Calculating the global mean temperature record is complicated. For an explanation of why and how adjustments must be made to the raw data from weather stations see “The Thinking Person’s Guide to Climate Change” by Robert Henson or read “Instrumental Temperature Record” on Wikipedia.
As much as we fixate on global air temperatures, more than 90 percent of the heat gained by Earth has gone into the oceans. That record shows a steady and inexorable climb, demonstrating clearly that Earth is warming in a manner consistent with the increase in greenhouse gases.
Leslie Grady Jr.
Harrisonburg
*How Hot Is It? Daily News-Record, February 13, 2015
Shortly after 2014 melded into 2015, we were told – ad infinitum and nauseam – that the former was the “hottest year on record.” The implication: Man is so intent on baking the planet, so get ready for more of the same. Year after sweltering year.
But what if this isn’t so? What if the only things getting cooked are the data on which these lamentations are based? That seems to be the case. Francis Menton, who writes the Manhattan Contrarian blog, points his readers to Christopher Booker of London’s Telegraph, who calls into question 2014’s distinction as the “hottest year on record,” employing words such as “fraud” and “scandal.”
The basic charge cited in both articles was this: To quote Mr. Menton, “The past has been cooled to make the present look warmer by comparison.” At first blush, this sounds so diabolical as to totally strain credulity. So how, really, can such an allegation be credibly explained?
Simply stated, intrepid researchers such as Paul Homewood and Tony Heller have culled historical data from myriad weather stations across the globe – from Paraguay to Siberia to upstate New York – and found a similar pattern of tampering: “one-way adjustments” downward. That is, the willful rejiggering of data to establish evidence of irrefutable, and perhaps irreversible, global warming.
Consider Mr. Booker’s summary of Mr. Homewood’s findings:
“Homewood has now turned his attention to the weather stations across much of the Arctic, between Canada (51 degrees W) and the heart of Siberia (87 degrees E). Again, in nearly every case, the same one-way adjustments have been made, to show warming up to 1 degree C or more higher than was indicated by the data that was actually recorded. This has surprised no one more than Traust Jonsson, who was long in charge of climate research for the Iceland met office (and with whom Homewood has been in touch). Jonsson was amazed to see how the new version completely `disappears’ Iceland’s “`sea ice years’ around 1970, when a period of extreme cooling almost devastated his country’s economy.”
Mr. Menton concludes that “hottest year on record” declarations have been tendered without proper – or any – examination of satellite data. And none of the reports trumpeting the distinction (whether in Scientific American and The New York Times or by the BBC), he says, refer to these data.
“[A]nybody who follows this issue even a little,” Mr. Menton writes, “knows that beginning in 1979 the U.S. government at great taxpayer expense has put up satellites with sophisticated instruments to get much more accurate measurements of world temperatures than previously available. … Luckily it’s not too hard to figure out what the satellites say.”
And that is? Precisely this, notes Mr. Menton: “2014 was not the hottest year, nor close, but rather tied for 6th/7th place in the 36-year record … 0.3 degrees Celsius cooler than the warmest year, which was 1998 – 16 years ago. Now 0.3 degrees C may not be a lot, but it’s also not a little in a record that only varies by about 1.2 degrees C from coolest to warmest year.”
No wonder Mr. Menton calls climate change, formerly known as global warming, “the greatest scientific fraud of all time.”
A recent editorial in the Virginian Pilot reported on the defeat of the Virginia Coastal Protection Act put forward by Republican Del. Ron Villaneuva, R-Virginia Beach, and Democratic Sen. Donald McEachin, D-Henrico. Virginia would have joined the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
This “East Coast cap and trade program lets states sell carbon allowances to utilities, with a goal of reducing emissions,” the Pilot reported. Money raised through the program would have prepared for sea-level rise and sinking land along our coast, bolstered our renewable energy industry, and assisted coal miners whose jobs are shrinking rapidly.
Too bad my local legislators did not support this market-driven way to create jobs and retrain workers whose jobs are going away. Are Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Mount Solon, and Del. Steven Landes, R-Weyers Cave, among state lawmakers who for years, the Pilot claimed, “have dragged their feet rather than addressing the threat, sacrificing the long-term security of critical assets and communities to partisan crusades and gamesmanship”?
The Atlantic Ocean has risen 18 inches at Sewells Point in Norfolk. Del. Ron Villanueva, R-Virginia Beach, introduced The Virginia Coastal Protection Act.
The goal of the bill is to reduce heat-trapping emissions and raise money for coastal adaptation. This is accomplished by allowing states to sell carbon allowances to utilities.
Virginia would join 10 other Eastern states in a program that would raise $200 million per year for Virginia toward coastal adaptation. Also, a portion of the funds would strengthen renewable energy programs and help to economically diversify Virginia’s dying coal region. Unsurprisingly, Dominion opposed the bill and it failed. Ron Villanueva, a Republican, but he gets it.
The people on the coast, the U.S. military, and the politicians know something must be done. Virginia should be the jewel in the crown of the Eastern Seaboard, not a dark hole of ignorant policy.
As important as the moral dimension of climate change is, Marshall cautions that we must be very careful in raising that dimension. As Jonathan Haidt points out in his book The Righteous Mind, various groups in our culture place different degrees of emphasis on each of the six moral foundations. Consequently, moral demands must be carefully tailored to speak to the values of the group being addressed or they will fail to have the desired effect, and may backfire. In fact, when discussing framing (i.e., how we present the issue), Marshall says “Never assume that what works for you will work for others. Indeed, the fact that you strongly like something may well be an indication that people with other values will hate it.” Insights such as this were very helpful to me.
It is always gratifying when an author presents a concept that you, too, had been pondering. Thus, I was pleased to read that Marshall also thinks that we need to mourn the end of the fossil fuel age, which was “exceptionally affluent, mobile, and exciting. The low-carbon world will have new pleasures, but no longer the sweet roar of the Ford Mustang V8.” As a former owner of a 1965 Mustang (in 1965) and as a person who drove sports cars for years, I really identify with that idea. Fossil fuels brought us many benefits, but now it is time to let them go. As we do so, many of us will long for the “old days” and hate to give them up. We should acknowledge that loss and create a way for people to grief, thereby helping us move on to a new future. Such acknowledgement may also serve as a bridge to communities we aren’t currently reaching.
While the book is full of little seeds for further thought, I’ll bring up just one more. Marshall thinks that the climate change community and governments have placed too much emphasis on carbon dioxide (the tailpipe) and not enough on the fossil fuels themselves (the wellhead) and everything in between. This causes a disconnect, allowing our government to subsidize fossil fuel exploration and production at the same time it is beginning to regulate carbon dioxide emissions. Perhaps the divestment movement will help us focus on the fuels themselves and the need to stop making new investments in fossil fuel infrastructure.
The book is relatively short, 242 pages, and is divided into 43 chapters. Thus, one can pick it up for a few minutes and read a chapter or two, making it easy for someone like me, who never seems to have enough time to read, to get through it. In addition, Marshall’s writing style is very easy to read and understand. I think you will find it to be very informative and well worth your time.
The next meeting of Weatherize Harrisonburg/Rockingham will be on:
Monday, April 20, 2015 5:00-6:30PM, Gilkerson Community Activities Center Craft Room 2
Westover Park
305 S.Dogwood Dr., Harrisonburg.
All welcome!
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We are helping to plan a Public Meeting with representatives of Community Housing Partners sponsored by the Northeast Neighborhood Association on Thursday, March 26 at 7:00 PM, Simms Center, 620 Simms Ave., Harrisonburg.
If you qualify as a low-to-moderate income household, Community Housing Partners can help reduce your energy bills, make your home more comfortable, energy efficient and affordable year round. Clients approved for the Weatherization Assistance Program will receive a free energy audit which will determine the work that can be done in your home.
Join the Northeast Neighborhood Association at this meeting with representatives of Community Housing Partners and Weatherize Harrisonburg/Rockingham to learn more and obtain an application.
~~~~~~~~~~
February 26, 2015, Meeting at the downtown library:
First Meeting on February 26!
Our agenda for the meeting is to learn who you all are and where your interests and expertise lie. Are you interested in helping to ferret out all existing weatherization programs and funding sources, whether “official” or volunteer? Do you work with an agency or business or volunteer group already involved in a program ? Do you know groups of people who might be in need of having their houses worked on? Do you have useful contacts with any of the above or would you like to develop some?
We want to flesh out the list we’ve begun from online sources and add to it with personal contacts, and we need your help to gather as much information as we can. Only then can we decide the best ways of making the information available to the people who need it, whether it’s an online website, public meetings, or going door to door–or all of the above.
We can also decide how often we need to meet, when, and where.
Hope to see you tomorrow.
Joni Grady, Joy Loving, Les Grady
We ended the advocacy workshop last month talking about ways to improve the energy efficiency of low and middle income homes in our area. Energy efficiency is the cleanest, cheapest fuel there is. It is one of the cornerstones of the President’s Climate Action Plan. It can save low and middle income families real dollars and let them benefit even more should a revenue neutral carbon fee be put in place. And the feds have been working on it since 1976, almost 40 years! Here in Virginia, Governor Terry McAuliffe signed a proclamation designating October 30, 2014, as Weatherization Day. The WAP (Weatherization Assistance Program) network was also recognized at the Governor’s Housing Conference in Norfolk, Virginia last November.
There are other programs that Valley residents could tap into if they only knew about them and had some assistance in making use of them. Members of the Climate Action Alliance of the Valley have decided to create an ad hoc committee to:
1) create a database of programs already in place or potentially available, the people involved, what they offer and to whom
2) get the information out to the people who need it and help them connect to the help that’s offered
3) hopefully hold a one-day volunteer weatherization event, put actual (work) boots on the ground
We need your help. The first step is the research and data gathering, an activity a lot of you who came to the workshop were very interested in! We have begun making lists of program/contacts, just as we did at the workshop, but we also need to figure out exactly what information we need to put into the database. And when that’s done, we need people who will gather that information from the online links and then call the contacts to fill in missing information.
I know you’re interested in making a real difference in the Valley so join us for an hour to plan and organize. Also, please let us know if you’re interested in the project but just can’t make the meeting.
Joni Grady, ad hoc committee on Energy Efficiency
contactcaav[at]gmail.com
Update, February 16, 2015.
Joy Loving and I have been busily gathering some background information to find out what we know and what we don’t know about the weatherization options available to low and middle income residents of Virginia and Harrisonburg in particular.
Please look it over–it’s the Weatherization document on Google Drive –and make any comments (using Review) you might have about people you know, groups that you know, etc. When we do meet, we’ll at least have this as a basis for making a plan for further action and know what blanks we need to fill in. We’ll update it as we continue to find more clues to what we can do and we’ll incorporate your comments appropriately. One overall impression that I have gotten is that Virginia and Harrisonburg are strong supporters of energy efficiency action–as long as the feds are paying for it. Which means that there will be ample opportunity for advocacy as well as local action.
We have been asked to attend the NorthEast Neighborhood Association meeting Thursday, February 19 at 7pm at Simms School to introduce what we’re thinking of doing and the information we need from homeowners.
I’m excited about the opportunities we have for making even a small difference where we are.
CAAV steering committee member Alleyn Harned and CAAV member Bishop Dansby participated in Clean Energy Lobby Day in Richmond on Tuesday, February 3, 2015.
Read about Clean Energy Lobby Day from Ivy Main here.
Bishop took some photos and offered comments:
Francis Hodsoll, President, Virginia Advanced Energy Industries, kicks off the press conference at Clean Energy Lobby Day, February 3, 2015. Speakers included senators and delegates from both parties.Secretary of Commerce and Trade, Maurice A. Jones, meets with and takes questions from the renewable energy industry people. In addition to attendees from Virginia, there were some from other states, including Maryland and California. Maryland solar business owners pointed out that they can draw from a trained workforce, as Maryland community colleges award certificates in solar installation.Alleyn Harned, Virginia Clean Cities, networks with Francis Hodsoll.
Clean energy day industry attendees were matched up to talk with legislators in their offices. Harrisonburg’s Alleyn Harned and Bishop Dansby visited with Arlington County Delegate Randy Minchew (R). They found Minchew to be very progressive on clean energy matters.
Thanks to all the participants, presenters, and organizers for a successful Advocacy Workshop for a Resilient Valley held on January 17 at the Massanetta Springs Conference Center!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When: Saturday, January 17, 2015 8:30 AM- 5:30 PM Where: Massanetta Springs Camp and Conference Center, 712 Massanetta Springs Rd, Harrisonburg, VA 22801 You are invited by the Climate Action Alliance of the Valley (CAAV) and the Virginia Sierra Club to attend a workshop to share and sharpen the skills we all need to help mobilize our friends and neighbors to influence environmental policies at every level of government. The rising pressures on Virginia and the Valley are two-fold: (1) from the fossil fuel industry dumping CO2 into the atmosphere for free and old-fashioned electrical utilities building pipelines and discouraging wind and solar power, and (2) from the impacts of the climate disruption they cause. We may not feel our climate change as much as other areas but we will certainly feel higher food prices for livestock and for ourselves, a growing influx of people moving from more vulnerable areas, and natural ecosystems increasingly stressed not only by rising temperatures but habitat loss if development isn’t carefully managed. We must be aware of these pressures and be prepared to meet them before they overwhelm all that we value here: the beauty of mountains and streams filled with healthy wildlife and a resilient regional economy, both agricultural and non-farm, based on clean, renewable energy. Agenda items include:
The Big Picture – Our common goals
Messaging and Audience: Having good conversations about the challenges facing us
Introduction to Advocacy: Engaging local public officials
The EPA’s Clean Power Plan–Carbon Reduction Goals for Virginia
Earning Media Attention: How to get local press coverage of your actions and results
Building an Effective Team
Developing Action Plans: Exercises to put into practice what you have learned
Presenters will include Dr. Les Grady of CAAV’s Speakers Bureau and Kate Addleson, Conservation Director for Virginia Sierra Club and state lead for the Climate Action Campaign in Virginia. Lunch (and dinner, if you choose to stay for it) will be provided by Virginia Sierra Club. Dinner will also be held on site starting at 6 pm. Space is limited to 35 participants: pay your $10.00 registration fee now at our EventBrite page to save your place. Don’t miss this opportunity to meet other people working for what you believe in and to become a powerful advocate for a resilient and sustainable future for the Valley. For more information contact Joni Grady, Climate Action Alliance of the Valley, contactcaav@gmail.com or 540-209-9198
In early November, Climate Action Alliance of the Valley (CAAV) founder Cathy Strickler and her husband Charlie participated in a week of training, organizing and protesting against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission headquartered in Washington, D.C. This Beyond Extreme Energy (BXE) week of action coincided with the arrival of the Great March for Climate Action into D.C.on November 1st.
Below are Cathy’s notes and reflections about her involvement with this week of committed climate work:
Beyond Extreme Energy and Climate March Impressions, October 30- November 7, 2014
Thurs. Oct 30th
Picked up a big U-Haul truck in Washington, D.C., for marchers’ and protestors’ gear. Charlie drove and I followed out to Bethesda’s Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church. Heavy traffic, lost once, traumatic, took a couple of curbs, no dents.
Fri. Oct. 31st Off
The Great March for Climate Action finishes in D.C.
Sat. Nov. 1st
Metro early to drive truck back to D.C. but didn’t need to in the end so we marched the last seven miles of the Great Climate March from Bethesda to the White House. Actually fun, good weather, fascinating changing streetscape and people. Rally short and well done. Walked three miles up 16th St. to All Souls Church Unitarian for reception and presentation by Michael Dowd who’s got a smooth spiel to get liberal faith activists more active on Climate Change. He’s done at least one TEDx talk. Then walked to St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church for the marchers’ closing ceremony. It, too, was well done with everyone at the end bringing their boots to the front in silence. The stand out for me was the 71-year-old woman, Marian, who was one of four who walked the whole way. The group elected her mayor 3 times. Her speech was from her gut. I can’t remember content. She was tired and going home to Iowa the next day.
Sun. Nov. 2nd
Training all day in D.C. for the actions Monday – Friday. A professional group of three led it. The attendees broke into three affinity groups of about 25 each that would meet and strategize together during the week with each one being responsible for one of the three doors of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) headquarters. Steve Yoder got there midday.
Monday, Nov. 3rd
Up at 5 AM, in car by 6, at Union Station at 7:15 and then walked two blocks as a group to FERC. 25 arrested. Processed on site with $50 fine or choice to go to court, 15 days to decide. Steve was one of the ones arrested.
The worst part were the incidents at the daycare center. Background: last July we let parents in with their children but then other employees went in with them. Prior to this action a huge email discussion was held with the decision being made to keep everyone out and to go to the daycare a week in advance with handouts explaining the ‘greater good’ logic of our action and asking the parents to make other arrangements. What actually happened was that parents came anyway. We blocked the gates (a courtyard entrance at the back with wood fence and 2 separate gates), the police inside shoved the gates out, we shoved back, lots of shouting by everyone full of righteous conviction. A mother and baby-in-stroller did get in. There were several more shouting matches but eventually the decision was made to let them in peacefully. I think a lot of damage was done to our group’s message because of this. The rest of the week they were let in. It was extremely stressful; people in our group felt bad. Some, grandparents included, supported the original plan. Other employees got in, too, but I think the symbolic as well as the actual partial shut down was still very effective for those who were aware of it; no mainstream media covered it. Energy and environment media did.
There was a debriefing afterwards at the United Methodist Building but we missed it because we were tasked with getting another U-Haul truck for the art props so we took the metro, got the truck, drove back, loaded it, drove it to a parking garage, metroed back to Union Station in time to tell Tim DeChristopher ‘goodbye’. He was down for the day that included a protest rally outside the Democratic National Committee Headquarters. They gave the Democratic representatives pillows with oil derricks, etc., on them so the politicians would be more comfortable in bed with big oil and gas. Our group then gathered at Union Station to walk back to FERC for a New York City group to do a photo there with them all wearing sunglasses, pointing at FERC, symbolizing shady business.
Charlie, on left, is part of the blockade on FERC headquarters.
Tues. Nov. 4th
Today was a repeat of Monday basically. Charlie was in the blockade and I was handing out information and talking to pedestrians. Two people told me to go home, another said we were doing the right thing, another whispered ‘Bless you’. We left D.C. about noon. We had been asked to be jail support for an action that afternoon for those risking arrest at Solomons Island, MD, so we headed down there. Met up with that group at Starbucks in Lusby for the last minute strategy meeting, about 15 there. Also a bus was chartered from D.C. with all BXE people who were going to have a protest rally outside the Dominion construction site as a diversion to the group entering the property illegally. It all came off better than ever hoped for given the last minute nerves and confusion. A group of six made it to the top of a HUGE pile of dirt and stood with their well-made Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) sign “WE are > Dominion” before they were arrested and carried or led down. Five others were also arrested, two of them photographers. They all were taken to Calvert County Detention Center where we spent the night waiting for their release. A long night but a big room with upholstered chairs. I went prepared with a lot of food. Two other support people were there waiting for their partners. Information from the police was given sincerely, I think, but we got various conflicting information regarding release. They started coming out at 1:30 AM and the last at 7:00 AM. Everyone was great except we had a situation that was somewhat challenging but it worked out okay.
A local supporter with a van took the last four to the Suitland Metro Station at 7AM. Very glad we didn’t have to do that twice (4-passenger Volt) with no sleep except two short naps, it would have taken four hours.
Weds. Nov. 5th Sleep and off.
Thurs. Nov. 6th
Back on schedule. Today was a silent vigil for at least an hour in coordination with Veterans For Peace. It was very effective by all accounts and in its solemnity it was a joy and comfort to think of every CAAV steering committee member and others who I’ve worked with and respect so much and of ALL the things we have accomplished together. Then there was a ‘die in’ with about 12 in the street representing those who have died from causes connected to Climate Change. All except three got up after the second arrest warning but one of the three arrested was an 83-year-old woman who has been a peace activist for years. They were put in paddy wagons but then processed on site and not taken away.
After lunch we had a march around capital hill to protest fast tracking the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). The organizer and leader, Margaret Flowers, was really impressive. She and her husband, Kevin Zeese run popularresistance.org; they are very busy, seasoned activists living in Baltimore. The art props were great. Then we all, about 30, walked over to National Public Radio headquarters to protest their cutting back Climate Change reporting staff and taking fossil fuel money resulting in horrible ‘ads’. We all got wet in a hard rain storm but it was okay for me since I had an extra pair of thick socks. Then it was the metro to St. Stephen’s for supper and strategy session.
We had been told the strategy was to have the most arrests on Friday so Charlie and I had decided to wait until then. There weren’t any strategy meetings before we left around 9 PM, instead people were working on a sign to hang off the Union Station parking garage facing FERC and constructing ‘lock down’ equipment. (PVC pipe about 2-3’ that people put their arms in to join in the middle with carabiners hooked onto a rod bolted thru the middle of the pipe) This makes removing blockaders very difficult but blockaders can release themselves at any time.
Friday, Nov. 7th
Same as Monday and Tuesday from our perspective but different for those at the front entrance. We were stationed at the side door and didn’t see any of the action. The lock down was across a garage entrance on the other side of the building. They all, five, were arrested and taken away. Out front a group from fracking areas in Pennsylvania came and had testimonies from those affected; there were a lot of pedestrians who listened, not sure how many. Police had put up tape as a barrier not to cross. One of our leaders came to our door and asked for arrestee volunteers; Charlie went but came back soon saying three had tried to cross the barrier and were very roughly pushed back and down by the police. Earlier two protesters were tased without warning and another accused of assault when no camera was going. That charge was dropped due to the mature handling of the situation by the protestor. Another protestor reacted to hearing of this by being loudly verbally aggressive, then tearful, full of too much frustration, knowledge and heartache from the climate march and week of action.
There was a closing circle ceremony in the street in front of FERC with songs, speeches and ‘mike check’ reading by all of BXE’s demands of FERC (this happened every day), ending with ‘we will be back’. Everybody went to a church on Capitol Hill for lunch and a debriefing. There was a lot of appreciation all the way around for what was accomplished and a strong hope expressed for more actions.
The week was impressive with the numbers, artwork and passion. I sensed more than passion, a deep gut conviction, among some of the marchers who stayed the week. I feel sad that their future holds suffering and struggle and I pay them deepest homage.
The week may have benefited from more follow through with the original organizational plan; but, given the circumstances of stress, energy and time, this was probably an unrealistic expectation. It may have been problematic had there not been the high level of trust between the marchers that allowed faster cooperation and action.
It was a new, needed experience for me with more anger than the mass arrest against the KXL pipeline at the White House in August 2011. The FERC blockade taught me how stressful an action could be, somehow I had not anticipated that. I reacted by somewhat withdrawing and becoming more of an observer, mentally at least. It was interesting that even with very clear direction from the lawyer on Sunday not to push back against police, this was done repeatedly, once to the point of breaking the facing on the wooden gate. I think next time, if there is one, I will be more prepared emotionally. The leadership has stressed that the actions need to be based in love but in reality this is extremely difficult to do.
The seriousness of the issue and future we face calls for a commensurate level of action. This is difficult. Having previous friendships with others on the Walk for our Grandchildren that were at BXE helped and I couldn’t have done it without Charlie’s partnership. We need to build our capacity to have effective actions that create awareness of what is happening and cause people to rethink their involvement in changing the direction of the decisions we made as a society.
After two days and an almost sleepless night on jail support I wrote this stream of consciousness piece (protector is my word for protestor) and dedicate it to anyone who has read this in the hope that having read all this will decrease the scariness of stepping out:
Mother screaming
Protector pushing
Protector sitting
Protector being picked up
Man and woman telling me to go home
Man telling me I’m doing the right thing
Blind woman talking to me and me helping her thru the crowd
People taking the info – maybe 1 in 4
Nice security
Hot-blooded protectors
Old people protecting
Good props
Stress, anxiety
Enjoyment in connecting
Being worn out
Feeling weak
Having hope and satisfaction
Knowing this is where change happens
Seeing the sun go down and come up at the jail
Being inspired
Being relieved
Being alive
TO: Virginia Governor’s Climate Change and Resiliency Commission
FROM: Climate Action Alliance of the Valley (CAAV)
DATE: October 11, 2014
Dear Commissioner:
Climate Action Alliance of the Valley is a grassroots organization in the Harrisonburg, Virginia area formed seven years ago with the mission to educate and lobby on issues arising from climate change and their solutions, such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainable practices. During that time we have organized public forums on all aspects of renewable energy and conservation; tabled at countless environmental events; written editorials and letters to the editor in our local newspaper and others around the state; met with the editorial board of The Daily News-Record and a committee from the local television station; lobbied local, state, and federal representatives; and given numerous presentations for civic and political groups. Our steering committee of 14 meets bi-monthly. We have an active mailing list of 450 associates.
We were gratified when Governor Kaine formed the first climate change commission, disappointed when Governor McDonnell ignored it, and are now encouraged that Governor McAuliffe has reinstated the Commission. We are impressed with the quality of its membership.
Some of our members attended meetings of the Commission under the Kaine administration, as well as the Commission’s inaugural meeting under Governor McAuliffe. We are pleased that Governor McAuliffe did not mince words as to the reality and seriousness of climate change and explicitly charged the Commission to proceed on that basis. Indeed, in general, we were impressed with the energy and forcefulness of the Governor and his charge to the Commission. At the same time, there are some things the Governor said and did not say that we would like to go on record as questioning.
Concerning the EPA carbon rules, the Governor seems to be convinced that the rules have not given Virginia credit for efficiencies already implemented. However, the process used by the EPA explicitly gives credit for initiatives implemented or started by states. We prefer that Virginia focus on complying rather than contesting the EPA carbon rules.
The Governor made the case that the proposed natural gas pipeline would help power Virginia’s economy and reduce the use of dirty coal. With respect to job creation, the Governor’s enthusiasm overlooked the “staying power” of those jobs once the pipeline construction is completed. In addition, he did not address the significant probability for harm to Virginia’s land, air, and water, and therefore to the economy, that the pipeline’s construction and deployment will cause.
Natural gas is cleaner than coal only if the leak rate is kept below 3%. No mention was made of the importance of keeping leak rates low if we are to use natural gas.
Building out natural gas infrastructure must be done as part of an overall plan that achieves greenhouse gas emission reduction goals. The danger is that if too much is invested in natural gas infrastructure, we will not be able to afford the desired build-out of renewable energy infrastructure.
The Governor seemed to let his concern for Virginia’s economy dominate his energy policy by citing the decline of national defense jobs. We think the proper approach is to design an energy and climate policy to meet climate change goals, allowing the economy to build around those priorities. If we do the former rather than the latter, we almost surely will continue the pattern of sacrificing the environment in hopes of short term gains for the economy.
Calling upon the Dominion Power representative on the Commission, the Governor pointed out that about 40% of Virginia’s power comes from nuclear power. There might be a push by Dominion to build additional nuclear power since nuclear power’s comparatively low carbon emissions could help with compliance with the EPA carbon rules. Conventional nuclear power continues to be plagued by the problem of disposal of nuclear waste, danger of meltdown and release of dangerous radiation, and vulnerability to terrorism. Given these considerations, the State Corporation Commission should be enabled to provide rate increases to support utility plans that involve additional nuclear power only if (a) the cost is less than solar and wind, either distributed or owned by the utility, and (b) the nuclear technology used is of an advanced type that minimizes vulnerability to terrorism, safety concerns, and issues of storage and/or disposal of nuclear waste.
Governor McAuliffe came across as defending the interests of Dominion Power. The demand for electricity is very likely to go up tremendously as we transition off of fossil fuels, possibly as much as 3-5 times by 2100. More cars will be electric, more buildings will use heat pumps, airplanes are likely to be powered by hydrogen, which requires electricity to produce, etc. Even with tremendous growth of rooftop solar and other on-site renewables, Dominion Power is destined for massive, continuous growth. It is our job to make sure that growth is from renewables and not fuels that emit greenhouse gases.
Among the specific recommendations we would like to see come out of the Commission are:
1. A mandatory renewable energy portfolio standard for the utilities with incremental yearly increases
2. Energy efficiency building code standards with enforcement of those standards for all commercial and domestic buildings, public and private
3. Incentives and programs for schools to build net zero energy buildings and to add solar power to existing school buildings
4. Build-out of offshore wind without delay
5. A moratorium on offshore oil and gas (How can we expect to reduce greenhouse emissions if we keep expanding fossil fuel infrastructure?)
6. Incentives for installation of solar power and avoidance of disincentives, such as standby fees, for connecting solar arrays to the grid
7. A document that covers all of the sustainability practices needed to reduce greenhouse gases that include power plant emissions, renewable energy, energy efficiency, and agricultural practices.
8. An analysis that shows how the sum of the initiatives required by the Federal government combined with the Commission’s recommendations will achieve Virginia’s share of greenhouse gas reductions needed to keep global temperature rise below 2° Celsius.
9. If new nuclear energy facilities are used to meet our electricity needs they should be only advanced designs that minimize vulnerability to terrorism, safety concerns, and issues of storage and/or disposal of nuclear waste.
We would also urge the Commission to encourage the use of a carbon fee and dividend approach to meeting greenhouse gas emissions reductions. This approach has been incorporated into several bills proposed in Congress and is the focus of the Citizens Climate Lobby.
Carbon fee and dividend is a market based approach to emissions reduction. The carbon fee removes the current market distortion of fossil fuel prices that do not reflect the damage to the climate. The result would be that renewable energy will tend to replace fossil fuels and energy will be used more efficiently. The fees collected on carbon based fuels are paid back to citizens per capita to offset the increase in the price of fuel and other goods tied to that increase. Credible studies have shown that carbon fee and dividend reduces emissions and even modestly improves the economy over business as usual. (See REMI report at CitizensClimateLobby.org)
One of the tasks of the Commission should be to study how carbon fee and dividend would affect the Virginia economy in particular. It is likely that Virginia would benefit highly, because Virginia is not an oil and gas producing state. The movement to renewables would benefit Virginia’s high technology and manufacturing sectors. The only sector that would be negatively affected would be coal, but coal is already destined to dramatic decrease regardless of how emissions are reduced.
We consider climate change the defining issue of our time, of all time, and encourage the Commission to make its decisions bearing this in mind. All credible sources have warned us that, indeed, time is not on humanity’s side with respect to our changing climate. Unfortunately Virginia has not been a leader with respect to energy reform up to this point. We trust that this will change with a rapid roll out of the Governor’s Climate Change and Resiliency Commission’s bold, thoughtful, and forward looking recommendations.
On behalf of the CAAV Steering Committee, whose names follow,
C. P. Leslie Grady Jr., Ph.D., Chair
Steering Committee Members
Emily Blake
Laura Dansby
Carl Droms
Joni Grady
Joy Loving
Pete Mahoney
Anne Nielsen
Lynn Smith
Cathy Strickler
Charles Strickler
RoxAnna Theiss
Adrie Voors
Rickie Wertz
Photo of Joy Loving by The Breeze photographer Matt Schmachtenberg at Solarize Harrisonburg’s table at the Farmers Market on October 4.
Robyn Smith, editor and journalist with JMU’s The Breeze, wrote a fine article about Solarize Harrisonburg which was posted online on Sunday, October 5 and appeared in the Monday, October 6, 2014, print edition. See the online version here: Solar Energy is a priority for the Climate Action Alliance.
The article features Solarize Harrisonburg’s local coordinator and CAAV steering committee member Joy Loving:
“Loving installed solar panels in her home back in 2012, which led to personal enlightenment, as well as a lightening of her electric bill. …
The more conscious Loving became of her own energy use, the more she turned against mainstream sources of energy.
‘I tell people I became like an ex-smoker who is very anti-cigarettes. I am now rabidly pro-solar. Most people do not enjoy getting their electric bills and I now enjoy getting mine, because I pay $8.40 a month [instead of the $100 a month pre-switch] for infrastructure costs,’ Loving said.”
Joy will be featured on WMRA’s The Spark with Martha Woodroof on Friday, October 10 at 6:20 PM: Joy and Sunshine. Find it at 90.7 FM on Friday evening or archived online after it airs.
