A Clean Energy Economy Is Possible

"Climate change is happening here," asserted Joan Rohlfs to Northern Virginians who gathered Saturday in Merrifield to explore ways to transition to a low-carbon economy in the aftermath of the November 2 election and switch of the House of Representatives from Democratic to Republican.  

The meeting was sponsored by the Northern Virginia Climate Action Network (www.novacan.org), a coalition of nine organizations representing over 25,000 people formed to address climate change and clean energy policy.  

"Temperatures are changing in the region," said Rohlfs, who represented the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. She contended that the Washington area is having more frequent heat waves and Chesapeake Bay waters are warming.  "This summer was the perfect example," with a record number of code orange days, she stressed. 

Low-lying areas, like Alexandria and Mount Vernon's New Alexandria, will see more flooding as the tidal Potomac River is driven by sea level rise.  Warmer temperatures will bring more heat strokes, respiratory diseases and vector-borne illnesses, Rohlfs predicted.

Other speakers touted the potential of renewable energy.  Jeramy Shays, American Council on Renewable Energy, called the U. S. the "Saudi Arabia of renewables."   Shays said that wind, solar, geothermal, biomass and hydropower could create millions of jobs.  She called for reducing fossil fuel subsidies and creating long-term predictable policies to stimulate clean energy investments.

Kent Baake, President of Alexandria's Continuum Energy Services, urged attendees to get a home energy audit, saying efficiency is the "best first step."  Sunlight is infinite and free, explained Baake, who described the options and merits of solar to heat homes.  Aviv Goldsmith, Fishermen's Energy, argued that Virginia could get 80 percent of its electricity from Atlantic offshore wind. 

The November 2 election "makes our job harder, but it's not impossible," said Amelia Salzman, Assistant Director for Policy Outreach in the White House.  "The President is moving forward in chunks," toward cleaner, low-carbon fuels,  and "the U.S. economy will only recover if we transition to clean energy," she maintained.

Several speakers called many of the newly-elected House Republicans "climate deniers" and predicted that the House will try to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from reducing planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.   "Don't let them bully you by saying the Clean Air Act will kill the economy.  That's what they said about catalytic converters," Salzman challenged.