Breaking news – and the organizing hub for the Capitol Climate Action is lit up right now!
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid just made an announcement moments ago – calling to switch the Capitol Power Plant entirely off of coal! Just 4 days before thousands of people are mobilizing at the facility for the largest act of civil disobedience in US history for the climate – this statement shows the power of grassroots action!
The Capitol Power Plant has been controversial for years – as an antiquated, inefficient facility that is the largest source of pollution in Washington DC. While efforts to clean up the plant and switch off it’s usage of coal have been attempted for years (including by Pelosi and the Greening the Capitol Initiative), powerful coal state interests (namely Senators Mitch McConnell and Robert Byrd) have blocked attempts to end it’s usage of coal. This plant symbolizes the stranglehold coal has over our climate, our environment, our communities, and our political process.
In the past 2 weeks, the Capitol Climate Action Coalition (made up of over 100 organizations from across the country) sent letters to Congress, informing them of our intent for peaceful action March 2nd at the Capitol Power Plant that is reflecting the urgency and seriousness of the climate crisis. And as the media buzz and public interest grows for this historic mobilization – we are flexing out political muscles, showing that people are demanding real change in our climate and energy policies.
As Pelosi and Reid accurately noted today:
Taking this major step toward cleaning up the Capitol Power Plant’s emissions would be an important demonstration of Congress’ willingness to deal with the enormous challenges of global warming, energy independence and our inefficient use of finite fossil fuels. We strongly encourage you to move forward aggressively with us on a comprehensive set of policies for the entire Capitol complex and the entire Legislative Branch to quickly reduce emissions and petroleum consumption through energy efficiency, renewable energy, and clean alternative fuels.
This statement today by Pelosi and Reid shows the power of grassroots movements to spur our leaders into action. Years of letter writing, lobbying, and organizing have been vital in building the case about this plant – but it has taken the mass mobilization of thousands of people to push our leaders to more substantial action. As Congressional leaders are recognizing that better solutions exist for their own backyard – we must keep the pressure up to ensure that coal is phased out across the country, and replaced with clean, renewable, just solutions that solve the climate crisis, and support our communities.
In a press statement by the Capitol Climate Action in response, Mike Tidwell from Chesapeake Climate Action Network said:
“Speaker Pelosi and Leader Reid today showed the power of grassroots action. That grassroots action is going to continue until Congress passes legislation that solves the climate crisis.”
Thousands of you are already planning to join us March 2nd in DC – to make sure that our message is not simply about cleaning up one facility – but about climate justice for all. We still have non-violence trainings all weekend, and for people choosing to peacefully engage in civil disobedience or participate in the support rally -you can still join us in keeping this momentum up!
Subscribe!
Subscribe by RSS!
Share on Facebook
This is not progress. She wants to replace coal with natural gas, another fossil fuel. She has a $100,000 investment in natural gas, along with her husband, so this is about potential profit for her. (Someone should look into whether Harry Reid also has a natural gas investment.)
http://www.civilianism.com/futurism/?p=668
P.S. This is what is called Greenwashing. Replacing one fossil fuel for another and calling it “clean” is a great example. If she wanted really clean fuel they’d install solar panels like Jimmy Carter did when he was president.
How is switching to another fossil fuel “grassroots action”? I thought the grassroots, including me, was calling for real clean energy, like wind and solar. Not natural gas. That’s T. Boone Pickens obsession.
Natural gas pumps up to 75% as much CO2 into the atmosphere as coal does. We need real clean energy, not this posturing.
It’s also hard to believe that she calls coal “finite” but not natural gas. Obviously, natural gas is as finite as coal and oil.
“Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid sent the following letter today to the Acting Architect of the Capitol, Stephen T. Ayers, asking that the Capitol Power Plant (CPP) use 100 percent natural gas for its operations. ”
http://speaker.house.gov/newsroom/pressreleases?id=1028
100 percent natural gas is a recipe for CO2 disaster.
“House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband invested between $50,000 and $100,000 in T. Boone Pickens’s Clean Energy Fuels Corp., which could benefit from legislation the California Democrat favors to boost U.S. use of natural gas.”
http://tinyurl.com/crnt9o
How clean is clean energy? Wind and solar certainly release less carbon dioxide and methane gas than natural gas and coal, however they still rely on mining of minerals, which is detrimental to ecosystems.
Shelly, I totally appreciate what you’re saying.
But STILL – that the leaders of the House and Senate have called for switching their power plant off of coal is a big deal and a huge step in the right direction, even if it is to natural gas. Be critical, for sure, but don’t rain on the whole parade.
(Hopefully it won’t rain on the action – I don’t want to get my “dress to impress” outfit all wet.)
Natural gas creates emissions – it certainly can’t be a long-term staple in the clean energy future. That said, if we could swap the emissions from all the coal burning plants in the world to the equivalent of natural gas burning plants, that would represent a significant temporary treatment for the emissions problem.
Props to everyone working on the Capitol Climate Action – you’re doing great work and I’m stoked to give you some of the credit for this move from Reid and Pelosi.
Rock on, see you Monday!
Shelly,
As someone who is no fan fossil fuels period – I would say it IS progress – though not an ultimate solution.
For the neighbors of the plant in the DC area – this is progress, and will reduce the localized impacts from the plant greatly on their health and their environment.
For the climate – this is progress, it will dramatically lower greenhouse gas emissions.
For politics – this is progress. This sends a strong message that coal is on its way out, and that political leaders are recognizing that coal doesn’t belong in their backyard. It’s one (albeit small, but important symbolic) a step towards getting it out of everyone’s backyard.
For the movement – this is progress. It shows that when people organize and take action, we can force change from politicians. Is it the ultimate change we want? Not exactly- and we’ll still be out there on Monday, more invigorated than ever to push even further for climate justice.
Does that mean natural gas is the solution? Of course not! It’s still a fossil fuel, it’s still finite, it’s still carbon-intensive and polluting, and still better solutions exist for people and planet.
1 down. Roughly 600 more to go.
-Matt
help!! Chicago is polluting with Coal Power 2 blocks from my work!
“Fiske” on 1200 W. Cermak Ave
Chicago, IL
I think we’re going to have to agree to disagree on this one Matt.
As someone who campaigns against NG development and who has campaigned against coal in the past I can say natural gas just f*cks over different people than coal and (in all likelyhood) increases our dependency on foreign fossil fuels shipped over seas.
If it is shipped over seas (as most NG will be within the next decade or so) it will be nearly as GHG intensive as coal.
This is a greenwash, not a victory.
I would have expected a more critical analysis then this and – as a member of an organization that endorsed this action – would be deeply discouraged if this was called a victory.
I must say I find it a bit disingenuous that this fact wasn’t included in the post itself.
Friends,
It’s so easy to blame, find fault, and criticize any action by any person.
Can we not focus on ultimately what we want and appreciate the small victories along with the sea change that our broken economy is making us look at?
I say that we are at a choice point to accept the collision course that the planet is on or turn the dial and move at warp speed to align all of our forces to shift our policies, meet our leaders face to face and leave no other option than collaboration, cooperation and appreciation for all viewpoints.
An Enlightened Planetary Civilization begins and ends with YOUR THOUGHTS and YOUR ACTIONS.
This is the time we’ve been waiting for and we are the people.
Let’s open our hearts together……and if Nancy gets rich, count on her to share her wealth.
Paul
Replacing coal with natural gas is just trading in one problem for another. I live in a small energy efficient home which is solar powered and grow my own food. Production is low right now as the price is low. Increasing demands will increase price and increase drilling. I live not far from a oil and gas field. Many farmers, ranchers and landowners are running into problems with oil and gas companies drilling and putting in pipelines near their land. Drilling for natural gas increases other problems, to name a few, it brings up radon gas, radioactive material, carcinogenic chemicals are used in extraction, and dramatically increase water use. Search these articles: “Dangers of pipelines under neighborhoods” “public health more important than gas drilling” “Activists research gas dangers” Natural gas in wells has N.Y. officials on alert” “Investigation: Ohio’s natural gas boom”
Money needs to be invested into energy efficiency. Making our homes and cities more efficient thus using less resources.
Down the road, buildings also can become power plants, which leads them to being both self-sufficient and profitable via selling surplus, and those are what the power companies fear as this can reduce electricity cost considerably in the region as well, better still, it can give a building industry a boost at the same time, according to the research.
With the promsing digital revolution, smart grid, the controversial, unpopular clean coal, nuclea energy issues are not so sigtnificant any longer, I think.
Some good points hsr0601. I work part time with a friend who designs and builds off-grid energy efficient houses. I remember one job we were building a solar powered house, and the owner wanted to hook up to the grid to put his excess power back into the grid. He had a tough time trying to convince the power company. They made all types of excuses and tried to convince him otherwise. When the job was finished, he still was trying to convince them. That was four or five years ago. To this day I don’t think he managed to convince them. I think he just gave up and and got tired of wasting his time. The power companies want to keep their monopoly on controlling the grid. They do not like the idea of people becoming self-sufficient or selling energy back to the grid. When we construct the houses we emphasize on making it energy efficient to begin with thus you need less panels. Solar and or wind are great but when the house uses less power not as many panels are needed. We can build affordable off-grid homes. Imagine thousands of homes with panels putting power back into the grid system. I don’t believe solar or wind are going to save us from our problems. It will a combination of technologies. Also, we cannot blame it all on gov’t and corporations, we too need to be responsible energy consumers.
NG is enormously cleaner than coal, cheap, and abundant right in the U.S. and Canada (as is coal, but not easily extractable oil). Korea just cut a deal with Encana, a Canadian NG company, to bring NG to Korea, because it’s so much cheaper in North America than in Korea. If you care about rational, local use of resources and modern standards of living while we work out more efficient renewable energy, using North American NG for U.S. power needs is an obvious aid to your goals. Also nuclear, but of course misguided environmentalists of the past did a lot of damage to that source. I’d rather have nuclear waste stored in a containment facility than smog in the air that I breathe, but I guess progress is scary and so maybe we should just keep burning organic material and releasing huge clouds of pollutants in close proximity to all our major cities.