Category Archives: politics

Sierra Club Does Electric Slide Protest On Sunday

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In case you are wondering why there are people dancing at Kanawha Plaza on a Sunday afternoon,

From the Virginia Sierra Club website:

WHEN: Sun., April 14 at 1 – 3 PM

WHERE: Kanawha Plaza, 7th & Canal Streets

Join us in sending a message to Dominion and the State Corporation Commission saying “No more dirty gas plants; it’s time to electric slide toward clean energy in VA!”

Dominion has proposed building another dirty fossil fuel plant, a fracked-fueled gas power plant in Brunswick County, while Virginia continues to slide behind in clean energy and climate protection.

In April the VA State Corporation Commission, our state’s energy regulators, will decide if Dominion can build this unnecessary gas plant, or instead require them to invest in safer, more reliable clean energy sources like wind, solar and energy efficiency first.

5th District Community Action Team Meeting on Friday

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Randolph resident Gregory Day has posted an agenda for the April 12th meeting of the 5th District Action Team. More information is available on their FaceBook page.

5th District Community Action Team Meeting (5CAT)
Friday April 12, 2013
7:00p.m.
Melvin A. Fox Manor
18 W. 27th St. 23225
Meeting Called to Order
Prayer
Minutes of March 8, 2013 meeting
Presentation ——————–Sandra Turner / Turning Point Mental Health Services LLC
Old Business:
RPS Football / VHSL—————Everette Fields / Deborah Butterworth
Grayland Ave./ Harrison St. Intersection:
Gate Way
Bridge Parking
Janes Walk ———————————John Spain
New Business:
Donations for Janes Walk
School Board Rally
Town Hall —- Candidates Forum
City Council Information ——————————–Honorable Parker C. Agelesto
School Board District Forum – Closing of Schools – Group Participation (45 mins.)
*At the end of this discussion/brainstorming, 5 CAT will vote on what we will support as a group.

New business topics for next meeting
Next Meeting Date / Place
Meeting Adjouned

Sierra Club Responds To Water Rate Budget Debate

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Today the Sierra Club Falls of the James group released the following statement in response to Mayor Jones’ announcement earlier this month:

Sierra Club Declares Only “A Partial Victory” On Richmond Water Rates and Calls For More Reform

The Sierra Club Falls of the James group’s Executive Committee listened to Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ budget announcement from last week that calls for reducing the City of Richmond’s water service fee. We were pleased to hear the Mayor refer to it as an important conservation issue that deserves immediate attention. By almost halving the residential base charge from $49 a month to $26 a month, and making sure that higher users pay more for their use, water utility reformers can declare a partial victory as the City moves to a ‘conservation rate’ structure. We do appreciate this step forward.

At the same time, the creation of a fund for helping low income residents with water bills needs more examination. While the Sierra Club is not against assistance for low-income residents, there is concern that this measure will complicate the overall rate structure and add more bureaucracy to the public water utility. Instead of financial assistance for water customers, the DPU would be wiser to offer a substantial discounted volume rate like Henrico for those customers who use 3 ccf or less of water/month. This would have a twin aim of setting a conservation goal for its customers and providing an affordable water bill for those willing to conserve water.

If the City were going to create this additional assistance program, then it would be wise to consider additional conservation measures. For example, the Sierra Club notes and agrees with Councilperson Parker Agelasto’s suggestion to use a portion of the assistance program’s funds for a new appliance rebate program, low flow adaption kits, as well as other conservation incentives. Other cities fund programs like this to help their citizens modernize and conserve their water resources and make them more self-resilient.

At this juncture, we urge Richmond citizens to listen and follow the budget debate carefully. It has been noted already that, despite the proposed reduction in the base rate, the rise in volumetric rates may mean increased overall bills for residents in the future and more revenue from the sale of a basic necessity. We do not believe that the water utility has shown justification for the relatively high base rate. The Mayor’s proposal is not revenue neutral: with the proposed higher volume rate, the base rate could be reduced to $20/month and, even a 10% drop in water use, still be revenue neutral. The DPU’s Payment-In-Lieu-Of-Taxes (PILOT) demands scrutiny because the base service charge could be reduced further if the DPU is not paying more than required into the general fund. There still exists the glaring differences in residential water prices between the City and the surrounding counties, which may in effect be encouraging suburban sprawl.

In short, despite the Mayor’s positive step, we expect that water rate reformers may have some very good reasons for calling for further reform. Again, Mayor Jones deserves credit for his conservation record, which includes the establishment of RVA Green, the City’s first sustainability plan. That said, we would be remiss on this subject if we did not call for further action.

At VCU Tuesday: A Public Forum on The Cost of War

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From RPEC announcement:

Join the Richmond Peace Education Center for a timely community forum, “The Cost of War: Dismantling the Military-Industrial Complex and Building a Peace Economy,” Tuesday, March 19th, in the VCU Commons Theater on the Monroe Park Campus. The timing of the event–as Tax Day approaches–is intended to underscore the large proportion of tax dollars that go towards military spending.

The forum will focus on the history of U.S. militarism and the current defense budget and address possible strategies for converting a military-oriented economy to a peace economy.

Speakers will include VCU professor Mark Wood, PhD, and Miriam Pemberton, Research Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C. There will be a Q&A session following their presentations. The evening will close with break out groups for follow-up action, for those who wish to participate. The program will be moderated by Adria Scharf, PhD, director of the Richmond Peace Education Center.

“The Cost of War” is part of the Richmond Peace Education Center‘s
programming on global peace/antiwar issues. The forum is free and the
public is invited to attend.

For more information: www.rpec.org, 232-1002, or rpec at rpec.org

Dominion and Renewable Energy In The General Assembly Update

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Following up on some earlier news and editorials about our neighbor, Dominion Power….

McDonnell signs Va utility regulation bill.

Activist Ivy Main has written an overview of the 2013 General Assembly session on the Power for the People VA blog:

The Virginia General Assembly will soon wrap up its work on the 2013 legislative session. Renewable energy advocates began the session with high hopes for a series of bills that promised to reform our renewable energy law, expand net-metering, and open up new opportunities for financing solar systems and small wind turbines.
So how did we do? Well, this is Virginia. Progress is slow, the utilities are powerful, and half the legislature doesn’t believe in climate change. On the other hand, they do believe in business. Under the circumstances, we did okay.

Click here for more.

Taking Charge of Our Future Talk

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I mentioned this before, but here’s is it’s own posting:

From the Flying Brick blog:

On Friday, February 15th, at 6 PM, Alexis Zeigler will conduct host slideshow and discussion titled:

Living free of fossil fuel and corporate dependence. Taking charge of our future. Find out how.

How do peak oil, climate change, and the limits of growth affect abortion rights, income equality, and civil liberty? The presentation will examine the hidden connections between ecology, economics, politics, and social justice, and how to use those connections to effect real, long-lasting change.

Human cultures evolve in responses to changes in ecological and economic circumstance. Thus changes in the supply of soil and oil have impacts on our politics, or social structure, and ultimately on our religion and moral attitudes. These facts are very well documented in the anthropological and historical record, yet these same facts serve to undermine the importance of academic, religious and political leaders as agents of change through history, thus they are largely ignored.

We are capable of understanding our own cultural evolution in a whole new way. We can create a social movement that links changes in ecological sustainability to effective changes in community organization and personal attitudes. The tools are in our hands. All we need do is to close our fingers around them. Alexis Zeigler will conduct a presentation and discussion about practical technologies and political strategies that will allow us to consciously choose our own future.

Alexis is the author of a book, Integrated Activism: Applying the Hidden Connections between Ecology, Economics, Politics, and Social Progress (North Atlantic Books, August, 2013).

Nuclear Senator

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Oregon Hill’s state senator, John Watkins, withdrew his bill for uranium mining, but he is still pushing nuclear power.

Please call or email his office to let him know you oppose SB1138.
“We don’t need a nuclear think tank, we need to move away from dangerous nuclear energy and towards safe renewables!”

John Watkins (804) 698-7510

Emails ~
district10 at senate.virginia.gov

What’s That Number?

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Soon the City’s Dept. of Utilities will most likely announce recommendations towards a reduction in the $49 minimum monthly charge to ratepayers for water and wastewater service. The big question is what will that number be?

The expectation is that the planned reduction will be a little less than 20% of the total monthly minimum charge and there will be a new charity rate created for poorer residents who have trouble for paying their utility bills.

It would be easy for the citizens who have petitioned for water rate reform to declare victory and enjoy the hope that bills might be slightly less in the future for all Richmond households.

But, when the history and big picture are considered, they would be wise to not do that and stand behind their stated request- that Mayor Jones and Richmond City Council take immediate steps to lower the minimum monthly charge for water and sewer service to $15 per month, while raising the cost per CCF of water in line with the neighboring counties. There needs to be a change in the volume rate structure change to reward conservation with the first 5 ccf of water/sewer service at a lower rate, and with a premium volume rate for water/sewer over 5 ccf of volume.

My best guess is that City officials will propose a token drop in the service charge along with a large increase in the volume charge that more than makes up for the token decrease in the service charge. They quietly claim that lowering charges too much will create “a hole in their budget”. The reality is that the City can receive the same total revenue from its water works by slashing the minimum monthly service charge to equal that of Henrico’s (which it sells water to!) and instead charging a premium for customers who use more. In other words, make it progressive instead of regressive.

Also, keep in mind that the city paid $200,000 to hire a consultant to examine Richmond’s outrageous water/sewer rates (although reformers said that was not necessary). Despite requests, the consultants have not met with reform activists. In addition, there has been difficulty with getting access to the information given to the utility rate study consultant. The DPU office recently told a citizen that the information will not be put on the city’s web server unless the city receives $287.17 from the citizen.

The utility rates and service charges affect almost all residents and businesses in the city. It is sure to be an important issue during the budget review process (which looks to be extra rushed this year). It would help the Mayor and City Council if the public feels confident that all important information is being freely shared. This speaks to many of the open government concerns raised by activists. In other words, if Richmond citizens want to be treated fairly by the government and utilities that they own, they need to keep the big picture in mind.