The offshore proposal will also address whether to move forward with a lease sale planned for 2011 off Virginia, Salazar said. He added that gathering more information about resources off the Atlantic Coast “is important to do because we have no recent information — it’s 30 years old, and it’s very hard to make decisions without having that information.”

He also said yesterday he would unveil a comprehensive offshore oil and gas drilling plan by the end of this month.

So far over 1,000 Virginians have emailed Sec. Salazar or signed our petition urging him to stop the rush to drill Virginia. Please join us! Click here to send Sec. Salazar an email TODAY!

Presenters: Eileen Levandoski, Sierra Club; J.R. Tolbert, Environment Virginia; Dr. Carl Hobbs, Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS)

For more info and to RSVP, call 757-277-8537.

Folks in Southside Hampton Roads will gather starting at 6:30 on Friday, December 11 at the Unitarian Church of Norfolk, 739 Yarmouth Street on the Hague. Speakers include ODU Professor and scholar David Burdige, Department of Ocean Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. For more information, contact Rev. Phyllis L. Hubbell, 410-916-1793, phubbell@uuma.org.

Click here to RSVP. Other Vigils for Survival include Newport News, Williamsburg, and Blacksburg.

“All we did was testify about real things that have really happened, to make the point that despite advances in technology, mistakes are still made and accidents still happen - and with offshore oil production, the consequences still can be severe”, writes Sky Truth’s John Amos who was invited to testify on several significant oil spill incidents they’ve investigated over the past few years.

These investigations include “the recent Montara platform blowout and spill in the Timor Sea off Western Australia; this summer’s spill in the Gulf of Mexico from the Eugene Island Pipeline operated by Shell; and the spills from hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, and Ike in 2008, that exposed the Achilles heel of offshore production: the vulnerability and severe spill risk posed by the coastal infrastructure - especially pipelines and storage facilities - that is necessary to support offshore drilling.”

Sky Truth was also commissioned to produce the image depicting the Australian oil spill off Virginia’s coast. Click here to view image.

As an LTE in today’s Virginian-Pilot points out (not online yet - see below the fold), politicians hinge their support of offshore drilling on its capacities to be done in an environmentally safe manner. The Australian spill especially shoots that pro-drilling argument to hell. The truth hurts and thus the knee-jerk reaction of people like Sen. Landrieu saying basically “shit happens”.

Why in the world do we want shit to happen off our Virginia coasts?

Adrift on offshore drilling

Re “Health care divides Senate hopefuls at rare GOP forum,” Hampton Roads, Nov. 22: The debates failed to address Jeff McWaters’ stance on offshore drilling. He came to my door a few weeks ago. When I asked about his view, he said he supports it.

There is no such thing as safe offshore drilling. Just ask the citizens of Australia, who are dealing with a major disaster from the two-year-old, state-ofthe-art Montara drilling rig — one of the so- called “safe” ones. After two months of trying to cap it, the blowout created a slick over an area 10 times the size of London.

Opening our coast for drilling is a veritable Pandora’s box. I can’t imagine an intelligent person thinking this will benefit our area. It is political posturing and a shameless betrayal because, as the laws stand now, profits from oil and gas leases go straight to the feds.

I don’t know Rosemary Wilson’s position on drilling, but seeing how she has supported the Beach during her tenure makes me feel a lot more comfortable with her in the state Senate.

Christine Morgan
Virginia Beach

Global Warming & Sea Level Rise, Dr. Terence Elkins, J4C

Coming soon - A Storm Tide Operational Forecast System at Jamestown, Dr. John Brubaker, VIMS

Climate Change in Coastal Virginia, Skip Stiles, Wetlands Watch

Government Policy Recommendations, Mark Callazzo, Old Dominion University

Question/Answer Session, Moderator: Terence Elkins

The forum is free and open to the public. Contact Terry Elkins at tjelkins@cox.net or Sarah Kadec at skadec@verizon.net for additional information.

According to the report, the Department of Energy estimates long term offshore wind energy potential off Virginia’s shoreline at 6572 megawatts. The Virginia Coastal Energy Research Consortium (VCERC) estimates the near term offshore wind energy potential at 3500 megawatts with a capital investment of up to $10 billion.

The Federal government’s Mineral Management Services (MMS) released its offshore renewable energy development regulations in June this year. Already two companies have submitted lease applications for projects off Virginia’s coasts.

Capital investment in the East Coast offshore wind energy industry for the coming 10 years is expected to be in excess of 15 billion. And everyone up and down the Atlantic seaboard wants a piece of this action.

New Jersey and Rhode Island head the pack with potentially the first commercial utility scale projects expected to be online as early as 2012. Procurement of wind turbines, installation vessels and other main components of these first projects will occur in the coming 6-12 months.

VCERC estimates $2.4 billion investment in the local economy. It is expected that more than 50% of offshore wind energy scope of supply will be manufactured locally. The thousands of jobs include engineering and fabrication of installation and service vessels, fabrication of towers and foundation monopoles and heavy turbine components. Amongst its East Coast neighbors, Virginia and specifically Hampton Roads with its deep water port and ship building industry, is envisioned as being the manufacturing hub for the industry.

With impending renewable energy standards and cap-and-trade requirements imposed by both the Federal and state government, Virginia’s offshore wind will provide a clean energy source that keeps these carbon credits within the Commonwealth, instead of importing them from the Midwest wind energy sources which involves building more transmission lines.

For more information, contact Ann Flandermeyer at 757-675-1876 or annflan@principle-advantage.com.

There is $75 million available for our region from the Department of Energy EECBG grants. The purpose is to fund job creation, economic growth, and energy efficiency improvements.

Securing the funding will require support and cooperation from commercial contractors, realtors, homebuilders, local development officials, commercial property owners, and manufacturing.

Come Tuesday to find out more about this tremendous opportunity for Hampton Roads, and what you can do to help.

That Tues., Nov. 24, 5:30-9:00pm at Marker 20, 21 East Queens Way, in Hampton.

According to a new report released by Environment America and the Sierra Club, our clean beaches and oceans support a vibrant coastal tourism and fishing economy that generates almost $200 billion per year. The report makes it clear that clean beaches and oceans are worth more than drilling for the last few drops of oil.

Learn more:
Wednesday, November 25, 2009, 7:00-8:45pm
Meyera E. Oberndorf Central Library, 4100 Virginia Beach Blvd., Virginia Beach

Speakers:
Eileen Levandoski, Sierra Club, Virginia Chapter
J.R. Tolbert, Environment Virginia

Click here to RSVP.

The proposed plant, located only a few miles from one of the Commonwealth’s greatest treasures, the Chesapeake Bay, would poison surrounding waterways with 116 pounds of mercury per year. The plant would create nearly 60 tons of poisonous coal ash a day, to be stored in Surry County, and would increase the demand for coal extracted using mountaintop removal mining. In addition, it would add nearly 15 million tons of global warming pollution to our air every year.

Please plan to attend this critical meeting on Monday, Nov. 23 starting at 7:00pm at the Surry County Government Center, 45 School St. in Surry, VA. Visit the Wise Energy for Virginia site for more information.