Ok, here’s a shocking statement (insert sarcastic tone):
As reported by The Hill on September 14th: U.S. Chamber of Commerce, American Petroleum Institute, National Mining Association and National Association of Manufacturers want to block the EPA from regulating pollution that causes climate change!
Is that news to you? Of course the country’s biggest polluters want to stop action that would curb pollution Continue reading
Next week, some of the CCAN staff is headed to Ocean City, Maryland, where we’re part of a coalition of organizations organizing a town hall meeting about efforts to harness Maryland’s offshore wind power. The winds blowing off Ocean City’s Atlantic Coast have the strength to power thousands of homes, or provide up to one third of Maryland’s current electricity needs.
Offshore wind power offers many advantages over dirty fossil fuel sources like oil and coal. Choosing to build wind farms off our shores, rather than drill for oil, alleviates the horrifying risk that Ocean City would ever suffer from an oil spill like the devastating spill in the Gulf. Currently, Maryland imports much of its electricity from dirty coal plants in surrounding states, which sometimes makes our energy supply unreliable and costs unstable. Clean, renewable wind power offers price stability because the fuel is free, and it would be more reliable because it would be harnessed locally. Also, a moderate investment in offshore wind development could provide 15,000 new jobs for Marylanders over the next 20 years. This means more stable, year-round employment opportunities for Ocean City, where many jobs leave town with the tourists at the end of the season.
By Mike Tidwell
First came the snowfall last winter. It buried Baltimore in three massive storms, shattering all accumulation records going back 127 years. Then came the thunderstorms of July and August. They pummeled much of Maryland with extreme rain and 70 mile-per-hour winds, knocking out power to over half a million customers.
Youth across Maryland are ready to make their voices heard this election season: letting elected officials know that they are voting for clean energy and healthy communities. Schools are starting kick off events in style- with BBQ’s, open mic nights and socials! Check out the Power Vote crew at Morgan St. To start the year they blanketed the campus in green Power Vote shirts to collect pledges and hand out flyers for the open mic night. The event was a big success- over 50 people came out to perform and learn more about the campaign.
This video is a moving reminder of the reasons why our work to fight coal is so important.
“In 1979, President Jimmy Carter put solar panels on the White House. In 1986, President Reagan removed them and they were never replaced. Years later, Unity College in Maine adopted the panels where they have lived ever since. Until now.” Bill McKibben, the founder of 350.org has organized a solar road trip from Unity College down to Washington, DC to ask President Obama to re-install solar panels on the White House roof as part of the 10.10.10 Global Work Party events.
“Nothing replaces legislation that really cuts carbon,” said McKibben. “But one way to build support for those changes is to show how easy it is to start to work. It’s time for President Obama to roll up his sleeves and get to work at his own home and in Congress.”
The movement to get solar back on the White House is spreading rapidly and CCAN’s Mike Tidwell weighed in on the efforts. “President Obama’s stimulus package included many incentives for Americans to ‘go green’ in their daily lives,” said
Today is a great day for fighting coal in Virginia! Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC) has announced its plans to delay moving forward with a 1500 MW coal plant proposed for Surry County in Hampton Roads. Citing a down economy, reduced energy consumption and pending federal regulation by the EPA, ODEC announced it will wait up to two years before resubmitting permit applications to the state.
Make no mistake though, there is still a fight ahead of us. We will continue to build a community of opposition to this proposal until this project is permanently withdrawn or rejected.
Click here for more information. Continue reading
Op ed in the Roanoke Times
September 2, 2010
From the severe winter storms in the Mid-Atlantic to the horrendous flooding in Pakistan and the intense heat waves facing many areas of the world, it is clear our climate is changing. While no one weather event can be linked to global warming, there is mounting evidence that climate change will result in more severe weather events, as the world has been experiencing over the last nine months. Because of this pattern, it is more urgent than ever that society acts to stop climate change by whatever means necessary. Every step we can take, big or small, brings us incrementally closer to solving the climate crisis. Locally, one such step is the Poor Mountain wind project.
Wind power is a clean, renewable energy resource that does not pollute our air with dirty fossil fuel emissions, which is why the Chesapeake Climate Action Network is giving its full support to the Invenergy Poor Mountain project. As the first grassroots, nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to fighting global warming in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington DC, we see the need to move forward with clean, renewable projects to seriously curb the harmful effects of climate change. With more than 3,000 miles of shoreline, Virginia is extremely vulnerable to sea level rise, making it imperative that every region of this great Commonwealth does its part. This wind project has the potential to reduce carbon emissions by 98,000 tons annually in the Roanoke region, which is the equivalent to taking 20,000 cars off the road. In 2008, Virginia’s Commission on Climate Change recommended that Virginia return to year 2000 greenhouse gas emissions levels by 2025. Virginia cannot meet this goal without reducing its reliance on fossil fuels. Continue reading
A growing trend in pizzerias is apparently the use of coal-fired ovens to cook their pizzas. Continue reading
