A 60-acre vegetable, fruit and Christmas tree farm, one of PA’s oldest sustainable farm since 1972, tucked away in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Needmore, PA, with the (swimmable) Licking Creek running through the farm and wonderful hiking
SEEKING FARM STAFF for the 2022 season
Visit their website for full information on the farm: www.lickingcreekbendfarm.com
AVAILABLE: NOW through Thanksgiving – MINIMUM 3-MONTH’S COMMITMENT
SALARY: $1,000/month plus room and board (with increases based on performance and time commitment). Free WiFi
APPLY: Now! Email us with a cover letter, resume and references
We have 2 staff openings. Our farm is worker-run. Applicants are interviewed and hired by the staff. Our permanent staff has worked on the farm for more than 10 years.
MUST BE FULLY VACCINATED and HAVE A VALID DRIVERS LICENSE and be a US citizen.
EXPECT TO LEARN: all the basics of starting and running a farm including: starting seeds, greenhouse production, planting, fertilization, drip irrigation, high tunnel growing AND cultivation bee-keeping. Our staff run several farm markets and we offer a 100 family CSA. Each staff person takes turns working at our farm markets and preparing the CSA shares. Philosophically, the farm supports a policy of growing food sustainably and pricing it affordably in mixed income DC area neighborhoods.
Washington, DC — This week, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers committed to withhold a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit for the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) at least until the project has a valid Endangered Species Act biological opinion. This confirmation was received in response to a letter from Appalachian Mountain Advocates and the Southern Environmental Law Center. The 404 permit, if issued, would allow for the pipeline to trench and blast through hundreds of streams and wetlands in its path.
This is another serious blow to the beleaguered project, which has already had several key permits rejected by the courts. In early February, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals invalidated the biological opinion and incidental take statement issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the Endangered Species Act for the Mountain Valley Pipeline. That decision came on the heels of the court’s late-January invalidation of U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management approvals for the second time, preventing the pipeline from crossing the Jefferson National Forest.
The Corps’ response casts further doubt on the future of the Mountain Valley Pipeline and means that for the foreseeable future the pipeline will not be able to build across streams, wetlands and several major rivers. Those crossings threaten long-term degradation of water quality.
“That the Corps did its job, simply by following the law — gives hope. Southwest Virginia, together with our neighbors to the west and the south, have endured eight years of MVP abuses, specifically to our exceptional waters that are the life force of our forests, aquifers, karst, wetlands and floodplains. By following the law, the Corps has answered the moral imperative of the climate emergency — that in supporting our most fragile biological species and the waters they depend upon, we protect our people — and their future on Earth — over profit,” says Roberta Bondurant, a member of Preserve Bent Mountain, a chapter of Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL), and Co-Chair of Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights Coalition (POWHR).
“The recent letter from the Corps means MVP can’t be granted an ‘all access pass’ to our waterways before the pipeline’s effects on endangered fish are carefully studied,” Sierra Club Senior Organizer Caroline Hansley said. “This project has already received major setbacks with permits still missing and more being challenged, along with millions of dollars in fines for hundreds of violations of clean water protections. Not only is MVP billions over budget and more than three years behind schedule, MVP still has hundreds of difficult waterbody crossings left to complete. Investors and lenders should walk away from this unjust and unneeded project. We all have a right to clean water and will continue to make sure our communities are protected.”
“The Corps’ decision to delay action on the 404 permit is the right course at this time,” said Peter Anderson, Virginia Policy Director for Appalachian Voices. “We will continue to hold the unnecessary Mountain Valley Pipeline accountable for all of its serious flaws and the harms it inflicts on our communities.”
David Sligh, Conservation Director at Wild Virginia stated: “One resource agency after another has failed the public in granting ill-considered and improper approvals for the Mountain Valley Pipeline. In this case, the Corps has acknowledged its legal duty and that gives many of our precious and sensitive streams a reprieve from MVP’s damages. Now is the time for federal officials to finally stop this project, which has already caused so much pain and pollution in the affected communities.”
“Climate change poses a ‘code red for humanity,’ according to the world’s leading scientists. The last thing we need is another massive pipeline that will prolong our reliance on dirty fracked-gas, harm Virginia’s streams and rivers, and trample on people’s property rights,” said Anne Havemann, general counsel with the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “As permit after permit gets thrown out or delayed, it’s time for MVP to see the writing on the wall and abandon the project.”
“This is very good news about a project and a route that never should have been allowed,” commented Bill Wolf of Preserve Craig, Inc.
“Endangered species like the candy darter and Roanoke logperch are nature’s ‘canaries in the mines’ — a warning to us all about the health of our water, air and entire ecosystem. We appreciate that the Army Corps of Engineers is paying attention and will not complete its review until a valid Biological Opinion is in place,” commented Howdy Henritz, president of Indian Creek Watershed Association.
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About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person’s right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.
About the Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights Coalition
Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights (POWHR) is an interstate coalition leading the fight to stop the Mountain Valley Pipeline. The coalition includes individuals and groups from counties in Virginia and West Virginia dedicated to protecting water, land, and communities from fossil fuel expansion and environmental injustice. For more information, visit our website: powhr.org.
Washington, DC — Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit invalidated the biological opinion and incidental take statement issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the Endangered Species Act for the Mountain Valley Pipeline. The court found that the agency failed to adequately analyze the project’s environmental context when assessing the detrimental impacts to the Roanoke logperch and the candy darter, a species on the brink of extinction. The court’s decision means that construction should not move forward along the 304-mile pipeline route.
Today’s announcement is a result of a case argued by the Sierra Club on behalf of a coalition of conservation organizations, including Wild Virginia, Appalachian Voices, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Defenders of Wildlife, West Virginia Rivers Coalition, Preserve Giles County, Preserve Bent Mountain, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, Indian Creek Watershed Association and Center for Biological Diversity. Appalachian Mountain Advocates also represented the petitioners.
The decision is yet another setback for the Mountain Valley Pipeline after another recent decision from the Fourth Circuit invalidating approvals by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management for construction through Jefferson National Forest. The project continues to face several legal battles and is more than three years behind schedule, barely half complete to full restoration, and billions over budget. The pipeline has been required to pay millions of dollars in fines for more than 350 water quality-related violations in Virginia and West Virginia, and has disturbed and destroyed important habitat that has adversely affected local wildlife. Today’s decision should stop the pipeline’s onslaught against one of the largest remaining wild landscapes in the eastern U.S.
Sierra Club Senior Director of Energy Campaigns, Kelly Sheehan, said, “Three more key federal agencies have been sent back to the drawing board after failing to analyze MVP’s harmful impacts. The previous administration’s rushed, shoddy permitting put the entire project in question. Now, the Biden administration must fulfill the commitments it has made on climate and environmental justice by taking a meaningful, thorough review of this project and its permitting. When they do, they will see the science is clear: MVP is not compatible with a healthy planet and livable communities. MVP must not move forward.”
Russell Chisholm, Co-Chair of the Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights (POWHR) Coalition, said: “Sacred life prevailed today with the court’s acknowledgement of the harmful impact MVP has on everything in its path, specifically endangered and threatened species. Holding MVP accountable to the law is key to the ultimate cancellation of this noxious fracked gas pipeline. This decision not only protects the candy darter and other endangered species, it sets us on course to stop MVP, decisively transition away from deadly fossil fuels, and reroute towards a renewable economy on a livable planet.”
Sierra Club Senior Attorney Elly Benson released the following statement: “MVP’s dangerous pipeline project has already destroyed and degraded the habitat of endangered species along its route, in addition to the threat it poses to clean air, water, and our communities. We have seen its harmful effects on the region’s forests and streams as MVP has put profits before people and wildlife. Today’s decision underscores that the Fish and Wildlife Service can’t minimize MVP’s impacts on vulnerable species like the Roanoke logperch and candy darter that are already facing numerous other serious threats, including climate change.”
“At a time when we need to urgently move away from fracked-gas pipelines and all the harms they bring — from impacts to endangered species to damage to water quality to climate change — the law and science prevailed in this case,” said Anne Havemann, general counsel of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network.
Roberta Bondurant of Preserve Bent Mountain, a local member group of the POWHR Coalition, said, “Today’s is a sweetly welcome decision in our fight to stop the ravage of MVP. The Bent Mountain community together with our allies, have fought relentlessly, and at unspeakable costs, to protect forest, meadow and waters of our venerable Appalachians. This is a banner day for Planet Earth—-the Swomee Swan soars, the Humming Fish jumps, and the Truffula Tree breathes a grateful sigh of relief.”
“Once again, the courts have found that federal regulators weren’t following the laws passed by Congress to protect the public and our environment,” said Peter Anderson, Virginia Policy Director for Appalachian Voices. “Communities in this region rely on its rich biodiversity to support many recreational and economic opportunities. We take seriously our laws protecting habitat and ecological function, even if Mountain Valley Pipeline does not.”
“Again, the agencies that should be guardians of our most precious resources and the public interest failed us,” stated David Sligh, Conservation Director at Wild Virginia. “But today is a victory for sensitive and valuable species, which have already been harmed by MVP’s pollution. This decision again reinforces the truth that this destructive project must not be allowed to continue. The company needs to face that fact now and should be forced to help heal the wounds it has inflicted.”
“This is an incredible victory,” said Jared Margolis, Senior Attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The Mountain Valley Pipeline is a fossil fuel nightmare that threatens the essential habitat of imperiled wildlife. These projects lock us into an unsustainable spiral of climate change that inflict incredible damage to vulnerable species. That cycle must end.”
“Enough is enough,” said Cindy Rank of WV Highlands Conservancy. “This is just one more example of how wrong this pipeline is, how much it harms the earth and the critters that make our world a treasure to be protected from unwise developments like MVP.”
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About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person’s right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.
About the Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights Coalition
Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights (POWHR) is an interstate coalition leading the fight to stop the Mountain Valley Pipeline. The coalition includes individuals and groups from counties in Virginia and West Virginia dedicated to protecting water, land, and communities from fossil fuel expansion and environmental injustice. For more information, visit our website: powhr.org.
I founded Chesapeake Climate Action Network nearly 20 years ago with the hope that one day, if we worked hard enough, the US Congress would enact a truly transformative climate bill. In mid-November, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Build Back Better Act that invests $550 billion in climate solutions. But, as you’ve probably heard, Senator Joe Manchin now says he cannot vote for the bill as currently written.
It is up to all of us to change his mind. In the days and weeks ahead, CCAN will use its on-the-ground organizing in Manchin’s home state of West Virginia to make it happen.
We can’t let Build Back Better die because we need it for a livable future. We need BBB investments to fuel the clean power sector, increase access to electric vehicles, and support communities most severely impacted by changing climate. We need BBB to create over 300,000 good jobs in a new Civilian Climate Corps and 150,000 in clean manufacturing. We need BBB to install 500,000 EV charging stations across the country as well as convert more than 60,000 diesel school buses to clean electric buses. And that’s just the beginning.
CCAN is already making plans to renew the battle for climate sanity in 2022 and beyond. We’ll do whatever it takes to get the White House and Congress to deliver bold climate action when they reconvene. And after the Build Back Better Act is enacted, we will continue to press ahead because there is more work to be done. .
Modeling shows that, while the Build Back Better Act gets us close, it doesn’t achieve the full 50 percent reductions in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions that scientists say we need by 2030. But don’t worry. Individual states can and will make up the difference. Our teams in Maryland, Virginia, and DC are going to keep pushing for state-level reductions. We’ll join other states nationwide to mandate that all new buildings are powered by electricity, not gas. We’ll push for pedestrian-friendly communities while fighting new fossil fuel infrastructure projects. And we’ll make sure all new federal climate spending — tens of billions of dollars in our region — is invested wisely.
Our sister organization, CCAN Action Fund (CCAN AF), worked tirelessly and in close collaboration with allies across the country over the past year to help pass this plan. A half dozen Democrats in the House initially refused to vote for the bill! So, the coalition of activists went to work and our targeted, coordinated advocacy helped get those holdouts to vote YES.
Today, this legislation still needs to pass the Senate. CCAN Action Fund has been working all year to communicate to Senator Joe Manchin why the people of West Virginia support the Build Back Better Act. We‘ve recruited hundreds of constituents to call his office, projected images of climate disasters onto his local office, convinced community organizations to sign resolutions, and so much more. And now we will redouble our efforts in order to achieve success in early 2022.
The Build Back Better Act will get us into the ballpark of reducing our emissions 40 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. You can find a detailed projection of the plan at this link. Reaching the 50 percent reductions called for by 2030 will require further executive action and state legislation to close the gap, and our powerful community of advocates and grassroots members will help make sure that happens. That means we need you. Join us as a member for as little as $1 per year.
We’re suing the EPA
Represented by our friends at the Environmental Integrity Project, we announced on December 9th our intention to file suit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to properly regulate pollution from landfills, including potent greenhouse gas, methane. The EPA’s model for measuring emissions is based on a set of methods called “emission factors” which the EPA is required to consider updating every three years. These factors haven’t been updated since 1998. The underestimation of emissions results in landfills avoiding regulation and prevents regulators and the public from realizing the full extent of air pollution coming from landfills. We expect our lawsuit to result in the EPA updating these 1998 emission factors and better regulating landfills across the country. See our press release.
Join CCAN’s Annual Polar Bear Plunge to Celebrate the Climate Movement
Join us on February 12, 2022, for our annual Polar Bear Plunge (also our inaugural event to launch and celebrate CCAN’s 20th Anniversary)! We’re holding a “hybrid” Plunge this year, meaning you can join us from anywhere — in person at National Harbor, just outside of DC, or you can take the Plunge from your backyard or a water body of your choosing.
We passed the strongest climate bill in the country… in 2019. What’s next?
Though landmark renewable energy legislation was passed in 2019, we haven’t yet adequately addressed the two other top-emitting sectors — transportation and buildings. We’ve been working with a broad coalition since the summer, vetting policies and preparing for big wins in Annapolis in 2022.
This year, we’ll be working on policies to electrify our transportation sector and decarbonize buildings. We’ll also be working on crucial legislation to divest Maryland pension funds from fossil fuels and put the environmental human rights amendment to the Maryland Constitution on the 2022 ballot. Learn more about our Climate Platform Resolution and show your support.
In the last few weeks before the legislative session begins, our sister organization, CCAN Action Fund, will hold lobby trainings, legislative previews, and preparation and planning meetings with our partners and volunteers. We hope you can join us! Contact victoria@chesapeakeclimate.org to learn more, or sign up here to volunteer.
Virginia
Looking ahead at legislation
The transportation sector is the number one climate polluter in Virginia and nationally. Our “Mobility for All” campaign pushes for a comprehensive approach to decarbonizing transportation by rapidly electrifying as many vehicles as possible and providing folks with safe, reliable, and affordable alternatives to driving such as transit, biking, and walking. Our sister organization, CCAN Action Fund, had a number of key legislative victories on this front in the 2021 session and we plan to continue this work in the upcoming year.
The recent election results in Virginia mean CCAN Action Fund will likely have to defend a number of recent climate victories in the Commonwealth, like the Virginia Clean Economy Act of 2020. We’ll be working closely with partners to ensure that state senators and delegates understand the health and economic benefits of transitioning to a clean energy economy. If you want to help advocate for continued progress and protect the strides already made, please encourage your friends and family to join CCAN as a member. Members receive monthly updates on our legislative and political campaigns, have access to training and discussions, and learn how they can best plug in to our campaigns.
Keeping up the fight against the Mountain Valley Pipeline
On December 14th, the Virginia State Water Control Board sided with a polluter in approving a key water permit for the Mountain Valley Pipeline. This happened a few short days after hundreds of pipeline fighters got together for the “NO Mountain Valley Pipeline Violation Vigil,” which highlighted the more than 300 water violations — yes, 300 — that the pipeline company has already committed. The fight is not over. We will continue to fight, as we await decisions from our neighbors in West Virginia, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. We’re eyeling legal and other action — stay tuned. See CCAN’s statement.
Membership
Launching a new program to meet new challenges
The climate and political challenges today are even bigger and more complex than when CCAN was founded 20 years ago. Which means we have to adapt. In September we launched a new Membership program to build volunteer leadership capacity, which is critical to building a movement at the scale needed to solve today’s challenges. If you’ve made a gift to our work in the past year, you were automatically enrolled in our Membership program. If not, you can join for as little as $1 per year. Find more information on the Membership program at this link. Or contact mustafa@chesapeakeclimate.org to connect with a CCAN organizer.
Several members have already taken on new projects and leadership roles. Here are a few highlights:
Training up
Rob, longtime CCAN supporter (now member), designed a Letter to the Editor training we recently used to prepare dozens of volunteers in Maryland to write LTEs around our legislative priorities. Meanwhile, volunteers in Virginia wrote LTEs to encourage Virginia’s Water Control Board to deny a 401 permit for the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
National action teams
Pamela and Christy are working together to develop Friends, Family and Neighbors Action Teams. These teams will offer a mechanism for members across the country to gain information, strategies, and general support on reaching out to and engaging friends, family, and neighbors (FFN) in the climate movement.
Thank you, Neighborhood Sun!
Thank you to our Polar Bear Plunge sponsor, Neighborhood Sun.
Neighborhood Sun is a community solar company and certified B Corp that works to bring clean, affordable, and local solar energy to thousands of residents and small businesses who can’t have or don’t want solar panels on their rooftops.
Anyone who pays an electric bill is eligible to subscribe to a solar project and receive a majority of their electricity from locally-generated solar energy! You can find the latest on their projects at neighborhoodsun.solar.
The Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) joined other climate activists today in reacting to the Virginia State Water Control Board’s decision to approve a water permit for the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Below is the statement from CCAN:
“The decision to permit a pipeline that has already amassed over 300 violations of existing permits is not only reckless, but works against the interests of residents of the Commonwealth and threatens the existence of all living things,” said Elle De La Cancela, Central Virginia Grassroots Organizer for Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “We need to act on climate now, and this is a major step in the wrong direction. The MVP will undoubtedly continue to destroy areas of private and public land, only to line the pockets of CEOs and investors. We will continue to fight, as we await decisions from our neighbors in West Virginia, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.”
See below for the complete press release from activists opposing the MVP Pipeline. ______________________________________________________________
Virginia Water Board Approves Key Permit for Mountain Valley Pipeline
RICHMOND, VA — Today, the Virginia State Water Control Board approved a water permit for the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) via a 3-2 vote, finalizing state approval for the MVP to build across hundreds of Virginia waterways.
The Board is an independent regulatory body composed of seven private citizens appointed by the Governor. Despite significant evidence to the contrary, the Board accepted the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s recommendation and found that the agency’s draft permit will adequately protect more than 200 water bodies in the state from the pipeline’s impacts. Under the Clean Water Act, projects like pipelines that release pollutants into U.S. waters must secure both federal and state permits that assure water quality standards will not be violated. The MVP has already violated Virginia’s water protection laws more than 300 times and has been heavily fined for failing to control erosion and sediment.
Despite this decision, the fight to stop the Mountain Valley Pipeline continues. The project still needs authorizations from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in order to cross water bodies. Additionally, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has yet to rule on MVP’s request to bore under waterways in West Virginia and Virginia.
Roberta Bondurant, Co-Chair of the Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights Coalition (POWHR) responded: “As we reflect on the losses of neighbor landowners and communities suffering MVP’s destructive effects on land, forests and waters, in the midst of an intensifying climate crisis, Virginia’s Water Board has marked for itself an infamous place in history. In granting MVP, a 300 plus repeat offender, a Clean Water Act 401 permit, Virginia regulators have shown its willful indifference to the stark reality of climate catastrophe and squandered an opportunity to do real environmental justice for the people of Southwest Virginia.
“MVP’s chosen route for its mega-pipeline, blasting and barreling across steep, landslide and earthquake prone mountain slopes, our pristine streams, and protective wetlands, multiplies already high risks of drinking water pollution and fiery explosions, imposing constant threats upon vulnerable and often silent witnesses in its path — including the elderly, single, low- and fixed-income residents, people of color, military veterans, and the disabled. MVP at once renders whole communities either ‘pipeline prisoners,’ or if they are fortunate enough to be able to leave, ‘environmental refugees.’ The result today, shameful but not surprising, leads us to brace for MVP’s continued wrath upon our people and their great places. We will go forward– relentless in pursuit of environmental justice — for the livable future that is the birthright of today’s and future generations.”
Peter Anderson, Virginia Policy Director for Appalachian Voices said: “While we are very disappointed with Virginia regulators’ decision today, the Mountain Valley Pipeline still has a long and uncertain road ahead. We remain convinced that this pipeline cannot be built in compliance with the law, and we will continue to stand with impacted communities as they fight this unnecessary and dangerous project.”
Lynn Godfrey, Sierra Club Virginia Chapter Community Outreach Coordinator, said, “The Mountain Valley Pipeline mainline is billions of dollars over budget, three years behind schedule, and has racked up more than $2 million in fines for water quality-related violations in Virginia and West Virginia. The MVP project already threatens 236 of Virginia’s waterways and this latest permit would signify the continued disregard of water sources essential to maintain a healthy ecosystem with lasting and permanent impact to Southwest Virginia’s waterways. We will not stand by as regulators continue to give a free pass to corporate polluters and will pursue all legal avenues to ensure that this pipeline is never completed.”
Elle De La Cancela, Central Virginia Grassroots Organizer for Chesapeake Climate Action Network: “The decision to permit a pipeline that has already amassed over 300 violations of existing permits is not only reckless, but works against the interests of residents of the Commonwealth and threatens the existence of all living things. We need to act on climate now, and this is a major step in the wrong direction. The MVP will undoubtedly continue to destroy areas of private and public land, only to line the pockets of CEOs and investors. We will continue to fight, as we await decisions from our neighbors in West Virginia, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.”
Everyone has a few quirks. A big one of mine is to travel each year to a place I’ve never been and do a 100-mile bike ride. Since 1996, I’ve travelled across the US to a new spot each year to do a bicycle “century” ride. At first, I did them for the adventure and to stay in shape. But they morphed into something bigger along the way and became pieces of a puzzle showing how geology and climate change have impacted our country. I rode the “Hotter Than Hell 100” in Wichita Falls, TX in 2013, which lived up to its name with an air temperature of 102 degrees. The natural waterfall that gave the town its name was no longer- having been taken out by a flood in the 1800’s. In 2015, the “Cycle Greater Yellowstone” ride passed trilobite fossils embedded in Wyoming cliffs from the Eocene epoch (34 to 56 million years ago) when a vast, shallow sea covered the state. This year, I went to the heart of Cajun country in Louisiana for a Bayou Century Ride.
Central Louisiana prospered in the 1700’s when French Canadians (known as Acadians) were lured to the area from Nova Scotia with the promise of a better future. The Acadians created the Cajun culture by combining their French traditions with their new bayou homes. They hunted, fished, trapped and raised cotton. Cotton was replaced by rice and sugarcane fields after the Civil War and through the 1800’s. Next up was the oil industry, which drilled its first well in a rice field near Jennings, LA in 1901. Today, over 205,000 oil wells exist in the state. Climate concerns and the need for a cleaner environment are making oil a tenuous business, and Louisiana suffers some of the harshest climate impacts of any state. Louisiana’s Gulf Coast region accounts for nearly half of the US mainland’s coastal wetlands. Yet since the early 20th century, the commercial ventures of oil exploration and logging, along with hurricane damage, have led to the destruction of almost 2,000 square miles of wetlands. Louisiana has been hit with 28 hurricanes since the year 2000. The strongest was Hurricane Katrina in 2005, causing over 1,800 deaths and $100 billion in damages. The second-strongest, Hurricane Ida, occurred on August 29, 2021 (ironically, the 16th anniversary of Katrina), rendering the entire state a FEMA “Disaster” area.
FEMA Disaster Declaration for Louisiana, 10/19/21 (Image Credit: FEMA)
According to a 2020 ProPublica study, an estimated 4 million US residents will become “climate refugees” between 2040-2060. They will move to the north and midwest as the southern and coastal regions of the US become too difficult to live in. When we hear the term “climate refugees” we tend to think of people in countries thousands of miles away. We think of heat waves in India causing residents to move to cooler locations or of sea level rise in Indonesia that is forcing the entire city of Jakarta to move to higher ground in Borneo. In reality, climate refugees are all around us and their numbers are on the rise. As the ProPublica study shows, the need for habitable land, freshwater and safety will be driving millions of Americans to flee sea level rise, wildfires, extreme heat and drought in the coming decades. No federal agency has authority to lead national assistance on climate migration efforts. This is a problem that needs to be solved- quickly.
St. Martin Parish, Louisiana is ranked number 3 on the “most at-risk counties” due to climate change (behind Beaufort County, SC and Pinal County, AZ). My Bayou Bike Ride was centered in St. Martin Parish, starting in the town of Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. The self-proclaimed “Crawfish Capital of the World”, Breaux Bridge could have been the original movie set for “A River Runs Through It”, as the Mississippi River cascaded directly through the area 5,500 years ago. Like any river, the Mississippi is always in search of the path of least resistance, and it shifted eastward over millennia, carving out new channels as it went.
Over thousands of years, the Mississippi River has meandered like an unattended garden hose as it approached the Gulf of Mexico. (IMAGE CREDIT: Army Corps of Engineers)
Ever-changing outlets and inlets formed Louisiana’s bayous. A bayou is technically a slow-moving stream. It differs from a “swamp” because swamps are stagnant water bodies with no flow-through, although their waters may rise and fall seasonally. Louisiana’s coastal bayous contain a mixture of saltwater and freshwater, known as brackish water. Vast cypress forests thrive here, as do alligators and over 200 species of birds. The shifting path of the Mississippi created healthy swamps and bayous, but caused irreparable damage to communities displaced by the whims of the River. In Breaux Bridge, it left behind a channel that now holds Bayou Teche. The town of Breaux Bridge was inundated with 25’ of water in 1929 when the Mississippi River flooded. To prevent this from happening again, the US Army Corps of Engineering developed the Atchafalaya Basin Project, a series of levees and locks that contain an 833,000-acre floodway to catch Mississippi River floodwaters. Breaux Bridge is protected by a levee to the east of the town, a 30-foot tall earthen mound that runs for many miles and has become the social scene. Airboat swamp tours and restaurants dot both sides of the levee, with bayous on one side and the floodway and swamps on the other. I booked an Atchafalaya Basin Airboat Swamp Tour, joining a group of 7 others as we glided through 500-year old cypress trees. The swamp was alive with wildlife, and we watched herons, egrets, owls, nutria, and a dozen or so alligators go about their day.
Photos by Janet Redman
My Bayou Bike Ride took place on November 6, 2021, while much of the state was still recovering from Ida. The scheduled “sunrise” start of 7:33A was delayed for 30 minutes by a heavy fog. About 125 riders took off, covering anywhere from 15-100 miles on a variety of routes. The 100- mile route followed Bayou Teche north from Breaux Bridge, looped through St. Landry Parish and returned south on the levee. Along the way, four rest stops refueled riders with Gatorade (naturally), bananas and gouda-and-pimento sandwiches. The ride began and ended at Tante Marie, a Cajun restaurant that welcomed riders home with gumbo, jambalaya and local beer from Bayou Teche Brewery. Although the route was fairly flat, it was challenging due to the wind and the need to pedal constantly.
Image Credit: Janet Redman
I spoke to Glenn Monte, a volunteer on the century ride and the owner of a construction business that builds metal houses, primarily in St. Martin Parish. He has more business than he can handle right now, thanks to Hurricane Ida, and estimated that his company was building 18-20 homes in the town of Houma alone. His metal homes can withstand winds of up to 200 mph, an appealing trait in a battered state. I asked him about the resilience of the communities. How many times can someone rebuild, after all? He replied that the area “is simply home” to many people, and moving elsewhere is a hard concept to grasp. Having lived in LA for 55 years himself, Glenn has seen coastal degradation of his favorite hunting and fishing spots. The environmental crisis spawned a new word in the early 2000’s. “Solastalgia” is a term formed by the combination of the Latin words sōlācium (comfort) and the Greek root -algia (pain, suffering, grief). It describes a form of emotional or existential distress caused by environmental change, such as living through a storm that devastates one’s home or community. The feeling of safety that someone once had in that home is gone forever.
One of the first examples of “climate refugees” in the US is found in Louisiana, where a relocation program is underway. Isle de Jean Charles is a narrow island in Terrebonne Parish that is home to indigenous tribes (the Bilox, Chitimacha and Choctaw). The island once encompassed 22,000 acres, but erosion and subsidence have slashed that to just 320 acres. The road to the mainland- Island Road, built in 1953- is often impassable due to storm surge, sea level rise, tides and high winds.
Island Road in Isle de Jean Charles, 2021 (IMAGE CREDIT: Julie Dermansky, weather.com)
In 2016, Louisiana was given a $48.3 million dollar Community Development Block Grant to work with Isle de Jean Charles residents to retreat and resettle into a safer community about 40 miles north. Plans call for all homes to be built 3 feet above the 500-year flood plain and the first residents are scheduled to move in by the end of 2021.
Closer to home, Tangier Island, a small Virginia fishing town that 400 people call home, is sinking quickly and predicted to be uninhabitable wetlands by 2051. To relocate the townspeople to the mainland is pegged at $150 million; to bulk up the island and protect its shoreline would cost $350 million. It is a victim of both sea level rise and ground subsidence and over 67% of its land mass has disappeared since 1850.
My bike rides have revealed climate secrets over the years, showing how wind has carved mesas and buttes in Albuquerque, New Mexico and flowing water has created canyons in Moab, Utah. In Louisiana, I learned that the dual destructive forces of climate change and humans are strong enough to drive long-standing communities to safer ground. And I don’t see a finish line in sight.
REFERENCES
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). (October 19, 2021). Areas of assistance, FEMA map. dec_4611.pdf (fema.gov).
Photos of “The Awakening” in National Harbor, Maryland, during Halloween weekend, 2021. Photos courtesy of Dean Najouks, Potomac Riverkeeper Network.
Halloween weekend always produces some startling sights, but in 2021, the most frightening image of all wasn’t a ghoul or ghost, but a very real picture of an iconic statue slipping below climate change-driven flooding.
“The Awakening” is an aluminum statue located in National Harbor, MD, just a few feet away from the tidal Potomac River. The statue was originally created in 1980 by the late Seward Johnson and located on Hains Point in Washington, D.C. before being moved to its current location in 2008.
In normal conditions, the statue depicts a giant grasping at the air, struggling to emerge from the earth. However, after the Mid-Atlantic experienced some of the region’s worst tidal flooding in years this weekend, the sandy space where the statue sits was inundated with unusually high floodwaters. Instead of emerging from the dry ground as the artist intended, the giant appeared to be drowning as water filled its open mouth and rose several feet to nearly eclipse one of its massive hands.
What The Awakening statue in Maryland looks like normally, and what it looks like today pic.twitter.com/UdS3JsCBYP
Unfortunately, this image is one that we will see with increasing frequency as climate change causes more precipitation and severe storms along the East Coast, including in D.C., Maryland and Virginia. According to a 2018 NOAA report, the average incidence of high-tide flooding in the Mid-Atlantic doubled between 2000 and 2015, from three to six days a year. National Harbor wasn’t the only local area affected by the flooding over the weekend—the mayor of Annapolis paddled through his city’s streets to assess flood damage, waves lapped at storefronts in Alexandria’s Old Town, and the Tidal Basin overflowed in downtown D.C. In Annapolis, early data shows this weekend’s flood was the fourth-highest in the city’s recorded history.
What is especially concerning about this weekend’s flooding is, as anyone who was in the area can attest, there wasn’t a deluge of rainfall that caused the Potomac River to flood D.C. and surrounding areas. Instead, as Dean Najouks of the Potomac Riverkeeper Network pointed out, distant storms drove water up the river from the Atlantic, meaning the flooding was the “direct result” of sea-level rise and climate change. Although hurricanes and large rainstorms will also pose increasingly dire threats, it’s clear that it doesn’t take a direct hit from a storm anymore to cause significant flood damage in the region.
Although the viral photos of “The Awakening” this weekend provide a dramatic snapshot of the effects of climate change, the more haunting fact is that these impacts are constantly occurring whether we get a striking picture of them or not. To preserve our region’s health, safety, economic-well being and overall quality of life, it is imperative that we take steps now to immediately reduce our climate-disrupting emissions.
VA Department of Environmental Quality Finalizes C4GT Gas Power Plant Cancellation
Activists celebrate after leading a years-long campaign to stop C4GT, turn efforts to other dangerous fossil-fuel projects moving forward
Charles City, VA — After years of activists campaigning to stop the C4GT Gas Power Plant, the developing company, NOVI Energy, announced its move to cancel the proposed project a month ago. Finally, this past weekend the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) made the cancellation official when the DEQ Deputy Regional Director signed the mutual determination letter that officially shuts down the project.
Sited next to an environmental justice community, less than a mile from a second proposed fracked gas power plant, the C4GT proposal faced enormous community opposition from the outset. The directly impacted group of residents leading the fight against the project, Concerned Citizens of Charles City County (C5), joined the Stop the Abuse of Virginian Energy (SAVE) coalition to protest the project, and build grassroots opposition to the proposal. Primary concerns included the lack of any meaningful public engagement in the process, and the DEQ’s green-lighting the project despite the developers’ failure to construct at the site within their legal window.
Ultimately, a FOIA request by SAVE Coalition member Food & Water Watch found that the DEQ had the legal ability to cancel C4GT’s air permits and cancel the project — indeed they had already drafted a letter revoking the permits. A few weeks later, the company behind the project withdrew.
Now that the C4GT project is officially terminated, activists turn their attention to the similarly dangerous Chickahominy Power Station and Chickahominy Pipeline proposals, still moving forward in Charles City County.
“Our community won when the developer was unable to continue with the destructive proposed C4GT power plant,” said Wanda Roberts, an impacted resident and member of Concerned Citizens of Charles City County. “We will continue to fight to stop the Chickahominy Power Plant and pipeline. There is no need or necessity for gas power plants to be built in Virginia.”
“The termination of the C4GT fracked gas project is a victory for grassroots climate organizing in Virginia,” said Jolene Mafnas, Virginia Organizer with Food & Water Watch. “Virginians statewide are rising up against the fracked gas and pipelines that endlessly crop up in our backyards. The age of fracked gas is over in Virginia — it’s time to double down on true clean, renewable energy and stop the buildout of fossil fuel infrastructure. Governor Northam must direct his agencies to terminate the Chickahominy power plant and pipeline, just like C4GT.”
“The cancellation of the C4GT power plant is yet another sign that Virginia is leaving behind costly and hazardous fracked gas infrastructure,” said Lauren Landis, Chesapeake Climate Action Network’s Hampton Roads Coordinate, “The argument for similar projects is untenable and community organizers will not stop until they all reach the same fate as C4GT.
“Another hard won victory for the Charles City County Community, the state and the nation in keeping dangerous fossil fuel operations from contributing to climate change and ultimately destroying our lives,” said Lynn Godfrey, Sierra Club’s Community Outreach Coordinator. “Salute to the grassroots efforts of the community organizers in Charles City!”
“Environmental justice begins and ends with communities. The cancellation of the C4GT power plant is a testament to the dedication of the Concerned Citizens of Charles City County and all the grassroots advocates who have supported them in this fight,” said Taylor Lilley, Chesapeake Bay Foundation Environmental Justice Staff Attorney. “CBF is honored to work with the people of Charles City in opposing projects that threaten the environment and public health.”
It’s hot. Really hot. But instead of listing the new nightmarish impacts and scenarios, I’d like to share some hope and updates on the solutions our team has been fighting for over the past few months.
