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Local and Virginia Climate News

Because of the growth of power-hungry data centers, Virginia now imports more electricity than any other state. The electricity imported from neighboring states is both more expensive and more dependent on fossil fuels.

Charlottesville is giving out 25 e-bike vouchers each worth $1,000, every four months. The city’s Office of Sustainability had a hand in formatting the program with the aim of reducing carbon emissions and improving lives.

The Virginia Commission on Electric Utility Regulation recommended that the General Assembly consider creating a new board to give the state more control over approval of large solar projects. Under the proposed legislation, a local government that rejects a solar proposal that the new board recommends would have to explain why.

Officials in the Virginia wind industry aren’t overly concerned about president Trump’s promise to implement “a policy where no windmills are being built.” That is because funding has already been allocated for projects like Dominion Energy’s offshore wind farm.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin used his annual State of the Commonwealth address to promote Virginia as the “data center capital of the world.” He argued that lawmakers should not overrule localities regarding land-use for those centers or use the “growing economy and growing need for power as an excuse to end local control of solar project siting.”

A bipartisan legislative effort seeks to regulate data center construction in Virginia.  Speaking about the proposed legislation, the lawmakers defined its “four pillars”: protecting families and businesses who live near data centers, enhancing the companies’ transparency, managing resources responsibly and providing incentives for energy efficiency.

The Virginia Department of Energy received $10 million in federal funding to build 392 electric vehicle charging ports in urban and rural tourist destinations. More than half of the charging ports are set to be installed in disadvantaged communities.

Various bills in the Virginia General Assembly seek to address our climate crisis through resilience, adaptation and education. One bill would require flood risk disclosure to potential buyers. Another would create a methodology and criteria for coastal storm risk management projects.

Our Climate Crisis

Last year saw the biggest one-year jump in carbon dioxide levels on record. Even record-high emissions from fossil fuels cannot fully explain the surge. Scientists note that increasingly severe heat and drought prevents trees and grasses from drawing down as much carbon as in the past. Parched soils are also releasing more carbon back into the atmosphere.

Our planet’s warming climate is intensifying the global water cycle, triggering deadly storms, flooding and droughts that displaced millions and caused over $550 billion in damages in 2024. With climate forecasts predicting worsening extremes, stronger mitigation and adaptation efforts are urgently needed.

Rising temperatures in the Arctic are weakening weather systems that normally trap the cold around the poles, making winter weather more chaotic. The recent record snowfall across the Gulf Coast was just the latest incident where frigid air that normally swirls above the North Pole is transported to places much farther south.

Santa Ana winds, drought and a hotter planet have helped exacerbate the Los Angeles wildfires. Our climate crisis is making such blazes more common and devastating. Researchers have calculated that global warming has contributed to a 172% increase in California’s burned areas since the 1970s, with a further spread expected in the decades ahead.

Insurance companies are dropping policies for homeowners in communities affected by climate change. It’s not just happening in California. Florida, Louisiana and North Carolina all posted nonrenewal rates higher than California in 2023.

Politics and Policy

In his first day in office, President Trump signed executive orders withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement and declaring a national energy emergency, expanding drilling in Alaska and pausing offshore wind projects.

The incoming Trump administration has ordered federal agencies to ​freeze the disbursement of funds under the Inflation Reduction Act and the infrastructure law. This throws tens of billions of dollars of lawfully designated clean energy funding into uncertainty and is likely to face challenges in court.

Disinformation about climate science soon could spread more rapidly online, experts say, after tech giant Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Tuesday that it would no longer use fact-checkers to moderate content on its platforms, including Facebook and Instagram. 

Analysts expect global sales of 15.1 million EVs in 2025, which would mark a 30% jump. EVs are expected to make up 16.7% of the market share for light vehicles. Uncertainty over the Trump administration’s electric vehicle policies, however, clouds the 2025 forecast for automakers.

Energy

DeepSeek, a recently released chatbot from a Chinese company, claims it uses far less computing power and energy than American rivals like ChatGPT, but still churns out comparable results. If true, it could upend the AI industry and reduce AI’s energy usage.

The myth of a green energy transition hides the troubling truth that fossil fuels still provide 82% of global energy despite renewable growth. Green energy often only adds new sources rather than replacing old ones, accelerating overall consumption. Relying on green energy without addressing consumption may actually intensify climate impacts.

US greenhouse gas emissions fell by just 0.2% last year despite a record year for clean energy.  That’s because clean energy increases were offset by the rising fossil-fuel demand in the transportation and electric power sectors. The minimal decrease in emissions is far short of the pace needed to meet our climate goals.

Thanks to next-generation technologies, geothermal has the potential to produce more electricity than any clean energy source but solar, according to the International Energy Agency. Companies and research institutions are racing to design new geothermal drilling tools and energy systems that can tap hotter, deeper resources and do so cost-effectively.

The U.S. has made major gains in solar panel and battery cell manufacturing over the last four years, but self-sufficiency remains far away.

Hulking, aging buildings pose a huge climate problem. In the U.S., buildings can account for up to three-quarters or more of a city’s carbon output, mostly from fossil fuels burned for space and water heating. In New York City and St. Louis, innovative laws meant to curb emissions from buildings are kicking in this year. More states and cities will soon follow.

The China State Grid—the nation’s largest electrical power network operator—is gearing up to spend a record $89 billion to strengthen its grid this year. This is an effort to keep pace with surging renewable energy generation in China.

Food and Agriculture

U.S. Reps. Jennifer L. McClellan of Virginia and Mike Lawler of New York introduced a bill in the U.S. Congress that would empower the federal government to support soil carbon sequestration research and monitoring. Carbon sequestration makes farms more resilient to drought, heavy rainfall, and other extreme weather conditions exacerbated by climate change.

The U.S. is nowhere near its goal of cutting food waste in half by 2030. We still generate about 328 pounds of food waste per person annually, the same amount as in 2016. The goal is to reduce the amount of food that ends up in landfills, where it emits greenhouse gases. Best practices are to eat the food that is produced and to compost what is not eaten.

Climate Justice

The disaster-wary Philippines, pounded by six major storms in less than a month last year, is leading the push for climate justice through the United Nations. The country is hosting the Loss and Development Fund board which aims to hold carbon polluters accountable by creating a fund for climate loss and damage victims and linking reparations to corporate responsibility.

A new community solar project in Brooklyn could offer a model for climate justice. The grassroots organization UPROSE is having a 725-kilowatt array installed on the roof of a former military supply base. The project is expected to reduce the energy bills of some 150 participating households in nearby Sunset Park—a mainly working-class neighborhood of Asian, Latino, and immigrant communities.

European countries consider burning biomass as clean energy, which they count toward reaching their international climate targets. Producing wood pellets, shipping them abroad, and burning them in power plants, however, creates carbon pollution greater than that of burning coal. Furthermore, neighbors of large wood-pellet plants in the American Southeast suffer through incessant dust and noise from the facilities.

A community solar project on the campus of a public school in Baltimore provides more than $200 a year in energy savings to low and medium income households. Students’ families, staff, and the wider community can subscribe to the project and take advantage of both clean energy generation and discounted electricity for their homes.

Climate Action

EVgo, the largest electric vehicle charging network in America, plans to more than triple its network of available charging stations across the country over the next four years. This will include adding 7,500 additional fast charging stations.

Brown Avenue Elementary School in Rhode Island switched to new stainless steel trays to carry the lunches children eat. Plastic foam trays, used in schools around the country, are convenient and cheap but also hard to recycle. Switching to a reusable option is better for children’s health, our environment, and often the school’s budget.

Norway is on track to be the first country to go all-electric. Last year electric cars accounted for nine out of 10 new vehicles sold in the country.  

​​Solar microgrids are now powering thousands of homes and businesses across the U.S. This is now possible because the price of solar panels has declined by 90% over the last decade, and the price of power provided by battery storage has fallen by more than 80%.

Americans lead other countries in the amount of trash we throw out, while lagging behind other wealthy countries in recycling and composting. This leaves us with two flawed options for getting rid of waste: burn it or bury it. That’s why Miami-Dade County is planning to build a new $1.5 billion waste-to-energy facility that would generate electricity and pollute less.

Earl Zimmerman
CAAV Steering Committee

The Climate Action Alliance of the Valley (CAAV) is hoping to fill three vacancies in their steering committee. With a mission of limiting “human impact on climate in order to protect the future of Earth and its inhabitants,” our efforts are wide-ranging.

We have twice monthly meetings to share our sub-committee work and discuss direction and actions. Currently with 12 members, the CAAV steering committee would welcome new energy and ideas from individuals interested in getting more involved.

But you don’t have to be a steering committee member to help out. Everyone is invited to attend our meetings and join our sub-committees or form their own.

For more information and/or to express an interest in joining the steering committee, contact Cathy Strickler: cathystrickler4 [at] gmail.com or Joni Grady: jonigrad [at] gmail.com

 

 

On October 27 at The Gathering Place, five Harrisonburg-area solid waste managers offered a room full of caring citizens insight into how our trash is collected and processed and what we may be able to do to make it all … less wasteful. Masterful moderating on the part of JMU Professor of Political Science Rob Alexander and meaningful questions from the audience helped us gather these Talkin’ Trash takeaways:

From Harsit Patel, Business Services Manager, Harrisonburg Public Works Department, overseeing municipal solid waste management:

Switching to the all-in-one trash collection from single stream (households separating and putting all recyclables in separate curbside bins) has increased our household recycling rate from 7-8% to 20-25%.

Of the approximately 40,000 tons of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) generated by the city every year, only 11-12,000 tons is picked up from curbside by the city trash trucks. The rest is from businesses and private communities who contract their own trash hauling services.

Getting an accurate recycling rate of MSW is clunky at best due to all the various entities involved and the combining of trash with other municipalities in the collection process from non-city trucks. Harrisonburg generally reports a 27-32% recycling rate. For 2015 it was 39%. See the city’s Solid Waste Management Plan for definitions of Principal Recyclable Materials (PRM) and Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) which are used to calculate recycling rates. Note that yard waste does factor into the recycling rate equation but not other compostables, for example, food waste.

Yard waste is currently being picked up with bulk items and all landfilled. At one time it was used for mulch and/or compost. It is possible we can go back to that. It requires separate trucks that get poor gas mileage so ends up costing more. It would also require a change in policy for the county to return to mulching and/or composting.

The city does have a tiered price structure for trash collected from downtown. Charges are related to the amount of trash produced but they are allowed to fill an unlimited number of recycling bins.

Changes need to come from the top. Pay as you throw system of trash service payment, bag and styrofoam bans would all be powerful tools in reducing our waste.

It is desirable to maintain the mindset of source separation. New residents are still being offered recycle bins to maintain this habit. Separating recyclables may have an impact on the success of their recovery from the van der Linde facility.

For some recyclable commodities, the amount collected curbside by the city was not large enough to have a viable market.

From Linda Zirkle, Rockingham County recycling:

The county has five container sites accepting source separated recyclables. They are accessible at most times and accept a wide variety of recyclables including Goodwill items but no yard wastes, nor are there composting opportunities.

The county turned in a 28% recycle rate to the DEQ for 2015; the MSW was 54000 tons. Because of its rural nature, it has only a 15% state mandated recycling rate compared to the city with a 25% rate mandated by the state. The county recycles lots of metal.

Yard debris and brush is ground and mixed with crushed glass, dirt and other things and used as a daily cap for the landfill. Mulch is not currently available to the public.

The various towns in Rockingham County each have their own trash programs.

She would like to see a bottle bill.

Rockingham County has about 380 acres at its landfill site. The present cell has  3 – 4 years’ life left which will satisfy needs until 2020. Work on a new cell will start in 2018, will be complete by 2020 and will go through 2026. There is enough land to build cells to last another 30 years past that.*

The county hauls all the plastic they collect to Sonoco Recycling in Fishersville for recycling. They do not get any money for this.*

From Eric Walter, Black Bear Composting founder and chief composting officer, Crimora, VA:

28% of household waste is compostable. There is huge potential for composting here but not enough people willing to separate their organics from the rest of their trash to make his facility financially viable. State policy does not support this as well. It is cheap to landfill. Other neighboring states, including North Carolina and Maryland have bans on yard waste in landfills which leads to successful mulching businesses.

Our policy makers will not do anything without public input. They need to be told that we care about this. As long as all they see is trash being hauled away they will not care what happens to it.

He is hoping to keep the current composting stream viable by finding a way to have it hauled to other composters since he will no longer be collecting after the end of this year.

From Peter van der Linde and Andrea Johnson of van der Linde Recycling in Troy, VA:

A new four minute video of their municipal solid waste sorting and separation process was shown. Their company was founded on the desire to keep recoverable resources out of landfills. Based on the idea that this can be done most effectively by sorting through the entire waste stream and not depend on the public to separate out recyclables, they are motivated by finding salable items and successfully sorting and bundling them to create marketable commodities.

Organics in the waste stream they receive are a definite concern and do affect the quality of some of the resources they are able to sort out. The organics currently all end up being landfilled as they are too contaminated to effectively compost. The company is continually seeking ways to improve their process and are considering distributing “biobags” in which customers can collect organics to put in their trash to keep it physically separated.

The van der Linde facility reported a 25% diversion rate for 2015 which is from a large and diverse waste stream including a lot of unrecyclable items like mattresses and furniture. They are successfully recovering 75-80% of all recyclables from this waste stream. The rest is falling through the cracks or too dirty to sell.

Recyclables are sold on the spot market; they do not have any contracts. Their license does not allow them to store materials on site to, for instance, wait for better commodity prices.

As feasible, they hold single stream recyclable material delivered to them on the side to be run through the process separately on a daily basis.*

Virginia is the second biggest importer of trash in the nation  – second only to Pennsylvania. It is a big money maker for Virginia. Landfilling is big business and politically powerful here which makes it minimally-regulated and cheap.

Contact information for the waste managers featured at the forum:

• Harsit Patel: Harsit.Patel [at] harrisonburgva.gov, 540-434-5928
• Linda Zirkle: lzirkle [at] rockinghamcountyva.gov, 540-564-3008
• Eric Walter: info [at] blackbearcomposting.com, 888-666-4712
• van der Linde Recycling: info [at] vanderlinderecycling.com, 877-981-0891

Many thanks to all the participants and audience members at this forum!

*From personal communication after the forum.

Oral arguments on the legality of the Clean Power Plan were heard on Tuesday, September 27, before the Court of Appeals of the D.C. Circuit.  When a decision will be rendered is yet unknown.  Bloomberg Government provided some information about the proceedings and Martha Roberts of the Environmental Defense Fund reflected on what she observed.  The Editorial Board of The Washington Post sided with EPA.  Author Elizabeth Kolbert reflected at The New Yorker on the plan and the potential impacts of the presidential election.

According to an analysis published Monday in Nature Climate Change, even if the U.S. implements all current and proposed policies, it would miss its 2025 emission target by as much as 1.5 billion metric tons of CO₂ per year—roughly 20% of the nation’s total emissions.  Although various think tanks have previously concluded that current policies are inadequate, this study is the first by federal scientists.  It is also one of the most comprehensive analyses of the gap between the United States’ Paris promises and real policies.  In addition, a report by seven distinguished climate scientists concludes that the chance of holding warming to below 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels “has almost certainly already been missed,” and that keeping below 2°C will require nations to up their pledges under the Paris Climate Agreement.

Climate

Some good news: On Friday the environment ministers of the European Union unanimously approved the ratification of the Paris Climate Agreement.  The European Parliament is expected to approve it next week, while full ratification by the EU is expected to take about a month to complete.  Since the EU contributes about 12% of global emissions, this will take the Paris Agreement past the 55% threshold required for it to go into effect.  In addition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday announced that India, which contributes 4.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, would ratify the Paris Climate Agreement on October 2, the birth date of Mahatma Gandhi.  Also under the Good News category is a new series of videos called Global Weirding by climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe.  I say this is good news because Hayhoe is an excellent communicator and is always upbeat.  This will likely be a series you will want to share with those who are skeptical about human-caused climate change.

A new paper in Nature has caused a bit of a stir in the climate science community.  The study used nearly 60 ocean sediment cores to build the most complete reconstruction to date of global sea surface temperatures stretching back 2 million years.  They show, among other things, that Earth is the warmest it has been in around 120,000 years, something that is not all that surprising.  Rather, the controversy arose over projections of what will occur in the future.  Gavin Schmidt, Director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies was moved to write a critique for RealClimate, a climate science blog.  While not mentioning the Nature paper, Andy Skuce reviewed efforts to estimate climate sensitivity.

In a paper to be published next week in BioScience, a team of researchers from a variety of institutions reports a significant source of methane emissions that has been underestimated: manmade reservoirs.  It turns out that reservoirs worldwide emit sufficient methane from decomposition of organic matter to be equivalent to around 1% of total CO₂ emissions.  They also directly emit around 0.2% of global CO₂.  Naturally occurring reservoirs, on the other hand, have very low emissions.  All of this means that hydroelectric power is not entirely free of greenhouse gas emissions and that these emissions must be considered in global accountings.  It also raises a bit of concern for the large number of hydroelectric dams in the works; as many as 847 worldwide.  It is also interesting that another study, published in Global Biogeochemical Cycles, has concluded that the increase in global methane levels is being driven more by natural sources than by emissions from the oil and gas industry, as has been indicated by others.

Both of the planet’s poles were in the news this week.  With respect to the Arctic, the World Meteorological Organization said that things were changing so rapidly there that researchers are struggling to keep up.  One reason this is a concern is that the Arctic is a major driver of the global climate system, which is one reason the Obama administration convened a first-ever Arctic Science Ministerial to coordinate study of what the consequences will be as the Arctic heats up.  Meanwhile, according to a new study in the journal Nature Climate Change, natural variability in the Antarctic has such a large impact and the data record is so short that, with the exception of a shift in the prevailing westerly winds, it is difficult to discern the impacts of human-induced climate change.  Some of the authors of that paper have discussed their major findings at The Conversation.  Also, writing at Audubon, Hannah Waters reports on how four Arctic birds are coping with the changes there.

Last week I provided links to two articles about the response of plants to climate change.  There was an additional article this week, in the journal Biology Letters.  The authors investigated the rates at which the climatic niche (temperature and precipitation) can change in 236 grass species (including wheat, rice, corn, and sorghum) and compared those rates with rates of projected climate change by 2070.  They found that projected climate change is consistently faster than rates of niche change, typically by more than 5000-fold for temperature-related variables.  The authors stated that their results “have troubling implications for a major biome and for human food resources.”

Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey and Austria’s Vienna University of Technology analyzed records from 345 stream gauges covering 70% of the conterminous United States from 1940 to 2013, with the first 30 years serving as the base period.  They documented flood frequency, peak magnitude, duration, and volume.  They found that flooding patterns have shown some regional changes, but no countrywide shift, despite heavier rains caused by global warming.  On the other hand, a new study in the journal Atmospheres has concluded that the recent weather trend of warm winters in the western U.S. and cold winters in the eastern U.S. (called the “North American winter temperature dipole”) can be attributed to anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases.

Energy

Efforts to limit CO₂ emissions from burning fossil fuels have typically focused on decreasing demand for them.  However, as it becomes necessary to stop burning fossil fuels entirely, restrictions on their supply may be required.  Exactly how this would be achieved in free, democratic, and capitalistic societies is far from clear.  Consequently, the Stockholm Environment Institute convened a conference in Oxford, England, to begin discussions on this issue.  Sophie Yeo of Carbon Brief attended and has compiled comments from a number of attendees.

According to a new study from Amazon Watch, U.S. imports of crude oil from the Amazon are driving the destruction of some of the rainforest’s most pristine areas and releasing copious amounts of greenhouse gases.

A new study, published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, has found that when operating costs are considered, hybrid and electric cars are the least expensive to operate, and also have the smallest CO₂ emissions.  The study team has produced an app that lets buyers check out cars’ records while shopping.  Also on the subject of electric cars, Renault has announced that they have upped the range of the Zoe to over 200 miles, all for a price (in Europe) starting at $26,500.  If you are a fan of auto racing and feel conflicted because of the reliance on internal combustion engines, then you’ll be glad to learn of Formula-E, which will come to New York City in July 2017.

A Department of Energy study has concluded that the cost of five clean energy technologies — from wind and solar power to LED lighting — has declined between 40% and 94%, depending on the technology, since 2008.  Joe Romm provides a couple of interesting graphs from the study.

Last week I put in information about the need to stop building more fossil fuel infrastructure because we can’t burn all known reserves without exceeding the CO₂ budget for staying below 2°C.  Given that restraint, Gavin Bade asks, “why are utilities going all-in on gas?”

For years the oil and gas industry has employed floating drilling platforms in order to operate in deep water.  Because there are many advantages associated with locating wind turbines further off-shore, several organizations are exploring the use of floating wind turbines.  Diane Cardwell of The New York Times has reported on the efforts underway at the University of Maine in Orono.  Wind energy is an important component of Massachusetts’ plans for future clean energy development.  As Daniel Cusick has stated at E&E News “In an unprecedented string of policy developments this summer, Massachusetts has embraced core elements of what experts describe as a transformational blueprint for how carbon-free electricity flows from power producers and utilities to consumers.”

A few weeks ago I linked to an article about a hydrogen fuel cell powered electric truck.  This week there was an article about a hydrogen fuel cell powered electric train that is being put into service in Germany.

These news items have been compiled by Les Grady, member and former chair of the CAAV steering committee. He is a licensed professional engineer (retired) who taught environmental engineering at Purdue and Clemson Universities and engaged in private practice with CH2M Hill, the world’s largest environmental engineering consulting firm. Since his retirement in 2003 he has devoted much of his time to the study of climate science and the question of global warming and makes himself available to speak to groups about this subject. More here.

Why would anyone voluntarily decide to live on water only for 18 days? Why, while not eating, would anyone agree to sleeping on the floor of a church often getting dizzy as you try with great effort to stand; get up at 5:30 AM each day; use 4 flights of stairs for a sponge bath (no showers available); walk 12 blocks, stand passing out literature related to your cause or sit on a noisy street for about 11 hours a day, just being? Wonderful odors drifting up the street from the food trucks, beautiful displays of fresh fruits along the walk and trips to the bathroom often in food courts only add to your discomfort. Indeed, why?

Our group of 12 set out on this journey (fasting) to try to get the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to pay attention to citizens’ very serious concerns in relationship to pipelines and other noxious fossil fuel infrastructures for which FERC grants permits. FERC gets its money from the fossil fuel industry through the permitting process and just rubber-stamps anything the industry wants to do. We have tried to meet with FERC officials on various occasions, tried civil disobedience with arrests and now a hunger strike.

Some of our neighbors to the south (Highland, Augusta and Nelson Counties) seek to be heard concerning a pipeline that is being jammed down their throats. Eminent domain, which is supposed to be for the public good, is being used for private gain to take their land and place dangerous infrastructures near their homes, schools and communities. Pristine public land will also be destroyed. The same thing is happening across the country, from Cove Point, MD to Jordan Cove, Oregon. In fact, in Oregon, it is for foreign private gain. It is estimated that over 4000 miles of new pipelines, related to fracking in Pennsylvania alone have been proposed.

Personally, the fast with its daily challenges helped me to understand better those poignant pictures of children, mere skin and bones because they lack food. Of course my situation was quite different because I had an end date. I had clean water to help sustain me, which much of the world does not have. Fasting also deepened my awareness of those whose homes and communities are threatened by fossil fuel infrastructures. Imagine yourself in a similar situation. What if such a structure ran close to a school in Harrisonburg? You would not feel good about yourself knowing that you are part of the problem.

Put yourself in the shoes of future generations. What will they say about us when their world is falling apart because we were unwilling to make changes to protect them, when the chemistry and physics of climate change is so clearly understood? Denial is no longer an excuse. We need to act now to put a price on carbon and stop digging a deeper hole that our grandchildren may not be able to get out of.

This fast was timed to coincide with Pope Francis’ speech to Congress, with its emphasis on the need for a moral commitment to creation care. “I call for a courageous and responsible effort to redirect our steps, and to avert the most serious effects of the environmental deterioration caused by human activity.”I am not Catholic, but I can really appreciate a person of his stature who walks the walk for humanity and climate justice.
Attempts were made to get Senators Kaine and Warner and Representative Goodlatte or staff person to visit the fast site and discuss our grievances with FERC. No one could make it. Please stress to our elected officials that time to act is growing short. It is my hope and prayer that each reader will use their power as a voter to elect and support candidates who recognize the gravity of this issue in our time. We need to push our elected officials to make the necessary difficult choices. We can do this with a little empathy and will power. There is no plan(et) B.

Charles Strickler DDS
Harrisonburg VA 22801

I tried to get this published in the Daily News-Record within a week of the fast. After 2 weeks with no reply, I called and they said there “was no context” and would not print it. I then sent it to Staunton News Leader and after a week or so they said “not before the elections if at all.”   – Charlie, November 7, 2015