EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated with additional information about Pepco’s efforts to adjust its energy monitoring practices at community solar facilities.
Happy almost-autumn! It’s been a busy month on the climate change front across the country.
In positive news, the Biden administration celebrated the one-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act, the nation’s biggest-ever piece of legislation aimed at fighting climate change and funding renewable energy development. And in Montana, a judge ruled in a landmark case that youth do have a right to a clean and healthful environment, including a stable climate.
But the summer’s weather — amplified by the natural warm, rainy weather pattern called El Niño — has brought some darker climate change stories to the forefront nationally. A few of the biggest headlines:
- The deadliest fire in U.S. history hit Hawaii on Aug. 8, killing over 100 people. Extraordinarily dry and hot conditions made more likely by climate change fueled the fast-moving blaze.
- Tropical Storm Hilary dumped record-breaking amounts of water on Southern California on Aug. 21.
- A massive “heat dome” continues to cause dangerously high temperatures lasting days and even weeks on end throughout the Southwest, Midwest and Southeast U.S.
- Finally, here in the D.C. area, heavy rainfall has prompted major flooding multiple times in the last two months, including the Aug. 14 flooding that killed 10 dogs at a canine day care on Rhode Island Avenue.
Fights for a safe climate and clean environment continue in and around the District, though. Here are a few efforts in the news this month:
Dominion Energy Installs Solar at Dulles; Pepco’s Community Solar Problems Persist
Passengers flying in and out of Dulles International Airport may soon see more than 800 acres of shiny solar panels beneath them, according to reporting from DCist’s Jordan Pascale last week. The airport and Dominion Energy held a ceremonial groundbreaking on Aug. 22, and the project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2026. Dominion Energy said it expects the project to power more than 37,000 homes in the area, plus some of the airport’s facilities.
Meanwhile, Pepco’s legal and technical troubles tracking power generation from community solar facilities continue to drag on, Jacob Fenston of DCist reported early in the month. After regulators told the company it needed to stop using its own energy generation meters, Pepco initially asked facility operators to track it manually — entering thousands of lines of data monthly. Solar operators responded that it was an absurd request and so costly that it could negate the savings that allow community solar facilities to cut energy bills by up to 50% for subscribers, many of whom are low- to moderate-income renters who sign up through the Solar for All program.
In an emailed statement, Pepco said that after hearing facility operators’ concerns, they filed an amendment with the Public Service Commission to add another option for tracking energy generation. Pepco would offer a “cellular data pack,” a device that attaches to the meter and collects the data automatically. But not all solar facilities may have the technical capabilities to support them, the company noted.
“We are actively working to comply with the Commission’s order related to Community Renewable Energy Facilities (CREFs) in the District, including the requirement to remove Pepco-owned meters from all CREF locations,” the statement read. “As part of this effort, we are beginning to execute work toward a long-term, automated process to collect meter data from each CREF. However, an interim process will be required as the automated option is implemented. We are making every effort to establish an efficient, equitable process that works for the CREF owners and Pepco, and that minimizes any impact to customers who are subscribed to the CREFs.”
From the Museum to the Highway: Climate Protesters Hold Direct Action Disruptions
Last week, police arrested three climate activists from the Declare Emergency campaign in the National Museum of Natural History’s dinosaur fossil exhibit, according to reporting from The Washington Post’s Ellie Silverman. One person glued themselves to a sign and others climbed into an exhibit. A museum spokesperson told The Post there was no damage, though the fossil hall shut down for about 30 minutes.
“This time around, carbon dioxide is the asteroid, and we are the dinosaurs,” the group wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The protest took place in the David H. Koch Hall of Fossils — Deep Time, in a section of the exhibit labeled “Last American Dinosaurs.” Koch Industries is the largest privately owned fossil fuel company in the United States, and brothers David and Charles Koch have spent years funding efforts to cast doubt on climate science and prevent the enactment of policies to slow down the planet’s warming.
The same week as the museum protest, Declare Emergency activists blocked highway lanes on three separate occasions.
In the morning on Saturday Aug. 26, protesters — including at least one arrested for a similar offense earlier in the week — blocked westbound traffic on US-50. Frustrated drivers on the way to work got out of their cars, yelling expletives and ripping banners out of activists’ hands, footage posted by documentary producer Ford Fischer shows.
When police arrived, they arrested all the protesters, despite a typical practice that allows road-blocking activists three warnings before an arrest, Fischer said on Twitter.
That highway protest took place on the same day as the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington.
“For us, this was a great way to honor the legacy of Dr. King and to carry on his tradition of disruptive, nonviolent civil disobedience!” the group said on X, (formerly known as Twitter).
Climate disruption protests are, unsurprisingly, highly controversial. That’s especially true when it comes to road-blocking. In a comment on one of Declare Emergency’s social media posts, Instagram user Shaleyla argued that blocking traffic lanes, especially on a Saturday morning in August, hurts mostly service industry workers rather than D.C. decision-makers.
“Working class people and POC already suffer the most from climate change despite contributing to it the least – and now, by targeting people who have been priced OUT of the metro-accessible region, you’re doing it again,” the comment read.
Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties’ Water Utility Sues Over ‘Forever Chemicals‘
The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC), Maryland’s biggest water utility, filed a lawsuit early this month against 3M, Dupont and Chemours, among other companies, arguing that the companies knew about and hid the risks of some chemicals they sold. Those chemicals, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), or “forever chemicals,” do not break down. Research has linked exposure to PFAS with pregnancy issues, development defects, liver damage and increased risks for certain cancers, among other health effects.
WSSC, which serves almost 2 million residents of Prince George’s and Montgomery counties, said that levels of PFAS in its water system are low. But it’s unclear how much it may cost to continue testing and treatment, the utility argues, since the science and regulation around PFAS remains very new and quickly evolving.
The lawsuit joins an avalanche of similar litigation filed in recent months by other water systems, as well as by state and local governments, including both Maryland and the District.
