Category: what we’re doing

Climate change is upon us and we need to do what we can to ‘build the best and block the bad.’ Fossil fuel infrastructure projects like the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines threaten people’s homes, health, safety, and access to clean water. Ultimately, these proposed projects harm all of us by deepening our dependence on fossil fuels and accelerating climate chaos.

A collaborative effort to ‘block the bad,’ an 8-foot tall, 8-foot wide steel sculpture, “The Defenders,” was created as a strong symbol of resistance to stand in defiance along these pipelines’ proposed paths. With $4000 raised through a crowdsourced fundraising campaign, donated talent from sculptors Mark Schwenk and Cheryl Langlais of Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, “The Defenders” is currently making the rounds to properties close to the proposed pipeline route in Augusta, Bath and Nelson Counties whose landowners are welcoming the piece on their land.

This protest sculpture stands against the needless swath of destruction and downstream consequences of fracked gas pipelines. As a symbol of resistance and inspiration, it honors all those Defenders who are engaged in the fight against pipeline projects that threaten people and planet.

Members of the public are cordially invited to view “The Defenders” sculpture at its current location in Augusta County along Rt 340 at the Stuarts Draft Farm Market store at 2964 Stuarts Draft Hwy in Stuarts Draft at least through November … and pick up your holiday goodies while you are there!

Above photo is by Ken Wyner at the September 30, 2018, dedication of “The Defenders” near the Rockfish Valley Foundation Natural History Center in Nelson County.

Saturday, September 8, 1-4 PM
Pale Fire Brewing Company
217 S. Liberty St, Harrisonburg

Join the Climate Action Alliance of the Valley, Renew Rocktown, and Virginia Clean Cities in sharing, celebrating, and supporting local climate resilience actions!

On September 8, thousands of rallies will be held in cities and towns around the world to demand our local leaders commit to building a fossil free world that works for all of us. This collective Rise for Climate, Jobs, and Justice is part of an effort by Peoples Climate Movement​ to show the world how many people think climate matters. And that we need to elect officials who will take strong, fast action — or take matters into our own hands.

In the Harrisonburg/Rockingham-area, we hope to bring together climate, sustainability, and justice-seeking allies to celebrate our community successes and build capacity for more initiatives that are grounded in local ownership, equality, and climate resilience.

We are calling on a number of organizations and groups to showcase their inspiring work at this event, but the central initiative featured at our ​Rise for Community Climate Action​ will be the Harrisonburg City Sustainability Action Plan. This plan has been under development by the Environmental Performance Standards Advisory Council (EPSAC)​ for many, many months. The plan calls to create a new sustainability coordinator position in City Council, conduct a Greenhouse Gas Inventory, increase in renewable energy, and set other community priorities for climate resilience. It is being supported in large part by Renew Rocktown​, a community coalition dedicated to climate action and resilience in the Harrisonburg area.

Join us Saturday, September 8th at Pale Fire Brewing Company​ in downtown Harrisonburg for a fun, informative afternoon of connecting with fellow community organizers and do-ers! You can learn about exciting projects underway by various sustainability and climate resilience allies and find out how to get involved in those efforts that interest you most!

• Talk to EPSAC members about the Sustainability Action Plan and give feedback and support
• Add your voice to the call for local climate action by joining a letter-writing coalition
• Sign up to visit or volunteer at local Sustainability Success Sites
• Check out electric vehicles brought to you by Virginia Clean Cities for National Drive Electric Week
• Learn about other climate action, environmental justice, and sustainability efforts in our area

Community gardens, pipeline opposition, composting, compost/recycling pick up, restorative justice, organic agriculture, community policing, fossil fuel divestment, fair trade retail and cooperative ownership, waterway management, sustainable transportation, accessible housing, solar power installation — these are the kinds of solutions that we hope to promote at this event.

Please reach out if you are working on introducing or implementing an initiative that you’d like to be featured at this gathering! Interested parties are invited to set up a table and/or poster display of their work, or just show up and share your ideas for climate action and resilience!

Contact: Rosie Lynch rosielynch11 [at] gmail.com

Harrisonburg Rise for Climate Action Network event page

 event page

NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet
Featuring Rev. Dr. Gerald Durley presenting: Seize the Moment – Climate Change is a Civil Rights Issue

Sunday, September 16, 2018 | 6-8PM
Festival Ballroom, James Madison University, Harrisonburg

“Environmental injustice, including the proliferation of climate change, has a disproportionate impact on communities of color and low income communities in the United States and around the world. The NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program was created to support community leadership in addressing this human and civil rights issue.” https://www.naacp.org/issues/environmental-justice/

Harrisonburg-Rockingham County NAACP Branch #7132 and the Climate Action Alliance of the Valley are excited to be part of this program and to bring climate justice activist Dr. Gerald Durley to the 15th Annual Freedom Fund Banquet. This is the major fundraising event of the year for Branch 7132 and is vitally important to our work for civil rights.

Only rarely are we privileged to hear a speaker combine knowledge and experience, understanding, compassion and humanity. Even rarer is one who also speaks with such enthusiasm that he can inspire a whole room to rise up and seize the moment, ready to meet the challenge of climate justice right here in the Valley.

Dr. Gerald Durley, Pastor Emeritus of Providence Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta, is such a person. While serving as Pastor, he became intensely involved in the climate change, global warming, and environmental justice movement. Rev. Dr. Durley now combines the disciplines of faith and science with the lessons learned as a civil/human rights advocate from the 1960’s. He believes that God created a perfect ecologically balanced world for humans to care for, but we are destroying it at an alarming rate. He asserts that for the environment to be saved, the educational, scientific, business, political, and faith communities must seek common solutions.

Dr. Durley has served on many interfaith associations and boards, including Interfaith Power and Light, as well as being a long-time member of NAACP of Atlanta. A few of his notable awards include the White House Champion of Change Award given by President Barack Obama and the placement of his name on the International Civil Rights: Walk of Fame in Atlanta.

 You can watch one of his speeches, “Race, Faith and Climate Change: How Global Warming is a Civil Rights Issue,” at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgEO5GkBuQY

Tickets for the September 16th banquet are $40 per seat ($25 for students) and $300 for a table of 8. 

The form to purchase tickets is HERE. Advanced sales only. Please print form and send it along with payment by August 27, 2018, to:

Harrisonburg- Rockingham County NAACP
C/O Freedom Fund
P.O. Box 1010
Harrisonburg, VA 22803

You may also purchase an endorsement in the 8″x10″ printed brochure. The form to purchase endorsements is HERE.

 facebook event page HERE.

Dr. Durley recently received a letter from Ted Turner announcing his reception of the Captain Planet Exemplar Award. This will be given Dec. 7 ” In celebration of your commitment to a sustainable future, the fight against climate change, and your indefatigable work to spread the message of creation care…” He’ll be in good company with previous winners Jimmy Carter, Sir Richard Branson and Erin Brockovich, and others. I’m sure you will want to be there with us and the NAACP to congratulate him on this latest recognition. See the letter HERE.

On May 8, six constituents of Senator Emmett Hanger met with him at Valley Pike Farm Market (his choice).  Present were:   Joni and Les Grady, Sally Newkirk,  Erik Curren of Staunton (author of The Solar Patriot, Staunton city councilman, and consultant with Secure Futures (solar company), Sandy Greene, local conservationist, naturalist, and solar advocate, and Joy Loving.

The meeting lasted about 1 ½ hours.  We talked about the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative – RGGI,  and Distributed Solar.  The agenda is below.  We took turns speaking and each of us focused on different areas.  We scripted it loosely and more or less took our cues from him.  It was really a conversation.  We gave him background materials, including two books and a “solar primer” full of pictures.  We thanked him for his efforts on Medicaid expansion and on Chesapeake Bay restoration.  Erik gave him a copy of his book and Joy gave him a copy of Virginia Climate Fever by Steve Nash.

The Senator was receptive, cordial, and engaged, and he offered suggestions on how to reach out to other legislators and whom to consider contacting.  He also recommended we try to develop a business coalition similar to one he is aware of around the I-81 corridor improvements and see if we could get anywhere with the Chamber of Commerce, using a market/business approach.  He is already familiar with the idea of the trade part of cap and trade because of the “nutrient trading” program that has been in effect for some time as part of Chesapeake Bay cleanup.  He offered to meet with us again; we’re thinking early September but haven’t tried to schedule anything yet.

RGGI Discussion with Senator Hanger, May 8, 2018

• What is Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) bill, SB 696/HB 1273? Virginia Alternative Energy and Coastal Protection Act, a Carbon Cap and Trade Carbon Reduction Program
• RGGI Bill Provisions
• RGGI Regulations Provisions: 9VAC5-140. Regulation for Emissions Trading Programs, Published January 8, 2018
• Difference between Regulations and SB 696
• Alternatives and Opposition to RGGI
• Benefits
• Moving Forward for 2019 General Assembly Session

Solar Discussion with Senator Hanger, May 8, 2018

• Intro to Erik Curren’s book and its premise, that America and Virginia need a clean energy revolution not just for climate but to create jobs and build resilience
• Popularity of rooftop solar across political spectrum, especially among conservatives
• Benefits of distributed rooftop solar over centralized utility solar
• Answer to utility claim that rooftop solar owners are “free riders” on the grid who shift costs to non-solar ratepayers, many of whom are low income — the truth is the opposite in fact, that solar owners give more value to the grid in peak demand reduction, and their non-solar neighbors, than they receive in net metering payments

– Joy Loving, May 2018

From the Daily News-Record, June 1, 2018

Sen. Hanger’s Efforts To Listen To Constituents To Be Applauded

RECENTLY, SIX CONSTITUENTS of Sen. Emmett Hanger, R- Mount Solon, sat down with him at the Valley Pike Farm Market (his suggestion).

The senator agreed to meet during a brief time when he was not in Richmond for the special April/ May sessions. He was engaged in delicate negotiations with members of his party regarding Medicaid expansion. Even so, he was attentive and engaged during our meeting, readily offering his reactions to the matters we raised and his responses to our questions.

Del. David Toscano, D- Charlottesville, offered high praise: “The House budget, with the amendments proposed by Senator Hanger, is perhaps the best budget that I have seen in my time at the General Assembly. If the budget comes to the House with these good amendments, I will enthusiastically support it.”

To that I add my gratitude for the senator’s efforts on behalf of his constituents during his tenure in the State Senate.

Joy Loving Grottoes

“The Defenders” sculpture is currently up for sale. Details HERE.

The Defenders Kickstarter campaign site is HERE.

Thanks to the Daily News-Record and Pete DeLea for covering the preview event. Find the article HERE as published on June 18, 2018.

We face events that call us to action, that stir our deepest emotions.

We are forced to take a stand and Defend our rights to a safe future.

Stand with us in solidarity to The Defenders driving the local pipeline resistance.

Help us fund “The Defenders” – a massive protest sculpture symbolizing their brave resistance to fossil fuel destruction.

Erected in steel, standing 8 feet tall and 8 feet wide, “The Defenders” will make a strong anti-pipeline statement across the Valley.

It will amplify our message of action and protection.

It will inspire and engage more people to join the fight to resist domination by the fossil fuel industry.

As you all know, climate change is upon us and we need to do what we can to ‘build the best and block the bad.’ Fossil fuel infrastructure projects like the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines threaten people’s homes, health, safety, and access to clean water. Ultimately, these proposed projects harm all of us by deepening our region’s dependence on fossil fuels and accelerating climate chaos.

So we, a committee of activists, want to ‘block the bad’ with a strong symbol of resistance: “The Defenders” – a large, moveable, steel sculpture that will stand in defiance along these pipelines’ proposed paths. We have a sculptor team that has agreed to volunteer their time erecting this piece of protest art, and landowners in Augusta, Bath and Nelson Counties who will welcome the piece on their land, close to the proposed pipeline route. (We are also exploring additional display sites).

To pull this off, we need to raise $4,000 to pay for the steel materials. The rest is in place to pull of this act of defiance. We need to act fast to make this statement, as the pipeline plans continue to encroach on our lands and destroy Earth’s balances.

Join us at Pale Fire Brewing Company, 217 S. Liberty St., Harrisonburg, on Sunday, June 17th for The Defenders Preview Night. This event will kick off our fundraising campaign and lead into a month-long Kickstarter campaign that starts the following day. Please help us pull off this act of defiance by supporting us on June 17th and inviting your friends and family to join you.

You will have the chance to preview “The Defenders” model, meet the sculptor team, Mark Schwenk and Cheryl Langlais, and have any questions you may have answered by the campaign organizers — all while enjoying Pale Fire’s great beer selection. We also hope to bring some local food vendors to offer delicious food for purchase on site!

Join the Climate Action Alliance of the Valley in making a strong statement of pipeline resistance in this act of solidarity with the many Defenders who are committed to stopping these projects. Checks and cash donations will be accepted to help us reach our $4,000 fundraising goal. Keep an eye out for the launch of our Kickstarter campaign on June 18th!

  Facebook event page HERE.

Printable poster is HERE. Please share it!

Media coverage:

https://www.dailyprogress.com/newsvirginian/news/politics/seven-arrows-to-host-anti-pipeline-event/article_537c7174-9462-11e8-8234-338bc243e290.html

https://www.dailyprogress.com/newsvirginian/news/politics/pipeline-opponents-celebrate-start-of-anti-pipeline-sculpture/article_4c0d7e2c-9699-11e8-b2bc-1fb8cbe1c635.html

https://www.whsv.com/content/news/Anti-pipeline-groups-to-build-Defender-489831991.html

http://www.nbc29.com/story/38792169/anti-pipeline-group-raises-money-to-create-the-defenders-sculpture

https://www.whsv.com/content/news/Pipeline-protesters-still-hopeful-after-ACP-moves-another-step-forward-498157761.html

Thank you to everyone who came out and participated in the Earth Day Celebration in Purcell Park on April 22, 2018!

Notably among the attendees was Daily News-Record reporter Kelly Clark. We found her nice work on the front page of the paper the very next day: An Earth Day Birthday: Group Planted Black Gum, Swamp Oak Tree.

We’d also like to thank Mayor Deanna Reed for graciously attending and sharing her thoughtful comments with us. We’ve posted her remarks here.

Harrisonburg Landscape Manager Mike Hott, with support of the Department of Parks and Recreation, did a wonderful job of facilitating the tree planting and guiding us on an educational tour of trees of Purcell Park. We hope to watch the pond-side swamp oak and black gum trees prosper for years to come!

Scroll down for photos of the event.

Earth Day Picnic in the Park
Sunday, April 22 from 12 noon to 2 PM

Purcell Park
Shelter #3 (near the pond)
41 Monument Ave, Harrisonburg

The Climate Action Alliance of the Valley invites you to celebrate Earth Day, Sunday April 22, with them.

Bring your picnic basket and come to Purcell Park, Shelter #3 close to the pond, at noon to eat and visit with friends. Stay to hear the comments by Mayor Deanna Reed and plant two new trees (holes already dug!) Then you can take a hike, go on a tree ID walk led by Mike Hott, certified arborist, play Frisbee, or check out the playground with your kids. Or you can just sit, soak up the sun, and enjoy Mother Earth on Her Day.

Click on a photo below to enlarge it and see a slide show version of these photos:

Arborist Mike Hott of Harrisonburg Parks and Rec gave us some tree planting pointers.

Many loving hands to support a new tree for the park.

Rosie Lynch masterfully emceed the afternoon’s activities.

Mayor Deanna Reed addressed the group. Can Harrisonburg be an environmental leader?

CAAV founding member Anne Nielsen was honored for her many years of service with the planting of a black gum tree.

Anne offered some wise words before helping to plant the black gum tree.

CAAV celebrated 10 years as an organization at the Earth Day picnic. Chocolate cake must be mandatory for 10 year-olds’ birthdays!