Donna Cooper
Region President, Pepco
701 9th Street NW
Washington DC, 20004
Dear Ms. Cooper,
The Sierra Club DC Chapter asks that Pepco stop running misleading ads on social media regarding climate change. Specifically, Pepco is running ads on Facebook asking people to sign a petition purporting to call for a “fight against climate change,” but the petition actually asks the DC Council to weaken the Clean Energy DC Omnibus Act in a way that would result in substantially higher greenhouse gas emissions from the District of Columbia.
Pepco’s Facebook ads do not mention the need to transition to renewable energy, a crucial step electric utilities must take for the planet to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change. But the advertisement’s petition to DC Councilmembers does mention other important steps to alleviate climate change, such as “cleaner electric transportation options and energy efficiency programs.”
Unfortunately, Pepco’s DC Council petition includes a vaguely worded statement that few who sign the petition will actually understand: “I want to make sure I am not locked into a long-term contract for today’s technologies when tomorrow’s innovations hold so much promise.” Though this statement appears forward-looking, in fact, it asks the DC Council to backtrack in the fight against climate change. Pepco’s language is asking the DC Council to kill a requirement in the Clean Energy DC Omnibus Act for renewable energy power purchase agreements and the associated greenhouse gas reductions that benefit the climate.
As Pepco is no doubt aware, the DC Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) estimates that the bill’s provisions for power purchase agreements for renewable energy would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 710,000 metric tons annually when fully implemented. That translates to an 8.1 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from DC, according to DOEE.
Pepco’s claim that continuing to pump 710,000 tons of greenhouse gas pollution into our atmosphere every year will help in “the fight against climate change” is inaccurate and dishonest.
The Sierra Club is the nation’s leading environmental organization, with thousands of dues-paying members in the District of Columbia. Our top priority is fighting climate change. Given Pepco’s claims to support action against the dangerous threat climate change poses to residents of the District of Columbia, we ask that you immediately cancel your Facebook ads that are designed to mislead DC residents and DC Councilmembers about climate change.
Sincerely,
Mark Rodeffer
Chair, Sierra Club DC