Today, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network delivered over a thousand petitions to Governor Terry McAuliffe, demanding action on climate and a plan to save our coast from rising seas.
Today’s delivery is part of a growing call for climate action in Virginia – one that has grown especially loud in the wake of world leaders taking action in Paris last week.
Over the last six weeks, with help from our partners at the Virginia Sierra Club, Appalachian Voices, Virginia Organizing, Environment Virginia, New Virginia Majority and the Virginia Conservation Network, we’ve delivered our 6,000 petitions – from moms, students, business owners, flooding victims and other concerned Virginians across the state – to the Governor, urging him to act on climate and save our coast by supporting the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a regional system that caps and reduces carbon pollution.
Meanwhile, a bipartisan bill that would direct Virginia to join RGGI has gained unprecedented support since it was introduced last spring. The bill, called the Virginia Coastal Protection Act, introduced by Delegate Ron Villanueva (R-Virginia Beach) and Senator Donald McEachin (D-Richmond), would not only cap and reduce Virginia’s carbon pollution, it would also create the first statewide fund to help our communities deal with the impacts of climate change.
City governments across the state – including Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Hampton, Newport News, Fredericksburg, Leesburg, Staunton and Charlottesville – support Virginia joining RGGI.
The powerful Virginia Municipal League and Hampton Roads Planning District Commission both support Virginia joining RGGI.
Virginia’s major newspapers – the Richmond Times-Dispatch and the Virginian Pilot – support Virginia joining RGGI, as does the Washington Post.
Businesses from Hampton Roads to the Valley support Virginia joining RGGI.
Climate groups, environmental groups, fair housing groups, health groups and justice groups support Virginia joining RGGI.
And just last week, nearly 50 people gathered at the General Assembly to mark the end of the Paris climate talks and call on Governor McAuliffe to keep carbon in the ground.
Over the last six weeks, we’ve made it clear that 6,000 Virginians and counting support Virginia joining RGGI too.
Now, the question is: what is Governor McAuliffe going to do?
So far, Governor McAuliffe has refused to support this win-win solution, while remaining stubbornly supportive of a spiderweb of fracked gas pipelines across our farms and forests and offshore drilling along our coast.
Here at CCAN, we know that the actions we take now will help determine how high sea levels rise along our coast and how extreme the weather gets in all of our communities.
Given what’s at stake, it’s more than time for Governor McAuliffe to follow the leadership of world leaders, join this rising tide of support and put his weight behind Virginia joining RGGI. In the wake of Paris, this is the most important step we can take to advance bold climate action here at home.
