The Virginian-Pilot
By Mike Tidwell
Imagine a teenager’s very messy room. Family members plead for a clean up. Finally, for a $10 “incentive” payment, the teen straightens up, declares compliance and dashes off to the 7-11 for $10 of snacks and soda. But sadly, family members enter the room only to find mounds of dirty dishes, soiled clothes and used tissues stuffed under the bed. A con job.
Now imagine that the room in question is Virginia’s historically polluted air and our over-reliance on dirty, unsustainable fossil fuels. Who’s the take-the-money-and-run offender in this case? Why, it’s Dominion Virginia Power.
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Waging a campaign for offshore wind in Virginia: notes from the field
The campaign for offshore wind power in Virginia has launched into the fall season full-steam, and with a backdrop of beautiful weather and some highly contested elections in Hampton Roads, our volunteers got out there and made a big splash over the last few weeks!
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Obama's Richmond Visit: CCANers say No KXL Pipeline!
Today, President Obama’s bus tour stopped at a fire station south of Richmond, and CCAN was there to remind him that he can stop the Keystone XL pipeline. Our volunteers braved swarming crowds, traffic, police tape, and inclement weather to make sure he got our message.
As the bus drove by us, we saw the President looking out the many signs in the crowd, and I’m excited to report that he and his staff saw our banner! The banner we used has been traveling the country helping local organizers to hold the President accountable on today’s most important climate issue, and is now on its way to Cleveland for a midwest tar sands action! Richmond CCANers are proud of our solidarity with tar sands activists around the country.
To Protest Gov.’s Energy Conf., Activists Submerge Famous VA Structures in the James River to Show Global Warming Impacts
Virginia’s Labor Unions Endorse Virginia Offshore Wind Energy Development
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jamie Nolan, 240-396-2022, jamie@chesapeakeclimate.org
Virginia’s largest unions call on leaders to move forward with offshore wind power to create clean energy and good jobs for Virginia
NEWPORT NEWS – Five of Virginia’s largest labor unions today announced their formal support of offshore wind energy development in Virginia and called on Governor McDonnell and Dominion Virginia Power to take swift action toward its development. Standing in solidarity with the Newport News shipyards in the background were representatives with the United Steelworkers (USW), International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA), Iron Workers, and the Building and Construction Trades Council.
“This is an opportunity to develop thousands of good paying union jobs in Virginia, which would enable our children and our children’s children to raise a family and share in the American dream,” said Bill Harriday, international staff representative for United Steelworkers.
“Our workers stand uniquely-equipped and trained to tackle green energy projects like offshore wind power. We believe our workforce to be one-of-a-kind when it comes to constructing advanced-tech wind turbines,” said Josh Collins, Virginia political and policy director for the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA). “We welcome this opportunity to join forces with our allies in VA 4 Wind Coalition to push for long-term sustainable energy solutions that will be a boon to thousands of unemployed workers.”
According to the Virginia Coastal Energy Research Consortium (VCERC), a 3,000-megawatt Virginia coastal wind energy project built out over 20 years would create 10,000 jobs for Virginians. Specifically, it could create more than 6,000 construction jobs and 5,000 ongoing operation and maintenance jobs.
“Steel working, shipbuilding, construction, forging, manufacturing, you name it. For decades, most of those jobs critical to the wind industry have been union jobs”, said Eileen Levandoski, Virginia Conservation Program Manager with the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter. “Thus Virginia’s unionized labor force, regardless of its ‘right to work” policies, can and will be large and powerful advocates for offshore wind.”
Leaders from Virginia’s union, industry, and environmental communities agree that Dominion and Governor McDonnell should coordinate efforts to develop offshore wind energy. Because Dominion is the commonwealth’s largest power provider, owns much of its transmission capacity, and has a great deal of political clout, Virginia’s offshore wind industry could flourish with the company on board. Governor McDonnell should take a leadership role in this process by making Virginia “the Clean Energy Capital of the East Coast.”
“This is all about new manufacturing, fabrication, and construction jobs right here in Virginia. If the McDonnell Administration fails to act and Dominion does not move forward with offshore wind development, the commonwealth could lose thousands of jobs to other states in the region,” said Randy Flood, executive director of Green Jobs Alliance.
In addition to thousands of new jobs, offshore wind energy offers countless benefits for Virginians, cleaner air and water, stable electricity prices, increased energy security, and reduced global warming emissions.
Beth Kemler, Virginia state director for the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, said: “Especially in the wake of a global warming-fueled hurricane and massive flooding, it’s more important than ever than we take aggressive steps toward the development of clean energy sources like offshore wind.”
VA4Wind is a coalition of Virginia organizations working together to spur offshore wind energy development off of Virginia’s coast. Members include the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Green Jobs Alliance and Virginia Interfaith Power & Light. Learn more at www.va4wind.com.
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Public Health and Environmental Advocates Call for A Clean Energy Vision in Dominion and AEP’s Forthcoming Energy Plans
Groups Ask State Corporation Commission to Ensure Utilities Invest in Clean Air, Clean Energy, and Green Jobs for Virginia
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Chesapeake Climate Action Network: Beth Kemler, 804-335-0915
Southern Environmental Law Center: Frank Rambo: 434-977-4090
Sierra Club: Glen Besa: 804-225-9113, x104
Appalachian Voices: Tom Cormons: 434-293-6373
Richmond, VA – With the commonwealth’s largest utilities submitting their long term plans for meeting Virginia’s electricity needs to Virginia’s regulators later this week, a group of public health and environmental organizations called for a vision for a clean energy future. Appalachian Voices, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Sierra Club, and Southern Environmental Law Center are calling on the State Corporation Commission to ensure that “Integrated Resource Plans” from Dominion and AEP address the needs and concerns of Virginia’s ratepayers, workers, and citizens by increasing investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy, rather than spending billions of ratepayer dollars to extend the lives of some of the companies’ oldest and dirtiest energy sources or investing in risky new coal-fired power plants.
Advocates hope to see specific elements in Dominion and AEP’s forthcoming Integrated Resource Plans. They expect that the State Corporation Commission will ensure that the plans include:
• No plans for new coal-fired power plants.
• No further investment in the Commonwealth’s oldest and dirtiest coal-fired power plants, such as Chesapeake, Yorktown, Glen Lyn, and Clinch River. Even with expensive, ratepayer-funded retrofits, these plants would continue to emit millions of tons of carbon pollution annually, together with dangerous pollutants like mercury and soot- and smog-forming chemicals that contribute to respiratory disease and premature death.
• Investment in the generation of wind power off the coast of Virginia, which could provide over 10,000 gWh of clean, renewable energy per year within the next decade without releasing any pollution. The industry could also provide 10,000 jobs and $1.9 billion a year in state GDP.
• Increased achievement of energy efficiency in Virginia, which has a potential for reducing energy needs by 39,000 gWh and shaving 11,000 MW (or more than 20 average size coal plants) off of peak demand by 2025 while saving a cumulative $15 billion for ratepayers and creating 10,000 jobs, according to a 2008 study by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy.
“Virginia ratepayers shouldn’t be forced to invest more money in old coal-fired power plants like Chesapeake, Yorktown, Glen Lyn, and Clinch River so they can continue poisoning our air and water and costing Virginians hundreds of millions of dollars in premature deaths and increased health costs,” said Glen Besa, Director of the Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club. “It is past time to end the harmful pollution from these coal plants and invest instead in a new clean energy future and jobs for our workers with energy efficiency, wind, and solar power.”
Air pollution in Virginia from coal-fired power plants contributes to 647 premature deaths and 896 heart attacks annually, according to research by the Clean Air Task Force: http://www.catf.us/coal/problems/power_plants/existing/map.php?state=Virginia. Across the four-state central Appalachian region, over 2,000 miles of streams and 500 mountains have been destroyed by mountaintop removal in order to produce coal for power plants in Virginia and nationwide, causing elevated rates of cancer, heart disease, and birth defects in surrounding communities. Rather than continuing to spend money retrofitting old, dirty coal-fired power plants in order to comply with modern environmental regulations, the groups called on utilities to invest in renewable energy, such as offshore wind power.
“The price of coal in our region is skyrocketing – and that’s not counting the enormous cost imposed on society when it’s mined, processed, and burned. We simply cannot afford to pour billions in ratepayer dollars into these coal plants and effectively lock Virginia into greater dependence on this destructive and increasingly expensive fuel for decades to come,” said Tom Cormons, Virginia Director for Appalachian Voices.
Dominion has been participating in discussions of offshore wind power and has an executive, Mary Doswell, on the board of the Virginia Offshore Wind Development Authority. However Dominion has yet to commit to investing in this energy source in its official plans. Advocates worry that without a utility leading the way, Virginia will not only lose out on the thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in GDP associated with developing the commonwealth’s offshore wind industry but will likely also lose the race for the associated supply chain businesses to other states.
“Hurricane Irene shined a spotlight on the need for our utilities to transition to clean, renewable energy, instead of stubbornly sticking with fossil fuels,” said Beth Kemler, Virginia State Director for Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “While coal, oil and biomass power plants release greenhouse gases that contribute to more extreme weather events and rising sea levels through climate change, offshore wind turbines are a clean source of energy. In addition, the offshore wind power industry could provide thousands of much-needed jobs to Virginians. Environmentalists and policy-makers can talk about these benefits all we want but it’s really the utilities who have the power to flip the switch on this new industry.”
“Energy efficiency is a win-win-win for Virginia. Utilities can control their costs by weaning themselves from fossil fuels whose prices fluctuate dramatically. Workers across the state can benefit from implementing a suite of locally based energy-efficiency programs. Citizens will save money by using less energy. And everyone will breathe easier,” said Frank Rambo, head of the Clean Energy and Air Program at the Southern Environmental Law Center.
Dominion and AEP customers are also encouraged to contact the State Corporation Commission after the plans are filed – http://www.scc.virginia.gov/case/PublicComments.aspx.
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VICTORY: Alexandria Coal Plant Closing!
We got word this morning that GenOn has agreed to close its Potomac River coal-fired power plant in Alexandria, a victory for CCAN, Sierra Club, Greenpeace and Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light, which have been working together with local residents to convince the company to shut it down. We’ve collected petition signatures, held rallies and even held a candlelight vigil at the plant.
Is ship navigation more important than solving our climate crisis?
Last week, the federal government released its draft Environmental Assessment for the areas it has proposed for wind power development off the coasts of Virginia, Maryland and other mid-Atlantic states.
Statement from CCAN on Introduction of the Virginia Outer Continental Shelf Energy Production Act of 2011
Bill would risk coastal tourism and human health for just three weeks worth of U.S. oil demand
RICHMOND — Conservation groups across Virginia are deeply disappointed by the harmful coastal drilling legislation introduced today by Virginia Senators James Webb and Mark Warner. The Virginia Outer Continental Shelf Energy Production Act of 2011 could lead to dangerous oil drilling just a few miles off the coast of Virginia Beach and other fragile coastal communities as soon as 2012.
STATEMENT FROM CCAN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MIKE TIDWELL:
“On behalf of our 30,000 supporters across Virginia, CCAN strongly opposes the offshore drilling bill introduced today by Senators Webb and Warner. At best, there may be three weeks worth of U.S. oil off the coast of Virginia at current consumption rates. Why risk damage to the state’s $19 billion tourism industry and critical fishing industry over just three weeks worth of oil? As the Deepwater Horizon spill demonstrated in Louisiana, all it takes is one platform disaster to affect millions of people and destroy thousands of jobs. For a modern solution to our energy woes, Virginia should develop offshore wind power, not oil. Using modern wind turbines of the sort already deployed at 45 offshore wind sites in Europe, Virginia could harness wind power off its own coastline sufficient to power at least 750,000 homes – forever. This same amount of energy could power 3.4 million electric cars, moving vehicles at the astonishing cost equivalent of about $1.30 per gallon! That’s real pump relief. And wind power helps solve the climate change crisis that is triggering sea-level rise worldwide and creating disastrous potential impacts for all of coastal Virginia. Offshore oil drilling in Virginia will create few jobs, fail to lower gas prices, endanger coastal tourism, and accelerate the crisis of climate change. Congress should reject this dangerous legislation introduced by Senators Webb and Warner and turn its attention to wind power instead.”
Solar Fund Bill Signed!
Yesterday, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell signed the Voluntary Resource Fund Bill (HB 2191 and SB 975), which we’ve mentioned before (here and here).
Signing this bill into law is a great start, but we hope that this is just the beginning of a new commitment on Governor McDonnell’s behalf to do whatever he can to support the development of renewable energy sources. Unfortunately, the Governor couldn’t go without mentioning fossil fuels during his speech yesterday, touting coal’s future in Virginia as well as making the incredulous claim that Virginia will be the first to build new nuclear. Even on a day dedicated to renewables, the Governor was beholden to our past.
Because of our two extraordinary natural resources, solar and offshore wind energy, Virginia should be the CLEAN Energy Capitol of the East Coast of our future. We need to push him to make this happen.
Check out our photos from the bill signing ceremony: