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