Good day sunshine!

On September 19 the State Corporation Commission will hold a public hearing on Dominion Resource's Community Solar Power Program. According to Dominion it includes "company-owned solar PV DG systems; both on leased roof space or ground-mounted installations, as well as the purchase of output from customer-owned solar PV DG systems." When fully completed Dominion would generate 30 MW of solar generated electricity - enough to power about 6,000 homes.

Solar generated electricity has made great strides in other states where laws and company policies encourage building for a cleaner and more secure tomorrow. For example, New Jersey, a state with less solar potential than Virginia, already has built 850 MW of solar and has another 600 MW in the works. Dominion's tiny step towards generating clean energy in the commonwealth would, by 2027, produce just 0.006% of the company's expected output.

Nevertheless, the Community Solar Power Program is a move in the right direction for improving the quality of our air and water and the health of our citizens. Construction of these facilities will create Virginia jobs and encourage more clean energy by Dominion and other electric utilities. Tell the SCC and Dominion that you support the Community Solar Power Program and you expect Dominion Resources to do even more to bring clean energy - solar and wind - to Virginia.

In other Dominion Resources news, the company is seeking permission to convert the 227 MW Bremo Power Station in Fluvanna County from coal to natural gas. It would be the ninth Dominion coal-fired plant to be converted to other fuels or closed in recent years. Although not nearly as clean nor renewable as solar and wind, in the short term these conversions signal progress in eliminating dirty coal from polluting our skies and threatening the well-being of our families and the climate.

Support the New Carbon Pollution Standard

The EPA has proposed the first national standard to limit carbon pollution - that's the nasty stuff causing the climate crisis. That weird, dirty weather you’ve been having – blame carbon pollution. Where does this pollution come from? The shocking answer: 40% of all carbon pollution in the United States comes from power plants.

If this rule goes into effect, no new dirty, climate-change-causing power plants will be built.

Will you tell the EPA you support the first-ever limit on carbon pollution? It’s easy. Just sign the petition at The Climate Reality Project to show your support.

Coal Ash - it is TOXIC

Recently the three men who represent the Shenandoah Valley in Congress, Senator Mark Warner, Senator Jim Webb, and Representative Bob Goodlatte signed factually inaccurate letters pressuring EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to regulate toxic coal ash the same way as household trash, leaving communities at risk as arsenic, lead and mercury seep into our drinking water.

Coal and coal ash is dirty stuff and our "representatives" are siding with King Coal against our families' and communities' health. I sent the following email to each:

I am disappointed that you added your name to a factually inaccurate letter that puts coal company profits before the health of our families and our communities. Americans across the country are exposed to heavy metals such as arsenic, lead and mercury that seep into our drinking water, rivers and streams from coal ash disposal sites. There is an increased risk of cancer, learning disabilities, birth defects and other illnesses.


But the disposal of coal ash is less strictly controlled than household garbage. The letter that Senator Warner, Senator Webb, and Representative Goodlatte signed interferes with the EPA's ability to protect our health by pressuring the agency to reject plans for a strong, federally enforceable standard. The letter urges the agency to adopt guidelines that allow coal companies to continue putting our communities at risk.


The letter you signed makes false claims: that states have effectively regulated coal ash despite the fact that coal ash has contaminated surface water or groundwater in at least 23 states, that EPA documents calling for additional measures to protect public health say further regulation is unnecessary, and that strong regulation would stigmatize coal ash recycling when even the U.S. Green Building Council said there would be no stigma. The facts are that coal ash is a toxic material, and it's time for the EPA to treat it as such. Please support EPA's efforts to protect public health and water quality by removing your name from this letter.

 

For more information visit the Sierra Club. Please contact Senator Warner, Senator Webb, and Representative Goodlatte and tell them to reject the dirty dogs that run in the pack with King Coal.

The True Cost of Coal

On the verge of the clean energy revolution, the last thing Virginia needs is new demand for mountaintop removal-mined coal, and a 1500 megawatt plant next to the Chesapeake Bay. Join the Shenandoah Group of the Sierra Club on Tuesday, May 25 at Clementine Cafe in Harrisonburg to learn about the proposal to build Virginia's largest coal-fired power plant, and how you can take action to stop it. Here are the details:

• WHO: Shenandoah Group of the Sierra Club, Climate Action Alliance of the Valley, friends, and neighbors
• WHAT: The True Cost of Coal: Come learn about the campaign to keep coal out of the bay, and make sure you are not going to be asked to foot the bill for a $6 billion plant!
• WHEN: 7pm, Tuesday, May 25th
• WHERE: Clementine Cafe, 153 South Main Street, Harrisonburg, VA 22801-3602.
• RSVP: http://action.sierraclub.org/NoMoreVACoal or Kate Pollard, kate.pollard@sierraclub.org or (703) 865-6659

With Shenandoah Valley Electric Co-op sending out pro-coal propaganda to members in the magazine Cooperative Living, along with postage-paid post cards to our D.C. representatives, it is important to for Valley folks to hear the other side, the true side, of the story about the true cost of coal. Please plan to attend.

Oxymoron

America's greatest oxymoron: Clean Coal. They think Americans are morons and will buy that lie.