caaver – Page 65 – Climate Action Alliance of the Valley

April 10, 2014

Years of Living Dangerously

JMU’s E.A.R.T.H. Club and the Climate Action Alliance of the Valley have joined together to host an early public showing, at the Grafton-Stovall Theatre, of the first episode of Years of Living Dangerously, 8:00pm Sunday, April 13th. Parking is available at the Grace Street deck. There’s plenty of room—everyone is invited–and it’s free!

“YEARS is a journey into the eye of the storm, as Hollywood’s brightest stars and today’s most respected journalists explore the issues of climate change and bring you intimate stories of triumph and tragedy.“

The first episode stars Harrison Ford, Don Cheadle, and Tom Friedman.

The Center for American Progress says this about the new Showtime series on climate change:

“It’s the biggest story of our time. Hollywood’s brightest stars and today’s most respected journalists explore the issues of climate change and bring you intimate stories of triumph and tragedy. Years of Living Dangerously takes you directly to the heart of the story in this awe-inspiring and cinematic documentary series event from Executive Producers James Cameron, Jerry Weintraub and Arnold Schwarzenegger.”

The rest of the nine part series will only be available on Showtime at 10pm Sunday (first episode airs on Showtime this Sunday at 10:00.)

April 1, 2014

Doug McNeall’s Blogroll

In an article in the March 2014 issue of Nature Climate Change, climate scientist and statistician Doug McNeall of Hadley Centre in the UK mentioned a list of blogs on climate science written by climate scientists. It can be found at http://dougmcneall.wordpress.com/links/.

The only two with which I am familiar are RealClimate by Gavin Schmidt and others (listed under “climate blogs from groups or institutions”), which I read regularly, and Climate Etc. by Judith Curry, which I read for a while, but gave up on because I found it to be light on climate science and high on opinion and politics.

A brief description of each blog is given in the list. I was surprised at how extensive the list is. Perhaps you will find one there that captures your fancy. If you do and would like to alert others on our email list about your experience with it, just send an email to contactcaav[at]gmail.com and I’ll pass it on (perhaps after consolidation with others).

Les Grady
Chair, CAAV Steering Committee
3/23/2014

March 31, 2014

Artist’s Rendering of the IPCC Report Summary from WG1

CAAV steering committee member, Joy Loving, discovered this work by Gregory Johnson here on the Sightline Institute’s blogsite: Sightline Daily. Aside from its simple beauty, “it doubles as clear, concise, powerful talking points and a compelling visual guide” of a complicated and technical report.

Joy has converted Greg’s work into a slideshow for us. Click on the image above to launch a power point show of this creative effort.

March 30, 2014

Climate Art Roundup

Inspired by Bill McKibben’s words in “What the warming world needs now is art, sweet art,” New York-based playwright and translator Chantal Bilodeau maintains a blog site devoted to all things climate art related: Artists and Climate Change: Contributions from the artistic community to the vexing problem of climate change.

“Today, interesting artistic work about climate change is popping up all over the country, in all kinds of venues. It shows up in opera houses and hip hop poetry slams, in established galleries and on-the-fly exhibitions, in off-Broadway houses and regional theatres. The goal of this blog is to track these works and gather them in one place.”

Thanks to CAAV steering committee Joy Loving for bringing this site to our attention.

March 25, 2014

The General Assembly and Us

Many thanks to Chelsea Harnish and Emily Heffling for traveling here from Richmond to deliver their hopeful and positive messages of work in the General Assembly and the power of grassroots organizing on Tuesday evening, April 8.

Chelsea.Emily — Emily, left, and Chelsea field questions from the audience as Les looks on.

Among the almost three dozen people in the audience was Jonathon Shacat, journalist for the Daily News-Record. His article covering Chelsea’s presentation at Ruby’s Lounge was printed in the April 10, 2014, edition of the Daily News-Record and is in pdf format here: A Really Good Session.

Next up: Angela Navarro of the Southern Environmental Law Center: April 29, 2014, 5:30-7:00 PM @ Ruby’s at Clementine | Join us!

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What Did the General Assembly Do for Virginia’s Future?

So. The 2014 General Assembly regular session has ended. What did our legislators do to protect Virginians from the effects of current and future climate change? What did they do to help prevent it? Will Virginia support an energy efficient 21st century powered by non-fossil fuels or are we going to continue down the “business as usual” path we were following in the last century?

The Virginia Conservation Network (VCN) and Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) constantly lobby the General Assembly to do what

needs to be done to save the energy we have, produce energy that doesn’t pollute, and recognize the risks of climate change. Join Chelsea Harnish of VCN and Emily Heffling of CCAN in a discussion of what worked and what didn’t, who our allies are in Richmond, and how we can help change the hearts and minds of those who don’t yet understand the urgency of this critical problem.

This event is free and welcomes our entire community. Please come! Share it through facebook here.

April 8, 2014, 5:30-7:00 PM @ Ruby’s at Clementine, 153 S. Main St., Harrisonburg

Then plan to join us again on April 29 for Angela Navarro of the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC). She will be visiting here from Charlottesville for a presentation and discussion about the wide scope of SELC’s advocacy for and protection of our natural world through law and policy.

April 29, 2014, 5:30-7:00 PM @ Ruby’s at Clementine, 153 S. Main St., Harrisonburg

March 24, 2014

Dear Senator Kaine:

In response to Democratic Senators’ March 10, 2014, all night session to stir up climate change action, CAAV’s Legislation and Election committee prepared the following letter to Senator Tim Kaine. It was displayed and available for signatures by the attendees of CAAV’s March 18 letter writing workshop with Pete Bsumek. Find Senator Kaine’s presentation to the Senate Climate Action Task Force’s overnight meeting here.

Senator Tim Kaine
388 Russell Senate Office Bldg.
Washington , D.C. 20510

Dear Senator Kaine:

We listened carefully and were encouraged by your remarks at the recent all-night Senate event on March 10. Your understanding of climate issues and energy challenges was correct and to the point. You stated there is no conflict between the economy and the environment and that, in fact, the path to the new economy lies in environmental innovation. Win! Win! We agree!

There is another important arrow in our quiver in the fight against climate change and that is putting a price on carbon. Experts agree that it is the most cost effective and efficient way to reduce carbon emissions. The carbon price discussion draft released in March of 2013 by Waxman, Whitehouse, Blumenauer and Schatz provides an excellent starting point but needs strengthening.

1. The tax or fee should be applied upstream on carbon-based fuels at the first point of sale. Sale of permits should not be allowed because that leaves open the possibility of switching to a cap and trade system, which creates complexity and non-transparency.
2. The carbon tax legislation must include border adjustment tariffs to prevent American businesses from being placed at a competitive disadvantage. Countries without similar carbon prices would have a tariff imposed, along with refunds to U.S. businesses exporting to those countries, in order to create a level playing field. Also this would help encourage the carbon pricing to spread world-wide.
3. The tax should start at $35 per ton and increase at an annual rate of 8% per year. (The original numbers put forward by the task force were too weak).
4. All revenue generated from the tax should be divided equally among individuals in the U.S. and returned as a monthly or annual payment. This protects low and middle income consumers and makes the bill truly revenue neutral. (There are many other ideas out there on this point including a portion going to R and D and subsidies for renewables).
5. There must be bipartisan support!

We look to you and Senator Warner to provide leadership not only for Virginia but for the entire Nation on this climate crisis. Thank you for stepping out and into the light last week and becoming a “climate hero”. We’re right here behind you, supporting you in any way we can with the political will for a livable world.

For the CAAV Steering Committee and the Citizens signing the following page,
Leslie Grady Jr, Ph.D.
Chairman CAAV Steering Committee
Harrisonburg, VA

March 21, 2014

March Visit to the Capitol

On Wednesday, March 12, 2014, 6 CAAV members of the Legislation and Elections Committee (Cathy Strickler, Charles Strickler, Joy Loving, Bishop Dansby, Sallie Newkirk and Laura Dansby) went to Washington, D. C. and met with aides for Senators Kaine and Warner and Rep. Goodlatte. The overall purpose of our visit was to provide political will for a livable planet through education on the climate crisis. We talked specifically about a proposal (S. 332) introduced in 2013 that would put a price on carbon. Putting a price on carbon is the most cost effective and efficient method of slowing climate change (See Below for the main points). We left with each office the latest printed version of the National Academy of Sciences booklet on climate. The day was long but we all felt good about going and will follow up with letters of appreciation and education.

Carbon Tax Proposal-Whitehouse, Shatz, Waxman and Blumenauer:

1. The tax or fee should be applied upstream on carbon based fuels at the first point of sale.
No permits allowed because that leaves open the possibility of switching to a cap and trade system which creates complexity and non transparency.

2.The carbon tax legislation must include border adjustment tariffs to prevent American businesses from being placed at a competitive disadvantage. Countries without similar carbon prices would have a tariff imposed, along with refunds to businesses exporting to those country would keep a level playing field.

3. The tax should start at $35 per ton and increase at an annual rate of 8% per year per ton.

4. All revenue generated from the tax should be divided equally among individuals in the U.S. and return as monthly or annual payments. This protects low and middle income consumers and makes the bill truly revenue neutral. We must have Republican support.

March 3, 2014

Letter Writing Workshop on March 18, 2014

Click on the image at right for Pete Bsumek’s slide presentation on letter writing.

Dr. Bsumek recommends this resource for letter writers: Writing and Submitting an Opinion Piece: A Guide. It is also available on The Earth Institute, Columbia University webpage here along with more resources.

Also recommended is James Hoggan’s book Climate Cover-Up.

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The Climate Action Alliance of the Valley is holding an exciting workshop: “What to do when the newspaper makes you mad—or glad” on March 18^th from 6—7:30 PM at the Massanutten Regional Library.

Do you still read the newspaper despite the misinformation on many subjects? Bring an example!

Do many editorials and opinion pieces upset you? Bring an example!

Do some of the letters to the editor mystify you with their illogic or ignorance? Bring an example!

Do some of these also entertain, educate, or inspire you and would you like to know more about how to write Letters to the Editor and OpEd pieces with the same impact?

Come and find out how to do it from Dr. Pete Bsumek, an associate professor in the School of Communication Studies at James Madison University. He is director of the MA program in Communication and Advocacy and coordinator of the interdisciplinary Environmental Studies minor.

Dr. Bsumek earned a B.S. in Political Science from the University of Utah, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Communication from the University of Pittsburgh. His research and teaching focus on rhetoric and the processes of advocacy and decision-making in social change, with a specific emphasis in environmental communication. He is currently working on a collaborative project investigating public controversies surrounding coal. Prior research focused on the rhetoric of the wilderness movement, processes of debate and deliberation, and greening the public relations curriculum. He is also currently serving on a grant funded research team investigating means for reducing greenhouse gases through low cost energy management and community based social marketing in university residence halls.

Valley readers deserve a steady stream of accurate, informed, compassionate, and literate information and opinion on fighting and dealing with climate change. Each one of us can help.

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February 14, 2014

Getting “Performance Standards Coordinator” in next year’s City Budget

Sustainability Coordinator, Facility Manager … Performance Standards Coordinator. Let the Council and City Manager know to make this position a budget priority. It will likely pay for itself in financial savings while streamlining and facilitating city efforts to save energy and reduce our carbon footprint for the health of our community and planet. More about the possibilities for this role in this earlier posting.

“… at the Budget work session (February 8, 2014) for City Council, City staff recommended that the next budget include a Facility Manager/Sustainability Coordinator. The City Manager said he would like that new job to take effect before the budget goes into effect. The staff circulated the attached beginning thoughts about a job description. I spoke with Kurt (Hodgen) afterwards and he said they are interested in getting comments about what else should be in the job description or how it should change. He stressed this is their first effort and expect it to change because they have not done this before.

This is very very good news. Pete Bsumek and others have been working on this for years and this is a great development.

So, if you have ideas for what should be in the job description then send those to the City Manager. Also, we should encourage people to use the budget survey at http://beheardharrisonburg.org/surveys/2014-2015-budget-ideas and let the City know that this proposed new job should definitely stay in the budget. The recommendation from City Staff is tremendous but City Council has to know not to remove it.

Truly this is huge. Great work Pete and all who have been working on this issue. – Thomas D. Domonoske

Conservation Lobby Day 2014

Sponsored by the Virginia Conservation Network

Report by Cathy Strickler, January 27, 2014, Richmond VA

Laura and Bishop Dansby, Doug Hendren, Joy Loving, Charlie and I attended.

We met with the aide of Sen. Obenshain and the aide of Del. Landes. Three of us met with the aide of Del. Wilt and three met with Sen. Hanger. We left information at all offices including CAAV’s handout “Climate Disruption: Virginia at Risk.”

We urged them to support:

SB 498/HB 882 – strengthens the RPS (Renewable Portfolio Standard)

SB 418/HB 1239 – eliminates the solar machinery and tools tax.

We urged them to vote against SB615 that cripples the EPA’s effectiveness in VA. And HB 915 that makes fracking permits easier to obtain.

We emphasized these bills at the direction of the VCN staff.

At lunch we heard Molly Ward, Secretary of Natural Resources speak.

Evan Feinman is her assistant, the Deputy Secretary of Natural Resources, and has a history in energy. .
Water quality is the first focus of her office.
She wants to have a Climate Task Force.
She wants an open door policy, to take risks and be creative.
She plans to ‘dust off’ Kaine’s Commission on Climate Change report and implement it

Chelsea Harnish of VCN said they have two asks of this administration:
1. Appoint a Senior adviser on climate
2. Implement the CC Commission Report

Kate Rooth, Campaign Director for Appalachian Voices, talked in detail about Dominion Power and Virginia’s energy plan. Appalachian Voices has an alternative plan at NewPowerforVA.org.

As of halfway through the legislative session, we've seen some positive outcomes. — As of halfway through the legislative session, we’ve seen some positive outcomes.

At noon, approximately 40 of us, holding miniature wind turbines, lined the walk on both sides handing out literature to legislators as they went from the General Assembly building to the capitol.

At 3 PM we marched and chanted for Climate Action around the capitol and Governor’s mansion. One new song that is worth learning is Bella Ciao with Climate Change lyrics. It is on you tube. One well-produced version with Flemish musicians is here. A version with lyrics is here.