Saturday, May 17, people across the globe took part in the 5th Annual Hands Across the Sand event to ask their officials to reject the use of dirty fuels. Founded after the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the event features people joining hands as a symbolic barrier against spilled oil. For our local event, torrential rain the day before cut off some routes to Algonkian Regional Park in Sterling, Virginia. But 31 activists (plus 5 activist dogs) came together under fresh-washed skies, joining thousands of protesters worldwide in calling for communal action for renewable energy.

Chief local organizer Natalie Pien of 350 Loudon introduced several speakers, who summarized the fossil-fuel challenge, as well as actions we can take now to meet it. Sarah Bucci, Campaign Director for Environment Virginia, asked participants to thank Senator Tim Kaine in particular for opposing the Keystone XL pipeline and supporting EPA's new clean energy rules; he's feeling the heat and needs our encouragement.

Natural Gas Is a Dirty Fuel

Bucci also reminded the group that natural gas is still riding on its reputation as a clean source of energy from the days when it was easy to pump. Today, though, it must be ripped from hard-to-penetrate deposits, raising the near certainty of toxic chemical spills and catastrophic methane leaks, and quite possibly earthquakes as well. Linda Burchfiel of the Sierra Club (SC) Great Falls Group emphasized the George Washington National Forest's role as a priceless community resource. Fracking there could contaminate the Potomac watershed, ravage its ecosystems, and pollute the drinking water of millions of people in the Washington, DC, area.

SC's new Northern Virginia coordinator, Ishmael Buckner, said that SC would be calling on Virginia's U.S. senators soon in support of the EPA's clean air regulations. But the senators need to hear from more than club members, he said. "Do you know any small-business owners?" he asked. "Well, they have to breathe, too, and so do their customers and their kids." Ishmael encourages us to suggest that these businesspeople contact their senators (Senator Warner in particular) to state their support for cleaner air.

Eric Goplerud

Eric Goplerud of the Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions urged church members to identify themselves to their public officials as people of faith, not just as members of a particular political party. Democratic politicians, he pointed out, tend to discount advocacy from fellow Democrats thinking, "they'll probably vote for me anyway," and from Republicans thinking, "I'll never get their vote." The same is true for Republican officeholders. People who speak up as part of a faith tradition are a little harder to pigeonhole or dismiss.

The Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club honored Fairfax Senator Chap Petersen (D-34) with the Legislative Leader Award at American Legion Post 177. Petersen was recognized for his work on Senate Bill 222, better known as The Solar Freedom Bill. This successful piece of legislation eradicated a homeowner association (HOA) legal barrier that was frustrating homeowners with plans to install solar on their property. Thanks to Petersen, most HOA bans on solar power will be eliminated, and Virginians living in communities governed by HOAs are now free to install clean, renewable energy systems at home.

Environmentalists in Northern Virginia have been gathering together at happy hours to network and exchange ideas and information. Fifty people attended the first coalition happy hour in August 2013. Restaurants in Herndon, Fairfax, Vienna, and Sterling have hosted gatherings.

The six founding environmental organizations work together to influence key members of the U.S. Senate, tie the Keystone XL Pipeline to climate change, and connect the Keystone XL fight to other tar sands pipeline fights across the country. At happy hours, members break into small groups to generate ideas for acting locally. Coalition members look for ways to influence local elected leaders, lobby Virginia representatives, and raise awareness of the environmental agenda.

The Climate Action Coalition includes: 

• Sierra Club Great Falls Group
• 350 Loudoun
• Chesapeake Climate Action Network
• Environment Virginia
• Herndon Environmental Network
• Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions 

NOVA Climate Action Coalition happy hour in Sterling.

The June 9 happy hour will celebrate Meatless Monday at Jasmine's vegetarian restaurant in Leesburg. 350 Loudoun and Loudoun Veg are cohosting the evening for an informal program on two issues: Loudoun Veg will discuss the impact of diet on greenhouse gas emissions, and Chesapeake Climate Action Network's representative will talk about the prospects for and recent success of shareholder activism with Dominion Power. Activists are using shareholder power to put clean energy issues in front of Dominion's corporate executives and board of directors. Loudoun Veg is promoting a Meatless Monday campaign, which encourages nonvegans to try the diet once a week and encourages businesses to add more plant-based items to their menus. 

Hello, Great Falls Group members!

 I would like to take this time to introduce myself. My name is Ishmael Buckner, and I am the new Northern Virginia Conservation Program Coordinator. In this capacity, I am responsible for connecting Northern Virginians to Sierra Club resources and campaigns on both a state and national level, as well as serving as the staff support to the Great Falls and Mt. Vernon groups. My hope is to help Northern Virginians better engage in supporting the new CO2 regulations coming down from the EPA (on June 2) and being decided by Governor McAuliffe; to help organize around increasing renewable energy in Virginia and pushing back against increased use of natural gas (via fracking), coal, and other fossil fuels; and to push for more pedestrian and mass-transit-friendly transportation planning, which is greatly needed as I have learned from being stuck in horrible traffic.

I am from the DC region having grown up in DC and Prince George's County, Maryland. My background is in environmental and political activism. I became active with the Sierra Club while still attending Oxon Hill High School through the Sierra Student Coalition in 2006.  Since then, I have worked on organizing around climate legislation both in the Maryland General Assembly and the U.S. Congress. In 2009, I worked with Avaaz.org to push for the passage of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES Bill) in the U.S. House, currently the only bill to pass either chamber of the U.S. Congress directly addressing climate change and green house gas emissions. I have organized college students and community members in central Pennsylvania around both fracking and the Keystone XL pipeline.  In the summer of 2012, I was hired as a field organizer for the campaign to re-elect President Barack Obama in Henrico, VA. Since then, I have worked on a number of initiatives including helping connect communities in DC and Maryland to affordable wind energy utility options, supporting political candidates in Pennsylvania, and helping coordinate Powershift, a 6,000+ youth environmental conference held in Pittsburgh this past October.

Ishmael Buckner

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The Sierra Club Great Falls Group (GFG) continues to focus on natural landscaping, which kicked off a two-part presentation on April 10th at the Oakton Library. The focus was on the "why" and "how" of natural landscaping. Natural landscaping is a method of designing and installing landscapes based on an understanding of the relationship between plants and the rest of the environment. Also, information was presented on the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District annual native tree and shrub seedling sale so that attendees could order plants at the presentation.

Jim McGlone, urban forest conservationist with the Virginia Department of Forestry, discussed the practice of natural landscaping from both his professional knowledge and ten years of personal experience practicing natural landscaping. He focused on why we need natural landscaping and discussed ecosystem services and local ecology that property owners should know about if they want to help their native habitat.

Terry Liercke, president of the Audubon Society of Northern Virginia (ASNV) spoke on how property owners can use native plants and practices to help protect and restore local ecosystems. He encouraged homeowners to put a native plant in the ground, i.e., plant bird food, pollinator food, and habitat. His frame of reference is Doug Tallamy's Bringing Nature Home. He talked about Audubon at Home, a program that homeowners can participate in to improve their natural landscaping. A representative from ASNV will come to a homeowner's property and discuss how to implement more natural landscaping techniques.

Liercke also talked about the Plant Northern Virginia Natives campaign being sponsored by the Northern Virginia Regional Commission, local chapters of the Virginia Native Plant Society, nurseries, and other groups, creating a website, guidebook, workshop series, and plant tags to be used in local garden stores.

Two important practices discussed during the presentations were: all the dead plant material should be left for organisms to use during the winter, and don't amend the soil when planting trees.

There will be another natural landscaping presentation in the fall in this continuing series to discuss how to compost plant material, divide perennials, and prepare our yards for winter for local critters.

If you have any suggestions on other topics for presentation, or comments on this presentation please contact Norbert Pink at [email protected]. 

 By Norbert Pink

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Northern Virginia Community College--Loudoun Campus

The Sixth Annual Climate Change Symposium was held at the Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC)-Loudoun on April 22. This was an all-day event focused on hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as "fracking."

Fracking is the process of drilling and injecting highly pressurized caustic fluid into the ground to fracture shale rocks to release natural gas. It can result in severe environmental and social consequences for the communities it affects. Locally, the most imminent threat of fracking is in the George Washington National Forest, potentially affecting over four million people whose drinking water comes from the Potomac River.

Bill Bour of NVCC, Greg Buppert from the Southern Environmental Law Center, and Josh Fox, director of the critically acclaimed films Gasland and Gasland II spoke. Bour spoke on how fracking is accomplished from a driller's perspective. Fox entertained the audience by playing the banjo after his film was shown and followed up with a nice presentation on his 10 fracking issues. There was a panel discussion on fracking, where Mary Ellen Cassidy from FracTracker Alliance gave a passionate response to questions on the impacts of fracking.

Sierra Club Great Falls Group (GFG) tabled at this event along with 350 Loudoun, getting the word out about our activities. We discussed work on some joint community meetings with the newly formed student Loudoun Green Team for the next school year.

GFG has had numerous programs on fracking in Fairfax and Loudoun county over the past few months, focusing on education and generating letters to their county supervisors. See the Spring 2014 Cascade for more information.

Oracle of Reston--Earth Week Green Vendor Fair

On Wednesday, April 23, Oracle of Reston hosted a Green Vendor Fair in its company cafeteria. The fair hosted about 20 local eco-friendly businesses and organizations that want to share best conservation and business practices with Oracle employees, contractors, tenants, and visitors. GFG hosted a table among the other vendors and organizations. GFG's chair, Norbert Pink, is trying to establish a partnering relationship with Oracle for future events that would be beneficial to both organizations.

Earth Day at Loudoun

GFG tabled at this event on May 4 in partnership with 350 Loudoun. Earth Day at Loudoun's mission is to promote environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable living among county residents and businesses. There were a number of vendors and organizations that were new to GFG, and we are pursuing a potential speaker for the fall Natural Landscaping presentation. 

For more information on these events contact Norbert Pink at [email protected].