Virginia's Climate Commission meeting as sea ice reaches second lowest level ever

Hundreds of citizens are expected to show up at tomorrow's meeting to demand, among other things, that the commission increase its pollution reduction target to science-based levels-at least 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, with a short term goal of 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. Currently, the commission's goal is 7% below 1990 levels (they publicize their goal as 30% below 2025 levels, which sounds nice, but actually means very little because they are basing their numbers off of projected 2025 levels).  

The draft report was released by the commission last week, and not surprisingly, electricity is the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in Virginia. Transportation in Virginia, notorious for being completely inefficient and frustrating (and yet another thing that Gov. Kaine can't seem to make any progress on), comes up second.
As it has already been reported, there are strong doubts that the commission will be able to overcome its pro-development members, including the president and CFO of Alpha Natural Resources, a coal company.  And it remains to be seen whether environmental arguments-that Virginia's trout habitat could be completely lost by 2090-or the economic, moral, or health arguments will have any effect and urge them to take strong action on climate change.  

The meeting comes just at a particularly emotional time for those of us who care about polar bears.  Sea Ice is being reported at the second lowest level ever, forcing polar bears out in to open ocean where they will often die searching for land or the nearest sea ice.   An alarming "climate disaster trifecta" is being reported around the world, further undermining our need to take the lead on climate change: in addition to disappearing sea ice, a massive chunk of Greenland's glaciers has broken off and left a huge crack and Hurricane Fay is wrecking havoc in Florida, causing an estimated $12 million in damages. (Greenpeace press release)

CCAN will post a full report about the meeting on Thursday at www.chesapeakeclimate.org/blog.

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