Category: Press Releases

Contact:
Kelly Trout, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, 717-439-0346 (cell), kelly@chesapeakeclimate.org
Joelle Novey, Interfaith Power & Light, 202-256-1450, joelle@gwipl.org
Note: Journalists can contact Kelly Trout at 717-439-0346 (cell) or kelly@chesapeakeclimate.org to connect with participating congregations in a particular geographic area or denomination.

Weekend ‘Climate in the Pulpits / On the Bimah’ events show multi-faith support for raising Md’s clean energy goals

BALTIMORE—On the heels of Pope Francis’ visit to the region, 85 Maryland congregations with over 10,000 members will be preaching about climate justice from the pulpit or the bimah this weekend, reiterating the Pope’s call for climate action during services and special events in Baltimore, Annapolis, Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties, and beyond.
In the spirit of Pope Francis’ call yesterday for “courageous” action from representatives in Congress, faith communities will invite their members to sign postcards to state legislators, urging them to expand Maryland’s renewable energy standard (RPS) to 25% by 2020 and renew the state’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act. These policies are the top ways Maryland can carry out the Pope’s teaching that “highly polluting fossil fuels … need to be … replaced without delay.”
This weekend’s coordinated, multi-faith effort, called “Climate in the Pulpits / on the Bimah,” comes at a crucial time to renew and strengthen Maryland’s Climate Action Plan. The 2009 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act, Maryland’s legal requirement for reducing carbon pollution, will be up for renewal in the 2016 legislative session. The surest way to reduce emissions is to increase the amount of clean electricity—like solar and wind power—that powers our homes and communities. More than three-quarters (76%) of Maryland Catholics support strengthening Maryland’s renewable energy mandate, according to polling released this week.
“It’s not right that 80% of the energy we use to light our sanctuaries still comes from fossil fuels,” reads the bulletin insert which congregations will distribute to thousands of Marylanders this weekend. “Dirty energy is polluting our air and water and making our children and elders sick … our use of dirty energy is pouring heat-trapping climate pollution into our atmosphere, hurting our poorest neighbors around the world.”
Father Ty Hullinger, who serves three Catholic parishes in Baltimore City, is among over 80 Maryland religious leaders who are bringing “Climate in the Pulpits” to their congregations.
“We’re told in Genesis not to be owners and manipulators of this world, but stewards and caretakers,” said Father Hullinger. “We’re already seeing the impacts of climate change, and the families I work with in Baltimore are personally affected by industrial pollution. The Holy Father’s visit is pushing me and my colleagues to take the call to stewardship more seriously.”
Maryland State Delegate Dereck Davis (D-25 Prince George’s) is participating by speaking on clean energy during the Sunday service at Forestville New Redeemer Baptist Church in District Heights. “Pope Francis has reminded us that addressing climate change is one of the great moral issues of our time,” said Del. Davis. “It is imperative that Maryland acts on climate so that we can create real, broad, and sustainable prosperity.”
Maryland congregations will be participating in different ways. Many plan to have clergy or guest speakers deliver a sermon on climate and Creation care, and to distribute bulletin inserts. Some Jewish communities are studying the Pope’s encyclical on Yom Kippur and some congregations are incorporating Creation care into religious education classes or holding special workshops.
Maryland’s faith community has been a leading voice for stronger clean energy policies over the past year. During the 2015 General Assembly, seven Maryland bishops and senior ecumenical leaders joined over 230 faith leaders in calling on state lawmakers to expand Maryland’s renewable energy standard. Bishop Wolfgang Herz-Lane, president of the Ecumenical Leaders Group of central Maryland, penned an op-ed in the Baltimore Sun this July echoing the Pope’s encyclical on climate change and stressing that “the survival and flourishing of all people depends on our ability to move from temporary and destructive fossil fuels to renewable energy sources.”
Participating congregations include:
* Friday, 9/25 in Montgomery County, 6:30-10 pm
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Cedar Lane, 9601 Cedar Ln. Bethesda
Earth Celebration featuring music, dance, and creation of a mandala.
* Saturday, 9/26 in Anne Arundel County, 11 am
St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, 730 Bestgate Rd. Annapolis
Rev. Kip Banks, Sr. of Upper Marlboro will give a Creation care workshop.
Contact: Father Randy Callender, 410-353-6263 randycallender@yahoo.com
* Sunday, 9/27 in Prince George’s County, 10 am
Forestville New Redeemer Baptist Church, 7808 Marlboro Pike, District Heights
State Delegate Dereck E. Davis will speak to the congregation about clean energy during the service starting at 10 am
* Sunday, 9/27 in Baltimore City, 9:30 am
St. James Episcopal Church, 1020 West Lafayette Ave. Baltimore
Rev. Darriel Harris of the Baltimore Food & Faith Project will preach during the Sunday worship service.
* Sunday, 9/27 in Baltimore City, 10:30 a.m. / 11:30 a.m.
St. Dominic Catholic Parish (10:30 a.m), 5302 Harford Road, Baltimore
St. Anthony’s Catholic Parish (11:30 a.m), 4414 Frankford Ave., Baltimore
Father Ty Hullinger will preach during two Sunday worship services
Contact: 301-707-7147 or THullinger@archbalt.org
* Sunday, 9/27 in Anne Arundel County, 10 am
St. Luke’s Eastport, 1101 Bay Ridge Ave. Annapolis
Shantha Ready Alonso of Creation Justice Ministries will preach during the Sunday worship service.
* Sunday, 9/27 in Montgomery County, 10 am service, 11:30 am solar dedication
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Rockville, 100 Welsh Park Dr. Rockville
Dedication of new solar photovoltaic system following the Sunday worship service.

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Climate in the Pulpits is a joint program of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network and Interfaith Power & Light (DC.MD.NoVA).

The Chesapeake Climate Action Network is the biggest and oldest grassroots organization dedicated to fighting climate change in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC. CCAN is building a powerful movement to shift our region away from climate-harming fossil fuels and to clean energy solutions: www.chesapeakeclimate.org.

Interfaith Power & Light (DC.MD.NoVA) engages hundreds of congregations of all faiths across Maryland and the DC area in saving energy, going green, and responding to climate change. IPL-DMV is one of forty state affiliates of Interfaith Power & Light mobilizing a national religious response to the climate crisis: www.mdipl.org

Studies show fracked natural gas is as bad as coal for the climate

RICHMOND—Dominion Resources today filed its federal application to build the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline, the first of four proposed gas pipeline projects in Virginia. The Chesapeake Climate Action Network is calling on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to fully assess the cumulative harm this project would inflict on the climate as part of its environmental review.
FERC is now charged with preparing an Environmental Impact Statement for Dominion’s proposed $5 billion, 564-mile pipeline from West Virginia, across Virginia, to North Carolina. This review must account for the many dangers the pipeline poses to public health and safety, the environment and the climate—as well as readily available alternatives to a pipeline, such as solar, wind and energy efficiency.
Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, had the following statement:

“Dominion’s pipeline threatens to unleash a huge new pulse of greenhouse gas pollution. To do its job, FERC must assess the pipeline’s cumulative impact on the climate, including leaks of heat-trapping methane and other greenhouse gases from fracking wells, compressor stations, and all 564 miles of pipeline.

“Numerous studies show fracked gas disrupts the climate on par with coal. That’s because methane is 86 times more potent of a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. It’s frankly sad that Dominion and Governor Terry McAuliffe continue to trumpet this project as ‘clean’ when it’s for a volatile, planet-heating fossil fuel.

“Thankfully, Virginia has plenty of clean energy alternatives to building a 564-mile pipeline, and FERC is legally obliged to consider them. For instance, if Dominion invested its $5 billion in solar power instead of a dangerous pipeline, we could install enough solar panels to power over 400,000 Virginia homes. Installing and maintaining this industry would create 2,500 temporary construction jobs and support 216 permanent jobs annually, plus additional jobs due to lower energy prices over time, and improved health outcomes of workers across the state.[1]

“FERC, Dominion, and Governor McAuliffe must wake up to the reality that we can and must meet our energy needs without jeopardizing Virginians’ homes, health and climate.”

The Atlantic Coast Pipeline is one of four interstate gas pipeline projects currently proposed for the central Blue Ridge and Appalachian Mountain region of Virginia and West Virginia—along with the Mountain Valley Pipeline, the Appalachian Connector Pipeline, and the WB Xpress Project.
CCAN is also joining landowner and environmental groups in calling on FERC to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for all four pipelines in order to fully evaluate the direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of pipeline development in this region.
Contact:
Kelly Trout, 240-396-2022, kelly@chesapeakeclimate.org
Monique Sullivan, 202-440-4318, monique@chesapeakeclimate.org
1. Solar power and jobs data is based on U.S. Energy Information Administration data and National Renewable Energy Laboratory modeling.

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The Chesapeake Climate Action Network is the biggest and oldest grassroots organization dedicated to fighting climate change in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. We’re building a powerful movement to shift our region away from climate-harming fossil fuels and to clean energy solutions.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – American faith activists today delivered 166 copies of the Pope’s “climate change” encyclical to every Catholic member of the US Congress. In an accompanying letter, the activists asked the lawmakers to act on Pope Francis’ call to action on global warming by supporting HR 1027, “The Healthy Climate and Family Security Act.”
“We are reaching out to Catholic lawmakers today because – right now – they can take the kind of bold action the Pope is calling for worldwide on climate change,” said Patrick Carolan, director of the Franciscan Action Network. “Congress has a moral obligation to act, and Catholic lawmakers should – like the Pope – lead on this issue.”
Carolan called on the members of Congress to support HR 1027. The bill, introduced by Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), would cap US carbon emissions, require fossil fuel companies to pay a fee to pollute, and then rebate the collected revenue back to all Americans in equal-sized quarterly “carbon dividend” payments. This so-call “cap-and-dividend” approach to climate policy has been growing in popularity in recent years in Congress and across the country.
“The Pope in his encyclical calls for a morally thoughtful and socially fair solution to climate change,” said Mike Tidwell, a Presbyterian activist and director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “In our view, HR 1027 is both an effective tool for reducing carbon pollution and a just tool that makes sure vulnerable Americans actually prosper during the transition to clean energy.”
Click here to read the letter delivered to Congress.
Contact:
Patrick Carolan, Franciscan Action Network, 203-522-2324, pcarolan@franciscanaction.org
Mike Tidwell, Chesapeake Climate Action Network 240-460-5838, mtidwell@chesapeakeclimate.org

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The Chesapeake Climate Action Network is the biggest and oldest grassroots organization dedicated to fighting climate change in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. We’re building a powerful movement to shift our region away from climate-harming fossil fuels and to clean energy solutions.

Washington, D.C.—The District of Columbia Public Service Commission (PSC) today announced it is blocking a proposed merger between Chicago-based utility giant Exelon and regional utility Pepco. D.C. regulators’ decision to reject the deal is being hailed by climate and consumer advocates as a major victory against corporate monopoly and for a clean, reliable and efficient 21st century electric grid.
This decision came after especially effective organizing and opposition from the Power DC coalition, led by Anya Schoolman, Rob Robinson, and other leaders across the District.
Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, a group that intervened before the PSC in Maryland against the proposed merger, released the following statement in response:
“Today’s ruling is a major victory for people across D.C., Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey and for the growth of clean energy across our region. In the end, all of Exelon’s money, lawyers and lobbyists couldn’t mask the overwhelming facts, confirmed today by the D.C. PSC, that this deal would be a boon for Exelon and Pepco shareholders and bad for virtually everyone else.
“We applaud the PSC for recognizing that this nearly $7 billion proposed merger would have raised rates and stunted wind and solar development, as well as efficiency gains, across D.C.’s customer base for electricity. In the end, the D.C. PSC joined with the District’s environmental community, six Councilmembers, 27 out of DC’s 40 Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANC), the Office of People’s Counsel, and many others in rejecting this deal.
“Now that this harmful, monopolistic proposal has been rejected, it is time to give new life to real solutions to D.C. and Maryland’s energy challenges. These solutions include a significant expansion of wind and solar power, energy efficiency gains, community-based energy systems and microgrids, and improved overall grid reliability. One good idea that emerged from the proposed Exelon-Pepco was to create a PSC-guided process to explore ‘performance-based ratemaking.’ Utilities should be rewarded based on how well they perform on energy improvements that enhance our economy and reduce carbon emissions and climate change. Hopefully, we can now move on to these solutions.”
Contact:
Mike Tidwell, 240-460-5838, mtidwell@chesapeakeclimate.org
James McGarry, 914-563-2256, james@chesapeakeclimate.org

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The Chesapeake Climate Action Network is the biggest and oldest grassroots organization dedicated to fighting climate change in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. We’re building a powerful movement to shift our region away from climate-harming fossil fuels and to clean energy solutions.

Methane leakage from existing natural gas infrastructure exceeds previous estimates, and will not be impacted by new White House methane regulations

WASHINGTON, D.C.—According to a new study released this week as part of an ongoing research effort by the Environmental Defense Fund, natural gas “gathering” facilities for piping and processing natural gas in the United States leak about 100 billion cubic feet of gas per year — a figure that is eight times larger than the EPA’s estimates and could make gathering facilities the biggest source of methane emissions in the oil and gas supply chain.

The gathering process consolidates gas from multiple wells in a single area and feeds it into processing plants or main transmission pipelines. When these emissions are taken into account, EPA’s estimates of the total emissions from the natural gas supply chain would increase by 25 percent, according to the Environmental Defense Fund. EPA’s current inventories conservatively estimate that natural gas infrastructure leaks methane at a rate of 1.3%. When overlaid with this latest report, that leakage rate would increase to about 1.6% — a level that makes US liquefied natural gas (LNG) worse than coal when exported to Asia when the climate impacts of methane leakage are measured over a 20-year timeframe.
Last year, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released an environmental report analyzing the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions resulting from liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. Over a 20-year timeframe, DOE found that the lifecycle leakage rate would need to stay below 1.4% when exporting U.S. LNG to Asia.
Dominion Resources intends to invest $3.8 billion to export up to 5.75 million metric tons of LNG to India and Japan each year out of Cove Point, Maryland. These latest findings provide more evidence that domestic methane leakage rates are high enough to negate any climate benefits of exported natural gas when compared to regional coal-fired electricity in those countries. Furthermore, as the Chesapeake Climate Action Network explained in a white paper on the subject, if domestic leakage rates are higher than EPA estimates, or if the natural gas pipeline infrastructure in India or Japan leak methane at higher rates than U.S. pipelines, then the immediate climate impacts of LNG from Cove Point would be much worse for the climate than coal if exports began today.
This new EDF study comes on the heels of the Obama Administration’s first-ever proposed methane pollution standards for new and modified oil and gas facilities, a landmark announcement on August 18th that will blunt the projected growth of methane and smog-forming pollution produced by the industry. While the standards proposed by the administration would cover new and modified facilities, existing oil and gas equipment would be exempt from the rule, thereby allowing operators to continue to pollute our air with methane and toxic chemicals.
Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, had the following statement:
“This new study on gas industry pollution emissions proves yet again that the Cove Point gas export facility in Maryland will be worse for global warming than burning coal. We now know the lifecycle methane and carbon emissions from U.S. gas exports will exceed total greenhouse gas emissions of coal burned overseas. As a result, the U.S. must immediately target both new and existing natural gas infrastructure in order to reduce climate-disrupting emissions from natural gas within a timeframe consistent with stabilizing global greenhouse gas emissions. It is shocking, meanwhile, that the natural gas industry continues to claim that federal emissions standards are unnecessary.
“We applaud the Obama administration for announcing steps this week for reinforcing its commitment to reducing climate change pollution by introducing the first-ever proposed methane pollution standards for new and modified oil and gas facilities. But this latest study from the Environmental Defense Fund on methane emissions from existing natural gas infrastructure makes it abundantly clear that much more needs to be done. Even with these new federal standards in place, existing oil and gas equipment will still be responsible for an estimated 90 percent of methane emissions in 2018.
“Federal standards targeting new oil and gas infrastructure are an important first step towards a comprehensive methane strategy. We hope that the President will use his remaining time in office to introduce equally stringent standards on existing oil and gas infrastructure so that the U.S. can finally have a national framework in place to limit methane emissions from all natural gas operations.”

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The Chesapeake Climate Action Network is the biggest and oldest non-profit organization dedicated to fighting climate change in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. We’re building a powerful movement to shift our region away from climate-harming fossil fuels and to clean energy solutions.

CSX and Norfolk Southern lose unprecedented lawsuit aimed at keeping records secret

BALTIMORE—A state judge ruled Friday that Maryland residents have a right to access information about the movement of dangerous and potentially explosive crude oil trains in their communities.
Rail companies CSX and Norfolk Southern had sued the Maryland Department of the Environment last summer to prevent the state from releasing information about the routes and estimated amounts of crude oil traveling through the state. But Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Lawrence Fletcher-Hill ruled on Friday that the public has a right to access this information under the Maryland Public Information Act (PIA). In separate orders against CSX and Norfolk Southern, the judge found the rail companies’ arguments for confidentiality without merit. Judge Fletcher-Hill’s ruling will take effect September 4, 2015, pending appeals from the rail companies.
“This is a significant victory for transparency and for Maryland residents living along the path of oil trains,” said Anne Havemann, General Counsel for the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “Judge Fletcher-Hill affirmed that communities have a right to know whether dangerous oil trains are running through their backyards. Shedding light on the risks is the first step toward stronger state and local action to safeguard our communities.”
After the federal government enacted an emergency “transparency” order last year requiring railways to alert states about upcoming shipments of so-called Bakken crude oil, the companies pushed states to sign nondisclosure agreements. Maryland was one of only 14 states that signed an agreement.
The lawsuit was triggered by a PIA request from news outlets McClatchy and the Associated Press and represented the first time a railroad had gone to court to prevent disclosure. CCAN, along with the Environmental Integrity Project, also filed a request for information under the PIA on August 8, 2014, asking for rail shipment information provided to MDE by CSX and Norfolk Southern.
The federal government has made clear that route information is not exempt from the federal sunshine laws. The most recent directive from the Federal Railroad Administration reiterated the government’s commitment to transparency. “Transparency is a critical piece of the federal government’s comprehensive approach to safety,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “And we understand the public’s interest in knowing what is traveling through their communities.”
Previously, advocates used mapping data and eyewitness accounts to estimate where the trains traveled through Maryland and Baltimore in particular. Analysis of the mapping data paired with census data indicates that 165,000 Baltimore residents live within the potential impact zone of an oil train derailment, as defined by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The Maryland court ruling applies to trains carrying crude oil from the fracked oil wells of North Dakota. These trains have routinely derailed and exploded across the country. The worst explosion happened two years ago, when a train derailed in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, killing 47 people and incinerating 30 buildings.
The judge’s decision comes on the heels of a “Stop Oil Trains” rally and oil train public information hearing in Baltimore City in early July. Residents expressed their concern about the safety and health hazards of oil trains that already roll through the city in large numbers. One company shipped more than 100 million gallons of crude oil out of the Fairfield Peninsula in South Baltimore over the years 2013 and 2014 (up from zero gallons the previous two years). Other companies have applied for permits to build additional export facilities in the city.
Community, environmental, and public safety advocates are calling on the Baltimore City Council and mayor to pass an ordinance that would temporarily halt expansion of crude oil terminals until the city can study the health and safety risks of transporting the dangerous cargo through the city.
View Judge Fletcher-Hill’s opinion in CSX v. Maryland Department of the Environment: http://chesapeakeclimate.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/CSX-Transportation-Inc.-v.-MDE-Memorandum.Opinion.pdf
View Judge Fletcher-Hill’s opinion in Norfolk Southern v. Maryland Department of the Environment: http://chesapeakeclimate.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Norfolk-Southern-Railway-Company-v.-MDE-et-al-Memorandum-Opinion-Order.pdf

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The Chesapeake Climate Action Network is the biggest and oldest grassroots organization dedicated to fighting climate change in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. We’re building a powerful movement to shift our region away from climate-harming fossil fuels and to clean energy solutions.

 

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today the Obama administration took the most significant federal action yet to tackle climate change, issuing final rules to cut carbon emissions from power plants by 32% by 2030 under the Clean Air Act.
Maryland is well-positioned to meet its state-level requirement for reducing emissions, thanks to climate and clean energy policies enacted over the past decade. The Chesapeake Climate Action Network notes that Maryland has a significant opportunity to lead in realizing the public health, consumer, and economic benefits of the federal Clean Power Plan by strengthening those existing state policies.
Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, had the following statement:
“CCAN welcomes the Clean Power Plan and its goal to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants nationwide. Maryland is ahead of the curve in reducing harmful carbon pollution thanks to clean energy policies adopted over the past decade.
“But Maryland can and must do much more, especially as a state extremely vulnerable to the impacts of rising sea levels and smog. Maryland has significant progress yet to make on clean energy, and it starts with expanding our clean electricity standard to 25% by 2020. Increasing our reliance on wind and solar is the top recommendation for cutting greenhouse gas pollution under Maryland’s Climate Action Plan. It will lead to greater economic prosperity and healthier air.”
Contact:
Kelly Trout, 240-396-2022, kelly@chesapeakeclimate.org
Mike Tidwell, 240-460-5838, mtidwell@chesapeakeclimate.org

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The Chesapeake Climate Action Network is the biggest and oldest grassroots organization dedicated to fighting climate change in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. We’re building a powerful movement to shift our region away from climate-harming fossil fuels and to clean energy solutions.

Clean Power Plan Gives Va. Win-Win Way to Tackle Coastal Flooding While Saving Consumers Money

By joining proven regional system, Va. can cut emissions efficiently and generate $200 million annually to invest in solutions
RICHMOND, Va.—Today the Obama administration issued the first nationwide rules for cutting carbon emissions from power plants under the Clean Air Act. The “Clean Power Plan” standard represents the most significant federal action yet to tackle climate change, which is driving the sea-level rise already routinely flooding Virginia’s coastal communities. The final rules allow states to work together to develop regional compliance plans to reduce carbon dioxide pollution through 2030, and provide incentives to states who choose this option.
The Chesapeake Climate Action Network, joining a wide range of advocates across the state, believes that the best path forward for Virginia to meet the new federal standard is to join an existing nine-state pollution reduction system called the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).
By incentivizing investments in energy efficiency, the RGGI program is proven to save consumers money. By capping carbon pollution and requiring power plants to buy emissions permits, the market-based RGGI system would send much-needed funds back to Virginia. Virginia would receive about $200 million annually through 2030 to reinvest in solutions, such as flooding adaptation projects, energy efficiency, and job training.
Dawone Robinson, Virginia Policy Director at the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, had the following statement in response:
“Virginia has a win-win solution at its fingertips. Joining the nine-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative is the smartest path forward for Virginia to lower emissions, while creating jobs and generating resources to invest in solutions. Over the past three years, RGGI has saved consumers $460 million, generated $1.30 billion in net economic value, and created 14,200 new jobs, all while reducing carbon pollution faster than the rest of the nation. Virginians currently pay some of the highest average electric bills in the country, primarily because we lag far behind on energy efficiency, a problem that RGGI resources would help solve.
“Notably, RGGI is the only plan on the table to jump-start a shared solution to sea-level rise in Virginia. Our coast needs a massive, coordinated investment to protect citizens, critical infrastructure, economic assets, and the world’s largest naval base from flooding that’s here now and only getting worse. Bipartisan legislation that would move Virginia into the RGGI system — a bill called the Virginia Coastal Protection Act — would help Virginia meet the requirements of the Clean Power Plan while creating the state’s first dedicated funding stream for flooding adaptation projects, which would also be a major job creator.
“The General Assembly has a huge opportunity to maximize the benefits of the Clean Power Plan by passing the Virginia Coastal Protection Act in 2016 and moving Virginia into RGGI.”
Background: The Virginia Coastal Protection Act is a bipartisan solution introduced in the 2015 General Assembly by Senator Donald McEachin of Richmond and Delegate Ron Villanueva of Virginia Beach. In 2015, the bill gained broad and high-profile support, including from the cities of Portsmouth and Virginia Beach, the Virginia Chapter of the American Association of Pediatrics, the Virginia Housing Coalition, and statewide environmental groups. The bill would join Virginia into RGGI and create the Commonwealth Resilience Fund to reinvest the funds generated into statewide climate solutions. A full half of the funds would help localities pay for flooding adaptation measures, while additional funds would support energy efficiency and clean energy programs statewide, as well as economic development in Southwest Virginia.
Contact:
Dawone Robinson, 804-767-8983, dawone@chesapeakeclimate.org
Kelly Trout, 240-396-2022, kelly@chesapeakeclimate.org

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The Chesapeake Climate Action Network is the biggest and oldest grassroots organization dedicated to fighting climate change in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. We’re building a powerful movement to shift our region away from climate-harming fossil fuels and to clean energy solutions.

Committee advances resolution urging permanent ban on dangerous drilling; full Council hearing scheduled for August 17

Statement of ‘Don’t Frack Maryland’ Coalition Members Mitch Jones, Shilpa Joshi and Andy Galli

Baltimore, MD – On Tuesday, the Baltimore City Council took its first step toward urging a statewide ban on the dangerous practice of fracking in Maryland. After hearing public testimony, the Council’s Judiciary Committee voted 3-0 to advance a resolution calling on the state to place an outright ban on fracking due to its harmful health, environmental and economic impacts. The resolution currently has 13 co-sponsors and is scheduled for a vote by the full Council on August 17.
Earlier this year, the Maryland General Assembly passed a bill that prohibits the state from issuing fracking permits through October 2017. The bill became law this May. The resolution, introduced by Councilmember James Kraft last week, calls on the state to enact permanent protections for Maryland communities, noting, “There is no scientific research supporting claims that [fracking] can be carried out in a way that reduces health and environmental risks to an acceptable level.”
In response, several representatives of the “Don’t Frack Maryland” coalition issued the following statements:
“Just since the General Assembly approved a two-year moratorium important new public health studies have confirmed the risks fracking poses to our state,” said Mitch Jones, Senior Policy Advocate at Food & Water Watch. “Studies showing increased hospitalizations in heavily fracked areas, correlations between lowered birth weights for newborns and proximity to fracked wells, and the distance that air pollution from fracking can travel are just the latest in the mountain of research that shows fracking is dangerous to our health. Fracking’s impacts are widespread and don’t just affect people living next to fracked wells – which is what Baltimore realizes.”
“The Baltimore City Council is taking the right step for both communities and our climate,” said Shilpa Joshi, Maryland Campaign Coordinator at the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “Studies show that fracked gas could be worse for the climate than coal because the fracking process leaks methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. With so much of Maryland’s economic activity at risk due to rising sea levels and growing flooding, we can’t afford to take steps backward toward another dirty fossil fuel.”
“Just as the City Council lead in 2013 with legislation to ban the treatment of fracking wastewater, they are leading again with a resolution to ask for a statewide fracking ban. Council members certainly understand the best way to protect Baltimore’s water and the public’s health from fracking is not to frack at all. We applaud their decision,” said Andy Galli of Clean Water Action.
Contact:
Kelly Trout, (240) 396-2022, kelly@chesapeakeclimate.org

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Background: More than 100 groups came together and worked tirelessly to empower Marylanders to form the Don’t Frack Maryland Campaign and fight for a long-term moratorium on fracking. During the 2015 General Assembly, more than 100 Western Maryland business owners joined this call, and Marylanders sent over 25,000 messages to legislators supporting a moratorium. Letters signed by more than 100 health professionals, and more than 50 restaurant owners, chefs, winemakers and farmers from across the state were also delivered to the legislature. Even actor and Maryland native Edward Norton helped the effort, providing a radio ad appealing to the Governor to sign the bill. Two commissioners of the “Marcellus Shale Safe Drilling Initiative,” released a letter in January outlining the commission’s study did not incorporate a great deal of the recently-released studies exploring the health effects of fracking.

PSC also commits to major gas efficiency

Environmentalists praise historic move: New policy is equivalent to retiring a major coal plant every two years or tripling the state’s existing wind farms annually

BALTIMORE—On Thursday, the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) launched Maryland into the top tier of electricity-saving states by embracing one of the highest energy efficiency targets in the country. The PSC also ordered, for the first time, that natural gas usage reduction goals will be adopted for all gas companies in Maryland. The long-awaited decision, incorporating input from a wide range of stakeholders, gives a huge boost to the state’s “EmPOWER Maryland” program, designed to help consumers while fighting climate change.
Thursday’s order requires that Maryland’s electric utilities achieve annual incremental electricity savings of 2.0% of retail sales per year in perpetuity. That is a significant increase over today’s levels. In 2013, Maryland achieved gross savings equal to 1.3% of retail sales. To put Maryland’s new goals into a national perspective, only two other states—Rhode Island and Massachusetts—achieved saving levels higher than 2% last year. In terms of future targets, Maryland’s new goals are among the top five in the country.
“The state of Maryland has just taken a huge step in showing that action on air pollution and climate change can go hand in hand with consumer savings,” said Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “The PSC deserves praise for hearing the public’s voice that efficiency is a win-win. We now hope other states will follow suit at this same high level.”
The impacts of the PSC decision on Maryland’s electricity grid and the resulting carbon reductions are significant. The new EmPOWER rules will require utilities to save over 1.2 million megawatt-hours per year.[1] That’s the energy equivalent of closing a 460 megawatt coal-fired plant every two years, [2] and will reduce carbon at levels equivalent to taking 173,000 cars off the road annually [3]. To put that another way, today’s new EmPOWER rules will reduce carbon emissions at a rate equivalent to building 470 megawatts of new wind power every year. That’s nearly three times greater than Maryland’s installed wind capacity today.
The Commission’s decision to extend the EmPOWER Maryland program to all gas companies is also a potential game-changer for energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions. While a handful of gas companies already offer some energy savings options to their customers, the state lacks a unified natural gas savings goal. Given that direct consumption of natural gas accounts for 10% of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions, reductions in this sector are imperative as part of a comprehensive climate change strategy. The PSC did not establish specific goals for natural gas in this order, but they did establish a timeline for developing those goals and prescribed certain minimum parameters that must be observed during the process. This order ensures that natural gas savings options will eventually be made available to customers statewide.
CCAN worked very closely with a large and diverse coalition of energy efficiency advocates to achieve Thursday’s important victory. We look forward to continuing our work with this coalition, the PSC, and other state actors to ensure these rules are fully implemented to achieve maximum energy savings.
View the PSC’s order at: http://167.102.231.189/case-decisions/order-no-87082-case-nos-9153-9157-9362-empower-md-energy-efficiency-goal-allocating-and-cost-effectiveness/
REFERENCES:
1. Maryland 2013 retail sales: 61,899,478 MWh per EIA-826, <http://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia826/>. 2% of 2013 sales is 1,237,990 MWh.
2. Based on 2014 annual coal capacity factor (60.9%) <http://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.cfm?t=epmt_6_07_a>
3. Assumes offset emissions factor of 1,480 lbs/MWh. From the Maryland Energy Administration’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act analysis of EmPOWER
Contact:
Mike Tidwell, 240-460-5838, mtidwell@chesapeakeclimate.org
Kelly Trout, 717-439-0346, kelly@chesapeakeclimate.org

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The Chesapeake Climate Action Network is the biggest and oldest grassroots organization dedicated to fighting climate change in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. We’re building a powerful movement to shift our region away from climate-harming fossil fuels and to clean energy solutions.