Campus activism spreads to Newport News

As the Virginia Campus Organizer with CCAN, I get to work across Virginia with students who are eager to get involved with climate activism (how lucky am I, right??). For those of you who have been to Virginia- or outside of NOVA at least- you know just how big the state is. With well over two dozen colleges and universities spread across the state, it’s not easy to cover all the ground I’d like to over the course of a year. And although we’re active on fifteen campuses right now, I’m always looking to engage more VA students in our campaigns and support the awesome work they’re doing on their own campuses.
 

Continue reading

DOE 'conditional' approval for Cove Point LNG exports is not in Maryland's interests

With LNG Export Approval, DOE Shortchanges American Public, Ignores Economic and Safety Concerns

Cove Point project would hike energy costs, threaten public safety, harm Chesapeake Bay

WASHINGTON, DC – The Department of Energy announced today it had granted conditional approval to the Dominion Cove Point LNG facility to export liquefied natural gas to non-free trade agreement countries, pending an environmental review by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

The $3.8 billion project would transform a sleepy natural gas import facility on the Chesapeake Bay into a massive export hub and hasten the already hectic pace of fracking for natural gas in the nearby Marcellus and Utica shale regions.

But as recently as last week, FERC regulators were raising concerns with Dominion about the safety of the project pointing to the potential for a “fireball” connected to on-site chemical storage. And while economic benefits of the project are heavily in dispute, all experts agree that it would raise domestic energy prices.

Dominion still faces major hurdles before the project can proceed. The company needs approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which has yet to complete its environmental review. Dominion also needs approval from Maryland utility regulators as well as more than 60 permits and approvals. There is still pending litigation over whether Dominion has the right to build this facility or if it breaks an earlier legal agreement with Sierra Club.

The following are statements from groups that have aligned in opposition to this project:

Continue reading

Offshore Wind is Off the Auction Block in Virginia, But How Long Will Dominion Sit On its Hands?

Beth Kemler, Virginia State Director at the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, had the following response to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s announcement that Dominion Resources has won today’s auction for the rights to develop Virginia’s 112,800-acre offshore wind energy area:

“We’re excited to see that offshore wind power is inching closer and closer to being a reality off Virginia’s coast. We’re anxious to see this massive resource start powering Virginia homes and businesses with clean energy.

“While Dominion came out on top today, that unfortunately doesn’t guarantee that the company will actually erect a single turbine. The company could rent the wind energy area for years without moving forward with any development, preventing a more eager company from doing so. In fact, Dominion Virginia Power’s recently released long-range energy plan prioritizes new fossil fuel projects over offshore wind power development, rejecting offshore wind power even as a back-up plan. This doesn’t leave us with high hopes for Dominion’s speedy development of this clean energy resource.

Continue reading

Pricing Carbon, Paying Dividends – Aug 2013

From the Chesapeake Climate Action Network: Mike Tidwell, Executive Director

Compiled and edited by Ted Glick, CCAN National Campaign Coordinator

August 29, 2013

In This Issue:

#1 Climate Wire (July 12, 2013): Prominent Dem Prepares Climate Bill

#2 Boston Globe (June 24, 2013): Environmentalists Call for a Mass. Carbon Tax

#3 Bob Inglis: Conservatives have a Climate Solution

#4 The Weekly Standard (July 8, 2013): Climate Change for the GOP; It’s time for a conservative alternative to liberal alarmism

#5 ClimateWire (July 2, 2013): Carbon tax could have no impact on the young and unborn

#6 Politico (June 21, 2013): Federal report backs carbon tax for climate goals, by Alex Guillen

#7 Realclearscience.com (July 10, 2013): How the GOP Could Win the Climate Debate

#8 Triplepundit.com (July 16, 2013): Can Republicans Take the Lead on Climate Change?

 

#1 Climate Wire (July 12, 2013): Prominent Dem Prepares Climate Bill

“Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) is crafting a climate bill that would cap greenhouse gases on upstream emitters while providing payments to the U.S. public, a design that’s meant to deflate attacks about its effect on rising energy prices. The cap-and-dividend bill will be similar to a measure that Van Hollen introduced at the height of climate action in 2009, when his legislation competed with early iterations of the cap-and-trade bill proposed by Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.). The bills were introduced within days of each other four years ago. ‘Most of the arguments you hear from opponents trying to address this issue is the increased cost to consumers,’ Van Hollen said yesterday. ‘This addresses that issue directly.’”
Read the full article: http://www.eenews.net/stories/1059984277

#2 Boston Globe (June 24, 2013): Environmentalists Call for a Mass. Carbon Tax

“A group of environmentalists plans to ask voters to make Massachusetts the first state in the nation to adopt a so-called carbon tax by imposing new levies on gasoline, heating oil, and other fossil fuels based on the amount of carbon dioxide they produce. The group, which has registered with the state as a political committee, is launching a campaign to place the issue on the ballot for the 2014 state elections. If approved, such a tax would add several cents to the price per gallon of gas and could generate as much as $2.5 billion in revenue a year, according to an economic analysis that was done for the group, the Committee for a Green Economy. In addition to lowering income and corporate taxes, the bill would set aside $100 million annually from carbon tax revenues to fund transportation improvements, limit increases in public transit fares, or pay down transit-related debt.”
Read the full article: http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2013/06/23/group-seeks-carbon-tax-combat-climate-change/EGvlBc9ltLUCskJPgad0fL/story.html

#3 Bob Inglis: Conservatives have a Climate Solution

“Inglis promotes the premise of a ‘100 percent revenue-neutral carbon tax.’ This tax would be paired dollar for dollar with a reduction in a pre-existing tax—thereby reducing taxes elsewhere. ‘No growth of government here,’ he stressed.’If you set the economics right, the consumer will drive innovation. That will include renewables, and we will have exciting breakthroughs.’ Inglis explained that a carbon tax would bring a realization, through comparison, that the cost of green energy is closer to the actual cost of fossil fuels. Repeatedly referencing the phrase ‘true cost comparisons between fuels,’ Inglis underscored the health related fallout from fossil fuels—impacting lives as well as the economy.”
Read the full article: http://www.momscleanairforce.org/2013/06/19/bob-inglis-conservatives-climate/

#4 The Weekly Standard (July 8, 2013): Climate Change for the GOP; It’s time for a conservative alternative to liberal alarmism
“Since carbon emissions do present a real problem, simply repealing the current regulations without replacing them would be both unwise and politically impossible. The least-intrusive and most economically beneficial way to deal with the problem appears to be a carbon tax, particularly a revenue-neutral carbon tax that could be used to offset and/or replace other taxes. As Florida State University economist Shi-Ling Hsu argues in his The Case for a Carbon Tax, such a tax would cause minimal dislocations, actually do quite a lot to reduce carbon emissions, and avoid the potentially destructive central planning implicit in almost every other solution, including the one Obama has proffered.”
Read the full article: http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/climate-change-gop_738063.html

#5 ClimateWire (July 2, 2013): Carbon tax could have no impact on the young and unborn

“Carbon taxes could affect Americans differently depending on their age, with those born after 1995 generally feeling smaller economic impacts than today’s decision makers, a team of researchers found. People who are 18 years old or younger would pay about $10 a year or less under a policy that uses the revenue from a $30 carbon tax to reduce capital taxes, according to economists at Resources for the Future. Future generations would pay less than that. The tax would have no cost for those born between 2010 and 2030. Adult Americans, meanwhile, would see a range of possible impacts. People born in 1945 would pay the most under the tax swap scenario, about $40 a year, because they have less retirement income to invest and would benefit the least from cuts to capital taxes. The research shows that people born between 1950 and 1965 would come out ahead, by about $5 a year.”
Read the full article: http://www.eenews.net/stories/1059983776

#6 Politico (June 21, 2013): Federal report backs carbon tax for climate goals, by Alex Guillen

“A federal report is endorsing a carbon tax as a far better method to combat climate change than the current web of energy tax provisions. Despite spending billions of dollars on energy subsidies, the federal government’s Tax Code has done little overall to cut greenhouse gas emissions, according to a National Research Council report out Thursday, which concludes that a carbon tax or cap-and-trade system would be much more effective. ‘In order to meet ambitious climate-change objectives, a different approach that targets GHG emissions directly through taxes or tradable allowances will be both necessary and more efficient,’” the report concludes.
Read the full article: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/carbon-tax-proposed-for-climate-goals-93141.html#ixzz2dNF6uhWt

#7 Realclearscience.com (July 10, 2013): How the GOP Could Win the Climate Debate

“In the past year, a movement of conservatives outside of Congress has pushed a market-based solution to climate change. This conservative alternative envisions a phase-out of subsidies for all sources of energy coupled with a revenue-neutral carbon tax swap. This is exactly the kind of proposal that gives Republicans the
chance to win both in a messaging battle and on policy merits. Republicans can win this debate by making it very clear: our carbon tax will not grow government. It will not take money out of hard-working American’s pockets to pay for more federal spending. It will instead be used to cut federal taxes, and it must be revenue neutral.”
Read the full article: http://www.realclearscience.com/articles/2013/07/10/a_sensible_gop_solution_to_climate_change_106589.html

#8 Triplepundit.com (July 16, 2013): Can Republicans Take the Lead on Climate Change?

“An op-ed written by a Capitol Hill staffer writing under a pseudonym suggests the GOP could tackle climate change via free market principles. The rogue GOP staffer calls for a “revenue-neutral carbon tax swap.” If structured correctly, such a carbon tax would cause a shake-out in the energy market as consumers and businesses would compete on cost and efficiency. A carbon tax would also cancel out some income taxes, the latter of which many economists deride as a drag on the economy.”
Read the full article: http://www.triplepundit.com/2013/07/republicans-lead-climate-change/

CCAN encourages readers of the Cap and Dividend Policy Update to distribute it to others who might be interested. We welcome input on the contents of this publication and ideas for what could be included.
Send to Ted Glick at ted@chesapeakeclimate.org.

Marking Katrina's 8th Anniversary: Don't let Hampton Roads be the next New Orleans


Eight years ago today, Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans, flooding the city and leaving a wake of irreversible damage in its path. The stage had been set for a storm of this magnitude, as coastal Louisiana residents watched the seas rise and their land sink in prior years.

Homes destroyed by Katrina

OR

Wind, solar and energy efficiency for Virginia

That sounds all too familiar when we look at the coastal conditions of Hampton Roads. This week, CCAN climate activists took to the Virginia Beach oceanfront to call attention to the parallels between pre-Katrina New Orleans and present day Hampton Roads. Without strong action on climate change, a child born today could live to see a future of their coastal community devastated by climate-induced rising seas and more extreme storms.
Continue reading

Investing in Efficiency, Wind and Solar Would Be Cheaper, Safer for Virginians than Dominion’s Plan, Report Finds

Clean Energy Coalition Launches Statewide Campaign

RICHMOND — Within ten years, energy efficiency, solar and wind could power about a million Virginia homes—likely at a lower cost than building new fossil fuel-fired power plants—according to a detailed analysis released today. Bringing new clean energy sources online would cost between $633 million and $1.78 billion less than Dominion Virginia Power’s current plan to build two large natural gas-fired power plants, the report found. Further, clean energy investments by Dominion would yield additional benefits for all Virginians, including cleaner air as well as reduced carbon pollution, which contributes to rising sea levels and stronger storms.

A coalition of environmental groups released the 30-page analysis in advance of Dominion’s 2013 long-range plan, which the company is required to file by September 1. When the “Integrated Resource Plan” goes before the State Corporation Commission for approval, the groups will encourage policymakers and the public to evaluate Dominion’s plan through the lens of this analysis. Dominion is the state’s largest electric utility, providing power to about two-thirds of Virginians.

Continue reading

Double Maryland's Clean Power: 40% by 2025

Climate change is intensifying and scientists say we must move toward clean energy solutions now to avoid the worst impacts. In Maryland, the biggest single source of global warming pollution is the burning of dirty fossil fuels for electricity. We’re calling on the Maryland General Assembly to act by requiring that 40% of Maryland’s electricity come from clean sources like wind and solar by 2025.

Continue reading

Climate change town hall encourages individual action

Gazette.Net

By Marlena Chertock

About 500 residents, politicians and activists showed support for climate-change policies at an Organizing For Action town hall last week at the Silver Spring Civic Center.

“Cleaner air leads to healthier families,” said Neeta Datt, the county director of OFA.

The nearly four-hour meeting was the first in a month of action for OFA, a nonprofit that supports President Barack Obama’s agenda.

Speakers focused on the president’s plan, but also encouraged action on an individual level.

Continue reading

Suit objects to loan that helps region's coal exports

The Virginian-Pilot

By Robert McCabe

Environmental groups on Wednesday filed a federal lawsuit challenging the U.S. government’s backing of a loan that facilitates the export of some Appalachian coal through the ports of Hampton Roads and Baltimore.

The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco, alleges that the U.S. Export-Import Bank broke federal law by approving a $90 million loan guarantee in support of Latrobe, Pa.-based coal broker Xcoal Energy & Resources LLC without first preparing an “environmental impact statement.”

The taxpayer-backed financing, approved on May 24, 2012, will help leverage $1 billion in coal exports from Appalachia to markets in Japan, South Korea, China and Italy through coal terminals in Hampton Roads and Baltimore, the groups said.

Continue reading