Video: Kicking Coal's Ash in Maryland!

From cradle to grave, Maryland’s power is dirty. This dirty energy leads to adverse health and environmental impacts. Maryland has some of the most ambitious environmental laws in the country; now we need your help to make sure that the laws we worked so hard to pass are implemented and enforced!

Continue reading

Environmental Groups Applaud State for Taking Enforcement Action Against Coal Ash Landfill

Environmental groups announced their support today for the Maryland Department of the Environment’s decision to take enforcement action against Mirant MD Ash Management, LLC and Mirant Mid-Atlantic, LLC for violations of the federal Clean Water Act and state law at the Brandywine coal ash landfill. The groups include the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), Defenders of Wildlife, Sierra Club, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, and the Patuxent Riverkeeper. Continue reading

MD Students…at the White House!

This post was written by Caroline Selle, a student at St Mary’s College of Maryland and an active member of the Maryland Student Climate Coalition.

Hey everyone! I was lucky enough yesterday to be one of the youth invited to the White House for the Clean Energy Economy Forum. It was a great opportunity for those of us involved in the environmental movement to hear from the Obama administration and also to make ourselves heard. The 100 plus members of the audience included youth from all over the country, representing small and large environmental organizations and non-profits. We came from a variety of backgrounds, but we were all together to ask Obama and his administration to take charge on environmental issues.

The forum was broken up into two parts. First, a panel made up of three Cabinet members (Secretary of the Interior Kenneth Salazar, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and Secretary of Energy Steven Chu) and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson answered questions from the audience. There were some great, encouraging answers from the panel and some very political ones, but overall we ended with a lot of clear answers on a wide range of issues. Topics ranged from mountaintop removal (the EPA is looking at Clean Water Act violations, a good sign) to creating green jobs that won’t just provide a temporary salary but a true career path so that a stable clean, green economy will eventually be created.
Continue reading

4 Major Groups to Sue Mirant for Pollution Violations at Brandywine Coal Combustion Waste Landfill

Due to serious concerns about toxic pollution discharged from an unlined coal ash waste dump in suburban Washington, D.C., four environmental groups — Defenders of Wildlife, Sierra Club, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, and Patuxent Riverkeeper – announced today that they intend to sue Mirant MD Ash Management, LLC and Mirant Mid-Atlantic, LLC Corporation for violations of the federal Clean Water Act at the Brandywine Coal Combustion Waste (CCW) Landfill in Prince George’s County, Maryland. The Environmental Integrity Project and the Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Maryland School of Law are acting as co-counsel for the four groups. Continue reading