Most schools were closed Monday after six to 12 inches of snow fell on Northern Virginia. Children enjoyed the day sledding, making snowmen and having snowball fights while grownups shoveled snow or took a walk in the woods. It was the biggest snow in the Washington area since January 2016 (officially 5.4 inches at Reagan National through 1 p.m.), according…
By Susan Laume: The Virginia chapter of the Sierra Club presented Virginia Del. Kathy Tran (D-42) with their Energy Freedom Award on Sunday, Jan. 6, citing her sponsorship of two bills in last year’s legislative session supporting solar energy. Although the bills did not pass, Sierra Club spokesperson Susan Stillman said in presenting the award that Tran’s sponsorship was important…
By Dr. Vivian Thomson: Is an African American community in rural Virginia the right place to put a massive compressor station for a natural gas pipeline? This is the question the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board will consider at their meeting Tuesday, January 8. The compressor for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline is one of only three along the 600-mile planned…
Ed. Note: Are you making resolutions for the New Year? Tell us about them! newsletter@fairfaxdemocrats.org By Mala Rajamani: As I disentangle from the anticipations, the optimism and the ‘joie de vivre’ of the holiday season, and peer into the year to come, I ponder my resolutions for 2019. Silly you say? After all a day is any day is any…
By Roberta Kellam and Dr. Vivian Thomson: Ed. Note: The authors formerly served on state environmental regulatory boards. Their views are personal. Gov. Northam has failed the citizens of Virginia with his sudden decision to appoint two new members to the State Air Pollution Control Board just as the board is considering a controversial permit for a natural gas pipeline compressor…
By Richard Cramond: The top personal concern for Fairfax County senior Democrats is healthcare, with environment number two, according to a survey by the Senior Affairs/Advocacy Committee of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee (FCDC). The survey in July went to almost 1,000 FCDC members aged 50 or more, of whom about 1/3 responded. Health care was overwhelmingly selected as top…
By Vivian Thomson: Tens of thousands of Americans – including several hundred in northern Virginia – are spared from premature death by power plant air pollution limits that are under threat in the Trump Administration, according to a recent study by my University of Virginia research team. We wondered what might happen if the Trump Administration abandons two Clean Air…
By Karen Kirk: Virginia’s candidates for U.S. Senate Tim Kaine and Republican Corey Stewart have different takes on climate change: Sen. Kaine believes that human activity is causing significant climate change and we have an obligation to do something about it. Stewart believes the climate has cycles and we can’t change it. Both Sen. Kaine and Stewart, Chairman of Prince…
The climate crisis is bringing together Sen. Tim Kaine and his Republican rival for the Senate, Corey Stewart, for a discussion on climate change — with a focus on Virginia — on Tues. Sept. 18 in Vienna, Va. The Virginia Climate Crisis Forum takes place against a backdrop of rising temperatures — not just globally but here at home. Days…
By Vivian Thomson: My mother, who passed away in May at the age of 100, was a lifelong Republican. But she was also a conservationist and environmentalist who was deeply concerned about climate change. She could not abide pollution and the waste of resources. She was horrified by Scott Pruitt and by the president’s blinkered support for coal. It turns…
Each week until the Va-10 congressional district Democratic Party primary election on June 12, The Blue View is asking all six candidates to respond to a key question on an important issue in 100 words or less. This week’s question: If you are elected, how will you fight back against the ongoing Republican war on the environment? Answers below from candidates, in alphabetical…
May’s weeks of heavy rain caused the Potomac River at Great Falls National Park to rise dramatically this week, cresting Tuesday morning. On Monday, spray from the river sometimes hit Overlook No. 1, according to The Washington Post. These photos taken on Wednesday show the river still very high, covering most of the rock formations. Downriver, the Potomac flooded the river…
By Karen Kirk: After spending 34 days living in trees to block the Mountain Valley Pipeline from being built on their property in Roanoke County, Red Terry and her daughter Minor are taking their fight around Virginia this week. They were joined by Virginia Delegate Mark Keam, 35th District, Delegate Sam Rasoul, 11th District and attorney and activist Jonathan Sokolow…
More than 100 people took a stand for clean energy in Virginia on Sunday at the 2nd Annual Mother’s Day Climate Rally at Veterans’ Amphitheater in Fairfax, VA, sponsored by the the FCDC National Affairs Committee and the NOVA Climate Movement. Speakers included VA District 34 Sen. Chap Peterson and three Virginia delegates, Carroll Foy, Elizabeth Guzman and Vivian…