

“Gov. Youngkin’s plan to withdraw Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative is short-sighted and dangerous.The report this administration uses for rationale has been falsely interpreted as bad for consumers. Third Act Virginia supports the science and expert opinions that show the Initiative works as intended. In our current climate catastrophe, we don’t have time for backwards measures and partisan divide. We want a future we can all live in, and urge the governor to prioritize the health and wellbeing of our citizens.” 
– Deborah Kushner, Third Act Virginia

“We are praying that Governor Youngkin has a change of heart on his opposition to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. This successful, bipartisan program is cutting planet-warming pollution, helping low income Virginians save money with energy efficiency, and protecting our communities from the ravages of increased flooding. It’s simply common sense to stay in RGGI.”

– Andrea McGimsey Executive Director, Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions

For more information, visit the organizers’ shared event registration page.

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Chesapeake Climate Action Network is the first grassroots organization dedicated exclusively to raising awareness about the impacts and solutions associated with global warming in the Chesapeake Bay region. Founded in 2002, CCAN has been at the center of the fight for clean energy and wise climate policy in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC. For more information, visit www.chesapeakeclimate.org

More information: 

Virginia Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative: Youngkin is Dragging Virginia Backwards On Climate

REPORT: DAMAGING METHANE GAS PIPELINE LEAKS HAPPEN EVERY 40 HOURS IN THE U.S.

Frequent gas leaks are resulting in death, injury, and other damage to our health and environment
for Immediate Release
THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2022

Baltimore, MD – Methane gas – commonly referred to as “natural” gas – has been piped through our communities for heating and cooking for a century, and for just as long, has been subject to dangerous leaks. On Thursday, Maryland PIRG Foundation, Environment Maryland Research and Policy Center and Frontier Group released a new report that finds from 2010 through nearly the end of 2021, almost 2,600  gas pipeline incidents occurred in the United States that were serious enough to require reporting to the federal government. That’s the equivalent to one every 40 hours. 

“For as long as we have used gas to heat and cook, it has posed a risk both to people who use it in their homes and those who live in neighborhoods above gas pipes,” said Maryland PIRG Foundation Director Emily Scarr. “House explosions and leaking pipelines, like we have experienced in Baltimore and across the state, aren’t isolated incidents – they’re the result of an energy system that pipes dangerous, explosive gas through our neighborhoods. It’s time to move away from gas and toward safer, cleaner electrification and renewable energy.” 

In addition to the report, the groups also released a tip guide to provide guidance on what to do if you suspect a gas leak in your community. Of the nearly 2,600 pipeline incidents recorded between 2010 and 2021, 850 resulted in fires and 328 in an explosion. Those incidents killed 122 people and injured more than 600. The total costs to communities from things such as property damage, emergency services, and the value of intentionally and unintentionally released gas, totaled nearly $4 billion. These incidents also resulted in the leakage of 26.6 billion cubic feet of gas, equivalent in its effects on global warming to emissions from over 2.4 million passenger vehicles driven for a year. 

The serious pipeline incidents addressed in the report represent just a fraction of the leaks experienced in the production, transportation and burning of gas. Smaller gas leaks are rife in urban areas, like Baltimore and Montgomery County, while large methane leaks from oil and gas production threaten the climate. A study from 2018 found that leaks from gas lines over the previous two decades had nearly doubled the climate impact of gas. In addition, some serious gas explosions that have caused death or injury in Maryland are not included in the data as they did not occur in the pipeline system.

“Leaks, fires and explosions are reminders that transporting methane gas is dangerous business,” said Tony Dutzik, associate director and senior policy analyst at Frontier Group and lead author of the report. “The incidents included in this report were caused by a wide variety of factors, from operator errors to equipment failures, and excavation damage to natural causes. Fully protecting the public requires us to reduce our dependence on gas.”

The report recommends that the U.S. stop relying on methane gas for home heating and cooking as well as electricity generation. Instead, policy makers should incentivize and accelerate the transition to all-electric buildings and renewable sources of energy, which are cleaner and safer for communities. During the transition, the report recommends that gas infrastructure investments focus on fixing leaks. 

“When rooftop solar panels can power an induction cooktop or electric heat pump, it becomes increasingly unacceptable to saddle society with the risks associated with pumping methane into our homes and throughout our communities,” said Scarr. “It’s time to leave explosive and polluting fossil fuels like methane behind and embrace a future powered by 100% renewable energy.”

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Reposted from: https://marylandpirg.org/news/mdp/report-damaging-methane-gas-pipeline-leaks-happen-every-40-hours-us

Hanover’s Brown Grove Community Recognized As A Virginia Historic District, Raises Awareness for Environmental Justice

Virginia Department of Historic Resources honored the Freedmen-founded community of Brown Grove and incorporated it into the Virginia Landmarks state registry. 


Sweet Briar, VA – On Thursday June 16, the Virginia Board of Historic Resources and the State Review Board voted to recognize Hanover’s Brown Grove as a historic district with local significance. The Brown Grove Historic District is a historically African American rural community south of Ashland in Hanover County established by freed slaves during the Reconstruction Era. It is an excellent example of the rural landscape of African American heritage that grew from the plantation economy to a self-sufficient agricultural community, and transitioned in the twentieth century into a middle-class residential neighborhood.

Those who spoke to advocate on behalf of the Brown Grove community included Diane Drake and Lakshmi Fjord, and was presented by Marc Wagner of the Eastern Region of the Department of Historic Resources. 

“It is indeed a wonderful blessing to celebrate Brown Grove Rural Historic District with the  Virginia Registry of Historic Places,” said Diane Smith Drake. “‘Let Freedom Ring’ even louder on this Juneteenth Celebration day!”

“What a seismic shift over a very short space of time into DHR now taking a far more community-based approach to preservation of historic African American and Indigenous historic communities and historic resources,” said Lakshmi Fjord, visiting scholar at the University of Virginia’s department of anthropology.

In 1870, Brown Grove was founded by formerly enslaved people and a bustling community was built. Most members of the community now can trace their lineage to Ms. Caroline Morris, the matriarch of Brown Grove. The district as a whole continues to strongly embody a sense of a rural, working-class, African American settlement and the continued occupancy of multi-generational descendants of early inhabitants, the continued visitation and maintenance of historic cemeteries, and the vibrant and engaged congregation of Brown Grove Baptist Church reinforce the district’s robust integrity. 

Throughout the decades, several heavy industrial facilities have threatened the fabric of this area. With this designation, likely fewer if any of those types of development would come to fruition. The close-knit community is pleased with the good news and nods to the timing with Juneteenth. The community also continues to await incorporation into the National Historic Registry. 

Listing an area as a Historic District is only an honorary designation, but has real benefits in educating communities about their unique cultural, historic and natural assets. This education often leads to a greater effort to preserve that history for future generations.

“The Chesapeake Climate Action Network could not be more pleased with the good news. Brown Grove has been the site of environmental injustice for decades, and hopefully now the community will have some protection from extractive industries,” says CCAN Virginia organizer Elle De La Cancela. “Today is a day to celebrate and to begin to redress the wrongs of the past.”

Several organizations and individuals contributed to this historic decision’s success. Some of these include: Virginia League of Conservation Voters, Sunrise Movement – Richmond Chapter, Delegate Elizabeth Guzman, Hanover County NAACP, SELC, VA EJ council, Friends of Buckingham, African American Redress Network, Howard University, Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center Columbia University, International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), Resolutions Addressing Systemic Racism (RASR), and Namati.

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The Brown Grove Preservation Group is a group of people who are dedicated to continue the work our ancestors started.  We are committed to see our community grow by building homes not industry.  We use faith and heart to work toward the betterment of the Brown Grove Community.