Downtown Harrisonburg Rally against the Keystone Pipeline

CAAV collaborated with 350.org, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Kids vs. Global Warming/ iMatter Campaign and other local groups to stage a public rally around Senator Warner’s visit to Harrisonburg on Wednesday, March 27.

On March 22, 62 Senators, including Virginia’s Mark Warner, voted for a resolution supporting construction of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

Sen. Warner chose to stand with the oil industry, rather than the thousands of Virginians that have worked so hard to stop this project. In CAAV chairperson Les Grady’s words, we urge Sen. Warner to: “Please think again about your decision and help us work to reduce CO₂ emissions before we condemn our children and grandchildren to a much less hospitable world.”

The Daily News Record‘s Alex Rohr covered the downtown march and meeting with Warner’s chief of staff Luke Albee:

Time Is Melting Away

Pipeline Protesters Crash Visitor’s Party To ‘Hold Him Accountable’

Daily News Record Posted: March 28, 2013

By ALEX ROHR

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., discusses environmental matters with protesters along Harrisonburg’s Main Street on Wednesday. The protest focused on the Keystone XL pipeline, but the 70 or so people who rallied during Warner’s visit to the Friendly City regarded it as just the centerpiece for broader environmental concerns. (Photos by Jason Lenhart / DN-R)

HARRISONBURG — A long row of signs, banners, flags and hand-held windmills wound around in circles on Main Street Wednesday afternoon, waving to get the attention of U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., who was meeting with entrepreneurs in downtown Harrisonburg.

“We’re here today to make sure that we can reach Warner and hold him accountable for his actions supporting the pipeline,” said Emily Heffling, Virginia campus organizer for the Chesapeake Climate Action Network.

By actions, Heffling meant Warner’s vote on a nonbinding budget amendment made by the Senate on Friday expressing support for the Keystone XL pipeline. The resolution passed easily on a 62-37 vote.

The proposed $5.3 billion pipeline would carry tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada, through America’s heartland to refineries in the Gulf of Mexico.

“Hey, Senator Warner, the planet’s getting warmer,” the protesters chanted as they marched, one dressed in a polar bear costume with a sign that read “Time is melting away.”

When a coalition of 22 Virginia residents visited Warner’s office to lobby against the pipeline before the vote, they were told they’d receive a response within a week, said Heffling and Kara Dodson of 350.org.

This statement was not confirmed with Warner’s representatives.

“He didn’t [respond] … so we’re back,” Heffling said. “And we’ll keep coming back until he rejects the pipeline.”

And they came back with muscle.

Environmental protesters prepare to march along Main Street as they make their statement about Sen. Mark Warner’s support of the Keystone XL pipeline project. Warner, D-Va., was in Harrisonburg for an entrepreneurs’ roundtable.

“The Keystone pipeline’s got to go. Hey, hey, ho, ho,” the chanting continued.

About 70 protesters, including members of climate action groups Climate Action Alliance of the Valley, the Shenandoah Group of the Sierra Club, 350.org and Kids vs. Global Warming/iMatter Campaign, didn’t leave until they got a response from their senator.

When Warner pulled up in front of Ruby’s, the basement lounge below Clementine Restaurant on South Main Street, he talked with marchers for a few moments before going to the scheduled business roundtable with local entrepreneurs.

Warner said he voted for the amendment because of the results of an updated U.S. State Department environmental impact statement, which concluded the pipeline’s effect would be minimal because the oil sands would be developed with or without Keystone.

President Barack Obama denied a permit for the pipeline’s construction in January 2012, citing environmental concerns over the pipeline’s proposed route. He did sign an executive order allowing the southern portion of the pipe from Oklahoma to the Texas Gulf Coast to be built.

While Warner didn’t stay long to chat, he sent his chief of staff, Luke Albee, to talk with the protesters across the street at Massanutten Regional Library.

“I am your response,” said Albee, who listened to the concerns of a room filled with residents of Harrisonburg, Broadway, Mount Crawford, Penn Laird, Dayton, Grottoes, Bridgewater, Keezletown, Charlottesville and Richmond.

At their own roundtable discussion, albeit last-minute, protesters said their march was not just about this particular stretch of proposed oil pipeline, but about switching to sustainable forms of energy, including wind and solar.

“The Keystone XL pipeline is important for what it is and what it represents,” said Les Grady, part of the Climate Action Alliance of the Valley’s organizing body. “We are so addicted to fossil fuels that there are no limits to where we will go in getting them.”

Grady explained that the tar sands oil is particularly unfriendly to the environment because of the energy required to make it usable.

One concern that protesters practically shouted at Albee was their accusation that the State Department study was performed by a business with financial ties to TransCanada, the company wanting to build the pipeline.

“It’s like the fox guarding the henhouse,” said Herbet Fitzel of Chester, who came to Harrisonburg as a volunteer with 350.org.

In the wake of widespread social media protests against the pipeline, some people at Wednesday’s march said it was important to show up physically.

“Anybody can push a button,” said Annie Long who works at Little Grill. “I wanted to be in a physical body here.”

“You elect people and if you don’t push what you elected them for, then they have their own agenda,” said Elise Benusa, a JMU senior in the international studies program. “You can’t just sit back, complain about it, and not get your hands dirty.”

Contact Alex Rohr at 574-6293 or arohr@dnronline.com

View rally photos by CAAV steering committee member Pete Mahoney in this Picasa web album.

Warner Rally, March 27, 2013

March 15, 2013

Extreme weather: Who Plans, Who Pays?

April forum flyer.5 — Everyone is invited to CAAV’s next FREE public forum!

On Thursday, April 11, at 6:00PM at the Massanutten Regional Library, the Climate Action Alliance of the Valley (CAAV) invites the public to consider the necessity of regional planning for the increased likelihood of extreme weather brought on by climate disruption and the costs that result from both adaptation and inaction.

Over the past several years we’ve seen an increase in weather-related disasters, from named storms like Katrina and Sandy to widespread droughts, floods, and wildfires. While the direct connection to climate change can’t be proved in each instance, the trend toward more of the extreme weather events that climate scientists have predicted is being realized, along with a dramatic increase in claims on both private and federal insurance. In fact, the Government Accountability Office has for the first time included climate change in their annual High Risk Report, calling on Congress to limit the federal government’s fiscal exposure by better managing climate change risks.

The program will begin with a review of the GAO report by CAAV Chairman Les Grady and a short video illustrating the risks facing the Virginia coast from sea level rise and extreme storms. Following this, two experts representing local insurance and planning groups will address our increasing vulnerability to all the costs of severe weather and how we can all work together to create climate change resilience in the Valley.

Neal Menefee is President and CEO of the Rockingham Group of insurance companies whose predecessors have been insuring valley properties for over 150 years.
Rebecca Joyce is program administrator for Disaster Preparedness and Mitigation with the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission where cooperative solutions to problems are addressed through regional efforts and partnerships with local jurisdictions and other stakeholders.

There will be time for discussion and questions at the end.

March 4, 2013

Forum Discusses Faith-Based Responses To Climate Change

forum panelists Ann Held, Ross Erb, Ehsan Ahmed, and Mark Piper

reprinted with permission from the Daily News-Record

posted March 4, 2013

by Alex Rohr DNRonline.com

HARRISONBURG — God made man, according to the Bible, and He gave him dominion
to till the Earth.

People the world over have used these words from the Bible’s first book, Genesis, to justify resource consumption, but some Harrisonburg clergy say these words have been
misinterpreted.

The Climate Action Alliance of the Valley assembled two clergy members, a philosophy
professor, a representative of the Islamic faith and an audience of 65 recently to discuss
why and how mankind should respond to climate change. The event, titled “Can Ethics and Faith Guide our Responses to Climate Change?” was held at the Massanutten Regional Library in Harrisonburg.

The Rev. Ann Held of Trinity Presbyterian Church asserted that the confusion originates
from a few key misinterpretations of biblical text.

She said the word “dominion” or “radah” in Hebrew has been interpreted as “to have rule or to hold sway.”

“[It’s] not that we have dominion in that we own the Earth,” she said.

Held explained that radah refers to the point at the top of a plant’s root, or its “center of
strength.” It’s the point where one grabs a weed to uproot it cleanly from the ground, she
said. This in turn, Held said, means that the passage is really saying that man is supposed
to be the piece of creation that holds the Earth together.

The Rev. Ross Erb of Park View Mennonite Church furthered the semantic argument by
referring to how the word “till” has been interpreted to mean plow.

He said this interpretation has led to discretionless farming practices and soil depletion.

“That same word gets used throughout the scriptures and it’s really translated as ‘serve,’”
Erb said.

“So we are to serve this world,” Erb said. “For me that is an important twist on what God
has set us here to do.”

Held also talked about Jesus’ instructions to love your neighbor, adding that Jesus was not
talking about just the people next door.

“We are to be about interconnectedness,” she said, using the Holy Spirit as an illustration.

Thus, Christians are responsible for the “least of these,” as Jesus said in Mathew 25:40,
“Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for
me.”

Professor Ehsan Ahmed of the Islamic Association of the Shenandoah Valley explained
that developing nations are being hit the worst by the effects of global warming.

He noted the Republic of Maldives, an island nation in the Indian Ocean, whose president
has proposed relocating the country’s entire population as tides continue to rise.

Echoing Held’s interpretation of Christianity, Ahmed said that under Islam, “We’re
responsible for all the creations of God, which have lived or will live on this planet.”

And this responsibility, he said, extends to all one’s actions, big or small, intentional or not, including the actions of one’s society and culture.

Erb added that caring for the Earth should come down to love for God.

“We need to love with all of our being,” Erb said, explaining that Christians should show
their love by loving what God loves, which is all of creation.

“Part of creation care is using less,” Erb said. “What we believe is worth very little if we’re
not willing to put it into practice,” by taking action to at least decrease individual
consumption.

And just to be sure the point got across, the alliance invited a philosophy professor to give
the pragmatic point of view.

Mark Piper, assistant professor of philosophy at James Madison University, explained with
applied ethics that people should take care of the planet, simply because it’s in their best
interest.

Under instrumental value theory, he said, Earth’s ecosystem has worth only in its relation to human interaction.

Humankind needs water and earth to survive, thrive and propagate.

So, Piper said, taking care of these resources is “conducive to our interests,” and thus
worth human devotion.

After outlining why people should protect Earth’s ecosystem, the group discussed how to
do so on micro and macro scales.

They suggested small adjustments, like simply consuming less food and buying fewer
products, something everyone can do.

But they argued that environmental issues have been pushed aside for short-term
economic gains on a societal scale and that these problems require a grander approach.
“Are you all in any of your churches discussing nonviolent civil disobedience?” Cathy
Strickler, who founded the local group, asked.

The answer was a resounding “no,” but alliance members said they had begun to speak
their voice in a public way.

Many had just returned from Washington, D.C., where they attended a climate rally
advocating against the Keystone XL pipeline that would connect oil fields in Canada with
refineries in the Gulf of Mexico.

“Behavior has to change. People have to change,” Piper said. “People have to act
differently.”

Contact Alex Rohr at 574-6293 or arohr@dnronline.com

February 21, 2013

Dear Secretary Kerry:

signed by 50 attendees of CAAV’s February 19 forum, “Can Ethics and Faith Guide Our Responses to Climate Change?”

February 19, 2013

Forward on Climate Rally, Feb. 17

CAAV members joined tens of thousands of other concerned people from all over the country to rally for action on climate change on the grounds of the Washington Monument and in a parade around the White House on Sunday, February 17.

We heard rousing talk and impassioned pleas from our climate heros. “The speakers up on stage today represented the full diversity of our movement, from indigenous leaders across the United States and Canada, to clean energy investors like Tom Steyer, to environmental leaders like Mike Brune and Bill McKibben, to civil and voting rights activists like Rosario Dawson and Rev. Lennox Yearwood.” – 350.org organizer Jamie Henn

Calls for action were also delivered by:

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, “I speak out on climate change each week because the cost of Congress’ inaction is too high for our communities, our kids, and our futures.” and

Van Jones, former White House advisor, green-energy economy leader, author

350.org’s Bill McKibben tells us:

“We are making plans to put the momentum of this historic day to use, and you’ll hear about them very soon …

You are the movement, and the movement is our best chance at making a difference on climate change.”

See Michael Grunwald’s “I’m with the Tree Hugger s: The activists fighting the Keystone XL pipeline are radical-and right” – Time Magazine, February 28, 2013

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anXE46utpo8?rel=0]

February 10, 2013

Conservation Lobby Day 2013

CAAV members, Laura and Bishop Dansby, paid visits to Representative Tony Wilt and Senator Emmett Hanger, Jr. in Richmond on Lobby Day, January 28, 2013. They asked for a NO vote on the lifting of the ban on uranium in Virginia and stressed the urgency of dealing with climate change and energy issues on both the state and national level. Senator Hanger invited CAAV to make follow up appointments to further discuss these issues after the close of the session.

Lobby Day is a yearly event sponsored by the Virginia Conservation Network (VCN). “Representing 150 environmental, preservation and community organizations active throughout the commonwealth, …VCN is the nonprofit, nonpartisan voice of conservation in Virginia.” VCN publishes a yearly Conservation Briefing Book distributed at their General Assembly Preview Workshop in December.

February 7, 2013

“Can Ethics and Faith Guide Our Responses to Climate Change?”

A Panel Discussion on Tuesday, February 19th, 6:00 to 7:30 PM, at the Massanutten Regional Library

With guests speakers:

Ehsan Ahmed, secretary general of the Islamic Association of the Shenandoah Valley

Ross Erb, associate pastor of Parkview Mennonite Church

Ann Held, pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church

Mark Piper, assistant professor in the JMU Department of Philosophy and Religion.

During 2012 alone the world saw floods in Japan, Fiji, Venice, the UK, Nigeria, Pakistan and more, drought in Russia, China, and North Korea. Sea levels are rising around the world, affecting the most heavily populated regions on earth. In the United States we have had not only the hottest year ever but our own terrible share of drought and floods and extremely strong storms. Millions of people have been impacted, losing their jobs, their homes, their food sources and even their lives. While our beautiful valley has not suffered that much so far, more severe climate change effects will arrive. And, with increasing globalization, any disaster is felt around the world.

In the past, the Climate Action Alliance of the Valley has addressed the economic incentives of moving to alternative energy sources and building or retrofitting homes that are energy efficient. On February 19th we will look beyond the dollars and cents and ask a panel to address the moral, ethical, and religious values that might also guide our choices in responding to climate change.

Please join us for this insightful presentation!

January 30, 2013

Feb. 3: “Fork in the Road: Keystone XL and the Economics of Climate Change”

fork in the road Why are local environmental groups going to Washington, D.C., on February 17th to join the 350.org / Sierra Club “Forward on Climate Change Rally” against the Keystone XL pipeline?

Come to
Community Mennonite Church, 70 S.High St., Harrisonburg, on Sunday, Feb. 3rd
from 3-6 PM for a ‘teach-in’ by Occupy Harrisonburg, our local chapter of the Sierra Club, the Climate Action Alliance of the Valley, and others, about the urgency of addressing climate change and the economic policies that can lead us into a more sustainable future for ourselves and our posterity. Information about attending the rally will be available. The event will be concluded before the Super Bowl kickoff!
Climate Action Alliance of the Valley: contactcaav@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/caavva www.climateactionallianceofthevalley.org

January 20, 2013

January 15 rally for climate change action in D.C.

Attended by CAAV members, this event was “organized by the Interfaith Moral Action on Climate and represent(ed) diverse coalitions including Buddhist Global Relief, The Shalom Center, Judson Memorial Church, and Occupy Sandy …”
Interfaith “Pray-In” Honors Dr King’s Birthday pray in photo With Demand for White House Leadership on Climate | ThinkProgress

By Catherine Woodiwiss, Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative

January 20, 2013

CAAV Members Lobby H-burg City Council

On Thursday, January 10, CAAV members screened a National Resource Council (NRC) video with Harrisonburg City Council members at Clementine Cafe. Climate Change: Lines of Evidence explains the lines of evidence that have built the current scientific consensus about climate change and its causes. The video covers the first of three parts presented in the NRC booklet, Climate Change: Evidence, Impacts, and Choices, which was distributed to each of the attending council members.

In the way of tangible actions, CAAV urged the council to approve the retrofitting energy efficiency plans for two public buildings submitted by ABM. The improvements offer substantial energy savings and a guaranteed payback in 12 years.