Saying goodbye to CCAN

josh

Dear partners and friends,

After three and a half years of amazing climate action, I have decided to leave Chesapeake Climate Action Network. May 16th will be my last day. This has truly been one of the best experiences of my life, and by far my most gratifying work environment. I have worked on amazing legislation, run exciting campaigns fighting coal in Virginia or rallying for healthy air in Maryland. I’ve hung out with Senators, got my picture taken with the Governor, even attended the United Nations. But the best experience by far has been working with all of our amazing volunteers. CCAN is only as strong as its base of people. And by that record, we have all made CCAN a powerhouse.

And yet… after all of this work, I am eager to explore new opportunities. Since before I came to CCAN, I have been drawn to electoral politics, and I have decided to leave to pursue work around the upcoming elections. As any of you who I work with know, I love the good fight, and I’m excited to get my hands wet fighting to elect more strong climate leaders. Continue reading

So long, and thanks for all the fish

paulDear CCANers,

As many of you have heard, I will be leaving CCAN on May 16th to pursue new opportunities. The last year and a half that I have spent with this organization has been one of the most thrilling and challenging times of my life. I was given the opportunity to spend time doing what I loved to do, working with people to fight global warming. I was fortunate enough to have worked in both the Maryland and Virginia campaigns, getting to meet people all over the region that shared my views and passion.

It has been a great joy for me to work with the CCAN staff, the amazing volunteers, and fight global warming at the grassroots level. I will never forget my time here, and the beautiful relationships that I have forged.

Thank you for everything you do.

Paul

Chesapeake Governors Sign Climate Declaration

20 governors, including Governors O’Malley and Kaine, signed the Governor’s Declaration on Climate Change at the 2008 Conference on Climate Change held at Yale University. The declaration states that first, a federal-state partnership is critical to success on climate change action; second, state-based actions have paved the frontier of climate change policies; and third, mandatory state and federal action should be rewarded and encouraged. The governors pledged to work with the next president to shape federal action on climate change, taking the lessons learned from actions in their states into account. Governors from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, Virginia and Washington all signed the pledge. Read the pledge here>>

Annapolis Blues Society hosts CCAN benefit

Letter from John Jensen, organizer of the Annapolis Blues Society:

Dear Friends,

On May 24, 2008…8:00 PM I’m taking part in the effort to raise awareness of our “global warming situation” by putting together a music concert to benefit the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN).

Some great musicians have joined in to make up a great bill for the evening: Neil Harpe will be playing his traditional blues, the Joe Byrd Trio is doing some jazz music, Julia Gibb is bringing her Hawaiian style hula group to show us some beautiful authentic dancing and music, and Tina Ward is coming down from Baltimore to perform some of her original music. And I’m doing a couple of my original blues songs on the theme of Global warming as well as a couple of classics.

All in all it should be a pretty stimulating evening. Plenty of the CCAN people will be there to chat with, so if you actually do care about getting active in the Climate Change Movement it will be a good chance to meet some of likeminded individuals.

The tax deductible donation of $50 gets you a reservation and a seat at the Powerhouse at Loews Annapolis Hotel. Once again May 24, 8:00 PM. You can pay online at www.annapolisbluessociety.com and click on “buy tickets.”

I hope you can join John and the rest of the Annapolis Blues Society for this benefit! CCAN is really looking forward to taking part in this exciting event!

PS: Listen to some of the acts here>>

Climate Super Rally Podcast and Video!

Want to hear the full speaches? Check out our podcast:

(Click to Play)


logo.gifNotes: Dr. Hansen joined the Rev. Jim Wallis of Sojourners and Amy Goodman of Democracy Now at our Earth Day rally on April 22nd, 2008. Both Ms Goodman and Rev. Wallis have recently released books addressing the issue of global warming.

Continue reading

Dominion Keeps Trying to Sell VA Healthy Cigarettes

Surge ProtectorDominion Virginia Power is at it again. It ran a full-page page ad in the Washington Post yesterday, apparently forgetting all about a key ruling in March by the State Corporation Commission (SCC), the agency that oversees utilities.

Take a look at Dominion’s first bullet point describing how it plans to provide new electrical generation to Virginia:

[Among the important parts of this plan are:] A new clean-coal, carbon capture-compatible power station in Wise County where we’ll spend nearly $320 million to install the very latest in emissions-control systems. It’ll be one of the cleanest coal-powered stations in the U.S. and bring more than 1,200 jobs and $1.8 billion of new investment to Southwest Virginia.

Really? Carbon capture compatible? On July 13, 2007, Dominion Power applied to the State Corporation Commission for approval of a coal-fired power plant in Wise County it promised would be “carbon capture compatible.” On March 31st, the SCC approved construction of a “conventional coal” facility and did not give Dominion any bonus for carbon capture compatibility. Rather, the Commission was explicitly clear – of the $1.8 billion to build the plant, not one penny would go to address the plant’s global warming pollution, either now or at any time in the future.

Now let’s talk about “clean” coal. First, the term clean coal in general is a joke. Calling coal clean is like calling a cigarette healthy; the cigarette may have less tar and cancer-causing agents than other brands, but that does not mean it’s good for you. Same goes for coal: No matter what you do to it, it will never be clean. Continue reading

Inextricably Tied to Coal

Living in an apartment building in the heart of Washington, DC I don’t feel a deep connection to coal mining. I drink my coffee in the mornings and read about the tragedy at Sago mine or China’s voracious appetite for coal. From my dining room table though, West Virginia feels far away and China could practically be in other universe.

Turns out I’m much more connected than I care to imagine. This Sunday, the Washington Post ran a great piece by David Fahrenthold about DC’s connection to mountaintop removal coal mining.

MUD, W.Va. — This is a place where “moving mountains” is no longer a figure of speech. Here, among the steep green Appalachians, mining companies are moving mountains off their pedestals to get the kind of coal that Washington needs.

Though this isolated mine is more than 400 miles from Washington, the two places share a powerful connection: coal. The D.C. region, with its need for electricity skyrocketing, has been burning steadily more coal, buying almost a third of its supply from this part of Appalachia.

Bob White in WVAMountaintop removal is a radical form of coal mining in which entire mountains are literally blown up — and it is happening here in America on a scale that is almost unimaginable.

Central Appalachia provides much of the country’s coal, second only to Wyoming’s Powder River Basin. In the United States, 100 tons of coal are extracted every two seconds. Around 70 percent of that coal comes from strip mines, and over the last 20 years, an increasing amount comes from mountaintop-removal sites. In Virginia 29 mountains have already been destroyed by mountaintop removal mining.

Dominion Power has plans to build a new $1.8 billion coal-fired power plant in Wise County — a county that has already lost 25% of its mountains to mountaintop removal. Dominion’s proposed plant would burn mostly Virginia coal, which would increase the demand for coal and thus increase mountaintop removal mining.

No matter where you live in Maryland, Virginia or DC, part of your electricity comes from coal that was mined using mountaintop removal.

Check our your connection to mountaintop removal using Appalachian Voices’ web tool that allows you to track exactly where your coal comes from.

One way you can help stop the destructive practice of mountaintop removal in Virginia is by making sure Virginia doesn’t build any new coal plants.

Take action! Sign the petition against new coal in Virginia>>

Sweet, sweet super rally last night!

james hansenDr. James Hansen’s speech last night brought out a cheering crowd and called on US citizens to join together and stop new coal and demand that our country rethink targets for cutting carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. “If humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted, humans must reduce CO2 from its current 385 parts per million (ppm) to at most 350 ppm.”

Dr. Hansen joined the Rev. Jim Wallis of Sojourners and Amy Goodman of Democracy Now at our Earth Day rally last night. Both Ms Goodman and Rev. Wallis have recently released books addressing the issue of global warming.

One of my favorite quotes came from Jim Wallis:

“The neglect of our natural environment and its degradation is not just bad policy; it’s bad theology. When climate change and ecological pressures threaten the survival of civilization as we know it, I want to reassert an ethic of environmental stewardship that is rooted in our most basic moral and religious values.”

Share your favorite quotes from last night in the comments below! And post your photos in our flickr set!

MD Student State Summit! 4/25-4/27

The Maryland Student Climate Coalition (MSCC) is hosting a State Summit! With the momentum of their recent victory in making the University System of Maryland to go carbon neutral the MSCC is gathering to plan their next big campaign.

Our movement is growing and the MSCC is expanding to include ALL SCHOOLS in MD!

Here is a message from Erica Stout, Co-Coordinator of the MSCC:

Come be a climate leader for the state of Maryland!!

A lot has happened this year around global warming in MD, from
PowerShift in our own state, to our fight for the Global Warming
Solutions act, to the Maryland Student Climate Coalition’s victory in
getting 13 Universities in MD to pledge climate neutrality!!!!

There are HUGE opportunities to make MD a leader in the fight against global
warming and we are building immense momentum at all of our schools.
Now it is time for us all to come together and plan what steps we can take,
to use our power to make change in our state!! Come celebrate the end of Earth Week

with us and culminate your work for the year at the Maryland Student Climate Coalition Summit!!!

STATE SUMMIT, @ UMD April 25-27

Join dozens of other climate leaders from across MD at a

STATE SUMMIT April 25-27 where we will plan our next
campaign, get trained, and begin to build our momentum to hit the ground

running next semester!


Click here to register for the summit!

SUMMIT LOGISTICS:

WHEN: Friday April 25- Sunday April 27!!! We will begin Friday evening and finish Sunday, early afternoon.
WHERE: University of Maryland, College Park.

Sleeping Arrangements: We will be buddying up people from other schools to stay with UMD students. Mark in the registration form (Register Here!!) if you will need a place to stay in College Park.

Logistics: We hope to cover a majority of the meals (vegetarian, with
vegan options) with a contribution from our hosts from Clean Energy for UMD through the MD
Co-Op. Yum! Breakfast may be on your own.

WHAT YOU SHOULD DO NOW:
1. Register for the summit!!!!
2. Tell your friends and your group!!! Pass around a sign up sheet at your next meeting, then register them through the same form.
3. Help us make this a success! Email me at ericastout@gmail.com or Andrew at anazdin@gmail.com if you would like to help out. Email Liz at lizlacoco@gmail.com to join the recruitment working group, or Hanna at hpoffenb@umd.edu to help with the agenda

Email me if you have any questions, thoughts, suggestions or concerns!!!

Erica Stout

(301) 787-2059

Co-Coordinator

Maryland Student Climate Coalition