Climate Action Alliance of the Valley

Things going on we want you to know about!

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In collaboration with the Sierra Club and other environmental groups across the country, the Climate Action Alliance of the Valley (CAAV) is joining the movement to call for divestment from the Mountain Valley Pipeline (the MVP).  More about this HERE from Luciano Benjamin.

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Supporting policy which expands access to low and zero emissions vehicles

Harrisonburg has joined other Virginia localities in support of clean energy legislation.

“Charlottesville, Virginia – Friday, January 22, 2021

Nine Virginia cities and counties joined a call for legislation to advance cleaner transportation in the Commonwealth. Albemarle County, Mayor and Vice Mayor of Alexandria, Arlington County, Mayor of Blacksburg, City of Charlottesville, City of Fairfax, City of Harrisonburg, Mayor of Norfolk, and Mayor of Richmond signed onto a letter shepherded by the Community Climate Collaborative (C3) asking the General Assembly to pass strong standards for the amount of low and zero emissions vehicles in Virginia.

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Deanna Reed, Mayor of Harrisonburg: ‘Being good environmental stewards is near and dear to the heart of everyone that calls The Friendly City home. Clean transportation opportunities are a must to ensure future prosperity for all residents of the Commonwealth, which is why it is so important that these efforts to protect our community’s environmental health are made available to every resident no matter their economic means.'”

Read more of this Community Climate Collaborative press release on their website HERE.

Read the sign-on letter HERE.

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“‘Beyond the Vampire Squid’ is a story about power in Virginia – who has it and who does not. This story affects every Virginian, and every Virginian has a chance to write a new ending — one that shifts the power from utility monopolies like Dominion Energy to everyday people seeking to power their lives with affordable clean energy. Join the movement for energy reform at cleanvirginia.org.” Watch it on YouTube here.

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The 50 by 25 campaign is calling for the City to take action on climate change, increase renewable energy, and make home energy costs affordable through energy efficiency programs. It has succeeded in seeing through the unanimous passage of “Resolution in Favor of Harrisonburg’s Transition to Renewable Energy by 2035” by Harrisonburg City Council on November 10, 2020. More here from WHSV.

Learn about the effort here. Sign the petition here.

Tom Benevento has an opinion piece in the February 28, 2020, edition of the Daily News-Record about the importance of this effort. Tom discusses the campaign in an episode of the James Madison Center for Civic Engagement’s podcast Democracy Matters on October 16 here. See him talk about the passage of the resolution with Bob Corso on WHSV’s 1 on 1 on November 13, 2020, here.

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At their June 16, 2020, meeting, the steering committee of the Climate Action Alliance of the Valley voted unanimously in favor of supporting Black Lives Matter with this resolution:

Resolved that the Climate Action Alliance of the Valley stands in support of Black Lives Matter, that we support a redirection of tax dollars away from policies that enable police brutality, and toward policies that meet community needs and link environmental and social justice.

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by Les Grady, Environmental Engineer, retired

Driven mainly by carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, Earth’s climate is changing.

• Evidence from diverse sources confirms climate change.
  • Atmospheric temperature reconstructions show that current warming is unprecedented within the span of human civilization.
  • Oceans are warming.
  • Glaciers are melting.
  • Sea level is rising.
  • The Arctic ice cap is shrinking, the ice is thinning, and its nature is changing.
  • Although East Antarctic ice is increasing, West Antarctic ice is decreasing much faster.
  • Weather is getting more extreme.
  • Ecosystems are changing more rapidly.
• Evidence for the role of CO₂ as the main cause of climate change is very strong.
  • Earth’s temperature is stabilized and regulated by the greenhouse effect.
  • The major greenhouse gases (GHGs) are CO₂ and water vapor.
  • Water vapor is responsible for 50% of the greenhouse effect, but its life in the atmosphere is short because it condenses as rain and snow. CO₂ is directly responsible for 20% of the greenhouse effect, but its indirect effect is much larger. Because it does not condense, it stays in the atmosphere for a very long time, thereby influencing the water vapor content and regulating Earth’s temperature.  It is Earth’s thermostat.
  • The level of CO₂ in the atmosphere is increasing because of the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas).
  • Satellites show a reduction in outgoing (i.e., cooling) radiation leaving Earth at the wave-lengths associated with CO₂ and other GHGs.
  • Land-based sensors show an increase in incoming (i.e., warming) radiation from CO₂ and other GHGs consistent with their increased concentration in the atmosphere.

We must release less ­­each year to stabilize Earth’s climate.

Compost your kitchen scraps at the downtown community Compost Drop-off bins! Drop-offs can be made anytime year round at the bins’ permanent spot on the edge of the gravel parking lot at S. Liberty and Warren Streets within sight of the Turner Pavilion and Municipal Building. See images below.

Drop off compostables here at your convenience.

Anyone is welcome to drop off kitchen scraps to these 65-gallon Black Bear Composting bins at anytime. Your compostables can be dumped directly from another container or placed in a paper bag, paper box (remove any plastic tape and/or plastic labels) or BPI-certified compostable “plastic” bag.

Compostable bags to line containers, for ease of collecting your scraps, are available at the bins site.