JBK
>>> Edward Mainland <emainland@COMCAST.NET> 6/4/2010 5:23 PM >>>
Michael Brune, Club Executive Director, will be hosting a call at 5 pm
Pacific/8 Eastern Monday June 7 for volunteers and staff to "talk about
our natural gas campaign and policies and answer questions". Call 1
866-501-6174 — code 223-9223#.
This call may be an opportune moment for the Club's grassroots to talk
to Michael about the need not only for more Sierra Club militancy on
the Gulf oil tragedy but also more specificity on how the Club proposes
to "get off oil".
And it's not just a matter of "getting off oil". It's getting off all
fossil fuels as fast as possible and not wasting another generation of
infrastructure and investment on the illusory but fatal temptation of
so-called "transition fossil fuels" like natural gas. New NG capacity
will continue carbon spewing and fossil-fuel dependency while competing
with and slowing the massive transition to renewable power for which
the Gulf catastrophe so cruelly demonstrates our need most dire.
-- Ed M.
- - - - - - - - - -
On May 24, 2010, at 3:17 PM Joe Cook wrote:
> Barb, Wayne and others,
>
> I agree that the Sierra Club appears to be missing in action at this
> seminal moment for us to shine a light on this issue and engage our
> membership to light a fire under and spray dispersant on Obama, his
> administration and the Congress. Where is the net roots call to
> action and marching feet on the ground in DC to stop the leak, do the
> clean up and call a timeout on offshore drilling? Now is the time to
> expose the dirty, greedy and inhumane fossil fuel industry and tout
> the alternative -- clean, renewable energy. At the same time, the
> Kerry-Liberman bill is a travesty in the face of the Gulf blowout and
> should be exposed as such.
>
> Joe Cook
>
> On Sun, May 23, 2010 at 12:19 PM, Wayne Kenton
> <waynekenton@comcast.net> wrote:
>> Barb,
>>
>> How do we get the Sierra Club leadership angry, how do we get them to
>> respond, how do we get them to get a plan to engage their grassroots
>> – are we not a grassroots group? Where is the national call to
>> action conference call today?
>>
>> After two days of sending out emails like this I am asking everyone
>> on this list – where is the red button to push! Where is our action
>> team response? I want to know what is happening what we are doing
>> and how grassroots is being empowered.
>>
>> I was sent this important web site to read up on what is happening in
>> the Oil world, please read and digest.
>>
>>
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6489#comments_top>>
>> www.NRDC.org has Robert Redford on CNN commercials airing as I write
>> this call for political leadership today over the Gulf Crisis, where
>> is ours! You want to grow public support, then we need to get out
>> there with a message and plan that people can support, if you don’t
>> people we find a group that does support their interests and
>> concerns. Redford is saying the same thing I have been saying, this
>> is urgent and to lead Mr. Obama.
>>
>> Maybe we should be generating a list of actions the Sierra Club could
>> be doing now, since nothing seems to be happening…
>>
>> Wayne
>>
>> PS. I am not on the leadership list server so some please tell what
>> is happening there????
>>
>> From: Chp & Grp Global Warming Energy Chairs
>> [mailto:CONS-SPST-GLOBALWARM-CHAIRS@LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG] On Behalf
>> Of Barbara McKasson
>> Sent: Sunday, May 23, 2010 11:46 AM
>> To: CONS-SPST-GLOBALWARM-CHAIRS@LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG
>> Subject: Re: [GW-ACT-LEADERS] Brune video
>>
>> We have been told that Micheal Brune, Carl Pope, Allison Chin and
>> Robin Mann are responding to the oil spill situation. However, it
>> seems they are forgetting that this is supposed to be a grassroots
>> organization. I have not seen much on prompting grassroots leaders
>> and members to respond to this - and I am a Sierra Club group
>> chair!. Let's use the unique strength of Sierra Club as a grassroots
>> organization.
>>
>> This is not the time to hold back!! We must push the Obama
>> Administration to be more proactive on this. We need people calling
>> Congress and the White House to step up the government response and
>> to pressure BP to do more. Using toxic dispersants to hide the huge
>> amount of oil that scientists say is gushing out daily is not a good
>> solution, yet the Obama administration is allowing it to continue.
>> It seems the Obama administration is trying to silence the scientists
>> also. If dispersants are used, it should be a less toxic solution!
>> We should be making A LOT OF NOISE about this. If we can't hold the
>> Obama Administration accountable, who will? The federal government
>> response so far has been underwhelming.
>>
>> Also, we cannot afford to be cowed by the likes of Rush Limbaugh. I
>> have always been told that we should respond directly and quickly to
>> every attack on the Sierra Club. It doesn't seem that this is being
>> done this time!
>>
>> Barb McKasson, Chair
>>
>> Shawnee Group Sierra Club
>>
>> In a message dated 5/23/2010 8:32:30 A.M. Central Daylight Time,
>> Dave.Hamilton@SIERRACLUB.ORG writes:
>>> No matter how Mike came off in that particular interview, (Mathews
>>> is always tough) he is anything but tepid in the way he is
>>> responding or the way he is preparing the organization to address
>>> the disaster over the long term. We have been putting together a
>>> very aggressive policy package on oil savings, as well as
>>> ypositioning the issue as the central driver and game changer for
>>> what happens in Washington for the foreseeable future.
>>>
>>> DH
>>>
>>> -----Rodney Robinson <rodney@CAL.NET> wrote: -----
>>>
>>> =======================
>>> To: CONS-SPST-GLOBALWARM-CHAIRS@LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG
>>> From: Rodney Robinson <rodney@CAL.NET>
>>> Date: 05/23/2010 03:25AM
>>> Subject: Re: [GW-ACT-LEADERS] Brune video
>>> =======================
>>> Chris Matthews actually says "get on this the stick Michael! You
>>> don't
>>> seem very excited about this."
>>> and I would have to agree with Chris’ request. Get on the
>>> stick.
>>> Michael presents the Sierra Club as an entity to ignore. There is
>>> no
>>> fire in the belly. Where is the outrage. A month into this and this
>>> is
>>> the response we get from the Sierra Club. Shameful.
>>>
>>> I did not see, through the eyes of CBS News or any other source,
>>> the
>>> gulf coast chapter members or anyone else on the beaches Friday
>>> scooping up the oil mess as it hit shore. Where are the BP execs to
>>> be
>>> found cleaning the beaches.
>>> °°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
>>> A friend just sent this to me. I missed the original 60 minute
>>> broadcast and had intended to catch it in the eworld.
>>>
>>> Here it is in the event that you missed it or would want to pass
>>> the
>>> link to a friend.
>>>
>>>
>>>
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25474.htm>>>
>>> *****************************************
>>> And... You may want to subscribe to the newsletter below.
>>> *****************************************
>>>
>>> Government of the USA in Exile
>>> Free Americans Reaching Out to Amerika's Huddled Masses Yearning to
>>> Breathe Free
>>> Via <prez@usa-exile.org>
>>>
>>> May
>>> 21, 2010
>>>
>>>
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/05/21/gulf.oil.spill/index.html?hpt=T1>>>
>>> Gulf Oil Spill Effects to Reach Arctic and Europe,
>>>
>>> Expert Says
>>>
>>> By the CNN Wire Staff
>>>
>>> May 21, 2010 -- Updated 1801 GMT (0201 HKT)
>>>
>>> Washington (CNN) -- The damaging effects of the massive oil spill
>>> in
>>> the Gulf of Mexico will be felt all the way to Europe and the
>>> Arctic,
>>> a top scientist told a congressional panel Friday.
>>>
>>> "This is not just a regional issue for the wildlife," said Carl
>>> Safina, the president of the Blue Ocean Institute. Safina, who
>>> recently returned from the Gulf Coast region, presented several
>>> photographs, including one of an oil-covered bird.
>>>
>>> "There will be a nest empty in Newfoundland," Safina said, noting
>>> common migratory patterns. Safina warned that multiple forms of
>>> marine
>>> life in the Atlantic Ocean "come into the Gulf to breed."
>>>
>>> Safina's briefing to representatives of the House Energy and
>>> Commerce
>>> Committee was scheduled as part of an ongoing effort to draw on a
>>> broad range of expertise for cleanup efforts.
>>>
>>> "We have to use science to find solutions," said Rep. Ed Markey, D-
>>> Massachusetts. Markey has been strongly critical of the current
>>> cleanup effort, calling it ineffective.
>>>
>>> Meanwhile, another congressman, concerned about people who are
>>> working
>>> to clean up the spill, has asked the White House to set up
>>> temporary
>>> health care centers along the Gulf Coast to serve volunteers and
>>> workers.
>>>
>>> Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-Louisiana, envisions such clinics as
>>> providing "medical checkups to people who have come in contact with
>>> the oil and assist in monitoring the health effects of the oil leak
>>> on
>>> south Louisianians."
>>>
>>> He sent the request Wednesday to Health and Human Services
>>> Secretary
>>> Kathleen Sebelius. There was no immediate response from the agency.
>>>
>>> "Many residents and volunteers are being exposed to hazardous
>>> materials on a daily basis, and some will have to travel hours to
>>> get
>>> treatment at the nearest health care facility. It is imperative
>>> that
>>> temporary health care clinics be established to provide basic
>>> health
>>> care services in this geographic area," he said.
>>>
>>> He has also asked Sebelius to "appoint a health care coordinator to
>>> oversee and streamline the health care response."
>>>
>>> Melancon emphasized that BP should be responsible for such health
>>> care
>>> services in his state. The energy giant was operating the oil rig
>>> that
>>> exploded and sank in April, triggering the spill.
>>>
>>> [snip]
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------
>>>
>>>
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/us_and_canada/10139730.stm>>>
>>> US oil spill: BP 'recovering less oil' than
>>> estimated
>>>
>>> BP has said the amount of oil recovered from a leaking Gulf of
>>> Mexico
>>> oil well on Thursday was less than half an earlier estimate.
>>>
>>> BP said it siphoned 2,200 barrels in the 24-hour period to midnight
>>> on
>>> Thursday, down from an estimate of 5,000 barrels earlier in the day.
>>>
>>> The US government has formed a team to develop a more precise
>>> estimate
>>> of the amount of oil gushing from the well.
>>>
>>> [snip]
>>>
>>> -----------------------------------
>>>
>>>
>>> White House Covers Up Menacing Oil "Blob"
>>>
>>> by Wayne Madsen
>>>
>>> Global Research, May 21, 2010
>>> Oilprice.com
>>>
>>> In an exclusive for Oilprice.com, the Wayne Madsen Report (WMR) has
>>> learned from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and U.S.
>>> Army
>>> Corps of Engineers sources that U.S. Navy submarines deployed to
>>> the
>>> Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast have
>>> detected
>>> what amounts to a frozen oil blob from the oil geyser at the
>>> destroyed
>>> Deep Horizon off-shore oil rig south of Louisiana. The Navy
>>> submarines
>>> have trained video cameras on the moving blob, which remains frozen
>>> at
>>> depths of between 3,000 to 4,000 feet. Because the oil blob is
>>> heavier
>>> than water, it remains frozen at current depths.
>>>
>>> FEMA and Corps of Engineers employees are upset that the White
>>> House
>>> and the Pentagon remain tight-lipped and in cover-up mode about the
>>> images of the massive and fast-moving frozen coagulated oil blob
>>> that
>>> is being imaged by Navy submarines that are tracking its movement.
>>> The
>>> sources point out that BP and the White House conspired to withhold
>>> videos from BP-contracted submersibles that showed the oil geyser
>>> that
>>> was spewing oil from the chasm underneath the datum of the Deep
>>> Horizon at rates far exceeding originally reported amounts. We have
>>> learned that it was largely WMR's scoop on the existence of the BP
>>> videos that forced the company and its White House patrons to
>>> finally
>>> agree to the release of the video footage.
>>>
>>> The White House is officially stating that it does not know where
>>> the
>>> officially reported 10 miles long by 3 miles wide "plume" is
>>> actually
>>> located or in what direction it is heading. However, WMR's sources
>>> claim the White House is getting real-time reports from Navy
>>> submarines as to the blob's location. We have learned that the blob
>>> is
>>> transiting the Florida Straits between Florida and Cuba, propelled
>>> by
>>> the Gulf's Loop Current, and that parts of it that is encountering
>>> warmer waters are breaking off into smaller tar balls that are now
>>> washing ashore in the environmentally-sensitive Florida Keys and
>>> Dry
>>> Tortugas.
>>>
>>> Corps of Engineers and FEMA officials are also livid about the
>>> cover-
>>> up of the extent of the oil damage being promulgated by the
>>> National
>>> Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its marine
>>> research
>>> vessel in the Gulf, RV Pelican. NOAA stands accused by the
>>> aforementioned agencies of acting as a virtual public relations arm
>>> for BP. NOAA is a component of the business-oriented Department of
>>> Commerce.
>>>
>>> Similarly, the Coast Guard, which takes its orders from the
>>> cover-up
>>> operatives at the Homeland Security Department, is denying the tar
>>> balls washing up on the Florida Keys are from the oil mass. WMR has
>>> been told the Coast Guard is lying in order to protect the Obama
>>> administration, which has thoroughly failed in its response to the
>>> disaster. The White House's only concern is trying to limit
>>> political
>>> damage to its image in the electorally-important state of Florida
>>> while the Pentagon has spent between $25 and $30 billion on oil
>>> spill
>>> operations in the Gulf and the Atlantic to date.
>>>
>>> WMR sources also report that the oil mass has resulted in dead
>>> zones
>>> in the Gulf of Mexico that have cut off oxygen and killed massive
>>> numbers of marine creatures and plant life. Seafood wholesalers
>>> from
>>> the Gulf Coast to New Jersey and New York have been told that the
>>> supply of shrimp, oysters, and other seafood from the Gulf is
>>> severely
>>> in short supply and that they can expect a possible total cut-off
>>> as
>>> the situation worsens. The shortage will also affect the supply of
>>> seafood, especially shrimp, to national seafood restaurant chains
>>> like
>>> Red Lobster and Long John Silver's.
>>>
>>> There is also evidence that BP, Halliburton, and Transocean sank a
>>> drill to a depth of 35,000 feet at the Deep Horizon site some six
>>> months ago without the required permits from the federal
>>> government.
>>> WMR has learned from U.S. government sources that the drilling at
>>> 35,000 feet caused a major catastrophic event that required the
>>> firms'
>>> oil rig personnel to quickly pull up the drill and close the drill
>>> hole.
>>>
>>> However, the Deep Horizon re-sank the drill some six months after
>>> the
>>> unspecified "catastrophe," resulting in another, more destructive
>>> chain of events following the explosion that destroyed the rig,
>>> killing eleven workers. When the Deep Horizon blew up, WMR has been
>>> told it also "blew down," cracking the the sub-seabed pipe that may
>>> have been re-drilled to a depth of between 25,000 to 30,000 feet,
>>> again, without a government permit.
>>>
>>> Government sources also report that BP is intent on recovering as
>>> much
>>> oil as possible from the undersea geyser rather than simply
>>> plugging
>>> and capping the well, which would then place it off-limits to
>>> further
>>> drilling. The Corps of Engineers reports that BP is playing a game
>>> with Obama, convincing him of the feasibility of "shooting junk"
>>> into
>>> the subterranean pipe, which would stop up the pipe with a
>>> manufactured chemical compound called "MUD." However, WMR has been
>>> informed that BP actually intends to shoot cement into the pipe in
>>> an
>>> attempt to cap the well with the later intention of digging a
>>> trench
>>> for side drilling from the pipe to recover as much oil as possible.
>>> The technology that would be employed by BP is the same technology
>>> that was used by Kuwait to conduct slant drilling of Iraq's
>>> Rumallah
>>> oil field -- an event that helped trigger Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
>>>
>>> Corps of Engineers and FEMA sources also give a failing grade to
>>> both
>>> Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who stands accused of
>>> being woefully incompetent in handling the disaster, and Interior
>>> Secretary Ken Salazar. Government sources say both secretaries
>>> should
>>> immediately step down or be fired.
>>>
>>> --------------------------------
>>>
>>>
>>>
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/05/21-6
>>> Published on Friday, May 21, 2010 by CommonDreams.org
>>>
>>> Boycott BP
>>>
>>> by Robert Weissman
>>>
>>> Why?
>>>
>>> Because BP must pay.
>>>
>>> Eleven oil workers are dead. One of the largest oil spills in U.S.
>>> history continues to worsen. BP's oil gusher at the floor of the
>>> Gulf
>>> of Mexico may be 100 times worse than BP first estimated (and 20
>>> times
>>> worse than the company presently claims). 100 times!
>>>
>>> BP's oil gusher is now threatening coastal lands in Louisiana and
>>> is
>>> almost certain to destroy fisheries and the livelihoods of people
>>> who
>>> fish and shrimp in the Gulf, or rely on the Gulf for tourism
>>> business.
>>> The giant plumes of oil deep underwater will exact an unknown toll
>>> on
>>> sea life. And the spreading oil may even wind up in currents that
>>> eventually take it to the U.S. Eastern shores.
>>>
>>> BP CEO Tony Hayward is sanguine about the whole problem. The
>>> Financial
>>> Times quotes him saying, "I think the environmental impact of this
>>> disaster is likely to have been very, very modest."
>>>
>>> A boycott will send a message to BP that its shoddy oversight of
>>> this
>>> project and its history of environmental and worker safety
>>> violations
>>> is unforgivable. Take the BP Boycott Pledge, and commit not to buy
>>> gas
>>> from BP for at least three months. Go here: www.beyondBP.org
>>>
>>> BP cares desperately about its public image. This is the company
>>> that
>>> has sought to rebrand itself as "Beyond Petroleum." BusinessWeek
>>> estimates the BP brand as worth $3.9 billion -- the highest among
>>> oil
>>> companies. "Not even an Alaskan oil spill or an explosion at a
>>> Texas
>>> refinery has put a dent in BP's strong [brand] performance," said
>>> BusinessWeek in 2006. This time must be different. A boycott will
>>> express the organized consumer anger that BP so fears.
>>>
>>> This is a company that should fear the public's wrath, for the
>>> Deepwater Horizon blowout was a preventable disaster. While much
>>> remains unknown, there is mounting evidence that BP could have
>>> averted
>>> the catastrophe. BP made a conscious decision not to install a
>>> $500,000 safety device that could have prevented the blowout. There
>>> is
>>> good reason to believe BP's contractors on the Deepwater Horizon
>>> made
>>> multiple mistakes leading up to the disaster, but it is ultimately
>>> BP's job to make sure its contractors are exercising sufficient
>>> care.
>>> And Mike Williams, the chief electronics technician on the
>>> Deepwater
>>> Horizon, told 60 Minutes that BP pressured its contractors to skirt
>>> other safety measures that might have prevented the disaster.
>>>
>>> All this from a company that made $14 billion in profits in 2009 --
>>> a
>>> bad year. First quarter profits in 2010 were over $6 billion.
>>>
>>> After the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon, Tony Hayward
>>> reportedly
>>> asked why bad things keep happening to BP.
>>>
>>> But this is not a case of bad things happening to good people. BP
>>> has
>>> one of the worst environmental and safety records of any oil
>>> company
>>> operating in the United States. BP has pled guilty in just the last
>>> few years to two crimes and paid more than $730 million in fines,
>>> penalties and settlements for environmental crimes, willful
>>> disregard
>>> for workplace safety and energy market manipulation.
>>>
>>> BP sometimes says it will pay for the harms caused by the spill,
>>> but
>>> at other times hedges what it may be willing to do. There will be
>>> litigation and fines, and BP won't have the final say on what it
>>> wants
>>> to pay. In any case, cash compensation for economic harms caused --
>>> while necessary -- doesn't bring back destroyed ecosystems and does
>>> little to mitigate the company's culpability for not preventing the
>>> blowout in the first place.
>>>
>>> The only good that can come out of the BP disaster is if it forces
>>> the
>>> United States to fundamentally reorient energy policy. As a matter
>>> of
>>> simple common sense, the Obama administration should reverse its
>>> new
>>> policy and stop offshore drilling expansion. More fundamentally,
>>> BP's
>>> oil gusher is yet another reminder of the need for a massive shift
>>> away from fossil fuels and to investments in efficiency and
>>> renewable
>>> energy. The disaster also emphasizes how crucial it is to hold Big
>>> Oil
>>> accountable. The BP boycott is a way to start.
>>>
>>> There are no "good" oil companies, but BP is a particularly bad and
>>> irresponsible actor. Consumers should make it pay. Take the BP
>>> Boycott
>>> Pledge: .
>>>
>>> Robert Weissman is the president of Public Citizen.
>>>
>>>
>>> On May 22, 2010, at 8:37 PM, Thomas Mathews wrote:
>>>
>>> > I watched the video, Fred. The last line is Chris Matthews
>>> telling
>>> > Brune to "get on this Michael! You don't seem very excited about
>>> > this."
>>> >
>>> > And, in fact, Brune's comments are rather, shall we say, tepid.
>>> He
>>> > doesn't even respond substantively to Rush Limbaugh's attack on
>>> > Sierra Club. The other guest, Joan Walsh from Salon.com, does a
>>> much
>>> > better job of defending Sierra Club than does Brune.
>>> >
>>> > And, of course, Brune does not go on the offensive against
>>> Obama's
>>> > handling of the oil spill. Matthews does though. Big time.
>>> >
>>> > Give Brune some time, I suppose. He's still new on the job.
>>> >
>>> > Tom Mathews
>>> > Iowa Chapter
>>> > =
>>> >
>>> =====================================================================
>>> =
>>> > Please see:
>>> >
>>> >
http://action.sierraclub.org/site/PageNavigator/adv_oilspill>>> >
>>> > The Club has been responding since the first day. Our national
>>> > leaders -- Mike Brune, Carl Pope, outgoing president Allison Chin
>>> and
>>> > incoming president Robin Mann, have been speaking continually in
>>> > public and with the media, there is a national response group
>>> working
>>> > on the oil spill and our Gulf Coast chapters are fully
>>> mobilizing.
>>> > Here's
>>> > a signup form:
>>> >
>>> >
>>>
http://action.sierraclub.org/site/PageServer? >>> pagename=20100429VolunterGulfCoastOilSpill&autologin=true
>>> >
>>> > Fred
>>>
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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