Author: CCAN Supporter

Kim Williams, Norfolk, Va.

The urgency of the times leads me to participate in civil disobedience at the governor’s mansion. The temperatures are rising; the ice sheets of Greenland and the polar ice caps are melting at alarming rates. The coastal city in which I live and raise my children increasingly floods even on sunny days. It is time to wake up! Building new gas pipelines will only add to the release of carbon into the atmosphere and to the speed and intensity of these disruptions in life happening now in my home city and all over the planet. Governor McAuliffe, we need courageous leadership! Business cannot continue as usual with fossil fuels!

 
 
 

Rick Shingles, Newport, Va.

Virginians have been disenfranchised from decisions determining our environment, health and welfare by state monopolies, mainly Dominion, that own Virginia’s energy policies. Our elected officials regularly do the bidding of these monopolies, confusing shareholders’ investments with the public interest. We, the public, have come to the capitol to reclaim our government, to demand that the governor and legislators promote what’s best for the Commonwealth. We are here to tell them: “Do the right thing! We have your backs.”

 

Dean Naujoks, Potomac Riverkeeper

I’m getting arrested today because the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, under Governor McAuliffe, has failed to protect public health when it comes to the proper disposal of millions of tons of toxic coal ash in the state. There are drinking wells, next to coal ash sites in Virginia right now, that are confirmed to be contaminated and yet the state still won’t tell citizens whether the wells are safe to drink or not. In the meantime, the Governor has the full power, on his own, to order DEQ to follow the much stronger and safer coal ash standards of North and South Carolina and Georgia. He should do that today.

 

Russell Chisholm, Newport, Va. (in Giles County)

Climate issues are veterans’ issues. I am a landowner in Newport, Virginia, and a US Army veteran who served in Desert Storm with the 24th Infantry Division. My home is in Giles County, Virginia – walking distance from the Appalachian Trail and just a few miles from the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline for fracked gas. My wife, Anna, also an Army veteran, and I draw our drinking water from a spring that, because of the special “karst” geological features of this part of Appalachia, could be disrupted or drained completely by the sort of trenching and pipe-laying required by the Mountain Valley Pipeline. And Governor McAuliffe supports the MVP.

 
 

Quan Baker, Norfolk, Va.

I don’t believe the Governor, or any of our other state legislators, are taking the impacts of climate change seriously. As a coastal state, we need to be on top of fossil fuel divestment. If I have to get arrested to make that statement clear then, so be it.

 
 

Katharine Layton, Fort Valley, Va.

I want Governor McAuliffe to honor his campaign promises to fast-forward Virginia in clean, renewable energy development. I want the Governor to block construction of natural gas pipelines through Virginia to protect water supplies, protect forests and communities, and reduce greenhouse gases.  I object to the misuse of eminent domain laws to take private property from Virginians for the building of pipelines that are primarily for gas export and profits for the gas company, not the well-being of Virginia residents.

 

 

Deborah Kushner, Nelson County, Va.

I live in Nelson County, Virginia – so rural there is only one stoplight in the whole county. It’s a stunningly beautiful county bordering the Blue Ridge mountains and full of lovely waterways, forests and wildlife.
The Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s route comes within 5 miles of my home. I’m “lucky” – I know people whose land is in the direct path of this pipeline. Already, property values have plummeted. People are terrified and angry. Land that’s been in families for generations could be lost. Compressor stations are planned that will run 24/7, pumping toxic fumes and flames into the air and as loud as jet engines running constantly. The scenarios are nightmarish – explosions, leaks, drilling through unstable rock and under pristine streams. This in an exquisite area where I delight in hearing whipporwills outside my window, and witness migrating hawks by the thousands.
I’m proud of the resistance that’s sprung up all along the way to fight rampant plundering of our land to extract fossil fuel instead of investing in other, less destructive forms of energy that could ultimately save us from the horrors of impending climate change.
I am deeply concerned about our planet’s survival. We cannot continue to plunder our natural resources when viable alternatives exist and others can be developed. For the sake of every person alive and all the generations to come, we must stop the exploitation and devastation of our land and water and treasure it for the life-giving treasures they are.
We must stop our dependence of fossil fuels that are heating our atmosphere, destroying mountains, raising sea levels and clogging and polluting waterways. If it takes marching, picketing and getting arrested, so be it. We are fighting for our survival.
 

Robert Dilday, Richmond, Va.

Protecting God’s creation and the people God created is foundational for those of us whose faith motivates us to work for climate justice. Particularly when degradation of creation undermines the lives of people in marginalized communities, we’re called to give voice to their concerns and stand in solidarity with them. Civil disobedience is a well established practice in my faith tradition to accomplish that.
 
 

Pastor Paul Wilson, Buckingham County, Va.

The Governor has not listened to us at all. This is something that the Governor can stop. He’s passing the buck. We refuse to be sacrificial lambs in our community for the sake of money for private industry. We believe there is not a real need for another gas line. There is not a need for a compressor station. We are in ground zero if something catastrophic were to happen. My church community is it.
 
 
 

Brad Pearce, Richmond, Va.

The science is in. We have to aggressively cut CO2 emissions. But policy in Virginia right now rejects that – from supporting offshore oil to fracking to pipelines. Civil disobedience is necessary not only to challenge what is happening, but to raise awareness of what is possible.
 
 
 

Marjorie Wells, Va.

I’m 83 years old. I’m here because I grew up in a world that was clean – you had clear air you could breathe and clean water you could swim in. That’s all changing. And if we don’t get serious about this we’re not going to have a planet to live on.
 
 
 

April Moore, Shenandoah County, Va.

Humanity has never faced a challenge as major as climate change. This is an emergency that must be dealt with as such. Gov. McAuliffe and other elected officials must respond by doing everything in their power to make the shift, as rapidly as possible, from climate-warming fossil fuels to clean, jobs-producing, renewable energy like solar and wind.
Civil disobedience is a time-honored practice. We citizens are so committed to getting our governor to take real action on climate that we are willing to risk arrest to underscore the importance of our cause. We are working to get the attention of Gov. McAuliffe and the citizens of Virginia.
 
 

Herb Fitzell, Richmond, Va.

President Grant said of the Mexican-American war, “I do not think there was ever a more wicked war…only I had not moral courage enough to resign.” But Thoreau did have courage, and he went to jail as an act of resistance to a governmental machine which had lost its moral compass. Thus began the great American tradition of civil disobedience. Our government now marches towards the destruction of our climate, and what could be more wicked than destroying God’s entire creation in exchange for silver? I stand with Native Americans courageously resisting pipelines in Dakota, and with citizens throughout the nation who demand would-be leaders face reality rather than run from it. I happily join our great American tradition of resistance. While some bury their heads in the sand, many of us are looking at the stars.
 

Lee Williams, Richmond, Va.

I’m here today to change the political will of our leaders. We have a global energy model that values fossil fuels over clean air and water; corporations over people. The collusion between Corporations and Government has destroyed my ability to have representation. This is the only avenue left open for me to be heard.

 
 
 
 
 

Chuck Epes, Richmond, Va.

The rivers and other natural resources of Virginia belong to the public. State government has a constitutional duty to protect and preserve those resources for the benefit of all Virginia citizens. Gov. McAuliffe and the Va. DEQ are violating that public trust by allowing Dominion Power, a private for-profit corporation, to further pollute our waterways with coal ash poisons and other fossil fuel wastes, threatening public health and the environment. It’s time state government do its job and say no to corporate polluters. It’s time for clean, sustainable energy. It’s time to take a stand.
 
 
 

John Mayeux, Luray VA

John Mayeux is a 66 year old green home remodeler, and owner of Why Build Green, in Luray, VA. He taught green building to vocational technical students in the Shenandoah Valley for several years. John was active in opposing the Keystone XL Pipeline.
John is in Richmond to strongly encourage Governor McAuliffe to oppose the Dominion gas pipeline through Virginia, stop coal ash dumping in our rivers and work to reduce fossil fuel burning which would reduce global warming and protect our fragile coastlines from rising ocean levels and storm surge damage.
 
 

Jennifer Alves, Leesburg, Va.

My name is Jennifer Alves, and I am a LORAX. I love Mother Earth with all my heart. All my life I have been working towards the Revolution now taking place and so many people are embracing. I began counting my blessings the day I was born. Twice as a child I had brain cancer. And then again just after my 30th birthday. The childhood tumor and treatments caused complications in my brain, a visual impairment and a short term memory glitch. Despite the number of difficulties I faced from a very young age, I imagined with faith and high hopes of what I would be when I grew up. Through the hardships of public school, I was fortunate to have my family, teachers, and special education personal who saw in me great potential and the determination to succeed.

 
 

Maria Bergheim, Loudoun County, VA

I am tired of empty promises from our elected officials. We elect them into office to protect us not to harm us but with the threat of climate change at a real tipping point that has reached 400 CO2 it’s a disgrace they still won’t work for us but rather for Dominion. This has to change now …not tomorrow but today!
 
 
 

David Copper, Staunton Va.

It’s time. It’s got to be done.

 
 
 
 
 

Izzy Pezzulo, Richmond, Va.

Because I care about the communities in Virginia impacted by fossil fuel infrastructure and the lives impacted.

 

 
 
 
 

Jim Barton, Va.

I want to protect the environment. It’s my first time getting arrested, but now’s the time.
 
 
 
 
 

Terry Ellen, Pikesville, Md.

The climate crisis is the greatest moral issue we face together at this time. Nothing else touches it in terms of its consequences for us, future generations, and all the species. Our generation will be judged by all future ones on how we react. So it is imperative that our elected leaders respond to it as the crisis that it is. Governor McAuliffe has not done so, despite campaign promises, in the three areas highlighted in these protests. And so it is imperative that citizens demand he do so, even risking peaceful arrest to highlight the moral importance of this moment. As a seventy-one year old Unitarian Universalist Minister, I feel it is also important that we elders do our part. Younger generations are counting on us.
 
 

Often the stories and faces of real people get lost in the debate over Virginia energy policy. The letter below was sent to Governor McAuliffe by eight Virginians who all have one thing in common: They have been harmed or will soon be harmed by the Governor’s actions (or lack thereof) on fracked-gas pipelines, improper coal ash disposal, and flooding driven by climate change.
These eight Virginians are asking to meet directly with Governor McAuliffe so they can share firsthand how his policies are affecting them. They also make the case in their letter for how McAuliffe can, using his explicit current authority as Governor, make energy policy changes that will directly protect them.
Read on to go beyond the statistics and get to the human story behind Virginians’ growing resistance to the Governor’s and Dominion’s energy policies. Click here to view and download a PDF version.
———————————————————————————
Dear Governor McAuliffe,
We are Virginians of multiple races, ages and backgrounds representing every region of the Commonwealth. We are writing you today to share our belief that clean energy – with your support – can soon fully power our lives and our economy without poisoning our air or our water or sacrificing entire regions of our state.
But currently, Governor, your energy policies are sacrificing whole communities. Your support of the dirty-energy projects of Dominion Power and other polluting companies is harming us – the signers of this letter – in clear and concrete ways. We just wanted to write you directly to put real human faces behind the growing public concerns over your policies.
In April, several leading organizations issued a report card grade of D+ to your administration on the issues of climate change and energy. In June, more than 60 groups from across the state issued an open letter to you asking you to put the welfare of Virginia’s people ahead of the interests of polluters. In July, 600 of us visited your home to reiterate our concerns as part of the July 23 “March on the Mansion.”
But Governor you have not responded to any of these concerns. You have not announced any change in your energy policies. So we call on you once again to reverse course immediately on supporting fracked-gas pipelines and the improper burial of coal ash waste in our communities. We want to ask you instead to begin fully embracing a just energy policy for all Virginians that reduces total climate pollution while investing in clean-energy jobs and real investments to protect our people and the military from accelerating sea-level rise and other impacts of global warming.
Who are we? We are a northern Virginia resident whose drinking water has already been contaminated next to a Dominion Power coal ash storage site. We are a Buckingham County minister whose congregations reside in the harm radius of a proposed 57,000 horsepower compressor station for a fracked-gas pipeline you support. We are a Nelson County landowner whose heritage includes indigenous American descent and whose hay fields and cattle could be negatively affected by direct erosion from the Atlantic Coast Pipeline for fracked gas. And we are a Korean War veteran and landowner whose very property will be seized and whose fields and forests will be disrupted by a second massive fracked-gas pipeline – the Mountain Valley Pipeline – that you support.
We are a student whose entire future depends on rapid cuts to greenhouse gases to combat global warming. We are a senior citizen in Hampton Roads who is fearful of being stranded in the growing coastal floods linked to climate change and who must now pay for flood insurance for a house that was never previously vulnerable to floods.
We know, Governor, that you can lead us toward a better energy future by embracing better policies. We are grateful that you have taken small steps to promote solar power, wind, and energy efficiency. We know that clean-energy prices continue to fall rapidly worldwide and that virtually every state in America uses more wind and solar power than Virginia and has better energy-efficiency standards.
But proportionally, your current policies overwhelmingly embrace fossil fuel development over clean energy use. The expanded emissions from new gas pipelines would by themselves totally counteract all you have done to combat climate change through renewable energy. Your support of the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley Pipelines for fracked gas would seize a 1000-mile strip of public and private land, threaten drinking water, incentivize fracking, and rapidly increase global warming pollution. Indeed, a recent study shows these pipelines, if built, will trigger total greenhouse gas emissions equal to twice the volume of all of Virginia’s current power plants combined. Finally, your support of Dominion Power’s policy of dumping coal ash liquid into rivers and burying coal-ash solid waste in unlined soils is a profound threat to human health and the environment.
We ask you to join us – immediately – in changing course on the policies we’ve identified here. Will you please meet with us at your earliest convenience to discuss these vital issues?
We look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
George Jones, 86, landowner, Giles County, Virginia – George served in the US Navy from 1950-54, serving in the Korean War. The land of his 10-generation Virginia family would be seized, bisected, and substantially deforested by the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline carrying fracked gas from West Virginia into Virginia. George is devastated by this invasion of his homeland and the violation of his citizen’s rights but equally concerned with the certain destruction to the ecosystem and especially ancient water systems that can never be “fixed.” The Mountain Valley Pipeline is supported by Governor McAuliffe.
 
 
 
 
Pastor Paul Wilson, 63, ordained minister, Buckingham County, Virginia – Pastor Paul ministers to the Union Hill and Union Grove Baptist Churches in Buckingham County. His rural congregations would be dramatically affected by the pollution, noise, and maintenance activity of a proposed 57,000-horsepower compressor station that would process fracked gas from the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline running from West Virginia to Virginia. The ACP pipeline and the compressor station are both supported by Governor McAuliffe.
 
 
 
 
Caroline Bray, 20, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia – Caroline was born and raised in Virginia and is currently studying biology at the University of Virginia, where she is the president of the Climate Action Society. Through her advocacy against new pipelines in Virginia and campaign for fossil fuel divestment, she has become increasingly concerned with the influence of Dominion Power and other fossil fuels companies on her state government and her school.
 
 
 
 
Dan Marrow, 60, homeowner, Possum Point Road, Dumfries, Virginia – Dan and his wife and two daughters live within a thousand feet of a coal ash waste pond operated by Dominion Power. His teenage daughters were raised entirely on the property. Recently, the family’s drinking water well showed elevated quantities of several toxic heavy metals associated with coal ash. Dominion refuses to remove the nearby coal ash to a modern landfill as North Carolina and South Carolina are requiring of utilities. Governor McAuliffe supports Dominion’s coal ash plans that are deemed unsafe in the Carolinas and Georgia.
 
 
 
 
Russell Chisholm, 48, landowner, Newport, Virginia – Russell is a US Army veteran who served in Desert Storm with the 24th Infantry Division. His home in Giles County, Virginia is walking distance from the Appalachian Trail and just a few miles from the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline for fracked gas. Russell and his wife, Anna, also an Army veteran, draw their drinking water from a spring that, because of the special “karst” geological features of this part of Appalachia, could be disrupted or drained completely by the sort of trenching and pipe-laying required by the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Again, Governor McAuliffe supports the MVP.
 
 
 
Janice Johnson, 77, retired city employee of Hampton, Virginia, who now lives in Newport News, Virginia – Janice, a native of the Hampton Roads region, lives in daily fear that increased flooding and extreme weather events will leave her and other vulnerable seniors stranded in the event of a major storm. Worse, because of sea-level rise, she’s now being asked to pay for expensive flood insurance for a home that had never before been in a designated flood zone, and she is required to pay for a costly surveyor to come on her land to authenticate the height of her home. Governor McAuliffe has declined to support the Virginia Coastal Protection Act, which would provide the first dedicated state funding to address many of the region’s flooding issues.
 
 
Wisteria Johnson, 66, landowner, Shipman, Virginia. Biographical statement from Wisteria: “We are seven-generation mountain folk of indigenous American, European and African dissent. We currently live peaceably in conjunction with untouched headwaters and untouched nature typical to this part of Virginia. We have timberlands and hay fields and we are growers of a small herd of beef cattle for public consumption. We are also families who, despite our attempt to remain isolated from American corporate exploitation, we now find ourselves to be probable recipients to a gas-filled pipeline that would either parallel the headwater beds or lie in the belly of the mountain ridge. The ridge, being its natural self, has steep slopes and God-grown forest. Lastly, we are a family facing endangerment while political and corporate defenders thrive.”
 
 
Lee Williams, 51, critical care nurse, Richmond, Virginia. Lee is the mother of three and avid outdoors enthusiast, living near the James River. She has also been a property owner in Nelson County for 18 years, and has raised her children at Wintergreen on the Appalachian Trail and surrounding National Forests. Lee is fighting to ban hydro-fracking and the building of new infrastructure to transport it, because the best scientific evidence points to climate change, resulting sea level rise and super storms, poisoned water, a sickened population, and a devastated landscape. As an active member of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church and The Interfaith Climate Justice Team, she is called to safeguard life and respect creation by urging decision makers to recognize and honor indigenous communities, other people of color, and our most vulnerable communities throughout the commonwealth that are most at risk of losing access to clean water; whether from contamination from coal ash, construction sediment, spilled oil, or rising sea levels. Lee steadfastly fights for racial justice and reconciliation with climate justice and caring for God’s creation as a matter of stewardship.

If you live in Southern Maryland or Baltimore, you might have met Healthy Communities Organizer Jon Kenney testifying to stop Dominion’s gas export facility at Cove Point, marching against a dirty trash incinerator in Curtis Bay, or organizing a community meeting to pass oil train legislation through City Hall.
After nearly three years at CCAN, Jon moved on to attend grad school in DC this month, but not before he had a chance to welcome and train Jamshid Bakhtiari, our new Healthy Communities Campaign Coordinator, to carry on the fight!
Jamshid will be leading our efforts to curb oil trains in Baltimore and bring the benefits of community solar to Maryland communities:
Your age: 25
Where you live: Baltimore, Maryland
Your work background: I have previous experience organizing around a host of different issues – most notably I’ve worked with the VCU Living Wage Campaign, the National Lawyers Guild, the Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice, and Equality, and the Richmond Peace Education Center.
Why are you a CCAN employee?
I am a CCAN employee because of our commitment to broadening the scope of the environmental justice movement to include a broad range of human struggles.
What has inspired you most working for CCAN so far?
So far I have been most inspired by all of the great organizers and activists that I have had the privilege to learn from and work alongside. In addition to the depth of organizing experience and knowledge that CCAN has on staff, I am constantly meeting partners and supporters in Baltimore who are bringing their unique skills to the table to build a sustainable climate movement in the region.
What have you contributed to bringing about a clean energy revolution that you are most proud of?
Every time I contribute to someone feeling empowered to take action – no matter how small that might be. For instance, after our last community meeting on oil trains, members of the community really took ownership of the issue and started planning a campaign strategy to win. Being able to facilitate this process of community empowerment is always both energizing and humbling.
What do you like to do when you’re not fighting climate change?
When I am not on the campaign, I enjoy trying new vegetarian recipes, exploring new and exciting music, and trying to maintain an active lifestyle.
Who would you high five? Who WOULDN’T I high five? Special props to anyone willing to take time out of their day to work against injustice.

Did you know that in Maryland the benefits of solar energy are about to become accessible to everyone, even if you rent or have a shady roof?
Thanks to statewide legislation championed by CCAN and our allies, Maryland is about to launch a cutting-edge “community solar” pilot program. The program will get started this fall, and the first projects could come on line as soon as winter.
Sign up here to get updates from CCAN on community solar projects in your neighborhood!
Here are three things that you need to know about the program:
1) What is Community Solar? Community solar allows customers who rent, have shady roofs, or are otherwise unable to install solar at their residences or business to buy or “subscribe” to a portion of a shared solar system. Your share of the electricity generated by the project is credited to your electricity bill, just as if the solar system were located at your home or business.
2) How Does it Work? Under the new Maryland law, you can subscribe to a small share of a larger solar project located within your community. The energy produced by this solar site is delivered directly into the grid and the local utility redistributes this energy among its customers. Your household would then receive a credit on your monthly utility bill for the amount of electricity your share of the system produced.
3) Who Can Sign Up? Anyone!
If you are interested in participating in a community solar project in your neighborhood, sign up here and we’ll update you as the program develops.
Right now CCAN is helping to lay the groundwork by forging partnerships between communities and subscriber organizations across Maryland to get projects off the ground.
Importantly, Maryland’s program sets aside 30 percent of the total project cap for solar installations that serve low- and moderate-income households. This commitment to making solar universally accessible is critical — right now working families account for only a small fraction of all residential solar installations. This makes Maryland’s community solar program a major step towards a more equitable clean energy economy.
P.S. Our partners at Neighborhood Sun are hosting a webinar this Thursday to explain the community solar program in greater depth and answer your questions. Sign up for updates and we’ll send you the details.