The West Virginia Environmental Council and West Virginia Citizens for Clean Elections have been hard at work during the 2019 WV Legislative Session. They are there representing you, OVEC and other groups who just don’t have the capacity to be at the Statehouse every day. Let’s help ourselves and the our literal and political environment by taking these actions. Need to get primed to act? If so, please read these remarks E-Council lobbyist Karan Ireland made on E-Day.

Water is Life: West Virginians, Take Action
Late Friday, the House Judiciary Committee passed out the water quality standards rule (SB 163) without updates to human health protections. While we had a few champions of clean water who tried to fix the bill with an amendment, that was voted down. Please take a few minutes to thank the delegates who are defending our water, and then, if those folks are not your representatives, please take another moment to let your delegate know that SB163 fails to protect West Virginians with the best science available.

Learn more and take action here: Water Quality Standards Rule Heads to House Floor – No Updated Protections

Be #WVProDemocracy
On Tuesday, the Senate passed a major campaign finance overhaul bill that would allow even more big money into a system that already favors the wealthy and special interests. SB 622 increases campaign contribution limits from $1,000 to $2,800 for candidates, to $5,000 for PACs, and to $10,000 per year for party committees.

Ordinary working West Virginians don’t have that kind of money to donate to campaigns, so the overall effect of the bill would be disastrous for voters who struggle to have their voices heard above the special interests that try buy our elections.We need more transparency of political spending in our elections, not more money.

To learn more and take action, click here.

Another E-Action: Please Tell WV Lawmakers to REJECT SB 266

From WV Rivers Coalition
Deadline Today: Comment On Pipeline Stream Crossing Permit

Get Involved in Efforts to Resist Proposed Appalachian Storage Hub
Politicians, corporations and foreign financiers are all keen to turn our region into the next plastics belt by building the Appalachian Storage Hub.

ASH would be a massive petrochemical corridor build-out that would span approximately 400 miles along the Ohio River Valley, with a spur up the Kanawha River towards Charleston. It could include infrastructure—such as underground storage of fracked-gas byproducts, pipelines*, and huge “cracker” plants—in up to 50 counties on both sides of the Ohio River. The cracker plants would produce plastic, just as communities around the world are working to reduce plastic waste and curb plastic pollution. (*The photo above is a pipeline landslide caused by the construction of the Mountaineer Xpress Pipeline; while not directly related to ASH, this serves as an example of what pipeline construction can do in our hilly and mountainous terrain. See drone footage and read more about this landslide here, in a blog by OVEC organizer Alex Cole.)

To help it build parts of ASH, the Appalachia Development Group LLC has applied to the U.S. Department of Energy for a loan guarantee of 1.9 billion dollars. Why should we tax payers prop up this monstrosity?

To feed the infrackstructure of ASH, our region would be besieged by greatly expanded unconventional oil and gas drilling (fracking) and more pipelines.
The Appalachian Storage Hub is not the change we need. Our tax dollars can be put to better use. Given the dire warnings about and evidence of climate chaos we receive daily now, building ASH is unconscionable.

Here’s some recent news on ASH resistance:
Appeal filed against air permit for potential ethane cracker plant
Plastics: The New Coal in Appalachia?

To learn more and/or join in OVEC’s efforts to stop ASH, call us at 304-522-0246 or e-mail info@ohvec.org.

Solastalgia Got You Down? Map Your Own Landscape!
Would you like to help create a map of the landscape that you value and love–even if you have lost that landscape to mountaintop removal coal mining? If you live near or were forced from your homeplace due to mountaintop removal, then you are the expert for this project, if you are willing to share your memories and passion about your homeplace. To learn more, click here.

Volunteers Needed
In this cold blast the first week of March, we are thinking spring, when outreach events spring up like wildflowers. If you’d like to help us get out the word about our work on and around Earth Day, please send an e-mail to info@ohvec.org.

Upcoming Events

Now – April 30: Women and Water Exhibit in Morgantown, WV.

Now – March 30: Builder Levy’s “Appalachia USA” will be exhibited at the Beckley Arts Center’s Cynthia Bickey Art Gallery at 600 Johnstown Road. The exhibit is open Wednesdays through Saturdays between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.

March 8: The Devil We Know Screening for UCC/OVEC Community Movie Night
Join the First Congregational UCC and OVEC for a free screening of this powerful documentary, starting at 6:30 p.m. at the UCC, WV 701 5th Avenue, Huntington, West Virginia, 25701. Snacks and drinks available, with discussion to follow the screenings. 

Related: Be sure to read Dr. Randi Pokladnik’s latest blog: The Legacy of Non-Stick Cookware

March 27: The Citizens Climate Lobby Of West Virginia, Charleston Chapter and the WV International Film Festival are sponsoring a free documentary film event with a screening of The Human Element, which follows James Balog, environmental photographer, across the country as he documents the human impact on air, water, fire and earth. 7 p.m. at the LaBelle Theatre in South Charleston.

April 8 – 12: Stop the Pipelines Art Installation in DC

April 10: #DefundDisaster and #ShutDownChase – National Day of Action. Support this action: Fossil Banks? No Thanks! Sign the Global Call on Banks to Stop Financing Fossil Fuels

April 24: MU Earth Day

April 27: Stinkfest at Wild Ramp

Check our online calendar for more events that will soon be added. If you would like us to consider an event for posting on our website, e-mail details to info@ohvec.org.

OVEC’s New Executive Director
P.S. Did you get this far? If so, I hope you will be pleased to know that as of the February 26 OVEC board meeting, your action alert writer (Vivian Stockman) is now serving as OVEC’s Executive Director. 

If you aren’t already a member of OVEC, please join today! Your membership dues support our work. If you need us to check on your membership status—dues are yearly—send us an e-mail at info@ohvec.org and we’ll check your status. Of course, your donations are welcomed and put to good use at any time of the year!

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