Category: Blog

Every summer, CCAN hires talented and passionate young people from across the region to join us as Fellows and interns. This summer, our Fellows and interns will be spreading out across the region to protect Virginia’s coast from rising seas, bring more clean energy to Maryland, stop dirty energy projects like fracking in Western Maryland and pipelines in central and southwest Virginia, and draw attention to the growing threat of bomb trains rolling through our cities and towns. Ultimately, they’ll be building the people-powered movement it’s going to take to bring the fossil fuel industry to its knees and tackle one of the most important issues of our time.
Thank you, in advance, to our Summer 2015 Fellows for all of the great work you’re going to do this summer!
And if you cross paths with one of our hard working fellows this summer, please join us in welcoming them to the CCAN team!
Introducing…CCAN’s Summer 2015 Fellows:
Beatrice Ohene-Okae – Safe Coast Fellow, Richmond, VA
Beatrice is from Alexandria, Virginia, and is currently a junior at the University of Mary Washington majoring in Environmental Science. She is a student organizer with the Virginia Student Environmental Coalition and the Virginia Student Power Network. On her campus, she is involved in DivestUMW and UMW Students United, which focus on  promoting sustainability and transparency as well as social and economic responsibility. Her passions include eating strawberries, learning more about sustainability issues around the world, and trying to play her violin.
 
Kendall King – Safe Coast Fellow, Richmond, VA

Kendall is a rising second year at the University of Virginia. She’s originally from the east coast, but her parents currently live in Tulsa, Oklahoma and she attended high school there. She serves as media liaison for the Virginia Student Environmental Coalition, as well as Outreach Coordinator for the Climate Action Society at the University of Virginia.  
 
 
 
 
Nqobile Mthethwa – Atlantic Coast Pipeline Fellow, Charlottesville and Richmond, VA
Nqobile is a 3^rd year at the University of Virginia, studying Political Science with a concentration on Foreign Affairs with a minor in Global Sustainability. She’s the political engagement coordinator of Virginia Student  Environmental Coalition and a member of UVA Climate Action Society. She attended several energy and clean power plan hearings for the VA Energy Plan while interning with Appalachian Voices in 2014 and worked with  Organizing for Action’s Climate Change team on Clean Power Plan and solar initiatives. Recently, she’s been  working on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline resistance effort, organizing against natural gas infrastructure. She’s really interested in policy pertaining to energy in Virginia and how to build student political power to steer universities and the state towards a fossil free future.
 
 
 
 
Millie Smith – Mountain Valley Pipeline Fellow, Richmond, VA
Millie just finished her sophomore year at Virginia Tech. She is in an interdisciplinary environmental studies program, with a concentrations on civic agriculture and urban planning. Based in Blacksburg, she has worked most with building community power and opposition to the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
 
 
 
Nate Levine – Hampton Roads Organizing Fellow, Norfolk, VA
Nate is a native of Virginia Beach, and it’s his love of surfing and the ocean sparked an urgency to fight climate change.  He is currently pursuing a B.A. in English: Creative Writing and a B.A. in History at the University of Mary Washington. At Mary Washington, he directed his passion for environmental justice into organizing with the DivestUMW campaign, which is pressuring the administration and Board of Visitors to withdraw their investments from the fossil  fuel industry. In his spare time, Nate enjoys surfing, hiking, writing poetry, and playing guitar.
 
 
 
 
 
Alex Krass – Bonner Center for Civic Engagement Fellow, Richmond, VA
Alex Krass is a rising senior at the University of Richmond, majoring in Environmental Studies and Business. He started working on the divestment movement on Richmond’s campus. Originally from Vermont, he has lived there most of his life, giving him a true appreciation for the outdoors. Alex’s fellowship exists through a partnership with the University of Richmond’s Bonner Center for Civic Engagement.
 
 
 
 
Jamie DeMarco – Clean Energy Fellow, Takoma Park, MD
Jamie grew up in Baltimore and is currently a Chemistry and Environmental Studies double  major at Warren Wilson College. He enjoys running, climbing and acting, but has recently  come to enjoy activism more and more. This past year, he was involved in campaigns to reform smoking  policies on his college campus, and volunteered as a sexual assault crisis responder. He also tied himself to the  White House fence and lobbied Senators to combat climate change.
 
 
 
Kiernan Colby – Healthy Communities Fellow, Takoma Park, MD
Kiernan is a senior Community and Justice Studies and Religious Studies major at Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina. Originally from Silver Spring, MD, Kiernan is a Quaker, musician and activist committed to fighting for the restoration of the Earth. When not organizing for social justice, Kiernan bikes, reads and plays guitar in a funk band. This summer, Kiernan will be working with CCAN and Forest Ethics as the regional coordinator for an international “Stop Oil Trains Week of Action.”
 
 
 
Sarah Snead – Don’t Frack Maryland Fellow, Takoma Park, MD
Sarah is a rising senior at American University, majoring in Environmental Studies and minoring in Economics. She is from Westminster, Maryland originally. For the past 3 years she’s helped organize on her campus with Fossil Free AU. In her free time she plays on the women’s ultimate Frisbee team.
 
 
 
Lauren Chartuk – Communications Fellow, Takoma Park, MD 
Lauren is a sophomore at Virginia Commonwealth University, majoring in English. Lauren is the Senior Secretary for Poictesme, VCU’s literary journal. She is also part of the Virginia Student Environmental Coalition, working with the media team and holding a seat in VSEC’s council. When she isn’t working with VSEC or Poictesme she’s in a hammock reading, or practicing her French in preparation for COP21 in Paris. Sauvons l’environnement!
 
 
 
CCAN will also be joined this summer by two Takoma Park based Special Projects Interns – Derek Burtraw and Robin Rice.
 
Derek is a senior at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, working on a double major with Environmental Studies and Music.
 
 
 
Robin Rice is a rising sophomore at the University of Vermont.
 
 
 
Again, WELCOME to CCAN’s Summer 2015 Fellows and interns. We’re so excited to be working with you!
 

Photo Credit: Corrina Beall, Virginia Sierra Club
Last week over 150 protesters descended on Dominion Resources’ annual shareholder meeting in Glen Allen, VA. They came from all over—as far as Augusta County, Norfolk, and Cove Point, MD—to stand united against Dominion’s dirty energy investments.
For shareholders and executives attending the meeting, there was no hiding from droves of protesters lining both sides of the entranceway with their banners and a ‘mock’ inflatable pipeline.
What motivated so many activists to trek several hours for a protest on a Wednesday morning at 8am? For those who traveled from Augusta, Nelson, and Buckingham counties it’s their vehement opposition to Dominion’s proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP), which would be constructed through their farms, businesses, and homes to serve as a conduit for ’fracked’ gas from West Virginia. Increasingly, Virginia landowners are fighting in solidarity with West Virginians opposing ‘fracking’ in their own backyards. If Dominion gets its way with the ACP, there’s little doubt that even more ‘fracked’ wells will be constructed in West Virginia to meet the growing pipeline capacity, threatening groundwater and releasing potent greenhouse gases into our atmosphere. With Virginia’s coast 2nd only to New Orleans as the most vulnerable area in country to sea level rise, it’s unacceptable for Dominion to be accelerating projects that contribute to climate change.
Pipeline opponents were not the only protestors in the crowd. Vans brought in dozens more from Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads and one group came from Lusby, MD, the site of Dominion’s proposed Cove Point export facility—another one of Dominion’s multi-billion dollar investments in ‘fracking’ infrastructure.
The huge turnout is an indicator of growing citizen backlash against the company’s dirty energy investments and dirty politics. This is becoming evident as articles and editorials in the press are frequently calling attention to  Dominion’s “unrivaled power” in Virginia Politics, especially in the wake of the company’s successful efforts to partially halt the state’s oversight of its electric rates by passing favorable legislation in the 2015 General Assembly.
Opposition to Dominion’s dirty energy projects was not just limited to outside of the shareholder meeting. Even though non-shareholders were unable join the meeting, activist shareholders brought the public’s frustration to the forefront of the discussion. Six of the eight shareholder resolutions presented to the room demanded that the company take action on climate change or improve its environmental policies. Several of the resolutions received support in excess of 20%, and all but one received more support than last year, signaling a growing demand amongst investors that urgent action is needed on climate change. Later in the meeting shareholders had another opportunity to raise their concerns by asking questions directly to CEO Tom Farrell. Over a dozen people got up to ask questions and, except for one person, all of the questions were framed around Dominion’s dirty energy projects, climate change, or in one particular case, Dominion’s membership to the infamous American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
This year’s annual shareholder meeting was not a walk in the park for Dominion Resources. Opposition from inside and out is chipping away at Dominion’s carefully orchestrated public image. With the public and the media increasingly skeptical, the time is right to continue pressuring  Dominion to halt building massive fracked gas infrastructure and to reexamine its energy portfolio, which is currently at odds with our climate.
 

Last week, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) held two public scoping meetings in Virginia to hear comments on the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline project, a 300-mile interstate pipeline proposed to run from northern West Virginia to southern Virginia. These meetings, intended to gather input on the issues FERC must address in its environmental review, are the only two public meetings currently planned by FERC in Virginia. Two meetings have been held in West Virginia already and two additional meetings will happen in West Virginia this week. The pipeline would cost $3.2 billion dollars and transport two billion cubic feet per day of fracked gas extracted from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations.
The first meeting was held Tuesday night in Elliston, Virginia. A large crowd of nearly 400 people turned out. Before the meeting began, organizers from The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League and Preserve Floyd  joined local residents to sing songs and chants in opposition to the project.  Unfortunately, while over 100 people signed up to comment at the meeting, only around 70 people were able to testify before the meeting was scheduled to end. On Thursday, residents gathered in Chatham, Virginia with an equally strong message of opposition to the project. About 100 people attended the Chatham meeting and a majority of the speakers expressed their opposition to the plans. Before the meeting, a group of opponents organized by The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League and Preserve Franklin gathered to call for a “community veto” of the project.
Commenters shared their concerns about the environmental threats of the project specific to their properties, as well as their concern that the project would not provide sufficient public benefits to merit seizing land through use of eminent domain law. Additionally, commenters raised the concern that the company behind the proposed pipeline, Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC, has not released specifics on the proposed compressor stations for the project, that could be sited in either Montgomery or Roanoke Counties. This is problematic because people who could be living near the compressor stations, which are known to emit toxic pollution and come with significant safety dangers, will not get the opportunity to share their concerns with FERC at a public meeting.
Now that the two Virginia scoping meetings are over, we’re encouraging opponents of this pipeline project to share their concerns with FERC in writing. The comment period for the Mountain Valley Pipeline ends on June 16th. You can submit a written comment to FERC about the project here.
The Mountain Valley pipeline is one of three new fracked-gas pipelines the fossil fuel industry is pushing in Virginia. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a Dominion project, faces strong opposition to proposed construction, as well. Currently, Virginia Student Environmental Coalition students, along with CCAN organizer Drew Gallagher are biking the route of the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline in protest.
You can also join Beyond Extreme Energy for a protest at FERC Headquarters in Washington D.C. on May 27th for the Pipeline Opposition Day that’s part of Stop the FERCUS! and the May 14th mass nonviolent protest event, also happening at FERC headquarters during FERC’s May commissioner’s meeting.
Contact me for more information and to get involved! Lauren@chesapeakeclimate.org.

Dear CCANers,
In the face of a broken Congress, can individual U.S. states do enough on climate change to save America (and the world) from the worst of global warming? I used to think “no,” but now I’m more optimistic. After all, if California were a nation, it would have the seventh-largest economy in the world. So it’s a breakthrough of global ramifications that California is now committed to a dramatic 50 percent clean electricity standard by the year 2030. That’s huge.
State-based climate policies like this are precisely why wind and solar power prices are plummeting across America, priming the pump for revolution. We’ve done our part in the Chesapeake region recently. We worked to pass a solar incentive bill in Virginia in February, a pro-wind power bill in the District of Columbia in January, and we continue to lead ongoing efforts to expand a statewide greenhouse gas reduction plan in Maryland.
Still, ultimately, our lawmakers in Washington will have to participate if we’re going to permanently transition off of fossil fuels. Which is why CCAN was thrilled to work with Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen in February as he reintroduced the carbon-cutting, economy-boosting Healthy Climate and Family Security Act of 2015. 
This bill would cap carbon emissions nationwide, forcing polluters to pay for their emissions and rebating 100% of the collected funds with a quarterly “dividend” check to every American resident. It’s the best climate solution bill ever introduced in Congress – and, eventually, it will pass. I’m sure of it. Click here to urge your members of Congress to co-sponsor it!
But in the meantime, it’s been gratifying to see other states draw inspiration from the Van Hollen “cap-and-dividend” bill to launch their own state-based campaigns to put a price on carbon. Rhode Island, Vermont, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Washington state now all have bills introduced in their general assemblies that would put a fee on carbon emissions and rebate some or all of the money to citizens.
Oregon really stands out. A new group there called Oregon Climate is running a full-throated campaign to pass a bill very similar to Van Hollen’s. If you want to be inspired by West Coast activists who are kindred spirits of CCAN activists like you, watch this quick video. Hats off to Oregon Climate and all the great heroes in dozens of states nationwide who have turned the clean energy mission into a local fight of global consequences.
Finally, speaking of fight, I want to give a shout out to the students at Mary Washington University in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Dozens of them, with support from students across the state, made national news by occupying the UMW president’s office for 21 days this spring. It was part of a national campaign to get colleges and universities to divest from fossil fuels. In the end, three folks were peacefully arrested at UMW as the sit in came to a close. But not before first inspiring students and non-students across the region, and forcing the UMW  board of visitors to take up the issue. A wave of similar protests continues to grow at Harvard, Tulane, Tufts, Swarthmore, the University of Colorado, Yale and elsewhere.
Power to the people!

Mike Tidwell

Public outrage continues to build in opposition to the proposed Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines. Groups across the state are meeting frequently to stay informed about the scoping processes, support landowners in the paths of the proposed pipelines and share the potential harmful effects these projects could have if they are allowed to move forward.
On April 21st, Politico published a lengthy investigative piece entitled, “Pipelines Blow Up and People Die”, bringing pipeline safety issues front in center in the national political conversation about energy. At the beginning of April, CCAN and anti- pipeline coalition partners delivered over 5,000 messages to Governor McAuliffe’s office urging him to rescind his support for the project.
Virginians across the state are coming together and the message is clear: no new fracked gas pipelines! Take action now by submitting a public comment to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in opposition to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline here. We have until April 28th to weigh in with FERC on the proposed scope of its environmental review of the project, and demand that the agency consider all of the possible impacts to our communities and climate.
In the battle against the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, opponents are calling for an extension to this April 28th deadline. Groups in Nelson, Augusta and Buckingham Counties, along with thousands of concerned citizens and U.S. Senators Mark Warner (D-VA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA), have submitted requests to allow more time for the comment period, and to hold further meetings in communities that will be impacted by the project.
The senators’ joint letter to new FERC chairman Norman Bay highlighted the frustration Virginians have faced so far during the scoping process: 
“As discussed, our offices received multiple accounts of discrepancies between these meetings announced start times and the times at which people could sign up to speak. Some constituents commuted significant distances after full days of work arrived to discover that speaking slots had been claimed hours earlier.”
Communities in the path of these projects will not be silenced and CCAN will continue to work with coalition partners to organize against them.
The next step you can take to get involved is to attend a FERC scoping meeting for the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline. FERC announced on April 17 that it will prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Mountain Valley Pipeline and, like for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, will first consider public input on the scope of this review. There are two scheduled meetings in Virginia:
 
Tuesday May 5, 7:00 p.m.
Eastern Montgomery High School
4695 Crozier Road, Elliston, VA 24087
 
Thursday May 7, 7:00 p.m.
Chatham High School
100 Cavalier Circle, Chatham, VA 24531
 
See you there and thanks for staying involved! Please reach out to Lauren Goldman, Virginia Campaign Coordinator to get involved at Lauren@chesapeakeclimate.org.
 

Earth Day is here and so is our eagerly anticipated new website: domtruth.org. After months of hard work, we’re excited to release this interactive website as an educational platform to expose the dirty truth about Virginia’s largest utility company and most powerful corporation: Dominion Power.
Every year around Earth Day, Dominion funds slick ads, community projects like tree-plantings, outdoor festivals and more to paint itself as a “green” and “sustainable” company. Domtruth.org is our way of setting the record straight.

Click here to start the “tour” and pass it on!

As you scroll through the site, you’ll see that Dominion is the state’s #1 emitter of the heat-trapping pollution wrecking our climate. Dominion is also the #1 corporate donor to state politicians. For far too long, Dominion has used its power to rig the system against local, clean energy solutions and for costly fossil fuel projects, and Virginians are paying a high price as a result.
We call Dominion’s deliberate misleading of the public “greenwashing.” This year in particular, we expect Dominion to churn out more greenwashing than ever before — because the company is facing more public scrutiny and protests over its dirty energy projects than we’ve seen before.
You know there’s a serious image problem when sixth graders and senior citizens alike are standing up at county meetings to decry Dominion’s 550-mile pipeline for fracked gas; when riverkeepers are joining with history buffs to challenge Dominion’s massive proposed transmission lines over Jamestown; and when editorial writers across the state are hammering the company’s anti-consumer “power politics.”
With so much opposition brewing, particularly in response to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, we’re seeing cracks open up in Dominion’s tightly controlled corporate image. We’re also seeing Dominion’s tight grasp over our democracy get renewed exposure and criticism in the media.
When Dominion put forward legislation in the 2015 General Assembly to partially halt state oversight of its electric rates, news stories zeroed in on Dominion’s “unrivaled political power” over the General Assembly. Following fierce public backlash, legislators ended up amending the bill to lay the groundwork for 400 megawatts of new utility-scale solar in Virginia and to create new energy efficiency pilot programs.
We know by exposing the truth, and bringing more people across Virginia into our movement, we begin to take the power back from Dominion. And nothing worries Dominion more than losing its power — over our energy system and over our democracy.
Help pull back the curtain on Dominion’s greenwashing, and build the movement for solutions, by checking out domtruth.org and then passing it on — especially to your friends and family in Virginia!

The final gavel came down close to midnight in Annapolis yesterday, marking the end of this year’s Maryland legislative session.
Here’s the best and biggest news: The fracking moratorium bill (HB 449) won final passage through the General Assembly with a resounding, bipartisan House vote of 102-34 last Friday afternoon! The bill — which prohibits gas companies from fracking for natural gas in Maryland through at least October 1, 2017 — is now officially headed to Governor Larry Hogan’s desk.
This victory was only possible because of our powerful grassroots movement pushing every step of the way for the past five years, and we won’t let up now.
The fracking fight proves that overcoming powerful interests and politics to pass bills in Annapolis is often a multi-year process — which leads me to the disappointing news:
Despite a fierce and broad-based campaign, our landmark bill to raise Maryland’s clean electricity standard (HB 377/SB 373) fell short. In a vote last Thursday, the Senate Finance committee failed to pass the Clean Energy Advancement Act. But there’s a silver lining. The committee chair and vice-chair both voted with us, giving us a strong foundation to build on next year. We’ve also built significant momentum behind the bill in numerous other ways — thanks to the persistent action of CCAN volunteers like you, as well as the faith, business, health, and labor leaders who joined the call for cleaner energy. Click here for a round-up of the momentum you helped build in 2015, and get ready to keep pushing.
Here’s an update on the other bills we’ve worked on in 2015 — including a significant clean energy bright spot:

VICTORY on local solar solutions: The General Assembly passed a bill to establish a 3-year “community solar” pilot program in Maryland! Starting in 2016, the bill (HB 1087/SB 398) will set up a process for groups of Marylanders (i.e. not just individual homeowners) to split the credits for electricity generated by a shared solar installation. This will introduce a new model to Maryland that gives renters and low- and moderate-income residents access to the benefits of solar energy.

Shedding light on the risks of crude oil trains: We got halfway there in advancing legislation (HB 1073) to require a state study of the risks of crude oil train accidents in Maryland. The House of Delegates voted overwhelmingly — 123 to 14 — to pass the legislation, but the bill then stalled in the Senate Finance Committee. As more and more tankers carrying explosive oil from North Dakota move through Maryland, CCAN will continue to work at multiple levels to protect our communities. Stay tuned!

Paid sick days for a healthy Maryland: CCAN added our voice to the campaign to pass paid sick days legislation in 2015, along with the Working Matters coalition of more than 130 faith, labor, civil rights and environmental groups. Unfortunately, this bill (SB 40/HB 385) also stalled in the General Assembly. Thanks to everyone who took action for a healthy environment and healthy people in Maryland — this fight will continue.

Our long-term goal at CCAN is to ensure clean solar panels and wind turbines spread across Maryland, not dirty coal-fired powered plants, toxic fracking wells or emerging threats like crude oil trains.
We’ve made significant progress so far in 2015, even where we didn’t get across the finish line. And it’s because of all of the ways you’ve made our movement for climate solutions a part of your life — meeting with your legislators, flooding their offices with calls and emails, joining rallies in Annapolis, writing letters to the editor, and more.
We’ll keep you updated as the fracking moratorium bill heads to Gov. Hogan.
For now, THANK YOU, and let’s keep rolling!