Category: Press Releases

Faith, Community and Climate Leaders Announce Campaign To Double Wind and Solar Energy in Maryland

Baltimore, MD –On Wednesday, September 13, at 10:00 a.m. at the Episcopal Diocesan Center, 4 East University Parkway in Baltimore City, Maryland faith, community and climate leaders will announce a new campaign to require that 50 percent of Maryland’s electricity come from renewable sources by 2030. The campaign will unveil a legislative proposal that calls for expanding and strengthening Maryland’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), which requires utilities to buy a certain percentage of renewable energy each year, from the current target of 25% by 2020. The campaign will also call for a substantial investment in training for good clean energy jobs with a livable wage and assistance for minority and women owned businesses working in this field.

Campaign leaders will lift up the more than 300 faith, community, labor, business, climate and environmental groups from across Maryland that have already endorsed this proposal. The Campaign also plans to have hundreds of additional groups endorse in the next few months and will call on Maryland groups to join by going to www.cleanenergyjobs.org/sign.

In addition to being endorsed by the Ecumenical Leaders Group of Maryland and many Maryland faith groups, the Campaign is endorsed by the Maryland State Conference of NAACP Branches and is a priority campaign for the Maryland Climate Coalition, whose groups include the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, the Maryland League of Conservation Voters, Interfaith Power and Light (DC, MD, NoVA), SEIU 1199, and the Maryland Environmental Health Network.

Quotes from Maryland Leaders:

“We call on the Maryland General Assembly to double our goals for renewable energy during the 2018 Session so we can save lives and transition our energy sector away from harmful fossil fuels and toward a clean energy economy,” said Public Health Advocate Vincent DeMarco, who recently formed a new nonprofit, the Maryland Clean Energy Jobs Initiative, Inc., whose goal is to elevate climate issues in the electoral process. “There is no time to waste, so our organization will put all we have into making renewable energy and clean energy jobs one of the top issues in the 2018 state elections.”

“As the federal government moves backwards on climate, Maryland is moving forward,” said Karla Raettig, Executive Director of Maryland League of Conservation Voters. “We believe that committing to a 50% RPS is a reachable and meaningful stepping stone to eventually achieving 100% clean energy in Maryland.”

“The Maryland faith community strongly supports the goal of making sure that by 2030, 50 percent of Maryland’s electrical energy is renewable,” said Rev. Mary Gaut, Chair of the Maryland Ecumenical Leaders Group. “We have a moral imperative to enact this social justice proposal that will help save us from the ravages of climate change and ensure clean energy jobs for our people.”

“The NAACP is committed to making the Maryland Clean Energy Jobs Campaign one of their top priorities,” said Gerald Stansbury, President of the Maryland State Conference of the NAACP “We know that all Marylanders, particularly disadvantaged communities, will benefit from from protecting our climate and ensuring good quality jobs.”

Contact: Vinny DeMarco, Founder, MD Clean Energy Jobs Initiative, demarco@mdinitiative.org, (410) 591-9162
Brooke Harper, MD & DC Policy Director, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, brooke@chesapeakeclimate.org, (301) 992-6875

After years of staunch support for offshore oil drilling off the coast of Virginia, Governor Terry McAuliffe today for the first time declared his opposition to this dangerous practice. The Governor suggested that weak environmental regulation and enforcement under Donald Trump’s federal agencies drove his decision to finally oppose the practice.

Statement from CCAN’s Virginia Policy Coordinator Harrison Wallace:

Citizens across Virginia were relieved today to hear Governor McAuliffe finally opposes the dangerous practice of offshore drilling off the coast of Virginia. While this decision was long overdue, it is nonetheless the responsible course to protect Virginia’s environment and coastal economy. We applaud the governor on this change of policy.

However, Governor McAuliffe still staunchly supports two proposed massive pipelines for fracked gas across Virginia: the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines. If the governor applied the same concerns over weak Trump administration enforcement to these pipelines, he would also declare his opposition. The fact is these controversial pipelines will be built and regulated with oversight from Trump’s Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency, Trump’s Department of Energy, and Trump’s U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

If federal agencies under Trump can’t be trusted to keep Virginians safe from offshore drilling, they certainly can’t be trusted to keep Virginia’s water, environment, farmland, and economy safe from fracked-gas pipelines. Governor McAuliffe should reject these pipelines today.

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CONTACT: Denise Robbins, Communications Director, denise@chesapeakeclimate.org, 608-620-8819;
Harrison Wallace, Virginia Policy Coordinator, harrison@chesapeakeclimate.org, 804-305-1472

Protest Encampment Inspired by Standing Rock Reaches Its Culmination

SHARPSBURG, MD — On Friday, August 11 at 1:00 pm, dozens of activists — many in kayaks — spanned the Potomac River in a powerful showing of opposition to TransCanada’s proposed pipeline under the Potomac. Activists paddled down the Potomac with large protest banners, drawing attention to the treasured river through which the pipeline is proposed to be constructed. The group called on Governor Larry Hogan to complete the statewide fracking ban by stopping fracked-gas infrastructure and ultimately reject the project.
Sen. Richard Madeleno (D-18), who supported the recently-passed statewide fracking ban, stated: “At long last, Governor Hogan supported our groundbreaking ban on fracking, but fracking infrastructure still threatens the drinking water of Maryland citizens. For the water and health of all Marylanders, Hogan must complete the ban and reject TransCanada’s fracked-gas pipeline.”
The “kayaktivist” action was among the latest actions of a months-long rolling encampment titled “Standing Rock to Hancock: Camp Out to Stop the Potomac Pipeline,” which has been taking place throughout the summer with camp-outs along the C&O canal near Hancock, Maryland. This is the first extended encampment of its kind used to protest fossil fuels in Maryland history.
Momentum is building and the encampment is growing as part of efforts to urge Gov. Hogan to reject the Eastern Panhandle Expansion Project. When TransCanada held a forum about the pipeline in February, more than 100 residents of Maryland and West Virginia showed up to oppose its construction. Now, dozens of activists have camped out each weekend since the protest encampment launched July 30, and hundreds of calls and comments have been sent to Governor Hogan and the Maryland Department of Environment (MDE), which has the authority to deny the permit necessary for the pipeline’s construction.
Patricia and Dean Kesecker, West Virginia landowners whose land was forcefully claimed by Mountaineer Gas to build the pipeline were also present. Patricia Kesecker stated: “Mountaineer Gas has wrongly taken our land for eminent domain, a process meant to be used for public good. But no good will come of this pipeline. They have taken our rights to our own land, and threaten the rights of everyday citizens to access healthy land and clean drinking water. Mountaineer and Transcanada are trampling on those rights for the sake of their pocketbooks.”
Tracy Cannon, organizer with Eastern Panhandle Protectors, stated: “A leak or spill from this pipeline would result in catastrophe. As we’ve seen in Ohio with the ETP’s Rover Pipeline and even more recently in Pennsylvania with Sunoco’s Mariner East Pipeline, blowouts and leaks of drilling mud during horizontal directional drilling are not uncommon. Tourism is the economic driver in the Eastern Panhandle. We cannot afford to damage our pristine environment for the sake of a pipeline that would bring more harm to our neighbors.”
The proposed Eastern Panhandle Expansion Project is three-mile long pipeline that would carry dangerous fracked gas from Pennsylvania through Maryland and into West Virginia. It would threaten millions of residents in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. who rely on the Potomac river for drinking water.
In order for the proposed Eastern Panhandle Expansion Project to move forward, the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) would need to grant the 401 Water Quality Certificate under the Clean Water Act. Hogan has the ability to direct the MDE to reject this certificate. The MDE has stated that it will hold a public hearing on the permit application in coming weeks.
Brooke Harper, Maryland Policy Director with the Chesapeake Climate Action Network and Environmental Chair for the Maryland State Conference NAACP, stated: “This pipeline would bring no benefits whatsoever to the state of Marylanders, only risks. the pipeline would deepen our dependence on dirty fossil fuels for years to come. With the impacts of global warming accelerating, we cannot afford to wait any longer to switch to clean energy. Instead, TransCanada wants to threaten the public health and drinking water of our communities.”
Before the press conference, campers joined a cave tour at Crystal Grottoes to view the region’s fragile karst geology, which is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves and is easily susceptible to transmission of pollutants through connected underground aquifers. The pipeline could degrade pristine streams and further threaten public and private water supplies. Using hydraulic directional drilling under streams in karst geology would create pathways for water to drain down the bore holes and dissolve the limestone around the piping. This activity can create sinkholes that could impact the integrity of the pipeline, causing subterranean ruptures and even explosions, further threatening the Potomac River.
Organizations participating in the encampment include the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Eastern Panhandle Protectors, Potomac Riverkeepers, Food & Water Watch, Waterkeepers Chesapeake, and the Sierra Club Maryland Chapter.
 

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To view more photos from this event, check out our photos of the Kayak Action and the Crystal Grottoes Tour

CONTACT:
Denise Robbins; Chesapeake Climate Action Network; denise@chesapeakeclimate.org; 608-620-8819
Brooke Harper; Chesapeake Climate Action Network; brooke@chesapeakeclimate.org; 301-992-6875

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Thursday, July 27, a new draft study detailed how a carbon fee-and-rebate policy would benefit the local economy of Washington, DC. According to the study’s findings, the policy — being proposed by the “Put A Price On It, D.C.” coalition — can effectively reduce carbon emissions in the District while maintaining economic growth and job creation, and putting more money in the pockets of DC residents.
The independent analysis, titled “Assessing Economic Impacts of a Carbon Fee & Dividend for DC,” was carried out by the Center for Climate Strategies (CCS) and shared at an event hosted by Regional Economic Models, Inc. (REMI). The draft study found that the policy would result in a steady boost in jobs — particularly in the construction sector — and stable economic growth, while reducing planet-warming carbon emissions 23 percent by 2032 for electricity, natural gas, and home-heating oil consumed in the District. Transportation emissions also fall under this examined policy.
Roger Horowitz, Co-Founder of Pleasant Pops, stated: “With the carbon fee-and-rebate policy, DC has the opportunity to become a national leader on climate action in a way that is equitable and just — and good for our business. Putting a price on global warming pollution and rebating the revenue to families will keep our business going and improve the health of our community.”
“Zenful Bites is proud to be part of the ‘Put a Price on It D.C.’ coalition. This policy will expand our customer base and make our city a healthier, safer place to live. We’re happy to help move this campaign forward for a more sustainable economy,” said Josephine Chu, Co-Founder of Zenful Bites.
The study modeled the indirect and induced changes that occur throughout all sectors of the DC economy as businesses, households and the government respond – not only to the fee itself, but also to the newfound money available from the return of that fee every month. The analysis projects that, by 2032, the policy would generate a rebate of $170 per month for the average family of four and $294 per month for a low-income family of four. This gradually rising rebate would increase residents’ support, thereby increasing the policy’s durability.
“We support this because it would spur companies like ours to dramatically increase their investments in clean energy, while leaving more money in the pockets of DC residents to reinvest in local businesses, restaurants and services,” said Tom Matzzie, Founder and CEO of CleanChoice Energy.
The proposed policy would redirect a portion of the revenue raised as tax relief to small businesses. This will total $30 million per year by 2032, thus enhancing the ability of local businesses to remain competitive in the region and to maintain a permanent and robust presence in the city.
“The numbers clearly show that a carbon fee-and-rebate policy is not only the best option to reduce D.C. carbon emissions, but also a sound mechanism for growing a robust economy powered by clean energy,” said Mishal Thadani, Co-Founder of District Solar. “This policy is simple, fair for every stakeholder, and will ultimately attract many new and innovative companies to the District.”

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CONTACT:
Denise Robbins, CCAN Communications Director, denise@chesapeakeclimate.org, 608-620-8819;
Camila Thorndike, CCAN Carbon Pricing Coordinator, camila@chesapeakeclimate.org, 541-951-2619

Citizens turn to states to scrutinize environmental impacts

 
The Trump administration’s final environmental report issued today for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which would carry fracked-gas through West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina, utterly fails to independently assess whether the project is even needed. This is the core issue upon which all other considerations of the controversial project are based, says a coalition of community groups and legal and technical experts.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission relies solely on the project developer’s claims of need for the 600-mile, $5.2 billion pipeline, which would yield substantial profit for Dominion Energy and the other private companies behind the project, while the public would be saddled with the financial, environmental and health risks.
“FERC’s action is an affront to American democracy, ignoring the thousands of citizens who participated in the public comment process and handing over the private property rights of hundreds of families to corporate interests.  As landowners and business leaders, as ratepayers and conservationists, as parents and grandparents, we insist that the state agencies serve the public trust and rigorously examine the impacts of this pipeline in full view of the public,” says Lew Freeman, a Highland County resident and executive director of  the Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance. The coalition comprises 52 local community groups and other organizations in Virginia and West Virginia.
FERC has authority to grant the power of eminent domain for interstate projects, but by law must first determine that the projects serve the public interest. The agency’s Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline fails to do so, says the alliance, whose member groups represent thousands of citizens, including hundreds of families along the pipeline route who are facing the taking of their land against their will.
The alliance points to numerous studies in recent years showing that the gas and utility sector is overbuilding natural gas infrastructure and that electricity demand is projected to grow much less than the pipeline developer’s inflated projections. These analyses are ignored in the impact statement.
The coalition also condemns the agency for glossing over the profound and permanent harm to water resources and drinking water supplies, forest ecosystems, wildlife and endangered species habitat, historic sites, agricultural resources, public lands including the Appalachian Trail and Blue Ridge Parkway, and local economies. The pipeline would also significantly worsen climate change impacts in the region due to the greenhouse gas emissions of drilling, producing, transporting and burning natural gas.   
“Regardless of FERC’s decision, the Atlantic Coast Pipeline is not a done deal. Far from it,” says Freeman. “State leaders in Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina will soon decide whether to grant water quality permits for the project. We call upon each state to give this project the environmental scrutiny it requires, and that they are obligated to do.”
A significant red flag for the coalition is FERC’s reliance on Dominion’s pledges to mitigate harm to water resources rather than requiring the company to provide upfront detailed plans to be shared with the public prior to granting federal certification and the power of eminent domain. The coalition has repeatedly expressed concerns that the standard control measures are insufficient to protect water resources given the scale of the pipeline proposal and the steep and highly erodible mountainsides that must be excavated during construction.
Coalition members are now concerned that state environmental agencies are similarly planning to approve the Atlantic Coast Pipeline before there is a thorough and public vetting of detailed water pollution prevention plans.
In Virginia, in particular, the Department of Environmental Quality has stated it will review those plans (stormwater management and erosion and sediment control plans) separately from its review under the Clean Water Act Section 401. As a result, the State Water Control Board’s decision whether to certify that construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline will not harm state waters will not be informed by the essential details that the erosion and runoff control plans should provide.
Key points from the Final Environmental Impact Statement:

• Need: FERC fails to make an independent assessment of the need for the ACP, instead relying on the developer’s claims that the project should be built. In doing so, it short circuits any meaningful consideration of the alternatives that could avoid or minimize the harm caused by this project.
• Public lands. The ACP would cross 21 miles of national forest, destroying 430 acres and threatening the survival of seven federally listed species and native brook trout. The project would be a disaster for the mountain and forest headwaters of the Potomac and James rivers.

• Public process. The FEIS fails to correct or address the numerous, substantial defects in the draft EIS that government agencies and citizens alike pointed out during the public comment period. In addition, the final document fails to incorporate significant new information that has come to light since the end of the public comment period on April 6, including more than 400 pages submitted in May.
• Climate: The FEIS continues to ignore the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of the project. It entirely fails to consider emissions from fracking that this massive pipeline would trigger and seriously discounts the emissions from burning the natural gas.
• Environmental justice: The FEIS notes that the Buckingham Compressor Station #2 could have serious health and safety impacts on three census tracts within one mile with predominantly low-income, minority populations, yet claims the impacts would be temporary or mitigated without adequately detailing the mitigation plans or considering any impact to safety or property values in those communities.
• Forests: Operation of the ACP (and the companion “Supply Header Project”) would have long-term or permanent effects on about 3,456 acres, including about 2,744 acres of upland forest (deciduous, coniferous and mixed). The recovery time for a closed canopy of mature forest and wildlife habitat could take up to a century or more.
• Mountain slopes: The project would cross more than 100 miles of slopes greater than 20 percent. Constructing the pipeline and access roads in steep terrain or areas prone to landslide increases the potential for landslides to occur.
• Ridgetop removal: The FEIS does not require Dominion to make any changes to minimize ridgetop removal, which would impact approximately 38 miles of ridgetop and result in 247,000 trips by large dump trucks to remove the overburden.

• Alternatives: The FEIS completely fails to even consider renewable energy as an alternative to this project.

 
 
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The Allegheny Blue-Ridge Alliance  is a coalition of 52 organizations in Virginia and West Virginia, founded in September 2014, that opposes the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline because of the ecological and economic harm it would cause the affected region, communities and landowners.  www.abralliance.org
 

Following The Lead Of Standing Rock Protesters, Groups Launch First Of Its Kind Protest Encampment To Urge Gov. Hogan To Reject TransCanada’s Fracked-Gas Pipeline

CLEAR SPRING, MD– On June 30, a coalition of area citizens, elected officials, and environmental advocates announced the launch of a protest encampment to stop TransCanada’s proposed pipeline under the Potomac River. This encampment is the first of its kind in Maryland history to protest fossil fuels. The proposed pipeline would threaten millions of residents in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. who rely on the Potomac river for drinking water. The protesters are camping out to draw attention to the issue and demand Maryland Governor Larry Hogan reject the permit required for construction of this pipeline.
The encampment, titled “Standing Rock to Hancock: Camp Out to Stop the Potomac Pipeline,” will take place throughout the summer with camp outs along the C&O canal near Hancock, Maryland. The coalition intends to draw attention to the many concerned citizens, environmental advocacy groups, and elected officials who are opposed to endangering drinking water for a pipeline that won’t benefit Maryland citizens.
TransCanada’s proposed Eastern Panhandle Expansion project would transport fracked gas from Pennsylvania to West Virginia by way of Maryland underneath the Potomac River and C&O Canal. The encampment will take place at McCoy’s Ferry, near the pipeline’s proposed route.
“Clean energy is where our nation needs to be. This isn’t a partisan issue, it’s about protecting our environment, national security, economic security and public health,” said Senator Cardin, senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “Investment in clean energy is booming and Congress has to act swiftly to support this effort or risk hurting the United States financially and damaging our global reputation as a clean energy innovator.”
“Fracked gas and the supporting infrastructure has no long term benefits to the State of Maryland, and this pipeline project puts an enormous amount of risk on Maryland residents,” said Brent Walls, Upper Potomac Riverkeeper. “Drilling under the Potomac River –the drinking water source for millions of people — for a fracked gas pipeline in sensitive karst geology that threatens water quality is not a plan we support. And strong arm tactics, like threatening eminent domain, don’t play well out here. But they’re trying it anyway.”
The pipeline would cross sensitive karst geology, which is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves and is easily susceptible to transmission of pollutants through connected underground aquifers. The pipeline could degrade pristine streams and further threaten public and private water supplies. Using hydraulic directional drilling under streams in karst geology would create pathways for water to drain down the bore holes and dissolve the limestone around the piping. This activity can create sinkholes that could impact the integrity of the pipeline, causing subterranean ruptures and even explosions, further threatening the Potomac River.
“Governor Hogan took a huge step forward on climate by signing Maryland’s statewide fracking ban in April,” said Mike Tidwell, Executive Director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “But fracking infrastructure like the Potomac Pipeline will only result in more fracking elsewhere. Gov. Hogan needs to complete the fracking ban by rejecting this pipeline.”
“The health of the Potomac River basin is essential to the health of millions of Marylanders,” said Maryland Delegate Jheanelle Wilkins (D-20). “TransCanada, a company known for its blatant disregard for environmental protection, is proposing a pipeline that would put our drinking water at risk for a pipeline that is not needed. For the health of our water and our communities, I urge Governor Hogan to reject the pipeline.”
“This pipeline is literally an investment in fossil-fuel infrastructure that will lock our region into a tremendous amount of climate pollution for decades to come,” said Josh Tulkin, Director of the Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club. “At a time when Maryland and other states need to be investing in wind and solar, this pipeline will open the floodgates for years and years of continued pollution. After banning fracking and setting an aggressive climate change goal we cannot turn around and allow a fracked gas pipeline that threatens our communities and water resources through our state. We hope Governor Hogan will make the right decision and reject this pipeline.”
“For the same reason we called for a ban on fracking, we’re calling on Governor Hogan to stop the Potomac Pipeline,” said Rianna Eckel, Maryland Organizer, Food & Water Watch. “Dangerous fracked gas infrastructure divides communities, pollutes our air and our water, and increases our reliance on fossil fuels while we are simultaneously barreling toward climate chaos.”
“Where is our peace on earth?” said Patricia Kesecker, landowner in Morgan County, West Virginia in a statement. “When you have put your blood, sweat and tears into the land for years and they come and try and take it away from you, it’s heartbreaking.  Whether it’s one acre or hundreds of acres, it is your home.” The Keseckers are currently in court with Mountaineer Gas over the company’s efforts to forcibly take parts of their land by eminent domain.
There is already a growing movement of opposition among citizens that live along the route. When TransCanada held a forum about the pipeline, more than 100 residents of Maryland and West Virginia showed up to oppose its construction. In order for the pipeline to move forward, the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) would need to grant the 401 Water Quality Certificate under the Clean Water Act. Hogan has the ability to direct the MDE to reject this certificate.