About Environment Virginia
We’re your state environmental group, protecting the places we love, advancing the environmental values we share, and winning real results for our environment.
Who we are
Environment Virginia is a statewide, citizen-based environmental advocacy organization. We believe there’s something special about Virginia — something worth protecting and preserving for future generations. Whether it's hiking Old Rag at Shenandoah National Park, canoeing on the Chesapeake Bay or swimming at Assateague Island, Virginia's natural wonders enrich our lives in countless ways. Yet the places we love and the environmental values so many of us share are too often threatened by powerful industries, shortsighted politicians and more.
Defending our environment requires independent research, tough-minded advocacy and spirited grassroots action. That’s the idea behind Environment Virginia. Together with thousands of supporters from all walks of life, we take the kind of action that wins tangible results for our environment.
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What we do
Funded by supporters like you, we research the challenges confronting Virginia's environment and educate the public about what’s at stake. Through our research reports, news conferences, interviews with reporters, op-ed pieces, letters to the editor and more, we raise awareness of environmental issues and promote sensible solutions. Our canvassers meet people where they are — in public places or door to door — raising awareness, recruiting new supporters and activists, and raising funds to support our work.
When decisions are being made about Virginia's environment, our elected officials hear plenty from the oil companies, developers and other powerful interests. We make the case for our environment and help people like you make your voice heard, through petitions, emails, letters, phone calls and more, all delivered to the right people just when it matters most.
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Environment Virginia Research & Policy Center
Results
- Restoring the Chesapeake Bay. After months of campaigning, we helped persuade Gov. Bob McDonnell to compose a strong plan to restore the Chesapeake Bay. The plan, which addresses pollution from development and agribusiness, will help shrink the dead zone that consumes one-third of the Bay's waters each summer.
- Saving Virginia's shores. Last year, at Environment Virginia's urging, President Obama dropped plans to drill off Virginia's coast. The public outcry in the aftermath of the Gulf spill hastened the president's reversal, and some of the loudest voices were from Environment Virginia members who signed petitions, wrote emails and joined "Hands Across the Sand" events to protest offshore drilling.
- Protecting Shenandoah National Park. Nearby coal plants cloud some of Shenandoah National Park's most striking Blue Ridge views with toxic air pollution. This past summer, we united thousands of Virginians behind our call for new rules to clear the smog and soot from Shenandoah’s air. In August, the EPA finalized new rules to do just that.