Last week, the CCAN staff traveled to a retreat center in the Blue Ridge mountains of West Virginia, where we took some time to reflect on the past year and look forward to what’s ahead. As the newest member of the staff, I was inspired by the passion and commitment of my team members and thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to get to know everyone. We all returned to the office this week with a renewed sense of purpose and energy to throw into our work. After the jump, see some photo highlights of the trip.
Get paid to love the Bay!
Everyone knows that Marylanders love the Bay! Continue reading
EPA to regulate Coal's Dirty Little Secret
EPA officially opened their comment period on the federal regulation of coal ash under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The basic question posed by EPA during this comment period is whether toxic coal ash should be regulated as a hazardous waste under Subtitle C of RCRA or as a solid waste under Subtitle D. Really? Do we need a debate about this??? The very nature of coal ash is HAZARDOUS. Coal ash is riddled with heavy metals that are toxic to humans and the environment. For more information on the nature of coal ash and its impacts on the environment click here.
Remember Sasha and Malia!
Some Thoughts on the Democratic Party’s Failure to Fight on Climate
“I am firmly convinced that the passionate will for justice and truth has done more to improve (the human condition) than calculating political shrewdness which in the long run only breeds general mistrust.”
Albert Einstein, “Moral Decay,” 1937
1)—Harry Reid’s statement yesterday about why he would not be putting forward legislation on the climate crisis blamed the Congressional Republicans. It’s true that, with a few exceptions, Senator Susan Collins of Maine being at the top of the list, the Republican Party deserves withering criticism for their joined-at-the-hip allegiance to Big Oil and Dirty Coal.
The ever-greening Google
In an ever apparent effort to prove that there is nothing the company can’t do, Google has officially become a utility. Yes, you read that right: Google can now add “green utility” to its laundry list of bold and ingenious ventures. 
In 2007, Google made headlines when it announced the company intended to voluntarily become carbon neutral. To achieve this goal, they’ve vastly minimized their energy consumption (no small feat considering the magnitude of their data centers), begun powering their facilities with renewable energy, and purchasing offsets for the carbon emissions they cannot eliminate directly.
So when the opportunity arose for Google to directly purchase wind power from the source, it seemed to be a natural growth of this commitment to sustainability. Yesterday, the company announced that it will begin a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement to buy 114 megawatts of wind energy generated at NextEra Energy Resources’ Story County II facility in Iowa. This comes after announcing in May that the company had invested $38.8 million in two North Dakota wind farms.
With its track record of successful innovation, Google could give the wind power industry a much-needed boost. The company has plans to seek more long-term wind power purchase agreements. Welcome to the clean energy revolution, Google Energy LLC. We’re happy to have you.
P.S. Google- We could really use some help over here on the east coast, if you aren’t too busy. Have you heard of the Mid-Atlantic bight?
Governor McDonnell Buys Bottled Water At School Kids' Expense
Cross post:
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell (R.) is in hot water. Make that hot bottled water. It seems the man loves bottled water so much that he’s willing to sacrifice a state low-income school breakfast program to drink it.
Here’s what happened: This week, McDonnell reversed an existing directive to phase-out state spending on bottled water. The goal was put in place by his predecessor and was set to save Virginia about $34,000 this year and also further the state’s “greening” goals. But then the state’s bottled water industry stepped in and, luckily, they had McDonnell’s ear, as the group Corporate Accountability International notes.
Chris Saxman, board member of the International Bottled Water Association and employee of a major water bottler in Virginia, supported McDonnell’s move. His company, the Shenandoah Valley Water Company, was, “far and away the single largest recipient of government spending on bottled water.” Last fiscal year, the company were paid more than $100,000 from Virginia government agencies for their water fix.
What’s more, the spending increase on bottled water comes during a tight budget squeeze. In these tough times, the governor has proposed a budget that would cut millions in education funding and eliminate a school breakfast program for low-income children, Corporate Accountability International says.
So let’s get this straight: the Governor wants to end a program that would this year save $34,000 on bottled water — money that could buy, I don’t know, let’s say hundreds of low-income children some breakfast? Ironically, but maybe not coincidentally, bottled water company executive Saxman also served as an education adviser to McDonnell in the past, according to The Washington Post. Sounds like good education advice to me.
“His actions today seem to suggest he is more interested in protecting cushy state contracts for the bottled water industry than protecting the environment or prioritizing state funding for vital public services,” said Leslie Samuelrich with Corporate Accountability International, in a press release.
Virginia’s governor is swimming against a turning tide. Many states, cities and businesses, including Illinois, New York, Colorado and San Francisco, are trying to save money and save the environment by reducing bottled water use. In 2007, San Francisco’s government found that it was spending almost a half-million dollars a year on bottled water. In addition, plastic water bottles are terrible for the environment — most end up incinerated, buried in landfills or discarded as litter. And despite what water companies may claim, the supposedly “pure” water is usually no better for public health than tap water.
Sign Corporate Accountability International’s petition here to tell Gov. McDonnell what you think of his decision to pour his state’s tax dollars down the drain at the expense of the environment.
Congress: You've Got Oil On Your Hands
SAVE THE DATE: JULY 20TH, 2010
July 20th – On the 3-Month Anniversary of the Gulf of Mexico Oil Disaster Continue reading
Sentencing of CCAN's Ted Glick for Peaceful Banner Hang
CCAN Policy Director and tireless climate activist Ted Glick, who faces up to three years in prison for peacefully hanging a banner in a Senate office building, will be sentenced Tuesday, July 6th at noon.
Glick was convicted of two misdemeanors for hanging a banner in a Senate Office Building calling on Congress to take action to stop climate change. The prosecution has publicly stated that Glick is subject to up to three years in prison.
Supporters have sent hundreds of letters to Judge Frederick Weisberg urging leniency including Susan Sarandon, Edward Asner, NASA’s Dr. James Hansen, Danny Glover, Wendell Berry, Van Jones, Rocky Anderson, Kim Stanley Robinson, Peter Barnes, Bill McKibben, Gus Speth and Catholic Bishop Thomas Gumbleton. News outlets including the Newark Star Ledger and the DC Fox TV station.
WHEN:Tuesday, July 6th at 11:00 AM; Sentencing at 12:00 PM
WHERE: DC Superior Court, 500 Indiana Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20001 — Room 318
Hands Across the Sand DC Video
Check out this video put together by the Energy Action Coalition! It was taken at the Hands Across the Sand event in front of the White House- one of hundreds of events throughout the world.
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Cap and Dividend Policy Update #15
From the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Mike Tidwell, director
Compiled and edited by Ted Glick, CCAN Policy Director
July 2, 2010
The Chesapeake Climate Action Network has launched a weekly policy update about efforts to advance “cap and dividend” legislation in the U.S. Congress. The fight for this climate policy is currently being led on Capitol Hill by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Susan Collins (R-ME). Last December these Senators introduced the Carbon Limits and Energy for America’s Renewal Act, or CLEAR Act, S-2877. Learn more at http://www.supportclearact.org.
Week of June 28-July 2: Two U.S. Senators, Jeff Merkley (D-Ore) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.), spoke positively about the CLEAR Act as Senate Democrats and the White House struggle to come up with offshore drilling/energy/climate legislation that can pass in the Senate. A key, bi-partisan, White House meeting helped to focus national attention on the issue but still left many questions about what, specifically, the Senate Democratic leadership will be putting forward after they return from their July 4th, weeklong recess.
In This Issue
- Senator Jeff Merkley: “You can’t run up the white flag until you have the fight”
- Senator Ben Cardin: CLEAR Act “straight-forward approach” is “an advantage”
- Washington Post reports on June 29 White House bi-partisan climate meeting
- CQ Today: Collins Open to Continuing Climate Change Change
- CongressDaily AM: ‘Cap-And Dividend’ Bill Will Get A Push At White House
#1 Senator Jeff Merkley: “You can’t run up the white flag until you have the fight”
“Susan Collins [R-Maine], working with Maria Cantwell [D-Wash.], has injected a significant idea into the debate. It says, ‘Yes, let’s put a price on carbon, but let’s not create regional disparities.’ So the funds that are paid on carbon stay in the state where they are generated. States that put more in get more back; their families get more back. That is the CLEAR bill. It’s getting more attention. Maria did a presentation to the caucus last week, and the fact that she and Susan were there today — it just keeps getting brought up. People realize the resistance to the framework in Kerry-Lieberman. They’re looking for other ways to get this done. There are many ways to skin a cat.”
#2 Senator Ben Cardin: CLEAR Act “straight-forward approach” is “an advantage”
“[Senator Cardin] said an alternative carbon-pricing plan from Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) that avoids setting up a massive new carbon market could be something to build upon.
‘You’re better off having a comprehensive bill that takes a pretty simplistic approach,’ Cardin said. Cantwell and Collins ‘take a very straight-forward approach — there’s not really specific provisions in her bill and I think that’s an advantage, quite frankly.’”
#3 Washington Post reports on June 29 White House bi-partisan climate meeting
“Collins, who has authored her own climate bill with Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), said she could support a price on carbon only if revenue from pollution allowances was returned to consumers. She added, ‘It’s going to be very difficult’ to find any bill that can muster 60 votes, the number needed to avoid a filibuster in the Senate. ‘The White House meeting underscored to me how many diverse views there are on how to proceed with any clean-energy bill.’”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/29/AR2010062902586.html
#4 CQ Today: Collins Open to Continuing Climate Change Chat
“Collins said she would like to continue a chat she had with Obama on March 9, the last time he convened a bipartisan group of lawmakers to discuss global warming. Then, the White House and Democratic leaders were focused on Graham as a possible cosponsor of a bill being developed by Democrat John Kerry of Massachusetts and independent Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut. But Graham has since dropped out of the Kerry-Lieberman talks, and Democrats know that some Republican support will be needed to pass climate change legislation in the Senate.”
http://chesapeakeclimate.org/detail/news.cfm?news_id=1296
#5 CongressDaily AM: ‘Cap-And Dividend’ Bill Will Get A Push At White House
“Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., plan to tout their ‘cap-and-dividend’ climate bill when they and several other senators meet today with President Obama. It’s the only official bipartisan energy and climate legislation in the Senate. ‘I’m going to tell the president I believe the cap-and-trade approach is dead and that he should take a fresh look at the bill Maria and I have introduced,’ Collins said.
http://chesapeakeclimate.org/detail/news.cfm?news_id=1297
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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. To find out more about CCAN go to http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org.