Governor McDonnell and Attorney General Cuccinelli are making a name for themselves on the national climate denier scene. They’ve engaged Virginia in a lawsuit against the EPA and have gone as far as accusing leading scientist Michael Mann of fraud by seeking public funding for his research. So the irony was not lost when Gov. McDonnell yesterday announced that the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture has designated 59 counties as primary natural disaster areas because of the excessive heat we’ve seen in 2010. Farms in this area Continue reading
Out with the old (coal), in with the new (wind)!
Coal is having a rough year.
CO-OPting the Power
In the climate movement, we often find ourselves butting heads with utilities, fighting their resistance to investments in energy efficiency and renewables and constantly working to match their financial influence on policy with people power. Usually, customers are powerless to the energy decisions of their utility and don’t have much of a say in whether their electricity comes directly from a dirty coal-fired power plant or clean alternatives such as wind and solar.
However, that story is changing in Virginia and across the country as electric cooperative members, where ratepayers are also part owners of their utility, are building power and making changes in their coop. In electric cooperatives Continue reading
Washington Post Nails Coal Mine Death Crisis: Big Coal Runs "Clean Coal" Ad on Same Page?
This is written by Jeff Biggers and crossposted from The Huffington Post.
In one of the most bizarre Big Coal public relations ads yet, online readers of the Washington Post today were forced to view a fatuous “clean coal” ad prior to viewing an extraordinary photo galley on “Death at American coal mines.”
In an excellent and in-depth look into regulatory failure, Post reporters David A. Fahrenthold and Kimberly Kindy examine nine deaths in various mines since the Upper Big Branch disaster in April. The Post reporters conclude: “For safety experts and miners’ families, these recent disasters tell a familiar story: Enforcement efforts have been hampered by a backlogged appeals system and the lack of penalty for repeat offenders. The new federal crackdown still couldn’t ensure safe conditions underground.”
Even more notable: An estimated 450-500 coal miners have died from black lung disease in the last six months, according to figures from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. In one of the most scandalous crises in workplace safety in the United States, over 10,000 coal miners have died needlessly from black lung disease (from the inhalation of coal dust) in the last decade.
Black lung disease was first diagnosed in 1831. Coal mining communities wait todayfor new rules and stricter enforcement procedures.
Why are coal miners still dying today?
We're fighting for Dendron, Virginia
This video is a moving reminder of the reasons why our work to fight coal is so important.
Take that King Coal!
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
Coal-fired Pizzerias: Gateways to an Alternate Universe?!
A growing trend in pizzerias is apparently the use of coal-fired ovens to cook their pizzas. Continue reading
EPA Holds First Public Hearing on Coal Ash Proposal
This is a guest post by Jason Von-Kundra, a student at George Mason University. It is crossposted from the Mason Goes Green blog.
On Monday, August 30th, the Environmental Protection Agency held its first public hearing on a proposal to address risks of unsafe coal ash disposal. The EPA is proposing an unprecedented national rule to ensure the safe disposal and management of coal ash from coal-fired power plants. Students from George Mason, Virginia Tech, and University of Maryland joined hundreds of other citizens at the hearing in Arlington, VA to deliver statements in support of strict regulation of this hazardous waste.
Coal is dirty from mining to burning. Coal ash, a byproduct of the combustion of coal at power plants contains contaminants such as mercury, cadmium and arsenic, which are associated with cancer and various other serious health effects. Coal ash is disposed of in liquid form at large surface impoundments and in solid form at landfills. The dangers associated with structurally unsafe coal ash impoundments came to national attention in 2008 when an impoundment holding disposed waste ash broke open, creating a massive spill in Kingston that covered millions of cubic yards of land and river. The spill displaced residents, required hundreds of millions of dollars in cleanup costs and caused widespread environmental damage.
In testimony at the hearing, GMU student Emily Miles criticized the coal industry for “continually putting profits over people”. She urged the EPA to regulate the coal industry to limit their destruction. “As a concerned citizen, I am here today to tell the EPA to do its job and protect people and the environment.” Kara Dodson, a student at Virginia Tech working on their Beyond Coal Campaign, described the negative health effects that coal ash from her campus’ coal-fired power plant has on students. Jason Von Kundra, an earth science major at Mason, delivered a statement urging the EPA to put stricter regulation on the coal industry to embrace the “clean energy economy that our country and our president are calling for”.
Six more hearing on the proposed rule to address coal ash are scheduled for September. Public comments may also be submitted by email to rcra-docket@epa.gov and should be identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2009-0640. Continue reading
CCAN Youth and Power Vote Stand with Little Village
Last night I arrived home from an action-packed training for Power Vote 2010. Over 100 students and young people joined with the coalition and partner staff of the Energy Action Coalition and our trainers from Wellstone Action.
On Thursday we joined the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization in their protest of the Crawfod Coal Plant. The Crawford plant is one of the oldest and dirtiest in operation,
causing 41 premature deaths per year. At the rally, speakers spoke against the dangers their community faces daily- several nearby coal plants, other manufacturing centers- as they lit candles in remembrance of those whose lives are cut short by pollution. They also connected the devastation in their neighborhood back to recent mine collapse in West Virginia, to communities threatened by mountaintop removal, and to the entire dirty death-cycle of coal. It was a powerful moment that connected each of us there, young people from across the country with the residents of Little Village. In closing, we were reminded that an injustice anywhere is an injustice everywhere. And right now there are far too many coal plants and mines in our backyards.
REC New Members Meeting
As some of you may know, Allegheny Power no longer exists in Virginia. The customers that were with Allegheny have been divided between Rappahannock Electric Cooperative (REC) and their affiliate, Shenandoah Cooperative, as of June 1, 2010. In another perfect example of just how bad the transparency problem in REC is, almost none of the former Allegheny customers had any idea that they had been switched until they got their first (considerably higher) bill from REC.
The better part of Clarke County was transferred from Allegheny to REC. Almost every person I have spoken to in this area has complained about power outages ranging from a few minutes to several hours. Most people who did know about the switch were first informed when they called Allegheny to complain about these outages. Ex-Alleghany co-op members have been grateful when I’ve told them about the coal plant, the upcoming co-op election, and our clean energy candidate, Rob Marmet. It’s frustrating that the only information some of these co-op members have received has been from CCAN, rather than their new co-op.
Last Tuesday, July 13th, REC held an informational meeting for new members. Justin, Leslie, Carrie and I piled into the car and traveled from our Fredericksburg office to the Clarke County government center, where the meeting was held. We arrived just in time to find REC executives setting up refreshments and brochures and to see huge rain clouds roll in.
Incredibly, almost as if REC could control the weather, the downpour lasted almost exactly the length of our stay before, after, and during the meeting. Unfortunately, the inclement weather seemed to affect the meeting’s turnout. Luckily, one person who wasn’t deterred by the weather was our candidate for the REC Board of Directors, Rob Marmet! Rob and his wife made it just in time to talk with us for a few minutes and head into the meeting.
During the question and answer session, Rob asked why new members who may have lost or thrown away their ballot must travel all the way to a REC office to request another ballot in person. There are REC offices in Fredericksburg, Culpeper, Bowling Green, and Front Royal. The co-op area spans about 15 counties, many of which are hours from an office, and it is unclear if they will even be distributed ballots at every location or only in Fredericksburg. He also brought up the proposed coal plant near the Chesapeake Bay, but the Board of Directors managed to sidestep the issue entirely. Rob is quoted in an article about this meeting in the Clarke Daily News.
Here is an excerpt:
“Marmet said that he is running for the REC Board of Directors because he believes in the cooperative system and thinks that direct public ownership is the best approach for running a good utility. Marmet also expressed reservations about plans by Old Dominion Electric Cooperative, REC’s primary electric power provider, to build a coal-fired power plant in Surry County, Virginia.”
“Why does a Virginia utility want to invest in antiquated coal technology?” he rhetorically asked.”