US Fish & Wildlife Reissues Controversial Permit for Struggling Mountain Valley Pipeline – CCAN Objects

The MVP still lacks several permits necessary to finish the project. CCAN joins groups in seeking to block construction until ALL challenges are resolved.

 

RICHMOND, VA. Yesterday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) reissued a Biological Opinion detailing the expected and potential impacts on wildlife from the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). The previously issued Biological Opinion was vacated by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit last year, concluding that the MVP’s environmental assessment did not adequately protect endangered species like the Roanoke logperch and the candy darter. In yesterday’s announcement, USFWS said that MVP has addressed those concerns and therefore reissued the document, removing one of several permitting barriers that must be resolved before the project can be completed. 

However, USFWS noted that petitioners in Fourth Circuit litigation had submitted “voluminous materials” to the Service as they were in the process of finalizing this Opinion and those materials were not addressed. USFWS said that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and other agencies will need to assess whether those materials contain new information that might prevent them from relying on this Opinion to meet their obligations.

The Mountain Valley Pipeline is a 303-mile fracked gas pipeline running through West Virginia and western Virginia, majority-owned by Equitrans Midstream Corporation. If completed, it would account for the carbon equivalent of 26 new coal-fired power plants annually. The MVP is still waiting on verdicts from both the DC and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and requires a Clean Water Act 404 from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In addition, the MVP is seeking a renewed permit to cross the cherished Jefferson National Forest after two prior issuances were struck down by courts. 

Chesapeake Climate Action Network and other environmental groups are objecting to the new permit and seeking to block any construction until all permits are acquired and unchallenged. 

Statement from Elle De La Cancela, CCAN’s Central Virginia Campaign Coordinator:

“The Mountain Valley Pipeline still has much to answer for and a long way to go until the project is completed. The company’s exorbitant track record of vacated permits and water quality violations should signal that the MVP is incapable of abiding by the law. Coupled with our national and necessary shift to clean energy, I’m questioning — and I imagine investors are, too  — how much money the MVP is willing to waste for a project that is billions of dollars over budget and totally out of step with national climate goals.” 

In documents submitted to regulators, Equitrans expressed trepidation on a firm completion date. The company said that they were uncertain of returning the expected returns to joint partners. The Mountain Valley Pipeline is currently several years over timeline and $6 billion over budget. 

Contact: 
Elle De La Cancela, Central VA Campaign Coordinator, elle@chesapeakeclimate.org, 804-723-0441

KC Chartrand, Communications Director, kc@chesapeakeclimate.org, 240-620-7144

# #  #   

Youngkin Uses State Air Board to Illegally Repeal Popular Climate Policy

Proposed regulation would pull Virginia out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which was enacted by the legislature, delivers hundreds of millions of dollars to the state, and has overwhelming public support.


RICHMOND, VA- Today, the State Air Pollution Control Board, at Governor Glenn Youngkin’s behest, voted to remove Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). RGGI is an overwhelmingly popular climate policy that produces hundreds of millions of dollars per year for flood resilience, affordable housing, and energy efficiency in the Commonwealth as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Air Board, stacked with Youngkin appointees and boasting numerous fossil fuel connections, voted to repeal RGGI despite that 95% of comments provided during a public comment period were in support of the policy.

Statement from Victoria Higgins, Virginia Director for Chesapeake Climate Action Network:

“Governor Youngkin has proven time and again that his allegiances are with the fossil fuel industry, not the people of Virginia. Participation in RGGI is a commonsense policy that reduces air pollution, keeps us on track to meet our climate goals, and provides necessary funding to address the flooding we see today and that we know will get worse in the coming years. Because of RGGI’s overwhelming public support, Youngkin failed to repeal this popular policy through the legislature. It is appalling that the Governor has now turned to using unelected members of a citizen board to enact his extremist agenda. This transparently undemocratic and illegitimate attempt at repeal reveals the lengths to which Youngkin will go to drag Virginia backwards on climate.”

The state legislature voted to join the Commonwealth to RGGI during the 2020 General Assembly. Removing the state from the program requires action by the legislature, which was affirmed by 61 state lawmakers in a letter to the Board in September. Pushing repeal through the Air Board is Youngkin’s third attempt to undo the policy, after failing in the legislature and through executive action.

Contact:
KC Chartrand, kc@chesapeakeclimate.org, 240-620-7144
Victoria Higgins, vhiggins@chesapeakeclimate.org, 201-937-70174

#   #   #

Related campaign:

Youngkin is Marching Virginia Backwards

Maryland County of One Million People Moves to Eliminate Fossil Fuel Use in New Buildings by 2026

Maryland County of One Million People Moves to Eliminate Fossil Fuel Use in New Buildings by 2026

ROCKVILLE, MD – In a vote with national implications for climate policy, the Montgomery County Council in suburban DC voted 9-0 on Tuesday to exclude the use of fossil fuels in almost all newly constructed buildings by 2026. The massive county of 1.1 million people will now join DC, New York City, and other pioneering jurisdictions in codifying a policy to “electrify everything,” moving away from the combustion of methane gas and other building fuels that warm the planet and damage human health.

The “Comprehensive Building Decarbonization” legislation – Bill 13-22 – will ensure that all-electric building standards become part of the County’s building code no later than the end of 2026, with limited exceptions for hospitals and other facilities needing emergency backup systems or high-energy industrial or commercial cooking facilities. In a state – Maryland – committed to a carbon-free electrical grid in coming years, the Montgomery County bill guarantees that almost all new buildings will be equipped with electric hot water systems and heat pumps for space heating and cooling, creating a zero-greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions future. Typically for an urban jurisdiction, buildings account for more than 50% of Montgomery County’s total carbon emissions.

“We’ve taken a giant step toward cleaner buildings and a better climate today,” said Councilmember and bill lead-sponsor Hans Riemer (D-At Large). “We are confident that other Maryland counties will now follow our lead – and the state General Assembly will follow with its own mandate for fossil-free new construction in just a couple of years.”

Said fellow Councilmember and bill co-sponsor Will Jawando (D-At Large): “A fully electric new home or business is cheaper to build, operate, and better for our kids and our environment.”

Added Mike Tidwell, executive director of CCAN Action Fund: “Hats off to every member of the Montgomery County Council. They have taken global climate science and translated it into sound local policy that benefits everyone. We know our newly elected Maryland governor and leaders nationwide will be inspired by this progress.”

The electrification bill passed despite the robust opposition of the fossil fuel industry and several trade associations and business groups. A coalition of nearly two dozen local and state citizens groups representing thousands of Montgomery County residents encouraged today’s action with rallies, petitions, letters, phone calls, meetings with legislators, and “Electrify MoCo” signs placed in yards throughout the county. In addition to the bill’s climate benefits, advocates focused on electrification’s lower ongoing fuel costs for homeowners and tenants. A recent study from the Maryland Office of People’s Counsel shows how capital spending by the state’s top three utilities to replace and expand the gas system will cost ratepayers upwards of $35 billion over the next 80 years.
Monica O’Connor, one of the organizers of the citizens’ actions, said “The passage of this critical bill would not have have been possible without committed partners such as the Sierra Club, CASA, Interfaith Power and Light, 350 MoCo, The Climate Mobilization Montgomery County, the Montgomery County Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions, Climate Reality MoCo, the Elders Climate Action Maryland, the Takoma Park Mobilization Environment Committee and many others. We are so grateful to our many partners and allies for their climate leadership and advocacy.”

Advocates also focused arguments on the health impacts of fossil fuels. A growing body of peer-reviewed science shows that the fossil gas piped into many of America’s homes can create significant childhood asthma and other respiratory problems during combustion, as well as constantly leaking cancer-related chemical compounds. Both the American Medical Association and the American Public Health Association have recently warned consumers about the dangers of using fossil gas. Damaging and often fatal gas explosions are also a too-frequent result of gas use in homes and buildings.

Montgomery County has been at the forefront of local climate leadership for several years. Today’s action builds on a Climate Action Plan that anticipates county-wide carbon neutrality by 2035 and recently adopted Building Energy Performance Standards for existing commercial buildings.

For more information, see Electrify MoCo coverage on CCAN Action Fund.

 

Governor Youngkin’s “All-of-the-Above” Energy Plan Fails Virginia in the Midst of Climate Crisis and the Push for New Renewable Energy Nationwide

RICHMOND, VA-Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s “2022 Virginia Energy Plan” – released today – is a veiled threat to Virginia’s clean-energy progress in recent years and threatens to move the Commonwealth backwards during the world’s last-chance decade to solve climate change. The 29-page report takes a supposedly “all-of-the-above” approach to energy, calling for support for more coal and gas and nuclear while calling for changes to the state’s landmark “Clean Economy Act of 2020” and “Clean Cars Act of 2021.”

Mike Tidwell, Director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, issued the following statement in response to the new energy plan from the Virginia Department of Energy:

“As hurricanes bash the U.S. in the east and wildfires torch the west, Governor Youngkin’s new energy plan for Virginia fails to meet the challenge of cleaning our air and solving the climate crisis. His ‘all-of-the-above’ approach would have been fine in 1950 but has no place in the year 2022. Methane gas is not ‘clean’ and nuclear power is fantastically expensive and will not protect consumers or the environment. Instead of embracing false solutions like gas and nuclear, the Governor should be embracing and implementing the Virginia Clean Economy Act and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative – policies already on the books and benefiting Virginians. Instead, he calls for review and changes to these fully functioning and successful policies. The people of Virginia want serious solutions, not games, when it comes to energy. They want low-cost wind and solar and the electric vehicles Detroit is all-in on manufacturing. Glenn Youngkin should catch up to modern Virginia and leave 1900s Virginia behind.”

The 2022 Virginia Energy Plan can be read here.

Contact:
Mike Tidwell, Executive Director, CCAN,  mtidwell@chesapeakeclimate.org, 240-460-5838
KC Chartrand, Communications Director, CCAN, kc@chesapeakeclimate.org, 240-620-7144

#   #   #

Related campaign:

Youngkin is Marching Virginia Backwards

CCAN Statement on SCC Ruling in Favor of Virginia Coastal Offshore Wind Project

RICHMOND, VA: “With this ruling, Virginia is poised to take its place as a climate leader by ushering in more offshore wind than anywhere else in the country. On top of its central role in allowing us to meet our 100% clean energy goals, the Virginia Coastal Offshore Wind project will generate thousands of jobs across the state and bring in millions in tax revenue. I applaud the State Corporation Commission for including robust consumer protections and look forward to the project being completed in a least-cost, timely manner. Virginia’s clean energy future is on the horizon.”

-Victoria Higgins

Virginia Director

Chesapeake Climate Action Network

vhiggins@chesapeakeclimate.org

Background:

The State Corporation Commission (SCC) has approved an application by Dominion Energy Virginia for cost recovery associated with its proposed Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project (CVOW). The project consists of 176 wind turbines, each designed to generate 14.7 megawatts, to be located approximately 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. 

 

The Commission further stated that significant concerns were raised throughout the proceeding regarding the affordability of the project and the financial risk to ratepayers. With a project of this magnitude, the SCC ordered the following consumer protections:

 

  1. Dominion shall file a notice with the SCC within 30 calendar days if it determines that the total project costs are expected to exceed the current estimate, or if the final turbine installation is expected to be delayed beyond February 4, 2027.

  2. Each annual Rider OSW update application filed by Dominion prior to the project’s commercial operation shall include any material changes to the project, the most recent biannual project update, and a written explanation as to the reason for any cost overruns above the most recent estimate provided by the company to include the reasonableness and prudence of the additional costs.

  3. Beginning with the commercial operation and extending for the life of the project, customers shall be held harmless for any shortfall in energy production below an annual net capacity factor of 42 percent, as measured on a three-year rolling average.

 

# # #

 

 

Chesapeake Climate Action Network is the first grassroots organization dedicated exclusively to raising awareness about the impacts and solutions associated with global warming in the Chesapeake Bay region. Founded in 2002, CCAN has been at the center of the fight for clean energy and wise climate policy in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC. For more information, visit www.chesapeakeclimate.org

 

In a First-of-Its-Kind Program, Volunteers Rescue 4,000 Trees From Killer Vines in Takoma Park, MD

Takoma Park rescues 4000 trees from invasive vines

After a novel survey of dying trees in 2021, volunteers systematically rescued huge swaths of urban forest plagued by English Ivy and other invasive vines. Results: More than 80% of dying trees saved, creating a model for cities nationwide.

TAKOMA PARK, MD – Using a first-of-its-kind system pioneered here in 2021, hundreds of volunteers in Takoma Park, Maryland have systematically rescued more than 4,000 trees previously identified as dying from invasive vines such as English ivy. Meeting on Saturday mornings for just over a year and equipped with simple garden clippers and pruning saws, the volunteers have now saved 80% of the infested trees in this city of 18,000 people, creating a blueprint for communities nationwide.

According to a report released today by the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN), the 4,000th tree – a 75-year-old red oak – was rescued by volunteers on June 30th. Now, in a city where dying trees were once a common sight on both public and private land, it is rare to see any trees choking from such killers as English ivy, Wintercreeper, Porcelainberry, Oriental bittersweet, Chinese wisteria, and others. 

“It’s not an exaggeration to say this city has been transformed,” said Mike Tidwell, CCAN executive director and a resident of Takoma Park. “We had dying trees everywhere – downtown, on playgrounds, around city hall. Now it’s hard to find such trees. That’s good for homeowners, for public health, for local ecosystems, and for the global climate.”

Two steps were key to this success, according to the report released today. First, CCAN commissioned a trained invasive plant specialist to walk and visually survey all 36 miles of streets and roads in the city during wintertime, when many evergreen vines are starkly visible. Five thousand mature trees – from age 20 to more than a century – were determined likely to die within 5-7 years without action. As a second step – using this data and the recorded tree locations – volunteers then set out block-by-block and park-by-park to safely cut, clip, and saw vines.

According to an extensive internet search, no baseline survey of dying trees like the one undertaken in Takoma Park had ever been done before in the United States. This simple walking survey, using a smartphone to record the location of every infested tree, gave volunteers a sense of the scale of the problem and gave them a way to chart progress. Just over a year later, only about 1,000 infested trees remain, mostly on private land where permission to access has not yet been granted. Efforts are ongoing to rescue these remaining trees.

For more information, visit the CCAN page on Invasive Plants and Climate Change. It includes links to the report itself and video of volunteers saving the 4,000th tree.

BACKGROUND

Trees are one of our best solutions for combating climate change by sequestering carbon dioxide. They also provide countless other benefits to people and wildlife, including helping to filter air and water, controlling stormwater, and providing wildlife habitat. They reduce noise and provide places to recreate while strengthening social cohesion, spurring community revitalization, and adding economic value to communities. Trees also add significant value for homeowners: mature trees can add 7 to 19 percent to a home’s value, and can reduce heating and cooling costs by up to 50%. Yet dead trees can cost thousands of dollars to remove. Non-native, invasive vines pose a significant threat to trees. 

With this in mind, in February 2021, CCAN commissioned what may be the first assessment of its kind in the nation. The startling results in a small city known to highly value its tree canopy likely signals that the scale of invasive vine destruction in similar towns nationwide is far beyond previous assumptions. The study also identified relatively low-resource, commonsense solutions to the problem. Many of the trees in the survey can be saved in 10-15 minutes by volunteers using common garden clippers and pruning saws.

Upon release of the assessment, CCAN began hosting volunteer events on Saturday mornings. Since April of 2021, CCAN has engaged 334 volunteers, including 191 unique volunteers. The majority of events were group activities where volunteers would remove invasive vines in predetermined areas, primarily local parks and public areas. Volunteers also visited 571 of the 840 (68%) homes where threatened trees had been identified. Contact was made with a resident at 262 (46% of 571) homes and of the homes where contact was made, 194 of those (75% of 262) agreed to let volunteers and staff remove invasive vines. When homeowners weren’t home, volunteers left an informational flier with contact information. For those homeowners who then reached out to CCAN, a core group of dedicated volunteers then made follow-up house calls to remove vines from trees. This seemingly high response rate indicates that homeowners are willing to take action when made aware of the threat to their trees. Most of the trees saved (2342 or 46%) were on public property, the majority of which was parks. The remainder (1671 or 33%) was on private property, the major part of which was single-family homes. CCAN worked closely with Montgomery Parks’ Weed Warrior program to reach 4000 trees saved. The Weed Warrior program helped direct volunteers to CCAN-led events and provided trained – and trainee – Weed Warriors who provided assistance during events. Of the trees freed in Takoma Park, 1706 were on Montgomery Parks’ property. 

The Takoma Tree Saver program has clearly inspired people both within Takoma Park and around the region. In Takoma Park, it appears to have struck a chord with the public. The work of CCAN’s volunteers is obvious around town, as evidenced by dying vines, and appears to be catching on – there are signs that people are undertaking vine cutting on their own outside of the program. 

The program has received numerous inquiries from people and organizations wanting to adopt CCAN’s model or simply learn from its experiences. CCAN staff have presented to multiple organizations and consulted with various groups throughout the region. Staff are currently preparing to train at least two community groups in nearby jurisdictions. 

It is obvious that people’s participation in this relatively simple climate action energizes and empowers them, and they are transferring this enthusiasm to others. It appears to be successful because, primarily, it is a tangible climate action that people can take relatively simply. People can see the results of their labor, it is tactile, and it engages people in saving their beloved urban forest. 

# # # 

Chesapeake Climate Action Network is the first grassroots organization dedicated exclusively to raising awareness about the impacts and solutions associated with global warming in the Chesapeake Bay region. Founded in 2002, CCAN has been at the center of the fight for clean energy and wise climate policy in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC. For more information, visit www.chesapeakeclimate.org

Virginians March BACKWARDS to Protest Youngkin’s Backward Climate Policies

Unusual backwards march around the State Capitol demonstrates opposition to Governor’s plan to withdraw from RGGI program that reduces carbon emissions while funding coastal resilience and energy efficiency

Richmond, VA – At 12 noon on Friday, July 1, Virginians will march BACKWARDS around the state capitol to protest Governor Glen Youngkin’s scheme to withdraw Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). This first-ever march of its kind in Richmond will be led by brass musicians and protesters chanting – while walking backwards – that Youngkin must stop moving the state backwards on climate change.

Friday’s march coincides with Youngkin’s scheduled completion of the process of stacking the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board with hand-picked members and using it to undermine the General Assembly. After only three days of public notice, this board could use an “emergency declaration” to march Virginia backwards – out of the popular RGGI cap-and-trade program,which provides essential funding for progress on climate solutions and clean energy. 

Since Virginia joined RGGI, industrial carbon polluters have paid over $300 million in fees. Those funds are used to insulate the homes of low-income Virginians and cover the cost of infrastructure improvements to minimize the impacts of sea-level rise and flooding associated with climate change. 

Youngkin’s plan to withdraw from RGGI ignores the desire of more than two-thirds of Virginians, who support the program, and directly conflicts with recent legislative votes and proposed budget amendments from the General Assembly. Youngkin has also declined to join 11 other East Coast states to partner more closely with the Federal government on offshore wind development. 

On Friday, Virginians from the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Third Act Virginia, Appalachian Voices and Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions will demonstrate against the Governor’s efforts to withdraw from RGGI. Live music and refreshments will be provided at Friday’s visually engaging event, where marchers will physically march backwards in protest. 

WHO:   Community members, environmental advocates

WHAT:   Demonstration with featured speakers, march

WHEN:  Friday, July 1 from 12 PM to 1 PM

WHERE:  The event begins on the Capitol Grounds at the Bell Tower with several speakers and is followed by a March Backward, starting on the sidewalk at 9th and Franklin Streets.   

Below are statements from several of the event organizers:

“Governor Youngkin portrays himself as a business leader – but his pro-pollution agenda is hurting businesses and damaging the climate. It’s becoming a national embarrassment. Currently, Virginia is benefitting tremendously from a market-based initiative that reduces carbon pollution while investing in coastal flooding protection and energy efficiency. Youngkin’s goal of withdrawing Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative would harm families and reward polluters. It’s a giant step backwards. The Governor must be stopped.”
– Mike Tidwell, Chesapeake Climate Action Network  

“Gov. Youngkin’s plan to withdraw Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative is short-sighted and dangerous.The report this administration uses for rationale has been falsely interpreted as bad for consumers. Third Act Virginia supports the science and expert opinions that show the Initiative works as intended. In our current climate catastrophe, we don’t have time for backwards measures and partisan divide. We want a future we can all live in, and urge the governor to prioritize the health and wellbeing of our citizens.” 
– Deborah Kushner, Third Act Virginia

“We are praying that Governor Youngkin has a change of heart on his opposition to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. This successful, bipartisan program is cutting planet-warming pollution, helping low income Virginians save money with energy efficiency, and protecting our communities from the ravages of increased flooding. It’s simply common sense to stay in RGGI.”

– Andrea McGimsey Executive Director, Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions

For more information, visit the organizers’ shared event registration page.

#   #   #

Chesapeake Climate Action Network is the first grassroots organization dedicated exclusively to raising awareness about the impacts and solutions associated with global warming in the Chesapeake Bay region. Founded in 2002, CCAN has been at the center of the fight for clean energy and wise climate policy in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC. For more information, visit www.chesapeakeclimate.org

More information: 

Virginia Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative: Youngkin is Dragging Virginia Backwards On Climate

Hanover’s Brown Grove Community Recognized As A Virginia Historic District, Raises Awareness for Environmental Justice

Virginia Department of Historic Resources honored the Freedmen-founded community of Brown Grove and incorporated it into the Virginia Landmarks state registry. 


Sweet Briar, VA – On Thursday June 16, the Virginia Board of Historic Resources and the State Review Board voted to recognize Hanover’s Brown Grove as a historic district with local significance. The Brown Grove Historic District is a historically African American rural community south of Ashland in Hanover County established by freed slaves during the Reconstruction Era. It is an excellent example of the rural landscape of African American heritage that grew from the plantation economy to a self-sufficient agricultural community, and transitioned in the twentieth century into a middle-class residential neighborhood.

Those who spoke to advocate on behalf of the Brown Grove community included Diane Drake and Lakshmi Fjord, and was presented by Marc Wagner of the Eastern Region of the Department of Historic Resources. 

“It is indeed a wonderful blessing to celebrate Brown Grove Rural Historic District with the  Virginia Registry of Historic Places,” said Diane Smith Drake. “‘Let Freedom Ring’ even louder on this Juneteenth Celebration day!”

“What a seismic shift over a very short space of time into DHR now taking a far more community-based approach to preservation of historic African American and Indigenous historic communities and historic resources,” said Lakshmi Fjord, visiting scholar at the University of Virginia’s department of anthropology.

In 1870, Brown Grove was founded by formerly enslaved people and a bustling community was built. Most members of the community now can trace their lineage to Ms. Caroline Morris, the matriarch of Brown Grove. The district as a whole continues to strongly embody a sense of a rural, working-class, African American settlement and the continued occupancy of multi-generational descendants of early inhabitants, the continued visitation and maintenance of historic cemeteries, and the vibrant and engaged congregation of Brown Grove Baptist Church reinforce the district’s robust integrity. 

Throughout the decades, several heavy industrial facilities have threatened the fabric of this area. With this designation, likely fewer if any of those types of development would come to fruition. The close-knit community is pleased with the good news and nods to the timing with Juneteenth. The community also continues to await incorporation into the National Historic Registry. 

Listing an area as a Historic District is only an honorary designation, but has real benefits in educating communities about their unique cultural, historic and natural assets. This education often leads to a greater effort to preserve that history for future generations.

“The Chesapeake Climate Action Network could not be more pleased with the good news. Brown Grove has been the site of environmental injustice for decades, and hopefully now the community will have some protection from extractive industries,” says CCAN Virginia organizer Elle De La Cancela. “Today is a day to celebrate and to begin to redress the wrongs of the past.”

Several organizations and individuals contributed to this historic decision’s success. Some of these include: Virginia League of Conservation Voters, Sunrise Movement – Richmond Chapter, Delegate Elizabeth Guzman, Hanover County NAACP, SELC, VA EJ council, Friends of Buckingham, African American Redress Network, Howard University, Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center Columbia University, International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), Resolutions Addressing Systemic Racism (RASR), and Namati.

#   #   #

The Brown Grove Preservation Group is a group of people who are dedicated to continue the work our ancestors started.  We are committed to see our community grow by building homes not industry.  We use faith and heart to work toward the betterment of the Brown Grove Community.  

CCAN Applauds Cancellation of Chickahominy Power Plant: Gas-Fired Plant Faced Stiff Opposition from Local Residents

Baltimore, MD — Yesterday, Chickahominy Power, LLC announced it had “terminated” its 1,600 megawatt, $1.64 billion gas-fired power plant planned for Charles County, Virginia. The plant would have been one of the largest gas plants in Virginia and would have sold electricity into the grid as a business venture instead of providing power directly to Virginia customers. This termination follows the suspension of a pipeline that would have crossed five counties to carry gas to the power plant.

Both the plant and the pipeline faced strong opposition from Charles City County residents. The county is already home to a large, polluting landfill and was the proposed site of another large gas plant known as C4GT that would have been located just a mile from the Chickahominy Power site. That gas plant was canceled last July.

In response to the cancellation, Anne Havemann, General Counsel of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, said:

“The Chesapeake Climate Action Network was honored to fight the proposed Chickahominy gas-fired power plant alongside Concerned Citizens of Charles County and other local residents over the past six years. The cancellation of the plant illustrates that gas is not the energy of Virginia’s future but the energy of the past.

“The company struggled to find financing, was met with stiff opposition from local residents who worried about the health effects of living next to such a large plant, and faced competition from a growing clean-energy industry. Instead of relocating to Ohio or West Virginia, as Chickahominy Power’s press release threatens, the company should see the writing on the wall and invest in clean energy instead of sinking $1.64 billion into more climate-wrecking fossil fuels.”

For more information see “Chickahominy Power cancels plans for natural gas plant in Charles City” by Sarah Vogelsong, The Virginia Mercury.

#   #   #

Chesapeake Climate Action Network is the first grassroots organization dedicated exclusively to raising awareness about the impacts and solutions associated with global warming in the Chesapeake Bay region. Founded in 2002, CCAN has been at the center of the fight for clean energy and wise climate policy in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC. For more information, visit www.chesapeakeclimate.org