Ditto to what Bill said. Plus, it did have an impact on the WV Chapter.
It caused untold pain and anguish, and it took many hours of work to try
and make national understand the realities of the situation. It pitted
members against each other, and I came extremely close to cancelling my
membership. Not that that would be a big loss to the Club, but others may
have felt the same, and some may even have acted on it.
> The issue emphatically is NOT what program the money was spent on.....the
> issue is the fact that it bought silence, at a time when silence was
> deadly. There can be no rationalization, implicit or otherwise, based on
> the use made of the money.
>
> On Wed, Mar 21, 2012 at 2:49 PM, Jim Sconyers <
jimscon@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Paul's comment below illustrates another aspect of this whole brouhaha -
>> not only did most of our own board not know of the $, but even now we're
>> guessing what it was used for. As I've said before, I deeply respect
>> what
>> Carl Pope did for the Club and the world - but he made one FUBAR on
>> this.
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Mar 21, 2012 at 1:14 PM, Paul Wilson <
pjgrunt@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> It all went to the Beyond Coal Campaign, but we on the Campaign Team -
>>> at
>>> least the 2 volunteers - did not know about it, so it is hard to say
>>> what
>>> it was/is spent on. best, paul
>>>
>>> On Wed, Mar 21, 2012 at 12:18 PM, Yarnell, Karen <
>>>
Karen.Grubb@fairmontstate.edu> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Did any of that money go to the coal campaign, which may have been
>>>> used
>>>> for litigation in WV?****
>>>>
>>>> ** **
>>>>
>>>> *From:* ec-bounces@osenergy.org [mailto:ec-bounces@osenergy.org] *On
>>>> Behalf Of *William V. DePaulo, Esq.
>>>> *Sent:* Wednesday, March 21, 2012 9:44 AM
>>>> *To:* Jim Sconyers
>>>> *Cc:* Energy Committee
>>>> *Subject:* Re: [EC] It is impossible to overstate the damage done by
>>>> Sierra Club's $26 million sell-out to the natural gas industry 3 years
>>>> ago
>>>> when this argument could still have been won.****
>>>>
>>>> ** **
>>>>
>>>> I AGREE RE IMPACT ON WV CHAPTER....AND FOR THAT MATTER OTHERS.....I
>>>> REMEMBER CLEARLY THE NEW YORK REP AT THE ANNUAL MEETING THREE YEARS
>>>> AGO
>>>> DEMANDING TO KNOW IF SIERRA'S DIRECTORS HAD ACCEPTED MONEY FROM THE
>>>> NATURAL
>>>> GAS INDUSTRY, AND RECEIVING NOTHING BUT BLANK STARES IN
>>>> RESPONSE.....***
>>>> *
>>>>
>>>> On Wed, Mar 21, 2012 at 9:30 AM, Jim Sconyers <
jimscon@gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> The ultimate irony is that the grassroots were (and are) working
>>>> furiously to tame the runaway gas monster while national took the $
>>>> from
>>>> Chesapeake. I might add that the $ had no effect whatsoever - none -
>>>> on the
>>>> West Virginia Chapter, its finances, or our intense Marcellus/Shale
>>>> Gas
>>>> Campaign.****
>>>>
>>>> On Wed, Mar 21, 2012 at 8:52 AM, William V. DePaulo, Esq. <
>>>> william.depaulo@gmail.com> wrote:****
>>>>
>>>> *Error! Filename not specified.*****
>>>> Gas it is****
>>>> Renewables take back seat ****
>>>>
>>>> Bill Opalka <http://www.renewablesbiz.com/author/bill-opalka> | Mar
>>>> 20,
>>>> 2012 ****
>>>>
>>>> *Error! Filename not
>>>> specified.*<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.renewablesbiz.com%2Farticle%2F12%2F03%2Fgas-it%26amp%3Butm_medium%3DeNL%26amp%3Butm_campaign%3DRB_DAILY2%26amp%3Butm_term%3DOriginal-Member&title=Gas%20it%20is%20%7C%20RenewablesBiz&description=>
>>>> *Error! Filename not
>>>> specified.*<http://www.renewablesbiz.com/article/12/03/gas-it&utm_medium=eNL&utm_campaign=RB_DAILY2&utm_term=Original-Member#%23>
>>>> ****
>>>>
>>>> *Error! Filename not specified.*****
>>>>
>>>> The shine is off renewable energy and shale gas is the new disruptive
>>>> technology in power generation.
>>>>
>>>> Harnessing Disruption is the theme of this year’s EnergyBiz Leadership
>>>> Forum <http://www.energybizforum.com/> in Washington, D.C. this week,
>>>> and that means gas-fired generation from unconventional sources is
>>>> jumpin’.
>>>>
>>>> Recession, rising energy costs and competing interests that could
>>>> hamstring the power sector all play a role. And renewables are
>>>> sometimes
>>>> seen as a stress point as utilities seek to meet state mandates for
>>>> their
>>>> renewable portfolio standards. The dim prospects for any carbon
>>>> legislation
>>>> for the foreseeable future are responsible, combined with downward
>>>> price
>>>> pressures from the gas glut.
>>>>
>>>> “Low gas pricing is really giving us some breathing room,” said
>>>> Anthony
>>>> F. Earley Jr., chairman and CEO of PG&E
>>>> Corporation<http://www.pge.com/>(NYSE: PG&E).
>>>>
>>>> Renewable energy is competing for attention, and even as its costs
>>>> decline, natural gas dominates the discussion.
>>>>
>>>> Earley, the new executive at the San Francisco utility, is a different
>>>> circumstance than many of his colleagues. With California’s 33%
>>>> renewable
>>>> portfolio standard by 2020, he said that’s effectively 50% as most
>>>> hydropower doesn’t count under the standard.
>>>>
>>>> But there was little talk about state renewable portfolio standards
>>>> this
>>>> year.
>>>>
>>>> Consider some of the headline speakers of the first three forums to
>>>> get
>>>> a sense of how the landscape has shifted. Three years ago Boone
>>>> Pickens was
>>>> touting massive wind farms in the Great Plains. In 2010,
>>>> Representative Ed
>>>> Markey (D-Mass.) was shepherding cap-and-trade legislation through the
>>>> U.S.
>>>> House of Representatives. A year ago, Google caused a stir with plans
>>>> for a
>>>> backbone transmission plan for offshore wind, with the Atlantic Wind
>>>> Connection <http://atlanticwindconnection.com/> outlining its $5
>>>> billion project.
>>>>
>>>> But now the issue is managing expectations as costs rise and much of
>>>> the
>>>> public is still ill-informed, and sensitive to price shocks as
>>>> gasoline
>>>> tops $4 a gallon.
>>>>
>>>> “A certain part of the public thinks we can get off Mideast oil by
>>>> building windmills, but we only get 1% of power from oil,” said Thomas
>>>> F.
>>>> Farrell II, president and CEO of Dominion <http://www.dom.com/> (NYSE:
>>>> D).
>>>>
>>>> “The industry has $2 trillion in refurbishment of the grid, as we try
>>>> to
>>>> optimize how we handle our investments of what to build over the next
>>>> two
>>>> decades,” said Nick Akins, president and CEO of
>>>> AEP<http://www.aep.com/>(NYSE: AEP).
>>>>
>>>> Even as recent as a year ago, the choice seemed to be renewables or
>>>> nuclear, with much talk of natural gas as the bridge fuel. Now, gas is
>>>> the
>>>> fuel of choice due to its low cost and quick turnaround in building
>>>> plants.
>>>>
>>>> A slow decline in attention paid by government support may not change,
>>>> as wind and solar are under threat of collapse if tax credits expire,
>>>> particularly for wind, at the end of 2012.
>>>> Regardless of the resource base or the preferred resource of any CEO,
>>>> the detrimental lack of a national energy policy is something on which
>>>> all
>>>> can agree, regardless of the year.****
>>>>
>>>> The editorial staff at RenewablesBiz.com is passionate about
>>>> exchanging
>>>> ideas and dedicated to promoting ongoing conversation about renewable
>>>> and
>>>> sustainable energy issues. We invite you to join and contribute to our
>>>> online community. If you have an idea for an article or editorial
>>>> contribution, please contact me via email,
bopalka@energycentral.com,
>>>> www.passeggiata.com****
>>>>
>>>> ** **
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> EC mailing list
>>>>
EC@osenergy.org
>>>> Remember, Mother Nature bats last.****
>>>> www.passeggiata.com****
>>>>
>>>> ** **