Dear CCANers,
Everyone knows that Big Oil is the most powerful special interest on Earth. So here’s the question: Can activists in one U.S. state like Virginia really stop the oil barons from drilling off the coast of Virginia Beach?
And what about Big Gas? The frackers virtually rule America. Can two suburban counties with shale gas deposits in Maryland really send the frackers packing? And what about trash incineration? Can citizens in one Baltimore neighborhood take down a proposed mega-dirty incinerator project that everyone thought was a done deal?
Turns out, the answers to these questions are yes, yes, and again yes! Across the Chesapeake region of Maryland, Virginia and DC, it’s been a year full of people-powered victories so far.
In Virginia, on March 15th, Obama administration announced that no oil companies will be allowed to drill off the fragile shores of coastal Virginia for at least the next five years (and perhaps forever). The decision came after thousands of Virginians submitted comments in strong opposition to offshore drilling. And leaders from the tourism, business, faith, student, and environmental communities campaigned openly and noisily against Governor Terry McAuliffe’s unacceptable support for ocean drilling. Once again: organized people can beat organized money. Go Virginia!
And on April 12th, the Prince George’s County Council – on Maryland’s border with DC — voted unanimously to ban gas companies from fracking along a gas deposit that runs under the county. The vote came after landowners, homeowners, students, businesses and others from across the county signed petitions, packed hearing rooms, and said “no!” (A year earlier, the County Council of neighboring Montgomery County did the same thing). Now CCAN and our partners are turning our attention toward passing a permanent, legislative statewide ban on fracking in the Maryland General Assembly in 2017. Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, in Baltimore, a David vs. Goliath fight to stop the nation’s largest trash-burning incinerator achieved a key victory in March. Students and utterly determined neighbors in Curtis Bay succeeded in pressuring Maryland regulators to finally terminate the company’s permit. Twenty-year-old Destiny Watford, who helped lead this fight, just won the prestigious Goldman prize for her visionary work for environmental justice against a power company that wanted to soak her neighborhood in more mercury, soot, and other pollutants from the combustion of trash.
I’m happy to say that in all of these fights across the region, CCAN played a key part in building the winning coalitions that got the job done. What’s next? Well, get ready D.C. Two of the most exciting upcoming fights include passing a historic carbon “fee and dividend” bill in the District of Columbia and also getting the nation’s capital to commit to 50% clean electricity.
And, oh yeah, at the risk of burying some real headlines, the Maryland General Assembly also passed two major bills to fight climate change in its just-ended 2016 session. One, supported and signed by Republican Governor Larry Hogan, mandates a statewide 40% cut in carbon pollution by the year 2030. The other mandates that 25% of the state’s electricity come from renewable energy by the year 2020.
I get tired just writing about all of this hard-won progress. But I’m never too tired to move on to the next clean-energy campaign in our region. You are the reason we win. You are the reason we keep fighting.
On we go,
Mike Tidwell
