- Sustainability - list.sfgreens.org

[Sustain] Important Audio Headlines: Brazil Ethanol Boom - Weak UK Moves On Global Climate Crisis
by Eric Brooks 25 Mar '07

25 Mar '07

Hi all, This week's 'Between the Lines' has a couple of key reports in its audio news headlines about the impact of the Brazil ethanol boom on workers and the local economy; and also on inadequate UK and EU plans to counter global climate change. Also, if you listen to the entire first 20 minutes of the program, you'll hear a great report about the anti neo-liberal economics movement in South America overall. To listen (dial-up friendly) go to: http://www.radio4all.net/index.php?op=download&program_id=22329&file_id=386… peace Eric

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[Sustain] Move-On Leaders Shed Sheep's Clothing - Become Strong Arm Of Democratic Party War Funding
by Eric Brooks 25 Mar '07

25 Mar '07

Move-On defies 96% of its rank and file membership and supports Pelosi's war funding. see: http://www.prwatch.org/node/5893

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Re: [Sustain] [SFGP-A] Next Sustainability WG meeting 3/22
by Cal Broomhead 25 Mar '07

25 Mar '07

Thanks for the email. A note: yes, putting all your electric equipment on power strips and turning them off when ever you can is a great idea to save - I've heard estimates of 10-15% depending on how much electronic gear you have. My kids use the power switch as the off button on most of our equipment - microwave, TV, stereo, etc. However, unplugging your refrigerator may not work, or may work very well, if you are vegan and eat almost everything perishable within a a few days. Maybe you have already had a discussion about this idea, then read no further... but for non-vegans especially, I recommend a thermometer that reads as low as 35 degrees F, and check. Food starts to spoil at 42 or so degrees - at least that, I think, is the number I have seen in the literature. If the seal on your refer is leaking, or the door is opened during the night (a roomie on a midnight raid), the temp might climb and your lettuce may start to brown and the beans start to get slimey - maybe just a little that you wouldn't know when you eat it, but a few hours later may reveal evidence that it spoiled just a bit - I have had that experience. Put the thermometer inside, turn it off, and check the temp in the morning. A safer approach might be to ask your landlord for an Energy Star refrigerator. The landlord is allowed to put the amortized cost onto your rent, but the savings will far outstrip the rent increase and you will be way ahead - and you won't have to fear those beans. Cal Broomhead broomhead(a)igc.org > [Original Message] > From: vicki leidner <vleidner(a)rcn.com> > To: Eric Brooks <brookse32(a)aim.com> > Cc: <sustainability(a)sfgreens.org> > Date: 3/24/2007 8:30:12 AM > Subject: Re: [Sustain] [SFGP-A] Next Sustainability WG meeting 3/22 > > thanks for remembering the refrigerators and unplugging or turning off > all silent energy burners at night. > not sure if this is the right group to ask, but david ho, our fellow > green, needs support regarding the transit proposal for chinatown. > right now, it apparently takes over one hour to get downtown from > chinatown on public transport. that sounds like an awful lot of energy > wasted sitting in traffic, as well as discouraging to workers needing to > get to work and still have time with their families. > thanks, > vicki > > Eric Brooks wrote: > > Vicki also wants us to discuss nighttime unplugging of refrigerators > > to save lots of electricity. > > > > Eric > > > > done7777(a)sbcglobal.net wrote: > >> Yes, it's that time again, the forth Thursday, time for a meeting of > >> San Francisco Sustainability Working Group , 7:30 P.M. at the SF > >> Green Party office, 1028-A Howard St. > >> > >> Much to discuss: Peak Oil event, Community Choice, Nuclear > >> resurgence, new nuclear weapons contract at LLL, continued pillage of > >> fragile southwest deserts by energy interest in coal, oil, nuclear > >> mining and "waste disposal", still a war going on.... > >> > >> How can we help build party resources and bring them to these and > >> many other projects-in-waiting looking for coordination and support? > >> > >> Come help it happen, > >> > >> Don > >> > >> ps > >> > >> I am sorry there was confusion at last month's meeting. I had not > >> been informed that there was another meeting scheduled at the same > >> time as ours, and I was also late getting there fro my job, so some > >> who came early apparently thought our meeting was cancelled. > >> > >> I am not scheduled to work, and plan to get there on time, come what > >> may. > >> > >> See you there, > >> > >> de > >> > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> San Francisco Green Party Active Members List > >> To unsubscribe or edit your options, go here: > >> https://list.sfgreens.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/active > >> > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Sustainability mailing list > Sustainability(a)sfgreens.org > https://list.sfgreens.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sustainability

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[Sustain] "The Myths of Biofuels"
by Dennis Brumm 24 Mar '07

24 Mar '07

I just tried to post a message about the April 10 event, but it is held because of the pdf attachment, so this is the message I posted to SFBAYOIL about it; which includes a link directly to the pdf if you so prefer... ******** April 10 David Fridley is going to do a presentation on "The Myths of Biofuels" - the two SF groups along with the SF Green Party Sustainability Committee are co-sponsoring this. For those folks on the SFNCPC list, this will be the focus of the meeting in September, as well. For those who don't want to open the pdf flyer that is attached (and some folks may not get it if you're on digest mode, if so, it's available here: http://www.sfbayoil.org/sfoa/media/Myths%20of%20Biofuels2%20white%20backgro… ), the specifics are. The Myths of Biofuels What is the energy return for biofuels vs. the energy used to produce them? What is the environmental impact of biofuels production? Do biofuels have a future? Are biofuels a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels? Tuesday, April 10, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. The Pacific Energy Center 851 Howard Street San Francisco, CA. 94103

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[Sustain] fwd: Rich Countries Commence Burning Food
by Eric Brooks 24 Mar '07

24 Mar '07

------------------------------------------------------------------------ Subject: Rich Countries Commence Burning Food From: CERJ(a)igc.org Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2007 11:22:42 -0400 To: CERJ(a)igc.org On Friday, March 23, 2007, Raleigh Myers <RAMyers(a)igc.org> wrote: Food Burning -- Famine In The Making With cattle consuming two thirds of the grain crop the cost of grain is skyrocketing and people are starving. That is even before we add the food burning vehicle to the survival equation. Talking Points http://groups.google.com/groups?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLG,GGLG:2… Earth Policy Institute Eco-Economy Update 2007-3 For Immediate Release March 21, 2007 http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/2007/Update65.htm Massive Diversion of US Grain to Fuel Cars is Raising World Food Prices by Lester R. Brown If you think you are spending more each week at the supermarket, you may be right. The escalating share of the U.S. grain harvest going to ethanol distilleries is driving up food prices worldwide. Corn prices have doubled over the last year, wheat futures are trading at their highest level in 10 years, and rice prices are rising too. In addition, soybean futures have risen by half. A Bloomberg analysis notes that the soaring use of corn as the feedstock for fuel ethanol "is creating unintended consequences throughout the global food chain." The countries initially hit by rising food prices are those where corn is the staple food. In Mexico, one of more than 20 countries with a corn-based diet, the price of tortillas is up by 60 percent. Angry Mexicans in crowds of up to 75,000 have taken to the streets in protest, forcing the government to institute price controls on tortillas. Food prices are also rising in China, India, and the United States, countries that contain 40 percent of the world's people. While relatively little corn is eaten directly in these countries, vast quantities are consumed indirectly in meat, milk, and eggs in both China and the United States. Rising grain and soybean prices are driving up meat and egg prices in China. January pork prices were up 20 percent above a year earlier, eggs were up 16 percent, while beef, which is less dependent on grain, was up 6 percent. In India, the overall food price index in January 2007 was 10 percent higher than a year earlier. The price of wheat, the staple food in northern India, has jumped 11 percent, moving above the world market price. In the United States, the U.S. Department of Agriculture projects that the wholesale price of chicken in 2007 will be 10 percent higher on average than in 2006, the price of a dozen eggs will be up a whopping 21 percent, and milk will be 14 percent higher. And this is only the beginning. In the past, food price rises have usually been weather related and always temporary. This situation is different. As more and more fuel ethanol distilleries are built, world grain prices are starting to move up toward their oil-equivalent value in what appears to be the beginning of a long-term rise. The food and energy economies, historically separate, are now merging. In this new economy, if the fuel value of grain exceeds its food value, the market will move it into the energy economy. As the price of oil climbs so will the price of food. Some 16 percent of the 2006 U.S. grain harvest was used to produce ethanol. With 80 or so ethanol distilleries now under construction, enough to more than double existing ethanol production capacity, nearly a third of the 2008 grain harvest will be going to ethanol. Since the United States is the leading exporter of grain, shipping more than Canada, Australia, and Argentina combined, what happens to the U.S. grain crop affects the entire world. With the massive diversion of grain to produce fuel for cars, exports will drop. The world's breadbasket is fast becoming the U.S. fuel tank. The number of hungry people in the world has been declining for several decades, but in the late 1990s the trend reversed and the number began to rise. The United Nations currently lists 34 countries as needing emergency food assistance. Many of these are considered failed and failing states, including Chad, Iraq, Liberia, Haiti, and Zimbabwe. Since food aid programs typically have fixed budgets, if the price of grain doubles, food aid will be reduced by half. Urban food protests in response to rising food prices in low and middle income countries, such as Mexico, could lead to political instability that would add to the growing list of failed and failing states. At some point, spreading political instability could disrupt global economic progress. Against this backdrop, Washington is consumed with "ethanol euphoria." President Bush in his State of the Union address set a production goal for 2017 of 35 billion gallons of alternative fuels, including grain-based and cellulosic ethanol, and liquefied coal. Given the current difficulties in producing cellulosic ethanol at a competitive cost and given the mounting public opposition to liquefied coal, which is far more carbon-intensive than gasoline, most of the fuel to meet this goal might well have to come from grain. This could take most of the U.S. grain harvest, leaving little grain to meet U.S. needs, much less those of the hundred or so countries that import grain. The stage is now set for direct competition for grain between the 800 million people who own automobiles, and the world's 2 billion poorest people. The risk is that millions of those on the lower rungs of the global economic ladder will start falling off as higher food prices drop their consumption below the survival level. In February 2007 the World Food Programme Director James T. Morris reported that 18,000 children are now dying every day from hunger and malnutrition. This daily loss of life is six times the number of U.S. combat fatalities in Iraq over the last four years. There are alternatives to this grim scenario. A rise in auto fuel efficiency standards of 20 percent, phased in over the next decade would save as much oil as converting the entire U.S. grain harvest into ethanol. One option that is gaining momentum is a shift to plug-in hybrids. Adding a second storage battery to a gas-electric hybrid car along with a plug-in capacity so that the batteries can be recharged at night allows most short-distance driving--daily commuting and grocery shopping, for example--to be done with electricity. If this shift were accompanied by investment in thousands of wind farms that could feed cheap electricity into the grid, then cars could run largely on electricity for the equivalent cost of $1 per gallon gasoline. Encouragingly, three auto manufacturers--Toyota, Nissan, and GM--have announced plans to bring plug-in hybrid cars to market. Plug-In Partners, which is spearheading a national campaign to shift to plug-in hybrid cars already has 508 partners, including electrical utilities, corporations, state and city governments, and farm and environmental groups. Among its fast-growing list of partners are the American Public Power Association, Electric Power Research Institute, American Wind Energy Association, American Corn Growers Association, and the cities of Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago, and Boston. Already a number of Partners have collectively pledged to purchase for their own fleets more than 8,000 plug-in hybrids as soon as they reach the market. Ethanol euphoria is not an acceptable substitute for a carefully thought through policy. For Washington, it is time to decide whether to continue with the current policy of subsidizing more and more grain-based fuel distilleries or to encourage a shift to more fuel-efficient cars and a new automotive fuel economy centered on plug-in hybrid cars and wind energy. The choice is between a future of rising world food prices, spreading hunger, and growing political instability, or one of stable food prices, sharply reduced dependence on oil, and much lower carbon emissions. <...> Lester R. Brown is President of the Earth Policy Institute and author of Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble. See also "Distillery Demand for Grain to Fuel Cars Vastly Understated" at: http://www.earthpolicy.org/Updates/2007/Update63.htm. Additional resources at www.earthpolicy.org For information contact: Media Contact: Reah Janise Kauffman Tel: (202) 496-9290 x 12 E-mail: rjk (at) earthpolicy.org Research Contact: Janet Larsen Tel: (202) 496-9290 x 14 E-mail: jlarsen (at) earthpolicy.org Earth Policy Institute 1350 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 403 Washington, DC 20036 Web: www.earthpolicy.org <...> Op Ed into the last century: http://groups.google.com/groups?q=raenergy&start=0&scoring=d&ie=UTF-8& Obama the End of Trogladitics _ the Earth is not flat. Obama says share the presidency rather than just vote for him. Nowhere in the GOP or the DLC is there a hint of sharing anything. Experience is how to ask the people what they need and then get it done. An Electrician became the president of Poland in the worst of times today we have an Idiocracy _ now we need to manage a paradigm shift. The alphabet soup crowd brought us GAIAcide and Corporatism _ it could hardly get any worse. If we get a young president with an already shifted mindset, the youth of the world will respond in kind _ much of the planets war torn population are under twenty five. Now for something different: http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/wahl/047 http://foxattacks.com/ Energy Policy for the second superpower http://raenergy.igc.org/energypolicy.html#municipal VIDEO: What is a Progressive? http://cdncon.vo.llnwd.net/o2/fotf/progressiveVideo/swf/index.html Being an Activist is a high calling _ seeking the high moral ground for fairness is prophetic. http://raenergy.igc.org/bio.html#concerts Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. ~Margaret Mead Select and paste if the URLs are split Google it for more info also click on groups example: Solar Hydrogen Economy Some other lectures leading to solutions http://raenergy.igc.org/Googleclick.html Corporatist - Fascistic factoids FDR Eisenhower Mussolini Lincoln warned of the corporatist-Fascist attack strategy. http://raenergy.igc.org/sig.html Ra Energy Fdn. Raleigh Myers Worksheet bio http://raenergy.igc.org/bio.html Blog http://raenergy.blogspot.com/ Op Ed back 20 years http://groups.google.com/groups?q=raenergy&start=0&scoring=d&ie=UTF-8& Call to Action virtual seminar for change: http://raenergy.igc.org/action.html I may be singing to the choir, with these talking points, but there are over six billion people who need attitude adjustment as you were in the same need just a bit ago. They need this help because many of you did not share your newly acquired awareness with them. If you have made your contribution please use these points for more outreach_give them a piece of your MIND. http://raenergy.igc.org/mindone.html http://raenergy.igc.org/ArchitypeOfFairness.html#Think Let us experiment with laws and customs, with money systems and governments, until we chart the one true course - until we find the majesty of our proper orbit as the planets above have found theirs& And then at last we shall move all together in the harmony of our sphere under the great impulse of a single creation - one unity, one system, one design. Roger Bacon ========================================= COLLEGIUM IUSTITI? ?QUITATEM RESTITUENTI +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ John Woolman College of Equity-Restorative Justice Peacemaking and Conflict Transformation [CERJ] c/o John Wilmerding <wilmerding(a)earthlink.net> 217 High Street, Brattleboro, VT, USA 05301 Phone: (01)-802-254-2826 Email to: CERJ(a)igc.org +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ "... where Quakers and revolutionaries join for life ..." -- Laura Nyro, from 'New York Tendaberry', 1969 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ To join (or leave) the College's email list, send an email message to wilmerding(a)earthlink.net or to CERJ(a)igc.org, including your first & last name, your email address, and your state, province or country of residence. A partial CERJ list archive is at this site: http://lists.topica.com/lists/CERJ/read =========================================

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[Sustain] Biofuels & Carbon Credits Booms Spurring Deforestation
by Eric Brooks 24 Mar '07

24 Mar '07

<http://www.commondreams.org/> <http://commondreams.org/views07/0320-23.htm> * Home <http://www.commondreams.org/> | Newswire <http://www.commondreams.org/newswire.htm> | About Us <http://www.commondreams.org/about.htm> | Donate <http://www.commondreams.org/donate.htm> ** | Sign-Up <http://www.commondreams.org/email.htm> | Archives <http://www.commondreams.org/archives.htm>* * Friday, March 23, 2007 * *Headlines* <http://www.commondreams.org/cgi-bin/print.cgi?file=/headlines07/0322-01.htm>Printer Friendly Version <http://www.commondreams.org/cgi-bin/print.cgi?file=/headlines07/0322-01.htm> <http://www.referralblast.com/cs/com/co1.asp> E-Mail This Article <http://www.referralblast.com/cs/com/co1.asp> /Published on Thursday, March 22, 2007 by Inter Press Service <http://www.ipsnews.net/print.asp?idnews=37035> / *Biofuels Boom Spurring Deforestation * *by Stephen Leahy * Nearly 40,000 hectares of forest vanish every day, driven by the world's growing hunger for timber, pulp and paper, and ironically, new biofuels and carbon credits designed to protect the environment. The irony here is that the growing eagerness to slow climate change by using biofuels and planting millions of trees for carbon credits has resulted in new major causes of deforestation, say activists. And that is making climate change worse because deforestation puts far more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than the entire world's fleet of cars, trucks, planes, trains and ships combined. "Biofuels are rapidly becoming the main cause of deforestation in countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and Brazil," said Simone Lovera, managing coordinator of the Global Forest Coalition <http://www.wrm.org.uy/GFC/>, an environmental NGO based in Asunción, Paraguay. "We call it 'deforestation diesel'," Lovera told IPS. Oil from African palm trees is considered to be one of the best and cheapest sources of biodiesel and energy companies are investing billions into acquiring or developing oil-palm plantations in developing countries. Vast tracts of forest in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and many other countries have been cleared to grow oil palms. Oil palm has become the world's number one fruit crop, well ahead of bananas. Biodiesel offers many environmental benefits over diesel from petroleum, including reductions in air pollutants, but the enormous global thirst means millions more hectares could be converted into monocultures of oil palm. Getting accurate numbers on how much forest is being lost is very difficult. The FAO's /State of the World's Forests 2007/ <http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/a0773e/a0773e00.htm> released last week reports that globally, net forest loss is 20,000 hectares per day -- equivalent to an area twice the size of Paris. However, that number includes plantation forests, which masks the actual extent of tropical deforestation, about 40,000 hectares (ha) per day, says Matti Palo, a forest economics expert who is affiliated with the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE) in Costa Rica. "The half a million ha per year deforestation of Mexico is covered by the increase of forests in the U.S., for example," Palo told IPS. National governments provide all the statistics, and countries like Canada do not produce anything reliable, he said. Canada has claimed no net change in its forests for 15 years despite being the largest producer of pulp and paper. "Canada has a moral responsibility to tell the rest of the world what kind of changes have taken place there," he said. Plantation forests are nothing like natural or native forests. More akin to a field of maize, plantation forests are hostile environments to nearly every animal, bird and even insects. Such forests have been shown to have a negative impact on the water cycle because non-native, fast-growing trees use high volumes of water. Pesticides are also commonly used to suppress competing growth from other plants and to prevent disease outbreaks, also impacting water quality. Plantation forests also offer very few employment opportunities, resulting in a net loss of jobs. "Plantation forests are a tremendous disaster for biodiversity and local people," Lovera said. Even if farmland or savanna are only used for oil palm or other plantations, it often forces the local people off the land and into nearby forests, including national parks, which they clear to grow crops, pasture animals and collect firewood. That has been the pattern with pulp and timber plantation forests in much of the world, says Lovera. Ethanol is other major biofuel, which is made from maize, sugar cane or other crops. As prices for biofuels climb, more land is cleared to grow the crops. U.S. farmers are switching from soy to maize to meet the ethanol demand. That is having a knock on effect of pushing up soy prices, which is driving the conversion of the Amazon rainforest into soy, she says. Meanwhile rich countries are starting to plant trees to offset their emissions of carbon dioxide, called carbon sequestration. Most of this planting is taking place in the South in the form of plantations, which are just the latest threat to existing forests. "Europe's carbon credit market could be disastrous," Lovera said. The multi-billion-euro European carbon market does not permit the use of reforestation projects for carbon credits. But there has been a tremendous surge in private companies offering such credits for tree planting projects. Very little of this money goes to small land holders, she says. Plantation forests also contain much less carbon, notes Palo, citing a recent study that showed carbon content of plantation forests in some Asian tropical countries was only 45 percent of that in the respective natural forests. Nor has the world community been able to properly account for the value of the enormous volumes of carbon stored in existing forests. One recent estimate found that the northern Boreal forest provided 250 billion dollars a year in ecosystem services such as absorbing carbon emissions from the atmosphere and cleaning water. The good news is that deforestation, even in remote areas, is easily stopped. All it takes is access to some low-cost satellite imagery and governments that actually want to slow or halt deforestation. Costa Rica has nearly eliminated deforestation by making it illegal to convert forest into farmland, says Lovera. Paraguay enacted similar laws in 2004, and then regularly checked satellite images of its forests, sending forestry officials and police to enforce the law where it was being violated. "Deforestation has been reduced by 85 percent in less than two years in the eastern part of the country," Lovera noted. The other part of the solution is to give control over forests to the local people. This community or model forest concept has proved to be sustainable in many parts of the world. India recently passed a bill returning the bulk of its forests back to local communities for management, she said. However, economic interests pushing deforestation in countries like Brazil and Indonesia are so powerful, there may eventually be little natural forest left. "Governments are beginning to realize that their natural forests have enormous value left standing," Lovera said. "A moratorium or ban on deforestation is the only way to stop this." /This story is part of a series of features on sustainable development by IPS and IFEJ - International Federation of Environmental Journalists./ © 2007 IPS - Inter Press Service ### <http://www.commondreams.org/cgi-bin/print.cgi?file=/headlines07/0322-01.htm>Printer Friendly Version <http://www.commondreams.org/cgi-bin/print.cgi?file=/headlines07/0322-01.htm> <http://www.referralblast.com/cs/com/co1.asp> E-Mail This Article <http://www.referralblast.com/cs/com/co1.asp> FAIR USE NOTICE This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. *Common Dreams NewsCenter <http://www.commondreams.org/>* A non-profit news service providing breaking news & views for the progressive community. * Home <http://www.commondreams.org/> | Newswire <http://www.commondreams.org/newswire.htm> | Contacting Us <http://www.commondreams.org/contactingus.htm> | About Us <http://www.commondreams.org/about.htm> | Donate <http://www.commondreams.org/donate.htm> | Sign-Up <http://www.commondreams.org/email.htm> | Archives <http://www.commondreams.org/archives.htm>* © Copyrighted 1997-2007 www.commondreams.org <http://www.commondreams.org/>

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[Sustain] Next Sustainability WG meeting 3/22
by Don Eichelberger 22 Mar '07

22 Mar '07

Yes, it's that time again, the forth Thursday, time for a meeting of San Francisco Sustainability Working Group , 7:30 P.M. at the SF Green Party office, 1028-A Howard St. Much to discuss: Peak Oil event, Community Choice, Nuclear resurgence, new nuclear weapons contract at LLL, continued pillage of fragile southwest deserts by energy interest in coal, oil, nuclear mining and "waste disposal", still a war going on.... How can we help build party resources and bring them to these and many other projects-in-waiting looking for coordination and support? Come help it happen, Don ps I am sorry there was confusion at last month's meeting. I had not been informed that there was another meeting scheduled at the same time as ours, and I was also late getting there fro my job, so some who came early apparently thought our meeting was cancelled. I am not scheduled to work, and plan to get there on time, come what may. See you there, de

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[Sustain] Pelosi's Connections With Presidio Trust, Treasure Island, Lennar
by Eric Brooks 18 Mar '07

18 Mar '07

http://www.fogcityjournal.com/news_in_brief/kirshenbaum_061029.shtml (some material cut) ... In order to see how this functions, let's start with the spectacular view of Treasure Island that the Ferry Building offices have. Treasure Island may be flat and man-made, but nonetheless it is land with a sparkling waterfront - it might as well be over 400 acres of undeveloped gold. It is irresistible to anyone with a nose for development and the wherewithal to make that development happen. Treasure Island's fate seems to be following that of the Presidio. In 1994, the Presidio was formally transferred from the Army to the Presidio Trust (with the edges of the site going to the National Park Service) for "public-private" development and usage opportunities. Three years later, the process started to transfer Treasure Island from the Navy to the city for development. Both transfers were initiated by former Mayor Willie Brown and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi. The Treasure Island transfer was completed by Pelosi with Mayor Newsom. Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer and Gavin Newsom attend the official opening of the $100 million Letterman Digital Arts Center, June 26, 2005. Photo by Luke Thomas The Presidio Trust, a group of well-connected citizens, was charged with stewardship of the new national park. The Trust made a big show of gathering public input, which it then ignored in favor of building the absurdly gargantuan Letterman Digital Arts Center. Letterman Digital Arts Center. Photo by Luke Thomas It was a perfect example of how important it is to developers to ensure that appointments go to people who can be counted on to make development-favorable decisions. In the case of the Presidio, the Trust decided to transform a national park into an office park. They also decided who got the lucrative building contracts. For a developer, it's just the way business is done. The Presidio continues to be stocked with new, private enterprises, and the tussling continues over Hunter's Point. Right now, though, the next big, exciting opportunity is Treasure Island. An undated aerial photo of Treasure Island. Photo by Luke Thomas After some very serious wrangling over control (see "more info" below), the fate of Treasure Island rests mainly with TIDA: the Treasure Island Development Authority. Just as with the Presidio Trust, the people who comprise TIDA are awfully critical. It is they who decide what gets developed and who gets to develop it - and profit thereby. Likewise, the person who appoints the people on TIDA and similar boards is also a key player, for he or she must be guided to select members who can be trusted to vote favorably to one's interests. That's the entitlement portion of the Big Three: garnering approvals that entitle one to development and maximize profits by upzoning the land. (Upzoning means changing the rules to allow more profitable development than would otherwise be allowed.). That's why forming relationships between would-be developers and appointing officials is crucial. Lobbyists like Platinum's Darius Anderson and Jay Wallace specialize in building those relationships, sometimes by finding sources of cash reserves for campaign contributions, or occasionally hosting key fundraisers. Wallace was at one time Pelosi's campaign manager. When Anderson held a fundraiser a couple of years ago to retire Mayor Newsom's campaign debt, it raised eyebrows, but it is what lobbyists do. They specialize in creating access for themselves and for clients with the people who make appointments, sign or promote legislation, and grant entitlements to develop - all of which have big profit implications. + + + It's easy to conclude that clients are getting their money's worth from Platinum and friends - especially when the client is Platinum itself. TIDA has granted to Platinum the uncontested contract to be the sole developer of Treasure Island. Or, to be exact, that exclusive contract has been granted to Platinum's new entity, Treasure Island Community Developers, with the master plan component going to Anderson's other company, Kenwood Investments. The entity Treasure Island Community Developers needed to be created because giving a development contract to a lobbying firm is like asking an ad agency to start a strip-mining operation: it doesn't make much natural sense. Unless the ad agency can't resist the thought of finding veins of gold in the ground, and creates an entity for that purpose. Considering the grand, incestuous family that is politics, maybe it's no surprise that Platinum's development entity has been handed the Treasure Island bounty. Given the Pelosi and Newsom history of enthusiasm for developing the Presidio, we should hope it's not too late to keep a close watch and short leash on Treasure Island developments. Unfortunately, this means paying attention to the entire family. That would include even the new president on the Commission on the Environment, Paul Pelosi, Jr., who is Nancy Pelosi's son and Gavin Newsom's cousin. As for TIDA itself, all the members are appointed by the mayor; all but one is a City Hall official. Who else will benefit from the arrangement? Certainly Lennar Corporation will. They are a partner with Platinum's Treasure Island Community Developers. Lennar has experience developing former military bases, and is one of the country's largest residential housing builders. By what could solicitously be called a coincidence, Laurence Pelosi was president of acquisitions for Lennar. He is Nancy Pelosi's nephew, and currently works as executive director of Morgan Stanley's real estate division. As Newsom's former campaign treasurer, he would have worked with Darius Anderson on the campaign fundraiser for Newsom. He's not the only one: Doug Boxer, son of Senator Barbara Boxer, is an attorney who has worked for Anderson as a Platinum lobbyist, and has been a partner with Anderson at Kenwood Investments. + + + A case could be made that without Platinum and Lennar playing a role, there would be no financing and Treasure Island would remain a fallow relic of an outdated military past. And without Willie Brown, Nancy Pelosi, and Gavin Newsom creating the situation for the necessary government entitlements, the land and the assets would simply sit. Or would they? Is there really no recourse other than to deliver the choicest projects to our most skillful lobbyists? Even if everything described here is completely legal, is it right for our elected officials to hand over profits to their inner circle? Are the ethical concerns greater when those profits involve our public lands? The children of politicians are allowed to join commissions and earn a living. But how certain are we that our leaders and their friends and families have the public's best interests in mind? The other troubling problem is that we citizens get no substantial say in the matter, even when we know what is transpiring. We may have elected Pelosi and Newsom, but we didn't intend to cast votes for their relatives, too. Or their friends. Or their funders. And if there are certain players who are enriching themselves so handily with our public property, it wouldn't hurt to have a lot more transparency in the process. Kepa Askenasy contributed research and graphics for this report. Political Players: Treasure Island (click on the image below to see a larger version of the chart) More Information Background on Treasure Island from U.S. Navy, click here. Kenwood Investments, plans for Treasure Island, click here. Lennar Corporation, a partner with Kenwood Investments to build on Treasure Island, click here. Jay Wallace of Platinum Advisors is former campaign manager for Nancy Pelosi, click here. Treasure Island on the radar (Willie Brown's) for at least a decade (1996), click here. Treasure Island on Pelosi's legislative details list (1998), click here. Tussle over Mayor Willie Brown's sole control over Treasure Island, click here. Grand Jury criticizes Willie Brown for Treasure Island politics, click here. Darius Anderson wins Treasure Island projects, hired former Willie Brown protege (2001), click here. Fundraising tangle for Newsom by Darius Anderson of Platinum, who sought (and won) Treasure Island contract (2004), click here. Politics + real estate or development, a frequent combination for the elected (2004), click here. Draft of financing plan between Treasure Island Development Authority and Platinum Advisors' Treasure Island Community Development. Tables of cash flow projections are at the end (Aug 2006), click here. $100 buys a seat at breakfast club with Willie Brown, click here. Background on Laurence Pelosi, click here. Background on Doug Boxer, click here and here. Editors Note (11/14/6) : A follow-up conversation with Paul Pelosi, Jr. reveals the following clarifications and corrections to a chart accompanying the story “Pay-to-Play Bay Area”: Laurence Pelosi and Paul Pelosi, Jr. are cousins, not step-siblings; Nancy Pelosi is Laurence’s aunt, not step-aunt; the relationship between the Pelosi and Newsom families is through marriage and not by blood. Paul Pelosi, Jr. is a loan officer, not a mortgage broker, for Countrywide, which is the largest home lender in the country. Paul Pelosi was appointed to the Commission on the Environment by Willie Brown, not Gavin Newsom. Finally, all are invited to a public meeting on Treasure Island itself, to be held November 15. #### Editor's Note: Views expressed by columnists published on FogCityJournal.com are not necessarily the views or beliefs of Fog City Journal. Fog City Journal supports free speech in all its varied forms and provides a forum for a complete spectrum of viewpoints.

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[Sustain] Lennar Corporation Exposed For Racism & Environmental Violations In Bayview
by Eric Brooks 18 Mar '07

18 Mar '07

http://www.fogcityjournal.com/news_in_brief/kirshenbaum_070317.shtml Lennar slapped with racial discrimination lawsuit, accused of violating toxic asbestos cleanup restrictions Bayview Hunters Point Shipyard, file photo. Photo(s) by Luke Thomas By Daniela Kirshenbum March 17, 2007 Lennar Corporation is considered the King Midas of developers, ready to turn the Bay Area's most toxic sites to gold. But a lawsuit filed March 16 alleges the firm is poisoning the community and is discriminating against its workers. The lawsuit lists numerous instances when African-American employees for the firm’s Bayview-Hunter’s Point Shipyard project were subject to humiliation and insulting comments about their race. The three plaintiffs are Gary McIntyre, a project manager; Clementine Clark, a community benefits manager and a member of San Francisco's Fire Commission; and Ceola Richardson, an administrative assistant. They describe an atmosphere in which African-American employees were made to feel they were hired specifically to fulfill minority-owned business requirements, and yet those requirements were not met. The lawsuit also details instances when the plaintiffs tried to alert their supervisor, Paul Menaker, about dangerously high levels of asbestos in the air and near an adjacent school. Menaker made a point of disregarding the warnings and did not ensure that basic steps were taken to mitigate the release of dangerously high levels of toxic asbestos dust, the suit alleges. The San Francisco Redevelopment Agency has had to step in (item 4d) to request that Lennar undertake routine asbestos handling practices. Conceivably, the case could affect Lennar's standing as a favored government contractor. The firm is one of the largest in the country. Locally, they are the developers for the lucrative Treasure Island, Mare Island, Bayview-Hunter's Point, and potential 49ers stadium/housing project. The case creates political implications on a number of levels, which may make things awkward for Mayor Gavin Newsom. One of the plaintiffs in the case is a mayoral appointee of the Fire Commission. Plaintiffs attorney Angela Alioto plays a role in the Newsom administration. And finally, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is involved in Lennar's local projects. MORE INFORMATION: Lennar is a green builder with SF government support. Lennar is on the record as supporting African-American cultural history. Lennar’s stock price has looked better, but at least one Democratic heavy hitter is a Lennar president.

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Re: [Sustain] List of suggested Peak oil commissioners
by Don Eichelberger 15 Mar '07

15 Mar '07

I would like to have SFGP Sustainability Working Group added as a supporter of this event. I like its title, if not the location. Thanks, Don At 10:41 AM 3/4/2007, you wrote: >Hey, guys, I spoke to Boris yesterday and things are moving slowly >on this. Below is what I just posted to the sfbayoil list. Also Dick >Hughes got that Energy Center (PG&E) location for the "Myths of >Biofuels" presentation for April 10. So we'll be putting out a blurb >on that (I told Don that probably would happen last Monday, but >that's late too). I'm confirming, it's OK(?) to add the Green Party >Sustainability Committee to the sponsors? > >Dennis > >***** > >The task force process has still been moving slowly in San Francisco >(last/this month we've taken a back seat to plastic bags ordinance). >I spoke with Boris Delepine on Friday and the plan now is to take >public comment at a committee hearing on the 22nd of March and the >full Board will vote on it March 27. I had thought they'd already >done this, but I was mistaken. > >The process for applying to the task force will be open to the >public here in San Francisco. Whoever is interested should check out >the application form ( >http://www.sfgov.org/site/bdsupvrs_page.asp?id=4674 ) - although you >can't apply until the legislation, etc. > >Sorry it is going slow as molasses. Welcome to the way government often works. > >That, of course, along with rampant delusional thinking we see all >around, doesn't bode well for the issues our society will soon face. > >At 11:44 PM 2/23/2007, Don Eichelberger wrote: >>Dennis- >> >>Below is the list of names we brainstormed at our November ewg >>meeting of people we thought would be good candidates for the peak >>oil commission. We wondered at last night's meeting if there had >>been headway on the naming of a commission. >> >>To update, I spoke briefly and "unofficially" with Emily >>Drennan. She is a registered Democrat working with the Milk Club >>and seems real busy. David Fairley is interested, depending on >>time requirements. He felt his wife. Pam, may be interested, but I >>have not been in contact with her. >> >>I also spoke briefly with Karl Kramer, who works with Rene Saucedo, >>and he is interested in staying informed. While she, herself, >>might not be able to serve, she may know of someone to recommend. >> >>See ya soon, >> >>Don >> >>Emily Drennen, Tom Radulovich, David Fairley, Pam Coxson, Jeannie >>Rosenmeier, Marie Harrison, Maurice Campbell, Ahimsa Sumchai (in >>spite of their support for Prop. 90), Daniella Kaschenbaum (sp?), >>Dave Wilbur, Ana Marie Loya, Renee Saucedo, David Ho, Chin Chi, Sue >>Jong Kim, Sue Vaughan, and John-Marc Chandonia >

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