"What do we want? Clean Energy! When do we want it? Now!"

This is a guest post from University of Mary Washington student and UMW Ecology Club activist, Tori Wong.

Green hardhats, American flags, congressional petitions and an endless supply of energetic optimism filled the lawn of Hurkamp park in downtown Fredericksburg Thursday night as University of Mary Washington students and community organizers joined together to show support for clean energy and to take action to make it happen.

The event, which featured speakers from the Spotsylvania County government, local clean energy businesses, the Rapahanock branch of the Sierra Club, and the UMW Ecology Club, was one of six “Clean Energy, Bright Future” rallies planned in Virginia for the evening of September 17th. The goal of the rallies was to create public support and demand for a national climate policy as Congress considers legislation to cap global warming pollution and invest in education for a clean-energy economy. The Fredericksburg rally was coordinated in part by the Sierra Club and the University of Mary Washington’s student-run environmental group, the Ecology Club.

At the rally, UMW students set up “action tables” where they encouraged all attendees to fill out postcards to Virginia Senators Warner and Webb. These postcards will be sent by the thousands to the senators’ offices to show Virginia’s, and especially Virginia college student’s support for strong clean-energy legislation. They were also writing letters to the editors of all local newspapers, showing their enthusiasm for taking action towards clean energy.

University of Mary Washington senior, Nate Delano opened the rally with the well-known Mark Twain quote, “There is no sadder sight than a young pessimist,” and was followed by Doris Whitfield, Chair of the Rappahannock Group of the Sierra Club, Bob Bennett, Founder of Energy and Environment, Inc. an international renewable energy company based in Spotsylvania County and Henry “Hap” Connors, Chancellor Supervisor for the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors. All speakers emphasized the importance of action and optimism, and applauded the wonderful turnout especially of young people and college students.

URGENT: Call Your Senators Today!!

I’m thinking many people who read our blog have heard this by now…But, just in case you’ve gotten an email from us or one of our coalition partners today and haven’t gotten around to making this call, now’s the time. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has introduced a rider to the Senate Appropriations bill that would halt the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases from stationary sources – i.e. coal plants, oil refineries, the biggest carbon polluters nationwide.

We ARE SCREWED!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 21, 2009

“WE’RE SCREWED”: MEDIA HEIST BLANKETS CITY WITH “SPECIAL EDITION” NEW YORK POSTTabloid Tells Truth About Climate Change and How It Will Affect City, World

Early this morning, nearly a million New Yorkers were stunned by the appearance of a “special edition” New York Post blaring headlines that their city could face deadly heat waves, extreme flooding, and other lethal effects of global warming within the next few decades. The most alarming thing about it: the news came from an official City report.

Distributed by over 2000 volunteers throughout New York City, the paper has been created by The Yes Men and a coalition of activists as a wake-up call to action on climate change. It appears one day before a UN summit where Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon will push 100 world leaders to make serious commitments to reduce carbon emissions in the lead-up to the Copenhagen climate conference in December. Ban has said that the world has “less than 10 years to halt (the) global rise in greenhouse gas emissions if we are to avoid catastrophic consequences for people and the planet,” adding that Copenhagen is a “once-in-a-generation opportunity.”

Although the 32-page New York Post is a fake, everything in it is 100% true, with all facts carefully checked by a team of editors and climate change experts.

“This could be, and should be, a real New York Post,” said Andy Bichlbaum of the Yes Men. “Climate change is the biggest threat civilization has ever faced, and it should be in the headlines of every paper, every day until we solve the problem.”

The fake Post’s cover story (“We’re Screwed”) reports the frightening conclusions of a blue-ribbon panel of scientists commissioned by the mayor’s office to determine the potential effects of climate change on the City. That report was released in February of this year, but received very little press at the time. Other lead articles describe the Pentagon’s alarmed response to global warming (“Clear & Present Disaster”), the U.S. government’s sadly minuscule response to the crisis (“Congress Cops Out on Climate”), China’s alternative energy program (“China’s Green Leap Forward Overtakes U.S.”), and how if the US doesn’t quickly pass a strong climate bill, the crucial Copenhagen climate talks this December could be a “Flopenhagen.”

The paper includes original investigative reporting as well. One article (“Carbon counter counts New Yorkers as fools”) reveals that Deutsche Bank – which erected a seven-story “carbon counter” in central Manhattan – not only invests heavily in coal-mining companies worldwide, but has recently entered the business of coal trading itself.

The paper has the world’s gloomiest weather page, covering the next 70 years rather than just 7 days. The “Around the World” section describes the disproportionate effects of climate change on poorer parts of the world, including extreme droughts, floods, famines, water shortages, mass migrations and conflicts. Developing countries will bear the brunt of climate change effects even though they have done very little to cause the problem.

But the paper isn’t all doom and gloom. An article called “New York Fights Back” notes that the carbon emissions of Big Apple residents are only one third the national average, and that the city is building 1800 miles of bike paths, planting one million trees, and replacing its fleet of police cars with hybrids. There’s also a page of black-humor cartoons (in one, Charlie Brown finds Snoopy drowned), a gossip section that takes no prisoners, and a number of truly cheerful ads – for sex (“Awesome. No carbon emissions.”), tote bags, bicycles, and tap water (“Literally comes right out of your faucet!”).

Another ad promotes civil disobedience, encouraging readers to visit http://BeyondTalk.net and pledge to risk arrest in a planned global action November 30, just before the conference in Copenhagen.

“We need strong action on climate change,” said David Solnit of Mobilization for Climate Justice West, one of the partners in BeyondTalk.net. “But history shows that leaders act only when people take to the streets to demand it. That’s what needs to happen now.”

This paper is one of 2500 initiatives taking place in more than 130 countries as a response to the “Global Wake-up Call” on climate change. For more information,visit http://www.tcktcktck.org/wakeup

Contact: The Yes Men , 347-254-7054, 646-220-4137 Fake New York Post: http://www.nypost-se.com/ PDF of the paper: http://nypost-se.com/todays-paper Video News Release: http://www.nypost-se.com/video City report on climate change: http://www.nyc.gov/html/om/pdf/2009/NPCC_CRI.pdf Wake-up call: http://www.tcktcktck.org/wakeup

Wise County Plant Isn't Necessary: Richmond Times Dispatch LTE

This LTE was published in the Richmond Times Dispatch

Wise County Plant Isn’t Necessary

Editor, Times-Dispatch: Although the news article, “New Permit for Coal-Fired Power Plant Pleases Both Sides,” quotes Dominion Virginia Power as claiming that the Wise County coal plant is vital to meeting Virginia’s future energy needs, the opposite is true.

An independent study found that Virginia can keep energy use flat over the next 15 years simply by investing in cost-effective and existing energy-efficiency technologies. We can avoid constructing any new generation facilities just by weatherizing homes, upgrading heating and cooling systems in office buildings, and updating lighting in factories. These same technologies would bring 10,000 new jobs to the commonwealth, while the costs associated with the coal plant would actually force the Virginia economy to contract by move than 1,400 jobs (a conservative estimate given pending climate legislation).

Dominion’s claim that its coal plant will help the economic wellbeing of Southwest Virginia also misses the mark. Our reliance on coal allows for the devastating practice of mountaintop removal coal mining, which is ravaging Southwest Virginia. Tops are ripped off mountains, streams are blocked by waste, and then the coal is transported out of the community, suffocating people with the toxic dust that blows off coal trucks.

The alternatives to coal are real. The new energy future broke ground in Virginia last month when construction began on our very first wind farm in Highland County. This project makes Virginia a leader in the region and marks the beginning of a bright future for the commonwealth. Virginia has incredible renewable energy potential — our offshore wind potential is the highest in the South. When coupled with efficiency improvements, it is clear that coal plants could be a thing of the past.

Lauren Glickman, Virginia Campaign Coordinator, Chesapeake Climate Action Network.

Coal Country showing in Blacksburg

Thursday night, Coal Country has a showing in Blacksburg at the Lyric Theater, a not-for-profit movie theater and community center in downtown Blacksburg. It was a great setting for a showing of this movie that take a look at modern coal mining. Lauren posted the trailer to Coal Country below and I recommend looking to see if there is a showing near you. The producers, Mari-Lynn Evans and Phylis Geller, let the residents tell their stories. They interview miners and those who work for the mining companies who talk about how coal puts food on their table, but they also talk to former miners who have health problems, people from mining families who are now working to end mountain top removal and to end the destructive extraction of coal from the mountains of Appalachia.

Before the film, Diana Jones sang original work and old miner songs. Her powerful voice and evocative songs set the mood for the film as her love of those mountains was evident. Kathy Selvage, the daughter of a coal miner and a dedicated activist, greeted us and told us some of her story. Kathy was one of the people profiled in the movie and will be traveling to many of the showings scheduled. Local nonprofits and student groups set up tables to give moviegoers opportunities to get involved. A group of Virginia Tech students from “Virginia Tech Beyond Coal” talked about their vision for moving the university past its current use of coal to being a leader in clean energy technology.

I’ve been involved in climate change work for over five years now and the postive vision of what we’re working to create gives me the inspiration to believe we’re going to get there, but there are times when I am reminded of what we’re really working to stop. The images of mountaintop removal and of the fallacy of ‘reclaiming’ MTR sites are images I have seen before but to see them in moving picture while hearing stories from those in coal country, was absolutely heartbreaking. Seeing the destruction isn’t enough to convience everyone that mountain top removal should end, but I have no doubt this film will convience many. Find a showing near you here.

Coal is the Word– Spread it!

coal
Today the Virginia Air Board had its quarterly meeting and looking at the agenda one thing is crystal clear: Coal is impacting air quality all over the Commonwealth.

As I write this from the meeting room, and the Air Board is hearing reports on problems associated with coal-fired power plants from one end of the state to the other, an indication of the growing focus on issues related to mining and burning coal in Virginia. No fewer than seven coal-related issues are on today’s agenda.

Currently I am listening to the preliminary findings from ongoing monitoring of air quality in residential areas of Wise County (Roda to be specific). These areas are affected by toxic dust from trucks transporting coal from mountaintop removal sites to nearby processing facilities. So far I’ve heard from two Department of Environmental Quality employees and one representative for Cumberland Resources (the coal company creating the dust). Public testimony from the community is yet to come but a pattern is clear in regards to what the coal industry thinks about the dust issue in Roda: Yes, there’s toxic dust in air but it’s no one’s fault. Could be attributed to faulty data perhaps or bad roadways, but we certainly shouldn’t be concerned if it’s only dangerous to breathe a couple of days a year. Apparently air is not connected: air tested at one person’s house doesn’t mean the community’s air is dirty.

Last I checked breathing wasn’t something we can decide to do only on days when the air isn’t filled with toxic dust.

They Air Board is also reviewing a proposal by Old Dominion Electric Cooperative to build a 1,500-megawatt power plant in Surry County, which would be the single largest coal-burning plant in the Commonwealth. During the public comment period, we got to hear from several residents from Surry County who have serious concerns with regards to this plant. The Surry coal plant discussion came right after testimony on “High Priority Violators,” which highlighted that coal plants in Hampton, Charlottesville and Russell County are all exceeding their air pollution permits. It’s no surprise that the citizens of Dendron and surrounding Surry County are opposed to having a monstrous 1500 MW facility in their backyards. Preliminary air permit applications have indicated that this plant will dump plenty of toxic emissions into the air and water — from mercury to carbon dioxide to fly ash to lead.

I think it’s fair to say you hear pretty regularly about the impacts of CO2 as an endangerment to public health given the recent Environmental Protection Agency finding, and people do what they can to moderate their fish intake due to mercury concerns.

One issue you don’t hear about in the front of the news is lead, mainly because the jury isn’t out debating the impacts on lead. We’ve been pretty clear on how dangerous lead is for a while now and it’s been removed from all aspects of our lives (even in amounts as small as what used to be in our pencils!).

Betsy Shepard, who lives in Surry County got it right when she offered public testimony and held up a Thomas the Train toy that her son plays with. She noted that toys containing lead paint are to be removed from her children at once because they are a risk. Then she noted that the Surry coal plant is projected to emit 1000 pounds of lead each year for the next 50 years!!! What is Betsy supposed to do if this plant is approved? How is she to remove the risk that air will pose to her family?

There is a lot on the agenda today, lots of concerns have been raised with regards to coal’s cumulative impact on the Commonwealth. I have hope that a new energy future is not far off as we begin to make the connection between air quality and public health and coal and our electricity. As the true cost of our energy enters the public domain, we will begin to transition to a clean energy economy that will expand the Commonwealth’s economy and ensure public health.