Last week, the federal government released its draft Environmental Assessment for the areas it has proposed for wind power development off the coasts of Virginia, Maryland and other mid-Atlantic states.
Koch brothers declare war on offshore wind
The war over America’s coastal-energy future has officially begun, and the result could determine whether we see wind turbines or catastrophic oil spills along our coastlines in coming years.
The opening salvo came in early July, when everyone’s favorite climate-hating, fossil-fuel-loving industrialist villains, the Koch brothers, released a so-called “cost-benefit analysis” of New Jersey offshore wind development plans through their front group Americans for Prosperity.
The focus on New Jersey is no big surprise. Fresh off their recent success in manipulating the state’s Republican Gov. Chris Christie into backing out of the Northeastern cap-and-trade system known as RGGI, the brothers grim are honing in on what they see as a weak spot in the clean-energy movement’s eastern front. Hoping to score a knockout blow, the duo have packed their offshore wind “analysis” with distortions.
Topping the report’s list of misrepresented facts are the jobs benefits. In fact, forget about misrepresentation; the report actually failed to represent those benefits altogether. Considering the impressive job-creation numbers cited in a range of other studies on offshore wind, it’s hard to imagine how any analysis that wasn’t commissioned as an intentional piece of fiction could have made such a glaring omission. Indeed, a study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory indicates that the 1,000 megawatts of offshore wind power New Jersey is planning to build could result in nearly 5,000 construction and maintenance jobs. Adding to the imbalance of the Kochs’ equations, their report completely discounts wind power’s benefit as a relief valve against foreign-oil dependence or New Jersey’s need to import electricity from other states.
Of course, this parade of misinformation should come as little surprise considering the track record of the key Koch crony in the Garden State: AFP New Jersey chapter director and Tea Party high priest Steve Lonegan. A longtime extreme-right gadfly of the New Jersey political scene, Lonegan earned his Koch-worthy credentials publishing false accusations about political opponents during his time as mayor of Bogota, N.J., and has been accused of violating state election laws and defrauding taxpayers in a 2008 run for governor. What’s more, as chronicled in the New Jersey Star-Ledger, Lonegan was the local force behind the “dishonest scare-campaign” that led to Christie’s retreat from RGGI.
With Lonegan leading the offensive, it’s clear the Kochs are planning to make the fight over New Jersey’s coasts a particularly ugly and bruising one. The situation also bodes ominously for other states up and down the Mid-Atlantic Bight that are considering wind projects, from Connecticut to North Carolina.
Thankfully, for all the dollars and deceitfulness the Kochs have in their arsenal, their victory is far from assured. As their failed attempt to cut down California’s climate law in 2010 proved, the Kochs can be beaten by a well-organized, grassroots-powered opposition with truth on its side. And that’s exactly what they’re up against in New Jersey and up and down the Mid-Atlantic Bight, where a robust coalition involving everyone from Google to the United Steelworkers to the League of Women Voters is ready to stand up for wind and smack down any BS Lonegan and the Kochs serve up.
Game on, boys. Bring it.
This post has been cross-posted courtesy of Grist
Image credit: Gus Ruelas/Greenpeace
Oh, Canada: The Tar Sands is a disaster
Many people have heard that the Tar Sands Project in Alberta, Canada is one of the most environmentally destructive oil projects ever, but it’s hard to appreciate until you hear the details. I can’t imagine what it’s like to see in person. Just how far will we go for crude? Consider this excerpt from a telling article published in National Geographic:
“To extract each barrel of oil from a surface mine, the industry must first cut down the forest, then remove an average of two tons of peat and dirt that lie above the oil sands layer, then two tons of the sand itself. It must heat several barrels of water to strip the bitumen from the sand and upgrade it, and afterward it discharges contaminated water into tailings ponds like the one near Mildred Lake.”
Cutting down forest, moving 4 tons of earth, using lots of water which is heated by natural gas, and then finding somewhere to store all the waste water, and we still haven’t transported it (all this effort for one barrel mind you) to market!
The next phase involves the construction of the appropriately controversial “Keystone XL Pipeline,” which thankfully is drawing disapproval in the wake of the recent pipeline spill in Montana. The project is a proposed extension of existing pipelines that will carry the Tar Sands crude all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.The two pipelines are “very similar,” notes Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) International Program Director Susan Casey-Lefkowitz. The EPA also released a negative critique of the State Department’s analysis of the Pipeline, citing numerous concerns including likelihood of spills (especially as they relate to groundwater), increased refinery pollution, global warming pollution, wetlands destruction, risks associated with migratory birds
Light Bulbs: The latest threat to American Freedom?
In case you had not heard, Republicans recently attempted to push through legislation to repeal a law regarding light-bulb efficiency from 2007. Thankfully, they failed (H.R. 2417). The bill, authored by Texas Republican Joe Barton, was aimed at a modest bit of law mandating a 30% increase in efficiency of incandescent bulbs by 2012. Who could argue with that? After all, many of the more expensive CFL and LEDs are cheaper in the long run anyway. They consume less energy and last much longer. That’s a win-win, right?
Not surprisingly, Republicans cried foul under their time-honored tradition of predictable rhetoric, insisting it’s really about consumer choice and opposing Big Government. Big Government is going to choose your light bulbs for you! No freedom! No freedom to do what? Choose inferior, more wasteful products that are more expensive in the long run?
That such a preference is assumed of us isn’t just insulting to our intelligence, but to our character as well. It expects and encourages consumers to not have any broader sense of responsibility or concern for our resources and environment. We can’t even be bothered to use efficient light bulbs. It’s basically the opposite of a “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country,” type mentality. Not only are energy-efficient light bulbs better for the environment, but they’re better for the wallet as well. CFLs pay for themselves in about 9 months time, after which they begin saving you money on your energy bills as they use about one-fourth of the energy of a regular incandescent. They typically last about 10 times longer. LEDs use about a quarter of the energy of incandescent bulbs, and can last as much as 25 times longer! How was this even an issue?
Attempts at legislation like this are hardly indicative of leadership in the face of widespread environmental degradation and the mounting challenges of climate change. Much more extensive initiatives are needed to really put a dent in man-made climate change and to improve our long-term energy security. Meanwhile, we have a number of representatives opposed to something as simple as higher standards in light bulbs! As if this uphill battle wasn’t steep enough.
Harry Potter and the Climate Horcrux
What do Jason Alexander who played George on Seinfeld, Bill McKibben who founded 350.org, and Evanna Lynch who stars as Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter films all have in common?
They are all members of the real-world Order of the Phoenix for the non-profit Harry Potter Alliance’s Climate Change campaign!
If you are like me, then the biggest event of your weekend was the last Harry Potter film: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.” And with the highest opening day in U.S. history, I know there are a lot of you like me out there.
Walking home from the movie, which was a cathartic experience for a reader who grew up as the books came out and who has read each one about three times, I found myself thinking as I often have about how we need a real-life Dumbledore’s Army to confront the evil villains of our time and their many horcruxes.
And that’s why I was so excited to uncover this morning: The Harry Potter Alliance (HPA). According to it’s mission statement, HPA “is a 501c3 nonprofit that takes an outside-of-the-box approach to civic engagement by using parallels from the Harry Potter books to educate and mobilize young people across the world toward issues of literacy, equality, and human rights.”
When it comes to mobilizing for human rights, it just so happens that for the HPA, the climate crisis is “our real world Voldemort’s most prized horcrux.”
To mobilize around climate change, HPA is asking people to get creative and encourage their friends to do the same. They call it “The Imagine Better Contest,” and they’ll be taking creative entries until this Wednesday, July 20th at 11:59pm ET (just 3 more days)! In addition to the page on the HPA site, the campaign also has its own website: imaginebetter.org.
So check out this very cool campaign (no pun intended) and take part! Voting on entries will begin after Wednesday and last till the end of the month.
One of the ways they’re encouraging people to take part is to submit a plan for inspiring people to participate in 350.org’s world-wide Moving Planet event on September 24th. The Chesapeake Climate Action Network has Moving Planet events planned in Maryland and Virginia and we’d love to hear your ideas as well!
Just like the Harry Potter books, this is a contest for all ages. Maybe I’ll submit a song. :)
No, not our wine too!
As a full-time climate activist, I have no illusions about the severity and impacts of global climate change. More than anyone, climate activists bear the heavy burden of this astonishingly vast problem and feel incredibly personally invested in doing everything in our power to halt and reverse global warming. So given my deep moral and professional interest in climate impacts and my fairly decent knowledge base on the subject, it takes a lot to thoroughly depress me.
Napa Valley, CA
But this is pretty depressing.
As a foodie and wine enthusiast (don’t worry, I go local and organic as much as I can), I was disheartened to hear that climate change could put a big squeeze on the premium wine industry in California. By 2040, the effects of rising temperatures could reduce the amount of land suitable for growing premium grapes by 50 percent. Gasp! No, don’t take our wine!
The effects of climate change on the Australian wine industry are already well-documented, receiving widespread news coverage and concern in one of the world’s most climate-affected countries. Warmer temperatures make grapes mature faster, affecting the quality of the end product. Experts claim that those with the most sophisticated palates may be able to taste the difference in vintages from the past few years. During the devastating drought that affected Australia from 2005 until recently, some grape yields were down as much as 40%. When you’re talking about a A$6 billion industry, that’s a problem.
Now researchers at Stanford University have recognized a similar pattern in California wines, and the California wine industry represents an even more impressive $18.5 billion chunk of the U.S. economy. The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Research Letters last month, suggests that climate adaptation strategies could be applied to limit the projected losses. Wine growers could plant in new locations and use more heat tolerant varieties of grapes, alter the design of vineyards, and adjust winery processing procedures.
Just one more reason to keep fighting the good fight. Gotta have my vino!
Dangerously Subtle
Lately, the news is ablaze with reports about the wildfires burning out west. Climate scientists, to the chagrin of many climate change deniers, have published studies that indicate how climate change is exacerbating wildfires, as noted recently in the Huffington Post and New York Times, just for starters.
Surely, environmental activists have been repeatedly frustrated by the denial crowd’s steadfast rejection of anything implying a more complicated dynamic in nature than they would allow, as a means of abasing concern and therefore action on environmental issues.
No academics are saying explicitly that global warming caused this fire, that drought, or those tornadoes. In the world of anthrogenic climate change, change happens over time, one subtle increment after another resulting in different long-term trends. And, as we all know by now, in the world of politically tainted discourse, subtlety knows no quarter. Perhaps debating with deniers is a lost cause, but what about the many who are “on the fence” so to speak, and the many more who are simply apathetic to the necessity of renewable energy?
The thing is, for the sake of conveying urgency in climate and renewable energy action, there exists an abundance of not so subtle, perhaps even ridiculous examples of environmental degradation that tie directly into fossil fuel consumption and thus global warming. From entire mountains disappearing in Appalachia and the ensuing toxic runoff, to people apparently being able to ignite their tap water on fire as seen in the 2010 documentary, “Gasland”, to the now infamous Gulf Spill, what exactly does it take to get people to engage?
Unfortunately, a major hurdle appears to be that only when a community is unambiguously and dramatically affected by some form of environmental issue do they take action. But, massive grassroots action is needed immediately to curtail the eventual dramatic consequences of say, a subtle increase in global temperature. Icecaps and glaciers worldwide are already melting at alarming rates, threatening our coastal cities. By the time these cities are inundated and there is no room for apathy, it will be too late. Ideas anyone?
Solar Fund Bill Signed!
Yesterday, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell signed the Voluntary Resource Fund Bill (HB 2191 and SB 975), which we’ve mentioned before (here and here).
Signing this bill into law is a great start, but we hope that this is just the beginning of a new commitment on Governor McDonnell’s behalf to do whatever he can to support the development of renewable energy sources. Unfortunately, the Governor couldn’t go without mentioning fossil fuels during his speech yesterday, touting coal’s future in Virginia as well as making the incredulous claim that Virginia will be the first to build new nuclear. Even on a day dedicated to renewables, the Governor was beholden to our past.
Because of our two extraordinary natural resources, solar and offshore wind energy, Virginia should be the CLEAN Energy Capitol of the East Coast of our future. We need to push him to make this happen.
Check out our photos from the bill signing ceremony:
The Powerful March on Blair Mountain
“There will come a time, I know, when people will take delight in one another, when each will be a star to the other, and when each will listen to his fellow as to music. The free people will walk upon the earth, people great in their freedom. They will walk with open hearts, and the heart of each will be pure of envy and greed, and therefore all humankind will be without malice, and there will be nothing to divorce the heart from reason. Then life will be one great service to humanity! His/her figure will be raised to lofty heights-for to free humanity all heights are attainable. Then we shall live in truth and freedom and in beauty, and those will be accounted the best who will the more widely embrace the world with their hearts, and whose love of it will be the profoundest; those will be the best who will be the freest; for in them is the greatest beauty. Then will life
be great, and the people will be great who live that life.”
-Excerpt from Mother, by Maxim Gorky
Appalachia Rising’s second major event, the March on Blair Mountain, was an event unlike any other that I have ever taken part in. It was a tremendous
success despite tremendous obstacles. And because it overcame those obstacles, the movement to abolish mountaintop removal, as well as the youth-led climate movement and probably the labor movement in West Virginia, is much, much stronger. I am so looking forward to Appalachia Rising’s next big event/campaign!
The March had four demands: preserve Blair Mountain, abolish mountaintop removal, strengthen labor rights, and invest in sustainable job creation for
all Appalachian communities. Blair Mountain is where 10,000 coal miners fought in 1921 against the coal operators and their supporters who were severely repressing them as the miners attempted to organize.
What were the obstacles that the MOBM organizers and participants overcame?
-The heat: High temperatures were in the mid- or upper-90’s for all six days of the march, and it was humid. On Wednesday, while being shuttled back to our Marmet warehouse headquarters at the end of that day’s march, a temperature sign in the town of Madison read “102.” But because of a good team of medics and a well-organized water supply operation that moved with us as we marched, as well as nutritious food prepared by Seeds of Peace, only a handful of marchers over the course of the week had to stop marching for medical reasons.
-No places to camp: As of Friday the 3rd before the march started on Monday the 6th, there were definite or near-certain places for us to camp after each day of marching. As of Sunday evening the 5th, the Wednesday and Thursday locations had been withdrawn. On Monday night, after setting up camp at the John Slack State Park in Racine, we were forced to take our tents down and leave at 10 pm or be arrested. And on Tuesday morning, while on the march and after spending Monday night back in our Marmet warehouse, we received a cancellation call from the private campsite we had lined up for that night. Continue reading
Charged Up After Energize Virginia!
150 Virginia citizens, 5 strategic ways to take action, one purpose: moving Virginia toward a future of clean power and good jobs from offshore wind energy. That was the Energize Virginia summit that CCAN proudly hosted this past Saturday in Richmond!
If you were among the many activists that joined us on Saturday, thank you! We hope you had as much fun and felt as inspired as we did! If you couldn’t be there, hopefully these pictures can begin to capture the day’s palpable excitement!
Energize Virginia was foremost about Virginians coming to the state capitol from as far as Alexandria and Virginia Beach, from the Valley and from the Southside and everywhere in between, to learn and to take action to bring affordable, carbon-free energy online in Virginia. But we did even more than that.
We took a stand demanding that the leaders in our state act faster and more decisively to begin changing where Virginia gets its energy. With help from experts like business leader Terry McAuliffe, Joe Bouchard, Oceana’s Jackie Savitz, and Sierra Club Beyond Coal’s Vanessa Pierce, we made the case for large investment in Virginia’s best renewable, efficient energy source and how our state can become a leader in our region. It’s crucial that we keep it going full blast this year and continue to creatively and clearly demonstrate the need for installing wind power off our coast.
Feeling energized? Share it with the world! You can join our Virginia offshore wind power photo petition right from your home. Saturday produced dozens of great images to help put a face on this issue, like the one on the right, and you can Do-It-Yourself right now!
Check out our photo petition here, then download our signs or write a personal message or draw a picture about why you want an offshore wind farm for Virginia, and add your smiling face to our petition! Please email these pictures directly to us at virginiaoffshorewind@gmail.com. You can find out how to do more by contacting your local CCAN organizer for upcoming summer volunteer opportunities!