Virginia-based Dominion Resources has never been the first thing that’s come to mind when I think about Calvert County. I think about trail-running in the American Chestnut Land Trust, or fossil-hunting as a kid at Calvert Cliffs, or sharing stories with friends in Solomons. To me, Calvert County is famous for its friendly communities, fresh air and natural beauty.
Yet, for the past 6 months, Dominion has been changing that. After hiring non-local construction workers, creating traffic jams and clearing forests, they are continuing to build their massive Cove Point export facility to process and ship billions of gallons of fracked gas from the Marcellus Shale overseas. As CCAN gears up its legal battle to challenge the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s approval of Cove Point, a relentless and growing group of community members from across Southern Maryland continue to organize: holding meetings, presenting at weekly Board of Calvert County Commissioners’ meetings, knocking on neighbors’ doors, and pushing against a behemoth company to protect their neighborhoods. And it’s all leading up to an exciting rally, march, and community picnic on May 30th — The March for Calvert County to be Dominion-Free!
The day will begin with an inspiring rally at the Solomons boardwalk at 9AM. Following that, you can “join the flock” for a six-mile walk through Lusby ending at Cove Point Park, where we will celebrate everything we love about Calvert County. Join friends and community members for a family picnic and fellowship at 1PM. Click here to join us at the March for Calvert County to be Dominion-free. On May 30th, we will show Calvert County that Dominion’s dirty fracked gas facility is not a done deal.
Since construction started, Dominion has failed the community, and now, it’s time to speak up. Show Calvert County and beyond that your vision of Calvert county is Dominion-Free. Let them know, we want our communities to be healthy and thriving, not polluted with more fracking wells or pipelines just so this corporation can make bigger profits. Here are the details: WHAT: March for Calvert County to be Dominion-free WHEN: May 30th, 2015 WHERE: 9AM – Rally at Solmons Boardwalk in Solomons, MD
9:30AM – March! 6 miles from Solomons through Lusby
1PM – Picnic and Fellowship at Cove Point Park
750 Cove Point Rd, Lusby, MD 20657 See you May 30th at the March for Calvert County to be Dominion-free!
Yesterday, the Maryland General Assembly’s 2015 legislative session came to a close. As legislators pack up their offices and return back to their districts, we know that they will carry a message back with them: Marylanders from Cove Point to the mountains of Western Maryland want our state to be a leader in climate change.
This year, we reintroduced the Clean Energy Advancement Act – landmark legislation that would have mandated that 40% of the electricity that we use to power our homes and communities comes from renewable sources such as wind and solar. The legislation was later amended to require that 25% of the energy we consume comes from renewable sources by 2020. This was a top priority of Maryland’s climate action plan and would’ve also placed Maryland on the trajectory to double wind and solar by 2025. From the very first day up until the final vote was cast we kept our voices raised for clean energy. Senator Feldman (Lead Sponsor of the Clean Energy Advancement Act) at first day of session rally.
We were there on the first day of session. As legislators entered their offices, activists packed Lawyers’ Mall to say that they want wind turbines and solar panels to dot Maryland’s landscape, not fracking wells and coal-fired powered plants. Activists knew that in order to transition Maryland to a clean energy future where public health is protected and our landscape is not marred by fossil fuel spewing energy sources that we needed to pass strong legislation. We needed to challenge Maryland’s utility companies to clean up their act and provide Maryland residents with electricity sourced from renewable sources such as wind and solar.
This year – more than ever, it was evident that the climate movement in Maryland is not comprised only of environmental activists. Our movement is comprised of people from all walks of life who want healthier families, new economic opportunities and cleaner air. We were joined on the first day of session by faith leaders, labor leaders, health advocates, and civil rights organizations. Each raised their voices to show Maryland’s leadership that the issue of climate change impacts the future of all Marylanders. Faith leaders rally for clean energy. The faith community raised their voices: Over 250 faith leaders signed onto a letter calling upon our elected leaders to care for God’s creation. This was prompted by the efforts of the Ecumenical Leaders Group – a committee of seven leaders of Christian denominations. This marks the first time that this group of senior religious leaders has spoken out together on a matter of environmental concern. The business community raised their voices: Over 150 businesses, from solar companies such as BithEnergy to a local 7-11 store, called on their elected leaders to pass the Clean Energy Advancement Act. Business owners such as Roger Blunt, a retired US Army General and founder of Essex construction, stated, “For the good of our economy, and for the good of our veterans, we need to pass the Maryland Clean Energy Advancement Act. By raising our renewable energy standard, we’ll send a strong market signal that Maryland is the place for solar and wind manufacturers to set up shop. We’ll also expand a growing clean energy workforce that employs a high percentage of veterans like me.” Labor leaders raised their voices: This year we were joined by Maryland Working Families, SEIU Local 500 and SEIU 32 BJ. They know that a clean energy future would provide jobs that not only protect our environment but that support Maryland’s working families. Maryland’s manufacturing sector has been in decline over the last decade. Representatives of Maryland’s labor movement know that investing in the clean energy sector is a win-win for working families and economic development. “The Maryland Clean Energy Advancement Act means more jobs for Maryland, including more public sector jobs, more manufacturing and constructions jobs,” stated Charly Carter, Executive Director of Maryland Working Families. “That is a big win for all of Maryland’s workers and for our communities.” Our legislators raised their voices: Sixty-two legislators cosponsored the Clean Energy Advancement Act. When the legislation came to a vote in the Senate Finance Committee, the chair Senator Mac Middleton and vice-chair Senator John Astle sent a strong message that they wanted to advance this bill out of the committee and onto the floor for a vote. Unfortunately, the bill stalled in the Senate Finance Committee. But thanks to everyone who took action, we have garnered the support of these key leaders in the General Assembly and will continue to garner the support of committee members next year. And we raised our voices. Activists meet with legislators to garner support for the Clean Energy Advancement Act.
In my few short months organizing for the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, I have been amazed at the dedication and determination of our activists. Hundreds of you braved frigid temperatures and icy roads to stand in Lawyers’ Mall and rally for clean energy. Many of you traveled from all corners of the state to speak to your legislators about the Clean Energy Advancement Act. Over 100 activists met with their legislators. You called your legislators at critical points in our campaign to lead Maryland into a future where children can breathe clean air and families can thrive and be supported by good, green jobs. Over the last few weeks you did not become discouraged. You kept marching on submitting letters to the editor, visiting legislators offices and raising your voices for Maryland’s future.
When I look back over the last few months and the time, energy, and effort that was put into this campaign, I am reminded of a quote: “There is hope if people will begin to awaken that spiritual part of them, that heartfelt knowledge that we are caretakers of this planet.” While the Clean Energy Advancement Act was not enacted into law in 2015, I am hopeful. Each one of you who raised your voice and took a stand to preserve the earth for future generations has that same hope and knowledge instilled in your spirits. And indeed, we will continue to raise our voices until this is done.
In the past four weeks, there have been four train derailments, four explosions, and four terrifying examples of communities and lives at risk from crude oil trains. As a consequence, crude oil has spilled into waterways, potentially contaminating drinking water, hundreds of people have had to evacuate their homes, and fires have burned for days.
With so many derailments and explosions from crude oil trains, it seems like train car disasters are the new normal. But why? An exponential increase in oil extraction via fracking in North Dakota has led to a surge of crude oil travelling by rail in recent years. This extreme form of energy extraction produces highly flammable and explosive oil that simply can’t be transported safely, yet more and more is moving through our communities every day. A lack of publicly available information on crude by rail, weak federal oversight, and limited emergency planning only add to the problem.
However, there is good news: states and cities across the country are responding to citizens’ concerns, and taking action to shed light on this dangerous practice.
Now Maryland is joining in the fight. Delegate Clarence Lam (D-12) is the lead sponsor of House Bill 1073, which addresses some of the problems listed above. This bill was introduced in response to recent derailments and the potential threat of a new crude oil shipping terminal in Baltimore, proposed by Texas-based Targa Resources. If the terminal is approved, the city of Baltimore and rail communities throughout Maryland could face a new surge of over a million gallons of explosive crude oil every day, which you can read more about in my previous blog post. The bill would require Maryland state agencies to study risks and impacts in the event of a crude oil spill during rail transport. On top of that, the bill would also require rail companies to disclose the amounts and routes of crude oil transport throughout the state, something rail companies are currently suing the state of Maryland to keep secret.
The bill so far has received a broad array of support from community members, neighborhood associations, Democrats, Republicans, railroad employees, and environmental groups alike. Last Wednesday, during a hearing in Annapolis, I testified in favor of the bill, along with Delegate Lam, Ana Rule (a PhD researcher at Johns Hopkins), and Will Fadely from Clean Water Action. The bill garnered no testimony in opposition.
With oil train disasters happening on a seemingly weekly basis, it’s clear that urgent action should be taken. This bill is a common-sense first step forward to shed light on the risks in Maryland. It’s not a question of what to do “if” a crude oil train derails and explodes, it’s a question of “when” a train derails and explodes in Maryland, where would it happen, and how can we make sure all emergency responders are prepared.
Of course, we are continuing to work as hard as we can to make sure crude oil doesn’t flow through Baltimore. At a minimum, if passed, Del. Lam’s bill will give citizens, elected officials, and emergency responders basic information about the scope of the risks. Click here to keep up the pressure on the Baltimore City Council and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake: Keep Crude Oil out of Baltimore!
By Jennifer Kunze, 2015 Healthy Communities Organizing Fellow, jenniferk@chesapeakeclimate.org.
When you hear the words “Fair Development,” what comes to mind? Good jobs at living wages? Affordable housing? Resident-driven decision-making? Local control of the local economy? Positive impacts on public health? Green infrastructure without pollution?
Saturday, January 17th, over one hundred people gathered in the South Baltimore neighborhood of Curtis Bay for the United Workers‘ Fair Development Strategic Dialogue. Housing, healthcare, and environmental advocates got to exchange news, share ideas, and learn more about possibilities for making Baltimore a more just, healthy, and sustainable city. Meeting at Benjamin Franklin High School, where students have been fighting for years to prevent the country’s second-largest trash incinerator from being built less than a mile away, gave the Dialogue a sense of urgency: decisions made about this facility in the next six months will impact the homes, health, and environment of Curtis Bay residents and people across Baltimore City.
Energy Answers International proposed to build a ‘waste-to-energy’ facility in the Fairfield section of Curtis Bay nearly five years ago. This trash incinerator, which would draw over 230 trash trucks per day, will emit pollutants such as mercury, NOx, lead, dioxins, and particulate matter, creating tremendous health risks for residents of Curtis Bay and all of Baltimore. When students at Benjamin Franklin High learned of the project a few years ago, they organized and began to fight, forming a group they named “Free Your Voice.” Free Your Voice is working to get Baltimore City public institutions to divest from Energy Answers proposed trash burning incinerator in Curtis Bay. Share this image on your own Facebook page by clicking the sunflower!
Right now, Free Your Voice is working to get public institutions to cancel their contracts with Energy Answers, including Baltimore City Schools, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and the Walters Art Museum. Free Your Voice asked Dialogue attendees to share or send their “Pledge to Divest” logo, a sunflower, to the BMA and the Walters. To pledge your support, go here.
Free Your Voice holds the Fairfield Incinerator as an example of failed development: a project, planned without the consent or input of the affected communities, that will hurt, rather than help the surrounding neighborhoods. To learn more about Fair Development, I attended a discussion within the “Clean Air is a Human Right” track about alternative sources of energy and alternative uses of the Fairfield site. Residents of Curtis Bay are eager to pursue building a solar farm on the site instead, which could create good jobs for residents of the neighborhood, provide a positive example of brownfield development for other cities, and help Baltimore City reach its goal of 22 megawatts of green energy produced in the city by 2020. Within discussion about the practicalities and feasibility of the project, John Duda of Red Emma’s and the Democracy Collaborative spoke about infusing green development with just economic development. A solar farm designed, built, and maintained by existing out-of-state solar companies would address the pollution and energy injustices of the proposed incinerator, but would do little to address the disinvestment and lack of economic opportunity seen in Curtis Bay and throughout Baltimore. But if it integrated the green energy proposal with education, jobs training, and the development of democratic economic models, the solar farm proposal would be a part of fair development aimed at making South Baltimore a more just, sustainable, and healthy place.
Scheduled for the Saturday before Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, the Fair Development Strategic Dialogue was centered around a famous quote, part of a sermon given by Dr. King on the Sunday before his assassination while in Memphis to support the sanitation workers’ strike:
“A true revolution of values,” he said, “will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. [True compassion] comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.”
The theme of the Strategic Dialogue stemmed from this great MLK Quote.
Between Curtis Bay and my home in West Baltimore is Middle Branch Park, a narrow stretch of deserted green space along the southern shore of the Patapsco River. Quiet and deserted, surrounded by marshes but with a view of the city skyline, this is one of my favorite parks in Baltimore, and so on my way home after the Dialogue, I stopped to take a walk. From one end of the path, the medical waste incinerator already built in Curtis Bay could be seen; from the other, the smokestack of Baltimore’s existing Wheelabrator trash incinerator rose next to M&T Bank Stadium.
Just as the Jericho Road must be transformed to end the dangers posed to its travelers, our economy must be transformed to end the dangers posed to the people living, working, and breathing in it. An energy edifice which forces health-endangering and climate-changing industries on areas like South Baltimore needs restructuring. To contribute to that change, share the Pledge to Divest with the Walters and the BMA on Facebook, and tune in to Free Your Voice and United Workers for more.
I was taking the short drive in Baltimore from Locust Point to Fort McHenry after meeting with a CCAN activist at a local coffee shop. “It’s worth taking 5 minutes to breath in the history of this part of the city,” she said. “It’s where the Star Spangled Banner was written, it’s where American troops fought off the British to protect the city of Baltimore in the War of 1812.” Crossing the bridge onto Fort McHenry, it’s also where I saw first hand the size and scope of Baltimore’s next big fight: hundreds of DOT-111 (Department of Transportation) trains, or “soda cans on wheels” in the rail yard on Locust Point, potentially carrying explosive North Dakota crude oil or toxic Alberta tar sands.
Transport of Bakken crude oil has been poorly regulated and, subsequently has had an abysmal track record when it comes to safety and environmental destruction. Most crude oil is transported on outdated DOT-111 trains from the fracking fields of North Dakota or the tar sands in Alberta, Canada — crossing cities, rural towns, state parks, watersheds, aquifers, and mountains; all travelling thousands of miles to finally get to refineries. Sometimes, a wheel slips off the track, and that can cause a derailment, which usually punctures the tank. This inevitably causes an oil spill, and easily ignitable Bakken crude oil explodes. When that happens, the resulting explosions look like what nightmares are made of. A crude oil train derailed and exploded in Lac-Megantic, Quebec last year. Source: Quebecor Media Inc.
Tragically, it was only after a massive explosion in Canada, that killed 47 people and leveled a town, that federal regulators decided to take action to propose rules to make crude oil transport safer. Yet, even after massive amounts of environmental destruction, dangerous DOT-111 trains still carry crude oil throughout our country. “Most of the explosive crude oil on U.S. rails is moving in tanker cars that are almost guaranteed to fail in an accident,” says Earthjustice attorney Patti Goldman, who is currently litigating against the Department of Transportation after failing to ban DOT-111 trains from current use.
Now, oil companies are trying to use Baltimore and the Chesapeake Bay as a throughway to ship Bakken crude and Alberta tar sands to refineries along the East Coast. A Texas based company called Targa Resources is proposing to retrofit an industrial shipping terminal in Curtis Bay to ship over 9 million barrels of oil per year, which equates to over a million gallons of crude oil every day. That means hundreds of DOT-111 “bomb trains” traveling through Baltimore City neighborhoods every year.
Is it worth having these travel through Baltimore? No way. The risks drastically outweigh the meager, if any, benefits, especially with so many unknowns. Currently, there has been no study on safety impacts, environmental health impacts, economic impacts, or train traffic impacts that Targa’s proposed shipping terminal would have on city of Baltimore. Rail companies are even refusing to disclose the routes that crude oil would travel through the city, going so far as suing state regulators to keep this information secret. But, there is a solution — we can put pressure on the Baltimore city council to halt local permits on Targa’s facility, effectively passing a moratorium on increased crude oil trains through Baltimore, until environmental, safety, economic, and traffic impacts are studied and this information becomes available to the public. The public has a right to know what is traveling through their neighborhoods. Over 75 community members arrived and learned about the potential for crude oil trains to travel throughout their community.
We need to act fast to keep our city safe — and already, we’re gaining real momentum. Since launching our campaign in October, we’ve held two town hall meetings, packed a public hearing, collected hundreds of public comments to the Maryland Department of the Environment, met with City Councilmembers, and petitioned all throughout Baltimore neighborhoods to raise awareness of this dirty and dangerous plan. We’ve even been featured on the front page of the Baltimore Sun!
We don’t need to wait until a tragedy happens in the city of Baltimore for the city council to take action. They can and should take action right now to protect their constituents.
For a second time this year, a proposed wind energy farm on Maryland’s Eastern Shore is being pitted against a nearby naval air station. The ongoing fight between the Patuxent River Naval Air Station (PAX River) and Pioneer Green’s Great Bay Wind Energy Center has been a false choice between military readiness and renewable energy. “Win-win” solutions are readily available, and they should be implemented quickly so that the entire state can enjoy the benefits of clean energy and a thriving economic base.
In both cases, first in the General Assembly and most recently in Congress, legislation has been introduced that would delay the project indefinitely, in effect killing it. At stake is a land-based wind industry on the Eastern Shore, our ability to meet in-state renewable energy goals, and even the state’s leadership on climate change.
With nearly four years and $4 million invested, Pioneer Green’s Great Bay Wind Energy Center project in Somerset County is shovel-ready. The project would bring 25 turbines, nonpolluting electricity to power about 45,000 homes, and hundreds of jobs to one of the state’s most impoverished rural jurisdictions—plus more than $200 million in local investments. Tragically, the most recent attempts in Congress to scuttle this wind project threatens to erase those benefits and put a chill on future investments in the state. A no-go message to industry could also potentially jeopardize an estimated $1 billion in future wind projects on the Eastern Shore.
The ostensible problem is the wind turbines’ proximity to the Patuxent River Naval Air Station (PAX River). Across the Chesapeake Bay in St. Mary’s County, PAX River operates sensitive radar equipment for testing military aircraft. Because impediments to the radar involve spinning — not stationary — blades, Pioneer and the Navy negotiated a solution: turning off the turbines whenever PAX River needed that. A Massachusetts Institute of Technology study indicated that 800 hours per year of such “curtailment” would be a viable solution; Pioneer agreed to turn off the blades 950 to 1,500 hours a year. The stopped turbines won’t give away any top secrets: Wind generators run only 30 percent of the time anyway. More significantly, Pax River often announces its tests, and it launches weather balloons before and after to calibrate radar.
During Take 1 of this controversial fight, the General Assembly passed legislation in April setting a 15-month moratorium on land-based wind farms because of the concern over conflict with PAX River operations. Fortunately, after receiving thousands of emails and letters, Gov. Martin O’Malley vetoed that legislation. “The real threat to Pax River is not an array of wind turbines on the Eastern Shore but rising sea levels caused by climate change,” the governor said. Indeed, to help combat climate change, Maryland has set a goal of supplying 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2022. At present, the state is about halfway towards its renewables goal, but reaching the final target and potentially higher future targets will require more on-shore wind. These clean-energy goals helped draw Pioneer to our state.
But in late July, Sen. Barbara Mikulski took new steps to stymie the project, adding language to a defense appropriations bill that would delay it until completion of another MIT study — even though the negotiated agreement already brings PAX River and the Navy back for more discussion as needed when MIT issues its report.
Also in the background have been fears that the wind project could make the PAX installation an easy target for base realignment and closure, or BRAC. But retired Air Force Col. David Belote — who developed the rules for siting renewable energy for the military and worked for two years as a direct report to the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense responsible for overseeing BRAC preparation and execution — has testified that he sees “zero danger” to PAX River and “no reason to move” the base’s sensitive radar equipment. In fact, Col. Belote stated that “Pax River… is unlikely to close as long as [the Department of Defense] owns airplanes and radars and, therefore, conducts radar cross-section testing–the cost to move or duplicate [the testing radar] would be astronomical, and with a curtailment agreement, there’s no reason to move it.”
All of this is not to undermine in any way the vital economic and national security role that PAX River plays in Southern Maryland. Many checks have long been in place to protect Pax River:
The Defense Department (DoD) already has to sign off on any project. The Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act of 2011 created a clearinghouse for energy project developers and DoD to work together “to prevent, minimize or mitigate” adverse effects on military operations and national security. By law, the DoD cannot sign off on any agreement that jeopardizes national security. DoD called the Pioneer-Pax agreement a “feasible and affordable mitigation measure.”
In 2012, the Maryland General Assembly passed a bill that requires any wind farm within 46 miles of Pax River to get approval from the Public Service Commission. That way, the state can weigh in on economic effects of the project. Pioneer still needs to get the required Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity.
Some say that Pioneer can simply wait for the MIT study to be completed and then begin construction. A key problem with these attempts at delay, however, is that they jeopardize Pioneer’s ability to get federal tax credits. If Pioneer has to wait for the MIT study, its eligibility for the credits would expire. In addition, the project needs to execute a final interconnection agreement with our electric grid operators. Indefinite delay makes that agreement nearly impossible to execute, which means that the project would need to restart that 5 year process. These delays threaten this project and the state’s ability to attract future projects because no business can work with such uncertainty.
In its 2013 assessment of the impact of climate change on military installations, the DoD said, “Climate change will have serious implications for the ability of the Department of Defense to maintain its natural and built infrastructure and to ensure military readiness.” The greater threat to our national security is not a wind farm but climate change — which the wind farm would begin to address.
“Win-win” solutions are available today. The curtailment agreement negotiated between Pioneer and the Navy allows the wind farm to move forward now, and the terms of that agreement will bring the two sides back together after MIT completes its latest study to find a more permanent solution. Federal and state officials should welcome renewable energy projects rather than throw up last-minute roadblocks for companies that have invested much, compromised as needed and complied with every requirement.
I joined CCAN’s staff three weeks ago today and since day one I’ve been inspired by the “it ain’t over ‘til it’s over” spirit the community members we have the honor of working with bring to their work. That spirit is nowhere more visible to me than in the work of the Calvert Citizens for a Healthy Community, the citizen group that formed in opposition to Dominion Virginia Resources proposed liquefied natural gas export facility at Cove Point.
CCAN’s Southern Maryland Organizer, Jon Kenney, and I spent Monday in Calvert County, meeting with some of the leaders of CCHC. Inspired by last Sunday’s rally and undeterred by the construction work that has already started on Cove Point Road, CCHC’s leaders are ramping up their call on Governor O’Malley to step in where federal regulators have failed to and order a Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA). A QRA is a basic and customary type of safety assessment that would determine the extent to which an accidental explosion or other catastrophe at the plant could put CCHC’s members and their neighbors in danger. Water park abutting Dominion’s plant.
The reality of what’s at stake if the Governor ignores the citizens of Calvert County really hit home for me Monday. Jon and I went for a drive through Cove Point Park – a beautiful park that shares a fence with Dominion’s plant. Jon told me that this park – with its two playgrounds, baseball diamonds and crowded water park – is the place where kids in Calvert County go to play. And it shares a fence with the plant. Imagine the horrific scene if there were an explosion like the one that occurred at an LNG facility this spring in Plymouth, Washington.
And I met Leslie Garcia, one of the creative minds behind CCHC. With her husband, Leslie has been putting blood, sweat and tears into renovating their home – a home I had a hard time leaving after an hour, let alone 20 years. They feel like they’ll have no choice but to leave if Dominion wins. They’re in Dominion’s backyard: their home is less than a 5 minute walk from the overlook facing Dominion’s current import platform and a short drive from the plant. Imagine locking the door and walking away from the home you’d hoped to live the rest of your life in because you know that staying is too dangerous. View from Solomon’s Island, looking towards the proposed site of Dominion’s pier.
Before leaving, we walked along the pier at Solomon’s Island, looking out over the scenic Patuxent River towards the Thomas Johnson Bridge – Dominion plans to build a temporary pier next to the bridge for the loading and unloading of construction materials. And right next to it, one of the largest, most productive, and most beautiful farms in Calvert County – Dominion plans to use the field abutting this farm for the loading and unloading of construction materials coming off of the pier. Imagine the scene. Construction may have started on Cove Point Road, but that doesn’t mean this fight is over.
As we drove through neighborhoods on our way home, we noticed that a bunch of the old Cove Point lawn signs (“Cove Point: We need answers!”) had started to disappear. The construction work on Cove Point Road has gotten some folks started thinking this fight is over; Dominion has already won.
But the members of CCHC will tell you that it isn’t, that too much is at stake to stop fighting now. Just a few days after our visit, CCHC members traveled to Annapolis to join 52 organizations and residents for a press conference urging the Governor to protect the safety of Calvert County residents and order a QRA. As the fight against Cove Point continues, CCAN will be supporting CCHC at every step – whether that’s on the streets, in the media or in the courts – and what an honor it is for us to do so.
It was an amazing moment. I was a block away from the march when I could hear “Stop Cove Point!” echoing off the hot pavement in Downtown DC. I ran over to join the 1000+ activists from the Eastern Seaboard as we marched from the National Mall to the headquarters of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC.
As I approached the front of the march, I started recognizing the group of Calvert County residents I’ve been working closest with over the last few months fighting Dominion Resources’ proposed fracked gas facility at Cove Point. One by one, they started to come into focus within the sea of people. Some were holding signs, marching with their children, and carrying creative artwork (which included a huge LNG tanker and giant postcards to FERC). Activists march with banners and a prop LNG tanker, “S.S. Dominion Titanic.” (Photo: M.Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO)
Some were even holding banners marching next to movement leaders like Tim DeChristopher and Sandra Steingraber. A few months ago, this was probably the last thing these Southern Maryland marchers thought they would be doing on a sweltering day in July.
These people are part of the hundreds of concerned citizens from Southern Maryland that live within a few miles of Dominion Resources’ proposed Cove Point gas export facility. Most of them were first learning about the plant just last fall, whether it was at a town hall, or a discussion with their neighbor while they walked the dog. They formed a group, Calvert Citizens for a Healthy Community (CCHC), which has been courageously fighting off the goliath-like Dominion from relentless propaganda on TV, radio, and print, pushing to stop the plant from tarnishing their idyllic bayside community.
CCHC members rally to stop the proposed Cove Point gas export facility. (Photo: Tracey Eno)
The members of CCHC have been integral in making this rally, and this movement, grow so quickly. CCHC has been a big part of the campaign every step of the way. They’ve collected hundreds of public comments, going door-to-door and calling neighbors throughout the community, pointing out the glaring safety and environmental flaws on FERC’s draft environmental assessment of Cove Point. They’ve published dozens of letters in the local paper, held house meetings, Gasland screenings and have lobbied elected officials. They’ve packed public hearings, outnumbering the proponents of the plant and giving passionate testimony. At the rally, we filled an entire bus with Southern Marylanders, and a CCHC member kicked off the rally as an incredible speaker, sharing her story with the large crowd and the media.
Every day, I am inspired by the sheer amount of work and effort the CCHC members have given to this fight; spending endless hours late into the night researching detailed applications and documents, writing countless letters to elected officials and newspapers, attending weekly public meetings, sitting in on panels and sharing their story on national activist conference calls. They can’t stop, and won’t stop, until the job is done and they stop Cove Point from being built. Southern Maryland residents filled the bus ready to march against Cove Point (Photo: Tracey Eno)
It’s been an amazing journey, and, while I know it’s definitely not over, it’s the members of CCHC that give me hope. Not only have we built a formidable grassroots opposition to the proposed project, but have also built a community and network of lifelong friends that can now provide a support structure for each other in the face of such an uphill struggle. I don’t think Dominion had any idea of who they were messing with when they submitted their application to FERC.
While I was marching alongside my friends from Southern Maryland yesterday, I came to the conclusion that without a doubt we will stop Cove Point, and we’ll look back and see that all of the hard work was worth it. At the very least, it will make for a great victory party.
Dear Marylanders,
As we fight back against big polluters and a government that too often caters to them, it’s always exciting when we can report some good news. Earlier this spring, CCANers helped bring about a major clean energy victory that has national implications. After receiving thousands of emails from people across the country, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley vetoed a bill that would have killed the largest utility-scale wind power farm currently under development in Maryland, all because of totally resolvable military radar testing concerns. The veto clears the path for development of a $1 billion wind power industry across Maryland’s Eastern Shore region.
While we celebrate this move towards clean energy, we continue to resist a massive dirty energy threat: Dominion Resources’ proposed fracked gas export facility at Cove Point. Just two weeks ago, a federal study showed that U.S. gas exports to Asia would likely be worse than burning coal for the atmosphere over the next 20 years. Worse! But the White House and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) still aren’t getting the message. As decisions near this summer, we’re gearing up to send a strong message to Washington. Here are two actions you can take:
On Thursday, June 26 at 8 pm, dial in to the National Call to Stop Fracked Gas Exports to learn more about the July 13th mass rally in Washington. Rev. Lennox Yearwood, scientist Tony Ingraffea, Pennsylvania no-fracking leader Karen Feridun, and more will join this conference call at 559-726-1200 and code 776632.
Our movement is bigger than ever just as our action now is more critical than ever. In response to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s flawed Environmental Assessment for Cove Point, Americans submitted more than 150,000 comments to FERC saying no to Cove Point. That record number of comments for a fracked gas export project let FERC know that the public wants clean energy — not dirty, dangerous gas exports.
The major bright spot in recent weeks came when President Obama’s administration released the nation’s first mandatory limits on carbon pollution from power plants. While the rules aren’t as strong as the science shows is needed, they are a welcome shift toward meaningful climate action out of Washington. CCAN will be working to ensure they are implemented in a way that speeds the transition to clean energy — not more fracked gas — in our region.
Here are even more ways you can take action with CCAN this summer… MARYLAND: Join the conference call June 26 at 8 PM eastern time to hear from leaders in the movement to stop gas exports and learn the latest on the July 13th mass rally in Washington. Join in at the time of the call by dialing 559-726-1200 and using code 776632. Speakers will include scientist Tony Ingraffea, Pennsylvania no-fracking leader Karen Feridun, Hip Hop Caucus president Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Food & Water Watch leader Emily Wurth, and myself. You’ll be able to ask questions and learn more about the exciting role you can play in attending the rally in Washington. DC/NATIONAL: Join the Climate Ride! This year, from September 20th – 24th, 2014, CCAN board members, staff and friends will take part in a five-day bike ride from New York City to the Capitol steps in DC. Learn more about the ride and sign up here to join us! VIRGINIA: Join the Virginia Summer Activist Call with CCANers from around the state on Monday, June 30th at 7pm. We’ll recap our spring successes and talk about how we’ll push even further for climate solutions in Virginia this summer. From collecting thousands of petitions to the State Corporation Commission, to creatively exposing Dominion’s greenwashing at Earth Day festivals, to earning unprecedented investor support for climate resolutions at Dominion’s annual shareholder meeting, we’ve hit Dominion where the company is most vulnerable — its public image and it’s bottom line — thanks to activists like you. RSVP here for our first statewide call of the summer!
These last few months have made it clear; we have a lot to do. That’s why, on July 13th, thousands of Americans will converge in Washington DC to send a strong message to FERC: Stop Gas Exports and Stop Cove Point. Learn more about the biggest event to date in the fight to stop Cove Point and sign up to be a part of it here.
Onward,
Mike Tidwell
For the third year in a row, CCAN members and supporters will take part in the 300-miles-in-five-days Climate Ride from NYC to DC, September 20-24. CCAN Board member Cindy Parker and I are signed up and getting prepared for this challenging but very rewarding biking experience.
There’s still time to sign up as a member of CCAN’s Chesapeake Climate Cruisers team. You can do so by going to http://climateride.org, learn more about the ride and what’s involved and then sign up.
In addition to being a long-distance ride through some absolutely beautiful countryside, the Climate Ride is also a fund-raiser. Participants need to raise at least $2,800 to participate, a majority of which goes to the group or groups which you designate as beneficiaries. The Climate Ride organization has lots of tips and ideas to help you meet that goal. For each of the last two years, CCAN has received about $10,000 to help us do our important work.
I was not a long-distance bike rider before I did my first Climate Ride in the spring of 2012. I did do bike-riding, mainly as part of my exercise routine. I rode about 8 miles three times a week. But as a result of the riding I did in preparation, and as a result of that first ride, I fell in love with long distance biking. Ever since I ride about 70 miles a week, sometimes more, doing so usually in early morning. I enjoy the rising of the sun, the singing of the birds, the animals, other bikers, runners and walkers I encounter and the good feeling that comes after a hard physical workout.
To begin to do this while in my 60’s has been like a special gift, something I would have never done if not for Mike Tidwell asking me if I wanted to join him on that ride.
I hope CCAN supporters who have not experienced the joys and the challenges of this sport, as well as those who are already avid bikers, will seriously consider joining Cindy and me this September.
I’m available if you have questions; you can contact me at ted@chesapeakeclimate.org.
unity picnic on May 30th — The March for Calvert County to be Dominion-Free!
