New Composting Report!
by Chris Weiss, Executive Director, DC Environmental Network
The DC Environmental Network Invites All Metro-Based Environmentalists to Our Monthly Brown-Bag Discussion & Networking Opportunity!
A Presentation, Discussion and Networking Opportunity on:
featuring:
- Brenda Platt, Co-Director, Institute for Local Self Reliance (Director, Composting Makes $en$e Project)
Come learn about the many benefits of composting to our environment and economy. RSVP Here!
On June 6th at Noon, join the DC Environmental Network (DCEN) for an informative overview and discussion regarding the new Institute for Local Self Reliance (ILSR) report on composting and how this report can help move the District and region towards zero-waste. Our discussion will be held at the offices of the DC Environmental Network, 1100 15th Street NW, 11th Floor. All are welcome.
Background:
A new Institute for Local Self-Reliance report released this week demonstrates that compost has the potential to become a driver of local economic growth and a vital tool to protect the Chesapeake Bay. Long prized by gardeners and farmers, compost is a soil amendment produced by decomposed organic materials, such as yard trimmings and food scraps.
According to the report, Pay Dirt: Composting in Maryland to Reduce Waste, Create Jobs, & Protect the Bay, expanding composting and local use of compost could support 1,400 new full-time jobs in Maryland, paying wages ranging from $23 million to $57 million.
And compost can also help protect the Chesapeake Bay and other watersheds: it has the unique ability to filter pollutants and absorb water, reducing flash runoff that causes erosion and pollution downstream. It’s a win-win for local economies and the environment.
We will have a presentation followed by an open discussion. We will be inviting at least one other panelists to get the conversation going.
All are welcome.
A Dirty RPS and Other Issues!
By Chris Weiss, Executive Director, DC Environmental Network
The DC Environmental Network Invites All Metro-Based Environmentalists to Our Monthly Brown-Bag Discussion & Networking Opportunity:
On May 2nd at Noon, at the offices of the DC Environmental Network/Global Green USA, 1100 15th Street NW, 11th Floor, join other leaders and activists for an important update on campaigns and programs that need our attention now.
Our panel will feature:
- Tom Carlson, Maryland Campaign Director & District Resident, Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) – Tom will talk about a major loophole in the District’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) that should be closed immediately that treats dirty energy like clean energy and allows the burning of a tarry waste byproduct called “black liquor” and other wood waste to create energy causing significant and dirty carbon emissions.
- Maggie Coulter & Ashley Gardana of the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) – Maggie & Ashley will present on successful efforts, in coordination with the DC Environmental Network, to convince the District of Columbia Council to pass a resolution urging President Obama and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), to use the Clean Air Act to reduce carbon emissions in the District and throughout the land. DC Councilmember Cheh, chair of the Committee on Transportation and the Environment, was our champion on this climate issue.
- Jeanne Braha, Program Officer, Koshland Science Museum, National Academy of Sciences – Jeanne will update the environmental community on the District’s participation in the Climate & Urban Systems Partnership (CUSP) to develop and implement a network of climate-education focused organizations to deliver a multi-platform, targeted, coordinated program of climate change education programs that will have a significant impact on urban populations’ understanding of and engagement with climate change.
Background:
At our last DCEN networking opportunity, over 80 participants listened to Kara Reeve of the National Wildlife Federation outline both what the environmental community had called for AND what actually ended up in Mayor Gray’s Sustainable DC plan. SEE VIDEO.
Even with the plans targets and goals there are many actions, ongoing and not yet identified, that need to be taken to reduce carbon emissions in the District and help us do our part to save our planet. Our meeting will start to identify some of the initiatives that are mostly outside of the Sustainable DC plan and process.
We will start with advocacy and/or education efforts currently spearheaded by the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN), Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Climate & Urban Systems Partnership (CUSP).
We are also hoping that participants can update everyone on numerous other climate focused efforts including a campaign to stop burning coal at the Congressional Power Plant; efforts to convince the DC Council to pass legislation to make solar power available to more District residents; and a campaign by the Grid 2.0 coalition to do the planning necessary to have clean and reliable energy in the District and region and avoid all the problems experienced during the Derecho weather events.
All are welcome. RSVP Here!
Leaders Speaks Out On Mayor Gray’s Sustainability Plan!
by Chris Weiss, Executive Director, DC Environmental Network
On March 28th, over 80 environmentalists (in person and on the phone) participated in a special de-brief of Mayor Gray’s new Sustainable DC plan.
Panelists and other environmental and community leaders expressed excitement that the District had finally joined cities all over the country (and planet) in developing a sustainability plan and beginning the important discussion about what we want our city to look like in 20 years.
Participants also suggested that our cities sustainability journey is only the first part of a long process and that we need to continue to evolve our shared vision. A few expressed a need to move forward with the initiative as it is. Others suggested it was a good start but that we may want to re-prioritize some of the initiatives most important to real sustainability.
Panelists and others mentioned initiatives the District already has in motion that continue to need our attention, including our Sustainable Energy Utility (SEU) to reduce energy costs and carbon emissions and stormwater regulations to curb the amount of toxic runoff that makes its way into our rivers and creeks.
Participating Organizations & Others (partial):
Access Green, Alliance to Save Energy, American Lung Association, ANC 3DO1, Animal Welfare Institute, Center for Biological Diversity, City Wildlife, Clean Air Partners, DC Environmental Network, DC Environmental Network, DC Fiscal Policy Institute, DC Greens, DC Statehood Green Party, DC SUN, DC Surfrider, District Department of the Environment (DDOE), Downtown Business Improvement District, Global Green USA, Green Cross International, Greenview, Groundwork Anacostia DC, Institute for Local Self Reliance, Just Economics, LLC., Loop Strategies, Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, National Recycling Coalition, National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council, Office of Planning (OP), Clean Water Action, Public Campaign Action Fund, Save This Soil, Sierra Club, Skyline Innovations.
Our Panelists:
- Anne Lewis, City Wildlife (Watch Video of Anne’s Presentation!)
- Jennifer Peters, Clean Water Action (Watch Video of Jennifer’s Presentation!)
- Hana Heineken, Sierra Club (Watch Video of Hana’s Presentation!)
- Ellen Jones, Downtown Business Improvement District (BID) (Watch Video of Ellen’s Presentation!)
- Kara Reeves, National Wildlife Federation (Watch Video of Kara’s Presentation!)
- Lauren Biel, DC Greens (Watch Video of Lauren’s Presentation!)
- Joe Andronaco, Access Green (Watch Video of Joe’s Presentation!)
All participants were then able to ask questions, make statements and explore possible directions we might all take to move forward with sustainability initiatives old and new.
WATCH VIDEO of OUR OPEN DISCUSSION HERE!
We will be scheduling another De-Brief of other areas in the Sustainable DC Plan that were not addressed. We will then put together a short report with recommendations on how to move forward.
More to come!
DC Council Unanimously Passes Climate Resolution
By Bill Snape, Senior Counsel, Center for Biological Diversity
“D.C.’s city council deserves a round of applause for urging strong federal action against climate disruption,” said Chris Weiss, executive director of the D.C. Environmental Network. “People in our city already struggle with health problems caused by extreme heat and poor air quality. That’s why we need the Environmental Protection Agency to fully deploy the Clean Air Act against greenhouse gas pollution, before it’s too late to head off climate change’s worst effects.”
Washington D.C. is the 48th U.S. community to pass a resolution [SEE RESOLUTION] calling on President Barack Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency to “move as swiftly as possible to implement 
and enforce the Clean Air Act to reduce carbon in the atmosphere.” The DC Environmental Network worked with the Center for Biological Diversity’s Clean Air Cities Campaign to urge council member Mary M. Cheh to introduce the resolution and the Council to pass it, which it did unanimously. Similar resolutions have passed in cities across the country including Los Angeles, Detroit and Miami, Fla.
D.C. will be hit hard by climate change. The city experienced the most intense heat wave on record last year, and the Washington region is expected to see a substantial increase in extreme heat days in coming decades. Residents will also confront growing health risks from flooding, infectious diseases and poor air quality. The Center’s Clean Air Cities campaign is working around the country to encourage cities to pass resolutions supporting the Clean Air Act and using the Act to reduce carbon in our atmosphere to no more than 350 parts per million, the level scientists say is needed to avoid catastrophic climate change.
“Leaders in every community President Obama calls home are urging him to make full use of the Clean Air Act to fight climate chaos,” said Bill Snape, senior counsel with the Center. “Washington, Chicago and Kauai have joined cities across the country in calling for immediate action to cut carbon pollution. It’s time for the Obama administration to act on this urgent threat.”
Learn more about the Center’s Clean Air Cities campaign and get the facts about the Clean Air Act.
Sustainable DC Plan De-Brief
by Chris Weiss, Executive Director, DC Environmental Network
The DC Environmental Network Invites All Metro-Based Environmentalists to a Brown-Bag Discussion:
On March 28th at Noon, join the DC Environmental Network (DCEN) for a special de-brief on Mayor Gray’s Sustainable DC plan that was officially released on February 20, 2013. This event will take place at the offices of the DC Environmental Network, 1100 15th Street, 11th Floor. All are welcome! RSVP Here!
This brown-bag de-brief will feature panelists who participated in the Sustainable DC Working Groups and others:
- Water: Jennifer Peters, Clean Water Action
- Waste: Hana Heineken, Sierra Club, Washington, DC Chapter
- Nature: Anne Lewis, City Wildlife
- Climate & Environment: Kara Reeve, National Wildlife Federation
- Built Environment: Invited Working Group Participants
- Transportation: Ellen Jones, Downtown DC BID
- Energy: Joe Andronaco, Access Green
- Food: Lauren Shweder Biel, DC Greens
Panelist will give quick, 5 minute reports focused on:
• Working Group Discussions: Describe, highlights, main themes of working group discussions, participation, etc..
• Working Group Recommendations: Describe highlights of outcomes and recommendations of working group participants.
• Working Group Final Recommendations v. Final Plan: Compare working group outcomes with what actually ended up in the plan.
We will then convene an open discussion about what we like and what we might want to change. We will be doing a separate event to talk about and focus in on the details about the Jobs & the Economy, Health & Wellness and Equity & Diversity working group process and plan results.
Let’s dig in and figure out what we have and what we need to do! RSVP Here!
Background:
Over the last 20 months the DC Environmental Network has actively engaged the broader environmental community to push the Executive Branch to strive to weave sustainability principles into everything that happens in our nations capital city. DCEN held many coalition discussions and strategy sessions on sustainability issues and participated as a Sustainable DC Green Ribbon panel member striving to represent the interests of the broader green community.
Now that Mayor Gray has finished the initial phase of the Sustainable DC process it is time for the environmental community to analyze and evaluate the final design and goals of the plan.
All are welcome!
Let’s Grow Our Green Community!
by Chris Weiss, Executive Director, DC Environmental Network
The DC Environmental Network Invites All Metro-Based Environmentalists and Artists to Our Monthly Brown-Bag Discussion & Networking Opportunity:
The arts can play a joyful vital role in helping us toward sustainable lives. Come dialogue with other activists and share your ideas for an environmental arts festival in the District.
Featuring:
- Robert Bettmann, Artistic Director, Bettmann Dances
- Stella Tarnay, Advisor, Sustainable Landscape Design Program at GWU; Chair of Education, Dumbarton Oaks Park Conservancy
- Chris Weiss, Executive Director, DC Environmental Network
- Additional Invited Panelist’s from the Art Community
On March 7th at Noon, join Robert Bettmann, Artistic Director of Bettmann Dances, and Chris Weiss, Executive Director of the DC Environmental Network to talk about the arts and activism and creation of a space for exploring environmental art in DC. This DCEN Brown-Bag will take place at the offices of the DC Environmental Network, 1100 15th Street NW, 11th Floor.
Let’s come up with new ways to inspire more people and save the planet. RSVP Here!
Background:
Bettmann is the author of the book Somatic Ecology, which investigates how activists and dancers use the body to become more humanly attached to the world. Bill McKibben wrote about Somatic Ecology, “in this intriguing text, movement takes a (literal) turn towards engagement with the grounded earth.” Bettmann graduated from Oberlin College with a BA in Environmental Studies, and is active in arts advocacy and arts activism in his role as board chair for the DC Advocates for the Arts.
All are welcome!
DCEN Environmental Advocacy Award to Be Presented!
by Chris Weiss, Executive Director, DC Environmental Network
The DC Environmental Network Invites All Metro-Based Environmentalists to a Brown-Bag:
featuring:
- Mary Cheh, DC Council (DCEN Environmental Advocacy Award Presenter)
- Matt Logan, Potomac Riverkeeper
- Ed Merrifield, Potomac Riverkeeper (Emeritus)
- Chris Weiss, Executive Director, DC Environmental Network
On February 7th at Noon, join the DC Environmental Network (DCEN) for our monthly networking opportunity. We will focus our presentations and discussion on the work of our very own DC Riverkeepers to protect water quality and stand up to large-scale polluters in the District and Metro Washington region. We will also be introducing the new Potomac Riverkeeper, Matt Logan, and honoring Ed Merrifield, Potomac Riverkeeper Emeritus. Our discussion will occur at the offices of the DC Environmental Network/Global Green USA, 1100 15th Street NW, 11th Floor. All are welcome!
Dial-in Number: +17759963560 or Skype: fuzemeeting (When prompted enter the room number: Room #: 399602 and press the # key.)
Background:
Over the years DCEN has participated in many advocacy campaigns with the goal of restoring area rivers by defending the Clean Water Act, promoting new river protection policies and generally representing the interests of our river resources in our nation’s capital city. In the last few decades, it has sometimes become necessary for organizations like Earthjustice, DCEN, Friends of the Earth and our local Riverkeepers (and others) to engage in more aggressive strategies to 
protect our rivers from harmful actions by government and other large-scale polluters. When these moments have materialized it has often been the Potomac and Anacostia Riverkeepers who have been the first to engage and take action. Our local Riverkeepers have also been willing, and are often the first to consider, the use of litigation (sometimes in partnership with other organizations) to achieve important goals. It has been clear, over the last few decades, that the only way to get the attention of government and others who would pollute our rivers or put barriers in front of river restoration efforts, is for some organizations to take the extra step and lead efforts, which sometimes means litigation, to defend our rivers. The Anacostia Riverkeeper and Potomac Riverkeeper have been that organization time and again. It is also clear that all of us who work each day on restoring area rivers have benefited when other organizations, like the Riverkeepers, have been willing to engage in hard-edged advocacy. This courage and leadership has made all of our work that much more effective.
Introducing Matt Logan, Potomac Riverkeeper:
In addition to recognizing the importance of hard-edged advocacy to District waters we will be welcoming and getting to know Matt Logan who has taken over as the new Potomac Riverkeeper. We will also be honoring the work of Ed Merrifield, Potomac Riverkeeper Emeritus, who over the last decade has been a hard-edged sword fighting to defend the very survival of the Potomac River. He will be the first since 2008 to receive the DC Environmental Network’s Environmental Advocacy Award.
We also will answer that important question: “Who Has the Biggest Boat?”
All are welcome.
Zero-Waste Without Incineration in the District!
by Chris Weiss, Executive Director, DC Environmental Network
The environmental community created this coalition letter to let Mayor Vincent Gray know that we believe incineration has no place in his Sustainable DC initiative and especially in the DC neighborhoods we live, work and play in. Zero-waste strategies, not incineration, are the key to tapping into our waste resources in the District of Columbia. Click on the letter to read more!
We have more organizations that want to sign-on to this coalition letter and will be updating it next week. If you are interested in signing-on send an email to cweiss@dcen.net.
February 13th: DC Clean Rivers Action Day
by Chris Weiss, Executive Director, DC Environmental Network
A Special Invitation to DC Environmentalists to Take Personal Action to Support Clean Rivers:
DC Environmentalists:
With the recent firing of an effective District Department of the Environment (DDOE) Director, Christophe Tulou, lack of sustainability principles in Mayor Gray’s 5-year economic development plan and the possible inclusion of a proposal to look at building a dirty, polluting incineration plant in DC neighborhoods, many environmental activists are scratching their heads. Add to these actions aggressive attempts by corporate interests (and other friends of the Gray administration including high paid lobbyists of the local building industry), to attack meaningful, long overdue, stormwater and wetlands regulations, and you start to wonder if Mayor Gray’s Sustainable DC initiative is a real priority in the District.
Up until six months ago the environmental community was feeling good about new stormwater regulations that would finally help cleanse our rivers and move the District towards fishable and swimmable waterways. We even took our lead from our government when it said, “With revised [stormwater] regulations (the District) we will be harnessing development…redeveloping sites that have already been built on…taking existing impervious surfaces in most cases and re-developing them to a higher standard. This without a doubt will be the highest driver ever for improving water quality in the District.” (Jeff Seltzer, Stormwater Administrator, District Department of the Environment, at DCEN Luncheon, February 2, 2012) We were also confident that wetlands regulations, although imperfect, would be finalized and start working to protect our most sensitive natural areas and the humans and wildlife that lived in or near them.
Now we are wondering if all the hard work of the last decade is at risk.
The good news is that when the environmental community has come together and made the case that promoting environmental initiatives is good for the health, economic well-being and overall quality of life of District residents, we have achieved much success. It was the environmental community that worked together and advocated successfully to create DDOE; saved parkland by stopping a prison from being built at Oxen Cove; stopped the District from lowering water quality standards to legalize the dumping of more raw sewage into our rivers and creeks; and passed cutting edge environmental, jobs and housing standards for all new development along the Anacostia River. And that is just a small sample of what we have achieved together over the last decade.
It’s time again for all of us who are tired of having polluted rivers cut through our neighborhoods to tell Mayor Gray and the District of Columbia Council that we want clean rivers now. We cannot have another decade of elected officials standing on the edge of our riverbanks, pretending to prioritize restoration, while at the same time undermining important initiatives that would do just that. We have in our grasp the tools to start making this happen.
We need to urge the Mayor and Council to do the following:
- Finish Promulgating Meaningful, Strong Stormwater Regulations: Last November the Natural Resources Defense Council, joined by the Anacostia Watershed Society, Audubon Naturalist Society, DC Environmental Network and others, submitted comments to Mayor Gray outlining what it would take to have meaningful stormwater regulations and as stated in the comments, “improve the health of District water bodies, provide social and economic benefits to local residents, and green our nation’s capital.” In order to show a true commitment to river restoration and Mayor Gray’s Sustainable DC initiative the District needs to support these comments and finish promulgating meaningful, strong stormwater regulations.
- Finish Promulgating Important and Long Overdue Wetlands Regulations: Last September, Earthjustice and the DC Environmental Network, applauded the District in comments for “the proactive efforts by the District Department of the Environment (DDOE) Water Quality Division to regulate and prevent harm to wetlands in the District of Columbia.” It has taken years, possibly almost a decade, to finally get to the point where meaningful wetlands regulations are possible. These regulations are now threatened by the efforts of high paid lobbyist and business interests who have strong connections to the Gray Administration. The Mayor and Council need to wholeheartedly get behind and finish promulgating these long overdue regulations.
What can I do to convince the Mayor and Council to support clean rivers in our city?
Sign-up to join us on February 13th at 10:00 AM, at the John A. Wilson Building (1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, Suite 504), for the DC Environmental Network’s first Clean Rivers Action Day of 2013. We will meet in the offices of our clean water champion, DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, to present him with our views and urge him to tell the Mayor to finish promulgating meaningful stormwater and wetlands regulations. We will then break up into smaller groups and take our message to the other DC Council offices and finally share our message with a representative of the Gray administration.
Let’s help the Mayor and Council make a real commitment to a sustainable District of Columbia.
All are welcome.
Strong Feelings on Incineration in DC
by Chris Weiss, Executive Director, DC Environmental Network
“Now to hear that the city wants to go forward with another one of these proposals is really a shock to me and I think a major step backwards in the realm of environmental justice. And so I just want it to be said that if you think the government is going to build an incinerator there [Anacostia River basin] you have another think coming. We will mobilize and we will litigate and we will sue your department and we will sue DDOE and we will occupy the site, or whatever has to be done, to make sure that [project] will not go forward.”
- Jim Dougherty, Conservation Chair, Sierra Club, Washington, DC Chapter
Overview:
On January 3rd, over 60 people, representing over 30 organizations and government agencies and offices, participated in the DC Environmental Network’s first opportunity of the year to network, advocate and share our thoughts and feelings about the possibility of a new waste-to-energy facility in the District.
Participants (partial):
Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3D; DC Advocates for the Arts; DC Climate Action; DC Council Transportation & Environment Committee; DC Department of Public Works; DC Environmental Network; DC Health Collaborative; DC Statehood Green Party; DC SUN; District Department of the Environment; Downtown DC BID; Energy Justice Network; Earthjustice; Envision Frederick County; Friends of McMillan Park; Friends of the Earth; Global Bees; Global Green USA; Institute for Local Self Reliance; Koshland Science Museum; Loop Strategies; NAACP; National Center for Healthy Housing; National Institute for Peer Support; National Recycling Coalition; No Incinerator Alliance; Offices of Councilmember Mary Cheh; Offices of Councilmember Yvette Alexander; Pareto Energy; Potomac Riverkeeper; Sierra Club, Washington, DC Chapter; Three Birds.
As a component of the District’s Sustainable DC initiative, Mayor Gray recently budgeted $300,000 to implement a study to look at different waste-to-energy technologies and see if the District might want to implement one of these waste management (energy creation) strategies. Mayor Gray faces a looming deadline as contracts to deal with the District’s waste will expire in the next few years and the District will have to have a new plan or a new contract.
What complicates what could be a sincere effort on behalf of sustainability is recent movement, possibly on numerous fronts, to look at incineration as a key waste-to-energy option for the District. One proposal in circulation in Prince George’s County, for example, is a possible partnership with the District to build and run an incineration plant that could be sited in DC. This and other possibilities have rattled many environmentalists who, in addition to being concerned that incineration should not be part of the District’s mix of recycling programs, are worried that an environmental justice issue may rear its head.
It was in this environment that the DC Environmental Network decided to use our first monthly networking opportunity of 2013 to bring together representatives of government and the environmental community to talk about Mayor Gray’s waste-to-energy initiative. Our goal was to have input on how Mayor Gray might design his study on waste-to-energy and let the broader environmental community have an opportunity to express concerns about all the possible directions the Mayor might take.
We had a very distinguished panel who presented their thoughts on the study including:
- Hallie Clemm, Deputy Administrator, Solid Waste Management Division, DC Department of Public Works – Hallie talked about how the study came to be and its connection to Mayor Gray’s Sustainable DC initiative and current recycling progress and programs. (watch YouTube video)
Neil Seldman, Institute for Local Self Reliance – Neil shared his thoughts on the good work of DPW and how Mayor Gray is also investing an additional $600,000 for composting programs. He also shared, “ILSR is doubtful that a large scale incinerator could be sited in the District due to space limitations, environmental justice concerns and capital and operating costs which will be much higher than land-filling or current use of the Lorton incinerator.” (watch YouTube video)- Larry Martin, Sierra Club, Washington DC Chapter – Larry suggested that any incineration study is entirely inappropriate prior to demonstrated success with reduction and recycling of the waste in DC. (watch YouTube video)
- Mike Ewall, Energy Justice Network – Mike shared many of the environmental problems caused by incineration and focused on the potential environmental justice consequences. (watch YouTube video)
We also had a very robust conversation with the over 60 participants that you can listen to on YouTube. (watch YouTube video)
What was immediately apparent in our conversation, almost from the start, was the concern that this study would lead to or result in the building of an incineration plant in a District neighborhood. Hallie Clemm of the Department of Public Works assured participants that no decisions have been made and that this was far too early in the process to worry about a specific technology or location.
Here are some selected quotes from our discussion and from follow-up email:
On the study…
“I would love to see environmental groups talk about, if were gonna have to have a space for waste-to-energy in the U.S., what it should look like, what should be the upfront screening technology so were getting as many of the materials out upfront, what should the scrubbers look like, what are the policies in place to keep the hazardous materials out so that the best results from that can be gleaned. Because we don’t have the policies that the EU [European Union] or others do to keep toxics out of the system.” - Annie White, Sustainability Strategist
“I found a great study done in California in 2011 with a LCA [life cycle analysis] comparison of different types of waste energy technologies including hydrolysis, anaerobic digestion, incineration, pyrolysis, gasification. Incineration does not look good on this LCA!” - Kara Davis, Loop Strategies (See California Life Cycle Analysis Comparison Here!)
“My final point on all that is that you got DPW staff and you got DDOE staff here and you got a lot of good staff right now that could be put on to this and I don’t know that you need to hire a big time consultant firm to do some of this work for you…” – Jack Werner
On incineration…
“ILSR is doubtful that a large scale incinerator could be sited in the District due to space limitations, environmental justice concerns and capital and operating costs which will be much higher than landfilling or current use of Lorton incinerator.” – Neil Seldman, Institute for Local Self Reliance
“We propose that any incineration study is entirely inappropriate prior to demonstrated success with reduction and recycling of the waste. When we approach 70% diversion of discards from the garbage, then we can have a discussion about incineration – but not before then; and now is definitely not the time…We don’t need studies, we need some planning and then implementation of pilots to move DC toward 0-waste.” – Larry Martin, Sierra Club, Washington, DC Chapter
“Now to hear that the City wants to go forward with another one of these proposals is really a shock to me and I think a major step backwards in the realm of environmental justice. And so I just want it to be said that if you think the government is going to build an incinerator there [Anacostia River basin] you have another think coming. We will mobilize and we will litigate and we will sue your department and we will sue DDOE and we will occupy the site, or whatever has to be done, to make sure that [project] will not go forward.” - Jim Dougherty, Conservation Chair, Sierra Club, Washington, DC Chapter
“If you move to an incinerator when you’ve got 75% of your waste not being composted and recycled you’re going to create an overly sized, high capacity thing that is going to become a direct impediment to all the other things that you might do to move from 25% to 75%.” - Kai Hagen, Envision Frederick County
On the Sustainable DC process…
“Once again these plans have been used to give us the impression that the government is listening, that it’s going to take some of these issues, but what we’re getting back is simply were going to keep doing the same thing we intended to do and were going to call it sustainability. I really think the environmental community, particularly the green ribbon commission people, need to go back to the Mayor and try to find out what is going on because these things are not going to make the city more sustainable.” – Robert Robinson, DC Renewable Energy Activist
The DC Environmental Network recognizes that incineration is an issue of great concern to the broader environmental community and will continue to monitor and possibly advocate on in the future.
A Unique Coalition Supports DC Transparency
by Chris Weiss, Executive Director, DC Environmental Network
The DC Fiscal Policy Institute (DCFPI) recently led efforts to enhance the transparency of the DC Council’s operations during the upcoming Council period. DCFPI drafted focused recommendations regarding hearings, roundtables, budget processes, legislative processes, District building use and access, public access to information, open meetings and Council structure and invited organizations to sign-on to a coalition letter.
The DC Environmental Network signed on to this important document because we believe a transparent DC Council will do a better job of representing the interests of the environmental community. Since many DC focused environmental organizations communicate regularly with Council offices and at hearings and roundtables, DCEN felt it important to support this effort.
This was an opportunity to network with non-environmental organizations on issues important to all of us who care about our city.
Other DC organizations that joined DCFPI’s unique coalition are:
• Capital Area Food Bank
• Children’s Law Center
• DC Alliance of Youth Advocates
• D.C. Employment Justice Center
• DC Environmental Network
• DC Fiscal Policy Institute
• DC Jobs Council
• DC Jobs with Justice
• DC Open Government Coalition
• DC Statehood Green Party
• Defeat Poverty DC
• Fair Budget Coalition
• Healthy Families/Thriving Communities Collaborative Council
• Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO
• Miriam’s Kitchen
• Sasha Bruce Youthwork
• The Arc of District of Columbia
• Quality Trust for Individuals with Disabilities
• Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless
• We Are Family
Jenny Reed, Policy Director of the DC Fiscal Policy Institute reported:
“Earlier this month, the DC Council adopted a set of rules that govern the Council’s organization and procedures for the next two years. The DC Environmental Network, along with several other organizations, signed onto a letter to Councilmembers asking for changes to the rules to improve the transparency of Council actions and public access to information. The Council did adopt revisions to two areas suggested in the letter: requiring the Council to use government emails for public business and including relevant documents, in addition to testimony, as part of the public hearing record on legislation. Unfortunately, many other suggestions such as improving the notice to the public of hearings and roundtables and the transparency and public access of emergency legislation and amendments were not adopted.”
You can read a copy of the letter submitted to the Council here and a final version of the Council rules will be available here (as soon as they are posted).
The DC Environmental Network will continue to look for ways to work closely with the broader DC advocacy community which we hope will result in generating more success on the environmental front.
Mayor Gray’s Proposed DC Waste-to Energy Facility
by Chris Weiss, Executive Director, DC Environmental Network
“The District has an opportunity to craft a long-term waste-management strategy that redefines solid waste from a burden to a resource with economic, political and social value,” said DPW Director William O. Howland, Jr. “This award will fund a comprehensive feasibility study to answer the question of how the District can best capture energy from materials that are routinely discarded as trash.”
- William O. Howland, Jr., Director, Department of Public Works
On January 3rd at Noon (1100 15th Street NW, 11th Floor) the DC Environmental Network will be convening our monthly brown-bag to discuss a possible new waste-to-energy conversion facility (possibly incineration) within the District of Columbia. This is the FIRST DCEN networking opportunity of the year. All are invited and urged to attend!
RSVP for this First of the Year DCEN Networking Opportunity!
Our panel will include:
- Neil Seldman, Institute for Local Self Reliance
- Hallie Clemm, Deputy Administrator, Solid Waste Management Division, DC Department of Public Works
- Mike Ewall, Energy Justice Network
- Larry Martin, Sierra Club, Washington, DC Chapter
- Chris Weiss, DC Environmental Network
Background:
The Department of Public Works (DPW) was recently awarded $300,000 to study the costs and benefits of establishing a waste-to-energy conversion facility within the District. (The Mayor also committed $600,000 for composting programs.)
“The District has an opportunity to craft a long-term waste-management strategy that redefines solid waste from a burden to a resource with economic, political and social value,” said DPW Director William O. Howland, Jr. “This award will fund a comprehensive feasibility study to answer the question of how the District can best capture energy from materials that are routinely discarded as trash.”
RSVP for this First of the Year DCEN Networking Opportunity!
DC focused environmentalists have concerns about such a proposal. Such a plant could pollute our city and region. An incineration option, if chosen, might not be a good one for the District. Incinerators are often the most expensive and polluting way to make energy or to dispose of waste. They may compete with recycling and composting, which produce 10 times more jobs while helping the environment.
“Trash burning should not be considered renewable energy. Trash is not renewable. Incinerators burn discarded resources and the embodied energy they contain. They destroy rather than conserve materials. For every ton of material destroyed by incineration, many more tons of raw materials must be mined, processed, or distributed to manufacture a new product to take its place. More trees must be cut down to make paper. More ore must be mined for metal production. More petroleum must be processed into plastics. On the whole, three to five times more energy can be saved by recycling materials than by burning them.”
- Brenda Platt, Co-Director, Institute for Local Self Reliance, Testimony Before Maryland House Economic Matters Committee, March 9, 2011
All are welcome!
RSVP for this First of the Year DCEN Networking Opportunity!
Help DCEN Grow the Movement!
DC Environmentalists:
With all the work the DC Environmental Network (DCEN) engages in to green our city, what is not often seen is the help and assistance DCEN gives to individual organizations like City Wildlife.
In just the last sixteen months the DC Environmental Network has been a strong partner in helping City Wildlife reach out to the broader Washington DC environmental community to tell their story and share the belief that people and wildlife can co-exist together in urban settings.
Help grow DCEN so we can grow our green movement. Donate today!
Some highlights:
- CALLED NETWORK TO ACTION ON WILDLIFE: DCEN coordinated a forum featuring District of Columbia Councilmember Mary Cheh, Dr. John Hadidian of the Humane Society of the United States and Anne Lewis of City Wildlife to engage, and call to action, the broader green community on the importance of protecting urban wildlife. This gathering gave City Wildlife an opportunity to talk about their work and vision for DC.
- ENGAGED DECISION MAKERS: DCEN utilized its connections and experience working with the District Department of the Environment (DDOE) to help City Wildlife and other advocates address potential harmful impacts to wildlife that the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail, near Kenilworth Park, might create. As the planning process was in the later stages, DCEN quickly coordinated two meetings with representatives of DDOE and the National Park Service to address some concerns and increase public and governmental oversight.
Donate to DCEN and help all of us do a better job keeping tabs on and influencing decision makers!
- PROMOTED CITY WILDLIFE: DCEN has continued to publicize the work and activities of City Wildlife to the broader community. In September, DCEN participated in and helped turn out wildlife enthusiasts to their highly successful Wildlife911 introductory course that focused on the principles of wildlife rehabilitation in the region.
DCEN is also concurrently working on efforts that directly impact the wildlife that we all care about. Our engagement to establish protections for wetlands, advocacy campaigns on behalf of clean rivers and efforts to establish an adaptation plan to help wildlife (and DC residents) deal with the impacts of global warming, are all complimentary initiatives that will help all of us.
Help DCEN continue to serve the needs of our shared environmental community. Please donate today!
DCEN is about building and growing our environmental community in the District and region. I see this in our strong support for groups like City Wildlife and I also see this in our support for the many other groups and individuals in the District of Columbia that are doing what they can to save our planet.
Chris Weiss
Executive Director
DC Environmental Network
We Are the DC Environmental Network!
DC Environmental Network Executive Director Chris Weiss:
DC Environmentalists:
In the last two weeks you have heard from key environmental leaders asking you to contribute to the DC Environmental Network (DCEN). They have shared support for DCEN’s efforts to leverage the talent and creativity of the broader green movement to achieve sustainability in our nation’s capital city.
- Brent Blackwelder, President Emeritus, Friends of the Earth:
“…I have watched DCEN help lead the maturation of the local environmental movement with more and more environmental leaders engaging in increasingly significant ways to weave ever deeply the connection between environmental values and quality of life issues. Whether it is clean rivers, global warming, green budgets or any of the other associated issues that impact the health and economic well-being of District residents, DCEN has played an important, sometimes even a leadership role in the development of new and innovative environmental programs and policies.”
- Paul Walker, Director, Environmental Security and Sustainability, Global Green USA:
“Just last week, even as highly paid lobbyists were working hard to weaken Mayor Gray’s proposed stormwater and wetlands regulations in the District of Columbia, the DC Environmental Network (DCEN) convened a hopeful and positive dialogue calling on Mayor Gray to finally bring meaningful protections to the Anacostia River, Potomac River and Rock Creek. It was DCEN who brought together Earthjustice, Natural Resources Defense Council, Clean Water Action, Global Green USA, Anacostia Riverkeeper, City Wildlife, Friends of McMillan Park, Friends of the Earth, Green Cross International and other organizations and activists to make a bold statement about what our rivers, our community and our economic future should look like.”
- Allison Archambault, President, EarthSpark International:
“The District of Columbia is extremely lucky to have the DC Environmental Network (DCEN). DCEN strives to look at the world like I do. I feel connected to DCEN because they have created a framework that makes it easier for all of us to engage at the local level on possibly the most important issues of our time including global warming. DCEN understands the importance of addressing the mounting environmental ills that threaten the health, safety and economic viability of our planet. By helping the citizens of the District engage on these issues at the local level, DCEN makes it easier for all of us to do our part for the planet.”
Chris Weiss
Executive Director
DC Environmental Network
Our Shared Vision for the District…and the Planet!
DC Environmental Network Supporter Allison Archambault, EarthSpark International:
DC Environmentalists:
As the President of EarthSpark International, I spend a lot of time working to empower communities in Haiti by addressing energy poverty. I have also invested a lot of my personal time in the District working to make sure that the poor in our nation’s capital city have options and access to clean and affordable energy. I see strong connections between both my work in Haiti and the District. These connections are what make it possible for me and my colleagues to engage in the world as global citizens.
- DCEN helps all of us become better global citizens.
The District of Columbia is extremely lucky to have the DC Environmental Network (DCEN). DCEN strives to look at the world like I do. I feel connected to DCEN because they have created a framework that makes it easier for all of us to engage at the local level on possibly the most important issues of our time including global warming.
DCEN understands the importance of addressing the mounting environmental ills that threaten the health, safety and economic viability of our planet. By helping the citizens of the District engage on these issues at the local level, DCEN makes it easier for all of us to do our part for the planet.
- DCEN helps bring us together, in coalition, for change.
DCEN does a lot to set the stage for sustainability in the District. With monthly networking opportunities, webinars, trainings and the engagement of communities and decision makers through shared campaigns, DCEN creates the space necessary to influence the issues we all care about.
Central to all of their activities is the notion that the broader green community (and any group or individual who shares a concern) can do more, even create meaningful change, when we work together in coalition.
- DCEN has a track record of success.
Over the years I have watched DCEN use this model for success. I watched DCEN lead the environmental community in the creation and growth of the District Department of the Environment (DDOE) and the DC Sustainable Energy Utility (DC SEU).
DCEN led legislative efforts to bring clean energy to our neighborhoods, protection for our trees, standards for the Anacostia River, Potomac River and Rock Creek and numerous other policy changes that are making true sustainability in DC possible. (See recent report by Brent Blackwelder.)
- DCEN looks to a sustainable future for our region.
DCEN is working hard to make sure DC Mayor Gray’s Sustainable DC plan integrates the values of environmentalism, diversity and inclusion and does so in a manner that results in the reduction of poverty in the District of Columbia. That is why I feel a connection between my work and DCEN’s.
It’s not an easy path for any one individual or organization to take but if we pull together in coalition, like DCEN strives to do each and every day, we might all be pleasantly surprised by what we can accomplish together.
Allison Archambault
DC Environmental Network Supporter
President
EarthSpark International
DCEN Brown-Bag: DC Waste-To-Energy Facility?
By Chris Weiss, Executive Director, DC Environmental Network
“Trash burning should not be considered renewable energy. Trash is not renewable. Incinerators burn discarded resources and the embodied energy they contain. They destroy rather than conserve materials. For every ton of material destroyed by incineration, many more tons of raw materials must be mined, processed, or distributed to manufacture a new product to take its place. More trees must be cut down to make paper. More ore must be mined for metal production. More petroleum must be processed into plastics. On the whole, three to five times more energy can be saved by recycling materials than by burning them.”
- Brenda Platt, Co-Director, Institute for Local Self Reliance, Testimony Before Maryland House Economic Matters Committee, March 9, 2011
On January 3rd at Noon (1100 15th Street NW, 11th Floor) the DC Environmental Network will be convening our monthly brown-bag to discuss a possible new waste-to-energy conversion facility (possibly incineration) within the District of Columbia. RSVP Here!
Our panel will include:
- Neil Seldman, Institute for Local Self Reliance
- Hallie Clemm, Deputy Administrator, Solid Waste Management Division, DC Department of Public Works
- Mike Ewall, Energy Justice Network
- Larry Martin or Hana Heineken, Sierra Club, Washington, DC Chapter (invited)
- Chris Weiss, DC Environmental Network
Background:
The Department of Public Works (DPW) was recently awarded $300,000 to study the costs and benefits of establishing a waste-to-energy conversion facility within the District.
“The District has an opportunity to craft a long-term waste-management strategy that redefines solid waste from a burden to a resource with economic, political and social value,” said DPW Director William O. Howland, Jr. “This award will fund a comprehensive feasibility study to answer the question of how the District can best capture energy from materials that are routinely discarded as trash.”
DC focused environmentalists have concerns about such a proposal. Such a plant could pollute our city and region. An incineration option, if chosen, might not be a good one for the District. Incinerators are often the most expensive and polluting way to make energy or to dispose of waste. They may compete with recycling and composting, which produce 10 times more jobs while helping the environment.
All are welcome!
Clean Air Not Coal at Capitol Power Plant!
by Chris Weiss, Executive Director, DC Environmental Network
