[Sustain] 3 Point Media Message On CTs

[Eric Brooks]

Hi again all,

Now that this campaign is gearing up and becoming public, it will be 
very important for us to start using a tight media message that will get 
repeated over and over again in the press.

It is very important that such a message be very short and contain no 
more than three very basic concepts.

Here is my recommended message (please reply with improvements, 
especially if they will make it even shorter):

First, here are just the titles of the three points, put together, which 
can be said out loud on their own if you only have 15 seconds.

1) Three Old Diesel Turbines At Mirant Are The Problem & Can Close Now
2) The New Plant Costs Hundreds Of Millions For The Same Pollution
3) Let's Just Replace -All- The Old Plants In 3 Years With Clean Energy

Now the actual talking points:

1) The Utilities Commission says we need to build this new plant to 
close the older Mirant power plant. But if we shut down the 3 -really- 
dirty diesel turbines that make only 3% of Mirant's electricity, air 
pollution from the old plant compared to the new plant would be the same.

2) It makes -no- sense to spend 200-500 million dollars in public and 
ratepayer funds on fossil fuel plants that will emit the -same- 
pollution, and will actually do so -longer- because the contract for 
these plants lasts for decades.

3) The City's clean energy projects and environmental laws will let us 
close Mirant in just -three- years. We need to spend that 200-500 
million dollars to build the clean energy now, not to build more 
polluting power plants.


-- IMPORTANT - Main Rebuttal Point: Our opposition will respond with - 
"The CTs will only run for reliability, so they will pollute less."

Our response is simple. "The Federal Energy Commission, California 
Utilities Commission and the California Independent System Operator are 
in charge of reliability, -not- San Francisco. Since Mirant is already 
running for reliability because those agencies demand it, they will 
still require the CTs to run just as much.

- end -

If you decide to use these points, print them out on a single sheet so 
you have them right in front of you when you talk to the press.

peace

Eric Brooks
Our City & SF Green Party
415-756-8844