Over 100 Chesterfield residents and regional activists showed up on Sunday at a town hall — led by Virginia State Senator Ghazala Hashmi (D-10) — to speak out against Dominion Energy’s plan to build a massive methane gas plant near the James River.
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Opposition grows against newly proposed fossil fuel plant, which would be largest of its type in Virginia, accelerating Governor Youngkin’s energy policy reversals and undercutting President Biden’s climate plan.
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After the hottest year on record, over 340 climate activists from across the DMV took the biggest plunge yet, raising awareness and funds to fight climate change.
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Washington, DC — Yesterday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took another bold step to curb carbon pollution with their announcement of a final rule update to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for Particulate Matter (PM 2.5), more commonly known as the soot rule. The new rule is EPA’s first change to the annual exposure limit for fine particles in more than a decade.
The EPA’s new soot rule is expected to save an estimated 4,500 lives and deliver $46 billion in health benefits by 2032 by setting an average yearly soot exposure standard of 9 micrograms per cubic meter of air, down sharply from the current threshold of 12 micrograms.
President Joe Biden and EPA Administrator Michael Regan deserve tremendous credit for finalizing a strong soot rule that will save lives and provide cleaner air in our communities, especially communities of color overburdened by deadly particulate matter from power plants.
Statement from Quentin Scott, Federal Director for Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN):
“Nearly one year ago we gathered at EPA headquarters demanding a strong final soot rule. On behalf of CCAN and our members, we applaud President Biden and Administrator Regan for listening and acting on the concerns of more than 150 environmental justice, frontline, faith, and community leaders. We look forward to the EPA finalizing additional pollution rules in the coming weeks and months to further curb pollution from power plants and protect the most vulnerable.”
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Climate change is a crisis demanding our utmost attention. But there are moments when we must pause to respond to suffering from other causes, especially suffering as great as that in Gaza and Israel now.
As a multi-racial, multi-faith staff — including adherents of Christianity, Judaism and Islam — we call on the White House to support a peace arrangement founded on a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the return of all Israeli hostages.
As negotiations for a ceasefire continue at this moment, we believe it is important for U.S. advocacy groups of all types to speak up for a just and lasting peace. To date, more than 100 Israeli hostages are still being held after 1200 Israeli men, women, and children were attacked and killed on October 7th by Hamas. This is unacceptable. Since then, more than 27,000 Palestinians and others have been killed in raids and bombings by the Israeli Defense Forces, two thirds of them women and children. In December, the World Food Program said 90 percent of Gazans were eating less than one meal per day. This is unacceptable.
As a climate change group, nearly all of our advocacy is focused on clean energy and climate justice issues, as it should be. But very occasionally, we call for justice in the wake of other extraordinary moments – the Haitian earthquake disaster of 2010, the killing of George Floyd in 2020, and the January 6th insurrection.
The scale of innocent lives lost in this conflict has few rivals among conflicts in our lifetimes. The Gaza war, like all wars, distracts the world community from focusing on the biggest long-term threat of violence to all people everywhere: climate change. Now the United States, unlike in most armed conflicts in the world right now, has a decidedly strong opportunity to influence an end to the violence in Israel and Gaza.
Your support for our organization is based first and foremost on our work to end global warming. We know that. Our commitment to that goal will never change. But today we ask you to demand peace in Gaza so we can continue to work for climate peace for the entire planet.
National Harbor, MD — University of Maryland President Darryll J. Pines will join a record crowd of polar bear plungers on the Potomac River this Saturday to draw attention to climate change. Last year was the hottest year on record by a wide margin! And now climate activists are stepping up their efforts like never before. This Saturday, February 10, Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) will hold its 19th Annual Polar Bear Plunge dedicated to raising awareness and funds to fight climate change. This year’s event at National Harbor, MD, is expected to bring together more than 300 hardy activists and volunteers, making this CCAN’s biggest plunge to date!
At Saturday’s event, Pines will join climate activists from across the District, Maryland and Virginia (DMV) region in spotlighting the need for climate action. For over 20 years, CCAN has been building a people-powered climate movement and driving transformation to a clean energy future. Just two weeks ago, the Biden administration responded to pressure from CCAN and other climate organizations nationwide by announcing a pause on pending approvals of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) exports. That federal effort is just one of many CCAN campaigns planned for 2024 across the DC, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) region and beyond. The annual Polar Bear Plunge provides funding that is essential to those campaigns – raising more than one-third of individual donations made to CCAN each year. This year’s Plunge goal is $210,000.
For more information about the 2024 CCAN Polar Bear Plunge, see below:
WHAT: 19th Annual “Keep Winter Cold” Polar Bear Plunge. For more information, visit www.keepwintercold.org.
WHEN: Saturday, February 10, 2024, 10 AM EST
*GREAT PHOTO OP*
*GREAT PHOTO OP*
WHERE: National Harbor, Oxon Hill, Maryland.
SPEAKERS:
SPONSORS:
• Green 2.0
• US Wind
• Neighborhood Sun
• International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)
• MAREC Action
• Evergreen Action
• Rewiring America
• EDF Renewables
Speakers will be available after the rally for interviews. If you would like to coordinate an interview, please contact: KC Chartrand, kc@chesapeakeclimate.org, 240-620-7144; or, Ariel Cassell, ariel@chesapeakeclimate.org, 710-718-6760.
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Chesapeake Climate Action Network, is the oldest and largest grassroots organization dedicated exclusively to raising awareness about the impacts and solutions associated with climate change in the Chesapeake Bay region. For more than 20 years, CCAN has been at the center of the fight for clean energy and wise climate policy in Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and beyond.