Category: Blog

“It's time to stop lighting things on fire” – The MD Energy Forum

This post was written by Emily Saari, an organizer with CCAN

Over 75 friends and neighbors from Frederick, Poolesville, and the surrounding areas came together Wednesday night to discuss the future of energy production in their communities. They were joined by expert panelists Paul Roberts (Marcellus Shale Safe Drilling Initiative Advisory Commission), Eric Shaeffer (Environmental Integrity Project), Dan Andrews (Sierra Club – Catoctin Group), and Mike Tidwell (CCAN). A member of Frederick County’s Board of Commissioners was also in attendance, Commissioner Paul Smith. A representative of John Delaney’s campaign for Congress also gave a short position statement.

Day 4: residents of Hampton Roads join action at Dominion!

What an excellent fourth day of the Week of Action at Dominion! Several Hampton Roads residents came out today, from as far as Chesapeake and Norfolk, Hampton and Newport News, to help shine a spotlight on Dominion’s $76 Million Rip-Off and all the consequences that the company’s continued dependence on eastern Virginia, including driving climate change and sea level rise. Check out the picture below of our mock-submerged Virginia landmarks, the Tangier Island water tower and the Neptune Statue, among the icons of Virginia at risk due to climate change.

A $76 million bonus for business as usual?

Richmond Times-Dispatch
By Beth Kemler
Picture this. You tell your mechanic that your car needs a new steering wheel. The car runs OK but this critical piece of equipment is broken. In turn, the mechanic hems and haws — a brand new steering wheel might be challenging to find. So you offer him a bonus — you’ll pay triple his normal rate to find the wheel you want. You sign the contract with the bonus included and shake hands. A week later, you come back and pay your bill only to discover that, instead of installing a new steering wheel, he slapped a new coat of paint on your old one. Turns out the contract you signed said that any part with paint applied in the current year counts as “new.”
Virginians face a similar quandary when it comes to the state’s electric utilities and renewable energy.
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Day 2 of the #76Million week of action a success!

For the second day of the week-long action to Stand Up to Dominion’s $76 Million Rip-Off, we drew attention to the extreme weather Virginians are facing – worsened by our planet’s rising temperatures – while Dominion drags its feet on Virginia-made renewable energy. Undeterred by the threat of thunderstorms, supporters turned out to picket outside Dominion’s office and call for the company to earn the $76 million bonus it is receiving in the name of renewable energy.

Virginia

It has begun! Our week of action against Dominion's #76Million rip-off

Today in Richmond we kicked off our week-long picket at Dominion Virginia Power’s offices.

Haven’t heard about it? Well, not only is Dominion contributing to climate change via its heavy reliance on coal and natural gas, but it is also receiving bonus money for doing so – $76 million of it. How is this possible you may ask? Virginia’s incredibly weak Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) allows utilities (including our good friend Dominion) to receive a renewable energy bonus even though they aren’t producing our buying any Virginia made solar and wind! Sound ridiculous? We think so too. So today we launched a week of action against Dominion’s $76 million rip-off. We’re off to a great start!

Virginia

Climate-denying ostrich greets U.S. Senate candidates Tim Kaine and George Allen

Climate ostrich and animal keeper news interview

This is a guest post from CCAN fall intern Norah Berk. Check out all the pictures from the ostrich action on CCAN’s flickr account.

Starting at around 9 a.m. today, demonstrators began to line Dolly Madison Blvd across the street from the Capitol One Center in McLean in anticipation of the debate between the two candidates that would take place just a few hours later. Amidst others holding signs for their favored candidate, CCAN staff and volunteers proudly stood holding the “STOP climate change” banner that Obama once set eyes on. At 10 a.m. special guest Cleopatra, The Queen of Denial (an 8-feet tall climate-change denying ostrich), appeared. Her presence called attention to both candidates’ denial of the urgent need for renewable energy in Virginia over dirty, yet so-called “clean”, fossil fuel options.

climate change Senate Virginia

Marylanders: Renewable Home Heating Rebate Program

By Melissa Bollman (Cross-Posted from Alliance for Green Heat)

On September 7, 2012 the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) launched a pilot rebate program for some of the cleanest wood and pellet stoves available, marking the first time that a state has integrated wood and pellet stoves into a renewable energy rebate program.

The pilot program offers a $400 rebate for wood stoves and $600 for pellet stoves. Wood stoves must emit less than half the particulates that are allowed by the EPA to be eligible.

“We are thrilled that Governor O’Malley and Malcolm Wolff, the Director of the Maryland Energy Administration, extended the renewable energy grant program to appliances that low and middle-income families can afford,” said John Ackerly, the President of the Alliance for Green Heat.

climate Maryland renewable energy

Talking climate and the state of the Bay at Hampton Bay Days

At Hampton Bay Days this past weekend, the high-jumping Dock Dogs weren’t the only ones who made a splash! Thanks to all our local volunteers, CCAN had two great days of outreach promoting clean energy and enlisting the help of festival-goers to bring clean energy to Virginia! As the only organization educating the public on the impacts of climate change to the Chesapeake Bay region, it was a perfect opportunity to talk about how to move clean energy away from fossil fuels and toward renewable solar and wind power for the sake of our waterways and our coast.

Chesapeake Bay clean energy climate change Dominion Virginia Power green jobs sea level rise solar energy wind energy

CCANers to Ryan in Virginia: No KXL

The day after the Republican National Convention of 2012 concluded, Ryan appeared today at a rally in Richmond Virginia in stifling 100-degree August heat on an airport tarmac, and local climate activists greeted him with a clear message to pass on to his running mate Mitt Romney: No Keystone XL Pipeline.

While candidate Romney spent the day reaching out to Americans affected by flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Isaac, recalling the damage done by Hurricane Katrina and the risk of stronger storms hitting the Gulf Coast and mid-Atlantic as the climate changes, Ryan addressed a sizable swing-state crowd. As he began to bring up the issue of energy and speak about Virginia’s coal reserves and the need to use it, local activists took a stand for the climate and unfurled a banner for the candidate to read.

climate change Keystone XL pipeline oil Richmond Virginia

Barack Obama Drives Past CCAN Banner at Charlottesvile Rally

As excited motorists, bicyclists, and people on foot passed by, local citizens and I held up a banner telling the president that his “‘all of the above energy’ policy won’t stop climate change.” Even the air tingled with excitement, as the crowd’s cheers echoed from the pavillion and the ever-present security forces barely hid their anticipation. After getting politely removed to a nearby location on Market, I knew that the moment I was waiting for, when we would show the President our message for more clean energy, was near.

climate change Keystone XL pipeline President Barack Obama Rally Virginia