I suggest we as organizations, (because organizations speak for
their members, representing thousands of us) to send individual organization
press releases out to all media across the state about our concerns, coupled
with personal calls from our respective executive directors to WV
Broadcasters Ass. and local TV and radio stations news departments.
Not an endorsement of Jesse, but demanding an inclusion of Jesse that
guarantees a fair process that will bring our issue of mountain top removal
to the discussion. The majority of WV citizens oppose mtr, etc.
Bo
On Tue, Oct 7, 2008 at 3:02 PM, Tonya Adkins
<4themountains@gmail.com> wrote:
I called the WV broadcaster's association last week to
complain, too. I was given basically the same answer, except the girl I
spoke with also said that they were only including the candidates that
would generate the most viewers...which doesn't even make sense.
...how do they know? I said they have a responsibility to provide the
public with information representing differing viewpoints...and that
Manchin is a republican masquerading as a democrat, so we now have two
republicans debating each other...I also said it was reprehensible that
they are engaging in a form of censorship.
On Mon, Oct 6, 2008 at 1:27 PM, Regina Hendrix
<regina1936@verizon.net> wrote:
Thank
you Rory. I hope a lot more people will call. Jesse is being
locked out of the process and the voters are given no choice, since
Manchin and Weeks are almost equally bad.
I have seen nothing in the
Gazette on this endorsement, despite it being released statewide.
I sent it personally to Ken Ward and Jim Haught. I also sent
it to WV New Service. They usually do radio pieces and I feel sure
they will do something but I was hoping for news coverage statewide.
Any ideas, anyone???
Regina
Rory McIlmoil
wrote:
Just
to let everyone know, I called the WV Broadcasters Assn on Wednesday,
expressing my concern about them leaving Jesse out of the debate, and
about how that undermines the democratic principles that the state and
the country are supposed to be based upon, and their response was to
tell me that they were a private corporation, and their board had made
the decision and that there had been little public outcry about it (so
people need to be making more calls!!). I then mentioned to the
woman who answered the phone that the Assn was then essentially
privatizing our democratic institution, and she had no reply to that.
Sounds more like an oligarchy to me.
On Fri, Oct 3,
2008 at 1:47 PM, Regina Hendrix <regina1936@verizon.net <mailto:regina1936@verizon.net>> wrote:
Pasted in below is the text of a press release just issued
by
Sierra Club concerning our endorsement of Jesse
Johnson for WV
Governor. This information was released
this morning by Sierra
Club National Press Office in
Wash. D.C. Oliver Bernstein
suggested anyone with
press contacts send it around around also.
If you have
contacts and would like a copy with the logo and
header on it, please contact me or Jim Sconyers at the
phone
numbers listed on the release. I pasted it in
because the FOM
listing will not accept attachments.
(I have already forwarded it
to Ken
Ward.)
Another action that Jesse has asked that we
take is to contact Jim
Haught at Chas. Gazette (Haught@wvgazette.com
<mailto:Haught@wvgazette.com>) and ask him to run the
op-eds by
Mike Gravel and Charlotte Pritt in the hard
copy Gazette. (or
contact Haught by phone on
304-348-5199) They have been running
the op-eds only
in the online version. Also, check out the online
versions and make comments, since Gazette keeps track of the
hits.
Bill Price asks that Sierra Club members
contact him on
304-389-8822, if they are able to
donate some time to a Sister
Chapter Adoption Program
sponsored by SC. Bill is serving in Ohio
right now to
help Barack out in that battleground state and they
need more volunteers. Bill has info on the details, such as
where
do you stay, etc.
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 3, 2008
CONTACTS:
Regina Hendrix 304-343-5211 or
Jim Sconyers
603-969-6712
SIERRA CLUB ENDORSES JESSE
JOHNSON
FOR WV GOVERNOR
Conservation Group Highlights Opposition to Mountaintop
Removal,
Praises Work to Protect West Virginia's
Environment
"We are very pleased to announce today
that the Sierra Club WV
Chapter endorses Jesse Johnson
for West Virginia Governor," said
Political Chair
Regina Hendrix. "As the only gubernatorial
candidate
working for a statewide ban on mountaintop removal, we
believe his candidacy will give West Virginians a chance to
vote
for a governor who is dedicated to helping West
Virginia's workers
by promoting renewable energy and
keeping our state clean."
"Johnson showed how
seriously he takes this issue by speaking to
tens of
thousands of people nationwide during the last year about
the harsh realities of mountaintop removal. His plan for
the
economy proposes tax breaks and incentives for
businesses using
renewable energy technology and he
has urged that citizens be
given a dividend from taxes
generated from non-renewables such as
coal and natural
gas. Unfortunately, Governor Manchin's support of
mountaintop removal has kept West Virginia from moving towards
a
clean energy future that would benefit the economy
and the
environment."
Mountaintop
removal mining is a destructive form of coal mining
that has already buried more than 1,200 miles of streams
and
threatens to destroy 1.4 million acres of land by
2020. The mining
poisons drinking water, lays waste to
wildlife habitat, increases
the risk of flooding and
wipes out entire communities.
"Johnson shares many
of the conservation principles that the WV
Sierra Club
stands for," said WV Conservation Chair Jim Sconyers.
"He understands the energy crisis, the need to transition
from
coal to renewable energy, and the looming threat
of global - and
local - climate change. And he is dead
set against taking away
West Virginia citizens' land
for the sake of building huge power
lines that do not
benefit West Virginia in any way."
"The Sierra
Club also praises Johnson's opposition to proposed new
electric transmission lines," said Jim Kotcon, Chair of the
WV
Sierra Club's Energy Committee. "These lines would
allow private,
out-of-state electric companies to take
private property from West
Virginia citizens primarily
so those companies can make exorbitant
profits by
gouging local electric ratepayers. Unfortunately
Governor Manchin supports this bad deal for West Virginia. Is
that
what Manchin means by "Open For Business"?
Instead of supporting
environmental destruction and
higher taxes, Johnson says he will
work to derail
these lines. That is what West Virginia needs."
Along with the endorsement, the Sierra Club will lend
its
volunteer strength to Johnson's campaign. We look
forward to a
victory party for the environment on
election night and to many
years of Jesse Johnson
fighting for the environment as Governor of
West
Virginia."
# # #
Regina
Hendrix
--
Kind Regards,
Rory
McIlmoil
Coal River Mountain Wind Project
(w): (304)
854-2182
(h): (304) 854-1937
www.coalriverwind.org <http://www.coalriverwind.org>
www.crmw.net <http://www.crmw.net>
--
"No problem can be solved from the same
consciousness that created it."
Albert
Einstein