- Sustainactive - list.sfgreens.org

Very Urgent! Pro PG&E Anson Moran Appointed to SFPUC!!
by Eric Brooks 12 Jun '09

12 Jun '09

Hi all, This is critical to both Public Power and Clean Power SF (CCA). The Mayor just appointed Anson Moran as the fifth member of the SFPUC. It is critical to Public Power and Clean Power SF (CCA) to make sure this appointment does -not- go through. The appointment goes before the SF Board of Supervisors Rules Committee this Thursday, June 18, and then to the full Board the following Tuesday. Here's a blurb the SF Bay Guardian published about Moran in 1997: "PUC general manager Anson Moran and Hetch Hetchy general manager Larry Klein have worked continuously on behalf of PG&E and against the expansion of public power in San Francisco, at the Presidio and now at Hunters Point and Treasure Island." We need a strategy pronto to get the six votes needed at the Board to reject this appointment. This will mean securing our natural allies Mirkarimi, Daly, Avalos, Mar, and Campos, and then getting the critical vote of Dufty, and if possible President Chiu and Sophie Maxwell to make sure we have a rock solid pool of votes to prevail. Please light up every one of these Supervisors with you and your group list members' comments as quickly as possible. Tell them we will not tolerate an anti-public power SFPUC commissioner and that they must reject the Anson Moran appointment. Daly and Campos are particularly urgent because they hold a progressive majority on the Rules Committee. Their City Hall office numbers are: Chris Daly: 415-554-7970 David Campos: 415-554-5144 The timing of this appointment means that the Mayor may try to trade big Budget compromises in order to get Moran's appointment approved, so we cannot be complacent on this! Here are the hearing details: http://www.sfgov.org/site/bdsupvrs_page.asp?id=106145 Rules Committee Committee Room, City Hall, Room 263 Meeting Agenda Thursday, June 18, 2009 10:00 AM Regular Meeting Members: Chris Daly, Carmen Chu, David Campos 3. 090767 [Appointment, Public Utilities Commission - Anson Moran] Motion confirming the Mayor’s appointment of Anson Moran to the Public Utilities Commission, Seat 4, for the unexpired portion of a two-year term ending August 1, 2010. (Clerk of the Board) (Charter Section 3.100-17 provides that the Board of Supervisors has the authority to reject the appointment by two-thirds vote of the Board (eight votes) within 30 days following transmittal of the Mayor's Notice of Appointment, and that failure of the Board to reject the appointment by two-thirds vote within the thirty day period shall result in the appointee continuing to serve as appointed; companion measure to File 090768. Transmittal date – June 1, 2009.) 6/1/09, RECEIVED AND ASSIGNED to Rules Committee. 4. 090768 [Appointment, Public Utilities Commission - Anson Moran] Motion rejecting the Mayor’s appointment of Anson Moran to the Public Utilities Commission, Seat 4, for the unexpired portion of a two-year term ending August 1, 2010. (Clerk of the Board) (Charter Section 3.100-17 provides that the Board of Supervisors has the authority to reject the appointment by two-thirds vote of the Board (eight votes) within 30 days following transmittal of the Mayor's Notice of Appointment, and that failure of the Board to reject the appointment by two-thirds vote within the thirty day period shall result in the appointee continuing to serve as appointed; companion measure to File 090767. Transmittal date – June 1, 2009.) 6/1/09, RECEIVED AND ASSIGNED to Rules Committee.

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Fox News Biodiesel Report Mentions Greens Opposition
by Eric Brooks 22 Apr '09

22 Apr '09

Hi all, We just got our first mention on Fox News (national) on our opposition to the Darling International biodiesel plant. (Apparently the reason a local issue in SF actually got national attention is that it is Earth Day, and the subject is controversial.) The reporter said that many environmentalists were strongly opposed to the plant because its type of biodiesel production could do more harm than good to the environment, and raised concerns about genetically engineered animals being produced for fuels. The 'Green Party' and PETA were specifically named as opponents, and the report finished up stating that opponents intend to pass legislation to require that biodiesel production remain strictly local and run by nonprofits. There were no clips of either opponents or proponents speaking, but the reporter who generated the piece that he is working to get a longer report on later today. If you want to watch for repeats of the report, Fox news is on SF cable channel 59. I'll keep you posted on new developments. cheers Eric Brooks -- "I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves." – Che Guevara

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Taskforce Nails SF Utilities Commission For Email Cover-Up
by Eric Brooks 01 Apr '09

01 Apr '09

Hi all, We just got some big added leverage with which to pressure the City to stop waiting for the SF Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) and get going now on Clean Power SF. Joshua Arce and I filed a Sunshine Ordinance complaint against Barbara Hale and other SFPUC staff which won last week by an 8-0 vote of the Sunshine Ordinance Taskforce. The Sunshine Ordinance Taskforce has found the SFPUC staff guilty of purposely deleting emails, and then covering up those deletions by claiming the emails never existed; emails that Joshua and I called for under a strict Sunshine public records request involving the SFPUC staff's unreal promotion of a new polluting power plant in the Bayview Hunters Point. (The plant has has since been canceled due to great work by Our City, Brightline Defense Project, Sierra Club, the SF Green Party and many other groups.) The deleted emails, which we recovered, revealed clearly that Barbara Hale and her staff had been colluding with sympathetic staff of the California Independent System Operator (CAL ISO) - a nonprofit run by fossil fuel energy executives which organizes the California electricity grid. They colluded to distort the public process around clean energy issues and fossil fuel power plants; such that the public, the SFPUC Commissioners, the Board of Supervisors, and the Mayor received a completely false impression that the City needed to build a new polluting power plant in order to replace an older plant in Potrero Hill, instead of pursuing alternatives like renewables and efficiency. The SFPUC staff has been similarly gaming and manipulating public meetings and information to interfere with the timely start-up of Clean Power SF for the last five years. This ruling gives us even more leverage to show that the SFPUC staff cannot be trusted to faithfully begin the Clean Power SF (Community Choice) project, and that the LAFCo should independently draft the project RFP. cheers! Eric Brooks :^) -- "I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves." – Che Guevara

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Listen to me play on Pirate Cat Rdio
by Don Eichelberger 15 Feb '09

15 Feb '09

Folks- I will be joining DJ Diamond Dave Whittaker this Friday,. 2/6/09 between 4-6 P.M. for original music and interview at Pirate Cat Radio, 21st and Florida in the San Francisco Mission District, available locally at 87.9 FM. It will also be streamed live at www.piratecatradio.com The show will also be posted as a podcast for 6 weeks afterwards. I hope you will be able to listen in, and let me know what you think. Thanks, Don Eichelberger aka Donny Fix www.MySpace.com/donnyfix Donny Fix Independent Productions

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Reminder: Clean Energy Hearing - Tomorrow, 9 am, City Hall, Room 263
by Eric Brooks 11 Feb '09

11 Feb '09

Hi all, Just sending this reminder that we need everyone who can, to show at Rules Committee tomorrow morning at 9am, SF City Hall, Room 263, to ask all three new appointees to the LAFCo to commit to immediately contract (IN ITS NEXT MEETING) -through- the LAFCo, all tasks necessary for one lead contractor to create a Community Choice Request For Proposals (RFP) as soon as possible - because: The LAFCo received a report nine months ago that there was no reason not to proceed with a Request For Proposals for the Community Choice project, and that critical dates are imminent on Obama renewable energy stimulus funds, state stimulus funds, closing the Mirant plant, the need for a -big- green jobs new deal (which Community Choice IS), the Peak Oil & Natural Gas Crisis, and the incredible danger of an exponentially expanding climate crisis that is hitting much faster and harder than predicted even a year ago. And that since SFPUC staff is absolutely not moving ahead quickly enough (it should have begun developing a Community Choice RFP nine months ago!) that the LAFCo direct SFPUC staff to accept a -support- role for the LAFCo and its contractors on Community Choice, instead of a lead role. Here are the hearing details: http://www.sfgov.org/site/bdsupvrs_page.asp?id=98276 February 12, 2009 - Special *City and County of San Francisco* *Rules Committee* */City Hall, Room 263/* *_Meeting Agenda _Thursday, February 12, 2009 9:00 AM Special Meeting* ------------------------------------------------------------------------ */Members: Chris Daly, Carmen Chu, David Campos Clerk: Linda Wong (415) 554-7719 /* *1.* *090053* *[Appointment - SF Local Agency Formation Commission, Supervisor Bevan Dufty]* Motion appointing Supervisor Bevan Dufty, term ending February 20, 2011, to the San Francisco Local Agency Formation Commission. Supervisor Bevan Dufty, succeeding Jake McGoldrick, seat 1, must be a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, for unexpired portion of a four-year term ending February 20, 2011. 1/22/09, RECEIVED AND ASSIGNED to Rules Committee. *2.* *090164* *[Appointment - SF Local Agency Formation Commission, Eric Mar]* Motion appointing Supervisor Eric Mar, term ending August 27, 2009, to the San Francisco Local Agency Formation Commission. Supervisor Eric Mar, succeeding Matt Gonzalez, seat 2, must be a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, for unexpired portion of a four-year term ending August 27, 2009. 2/6/09, RECEIVED AND ASSIGNED to Rules Committee. *3.* *090163* *[Appointment - SF Local Agency Formation Commission, Supervisor John Avalos]* Motion appointing Supervisor John Avalos, as an alternate member, term ending February 4, 2010, to the San Francisco Local Agency Formation Commission. Supervisor John Avalos, succeeding Aaron Peskin, seat 5, must be an alternate member of the Board of Supervisors, for unexpired portion of a four-year term ending February 4, 2010. 2/6/09, RECEIVED AND ASSIGNED to Rules Committee. *4.* *090056* *[Appointment - Association of Bay Area Governments Executive Board - Supervisor John Avalos]* Motion appointing Supervisor John Avalos, term ending June 30, 2009, to the Association of Bay Area Governments Executive Board. Supervisor John Avalos, succeeding Supervisor Chris Daly, resigned, seat 1, must be a member of the Board of Supervisors, for the unexpired portion of a two-year term ending June 30, 2009. 1/23/09, RECEIVED AND ASSIGNED to Rules Committee. *5.* *090057* *[Appointment - San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission - Supervisor* Motion appointing Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier, for an indefinite term, to the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission. Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier, succeeding Aaron Peskin, seat 1, must be a member of the Board of Supervisors whose district includes within its boundaries lands lying within the San Francisco Bay (Districts 1, 2, 3, 6, and 10), for an indefinite term. 1/23/09, RECEIVED AND ASSIGNED to Rules Committee. *etc.* -- "I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves." -- Che Guevara

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BIG! Rules Committee - Clean Energy Hearing - Thu, Feb 12, 9 am, City Hall, Room 263
by Eric Brooks 07 Feb '09

07 Feb '09

Big Stuff! A key hearing to make sure that we launch the Community Choice renewable energy project this month and no later, is happening this Thursday morning. The supervisor appointments for the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo) in that hearing are critical to making sure that enough progressives are on the LAFCo to make Community Choice happen. To see why, go to http://our-city.org/events/index.html The Supervisors have set this special Rules Committee hearing for this Thursday, February 12, 9am, City Hall, Room 263, to, as organizers asked, decide on the full LAFCo member appointments of both Eric Mar and Bevan Dufty, and the appointment of John Avalos as an alternate LAFCo member. The appointments will be items 1, 2, and 3. It is a big deal for us to turn out to this hearing because it gives us our one golden opportunity to ask each of the LAFCo appointees to firmly commit to stop accepting any more SFPUC delays and immediately contract through the LAFCo, this month, all tasks necessary for the single best qualified lead contractor to rapidly complete a Community Choice Request For Proposals (RFP), and thereby launch the project. We need to stress that the LAFCo received a report nine months ago that there was no reason not to proceed with a Request For Proposals for the Community Choice project, and that critical dates are imminent on Obama renewable energy stimulus funds, state stimulus funds, closing the Mirant plant, the need for a -big- green jobs new deal (which Community Choice IS), the Peak Oil & Natural Gas Crisis, and the incredible danger of an exponentially expanding climate crisis that is hitting much faster and harder than predicted even a year ago. (And that since SFPUC staff doesn't seem to understand these realities and is not ready to move ahead immediately - that the SFPUC staff must adopt a -support- role for the LAFCo and its contractors, instead of a lead role which that staff is clearly not qualified or prepared for.) Any of you who can attend and speak please do, and bring others with you! NOTE: Remember that chair Daly will likely ask us to keep remarks oriented on the appointments themselves, so couch your remarks as a *request to each appointee to commit* to x,y.z, etc. RSVP me if you plan to attend - brookse32(a)aim.com peace, Eric Here are the hearing details: http://www.sfgov.org/site/bdsupvrs_page.asp?id=98276 February 12, 2009 - Special *City and County of San Francisco* *Rules Committee* */City Hall, Room 263/* *_Meeting Agenda _Thursday, February 12, 2009 9:00 AM Special Meeting* ------------------------------------------------------------------------ */Members: Chris Daly, Carmen Chu, David Campos Clerk: Linda Wong (415) 554-7719 /* *1.* *090053* *[Appointment - SF Local Agency Formation Commission, Supervisor Bevan Dufty]* Motion appointing Supervisor Bevan Dufty, term ending February 20, 2011, to the San Francisco Local Agency Formation Commission. Supervisor Bevan Dufty, succeeding Jake McGoldrick, seat 1, must be a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, for unexpired portion of a four-year term ending February 20, 2011. 1/22/09, RECEIVED AND ASSIGNED to Rules Committee. *2.* *090164* *[Appointment - SF Local Agency Formation Commission, Eric Mar]* Motion appointing Supervisor Eric Mar, term ending August 27, 2009, to the San Francisco Local Agency Formation Commission. Supervisor Eric Mar, succeeding Matt Gonzalez, seat 2, must be a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, for unexpired portion of a four-year term ending August 27, 2009. 2/6/09, RECEIVED AND ASSIGNED to Rules Committee. *3.* *090163* *[Appointment - SF Local Agency Formation Commission, Supervisor John Avalos]* Motion appointing Supervisor John Avalos, as an alternate member, term ending February 4, 2010, to the San Francisco Local Agency Formation Commission. Supervisor John Avalos, succeeding Aaron Peskin, seat 5, must be an alternate member of the Board of Supervisors, for unexpired portion of a four-year term ending February 4, 2010. 2/6/09, RECEIVED AND ASSIGNED to Rules Committee. *4.* *090056* *[Appointment - Association of Bay Area Governments Executive Board - Supervisor John Avalos]* Motion appointing Supervisor John Avalos, term ending June 30, 2009, to the Association of Bay Area Governments Executive Board. Supervisor John Avalos, succeeding Supervisor Chris Daly, resigned, seat 1, must be a member of the Board of Supervisors, for the unexpired portion of a two-year term ending June 30, 2009. 1/23/09, RECEIVED AND ASSIGNED to Rules Committee. *5.* *090057* *[Appointment - San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission - Supervisor* Motion appointing Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier, for an indefinite term, to the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission. Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier, succeeding Aaron Peskin, seat 1, must be a member of the Board of Supervisors whose district includes within its boundaries lands lying within the San Francisco Bay (Districts 1, 2, 3, 6, and 10), for an indefinite term. 1/23/09, RECEIVED AND ASSIGNED to Rules Committee. *etc.* -- "I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves." -- Che Guevara

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Important: SFPUC Community Choice Hearing Alert - Tue, Feb 10, 1:30pm, City Hall, Room 400
by Eric Brooks 07 Feb '09

07 Feb '09

Hi all, We have a very important hearing on Community Choice being held by the SF Public Utilities Commission this Tuesday, February 10, at 1:30pm in room 400 of City Hall. In item 13 there will be a full discussion of where the SFPUC staff is at with Community Choice, including in relation to the LAFCo and CPUC. Barbara Hale and her staff will make a strong case for delay and further meaningless feasibility and viability studies. Good strong enviros need to be there to counter the SFPUC staff's distortions by pointing out that the LAFCo received a report nine months ago that there was no reason not to proceed with a Request For Proposals for the Community Choice project, that the LAFCo is ready to proceed and that since SFPUC staff doesn't seem to understand the need to move ahead immediately - that the SFPUC staff should adopt a -support- role for the LAFCo and its contractors, instead of a lead role that SFPUC staff is clearly not qualified or ready for. We also need to repeat the mantra over and over that critical dates are imminent on Obama stimulus funds, state stimulus funds, closing the Mirant plant, the need for a -big- green jobs new deal (which Community Choice IS), the Peak Oil & Natural Gas Crisis, and the incredible danger of an exponentially expanding climate crisis that is hitting much faster and harder than predicted even a year ago. Any of you who can attend and speak during item 13 please do, and bring others with you! RSVP me if you plan to attend - brookse32(a)aim.com cheers, Eric Here are the hearing details: http://sfwater.org/detail.cfm/MC_ID/18/MSC_ID/113/MTO_ID/340/C_ID/4383 *San Francisco Public Utilities Commission* *REGULAR MEETING *Tuesday, February 10, 2009 *1:30 P.M*. City Hall, Room 400 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place *COMMISSIONERS* : The Honorable Ann Moller Caen, The Honorable F. X. Crowley, The Honorable Francesca Vietor, The Honorable Juliet Ellis ORDER OF BUSINESS: 1. Call to Order 2. Roll Call 3. Approval of Minutes a) Minutes of the January 13, 2009 Regular Meeting b) Minutes of the January 27, 2009 Regular Meeting 4. Public Comments Members of the public may address the Commission on matters that are within the Commission's jurisdiction and are not on today's agenda. 5. Communications a) Letter Summary 6. Other Commission Business a) Advance Calendar THE FOLLOWING MATTERS BEFORE THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION ARE RECOMMENDED FOR ACTION AS STATED BY THE GENERAL MANAGER OF PUBLIC UTILITIES AND CITY ATTORNEY WHERE APPLICABLE. Explanatory documents provided to the Commission in connection with this agenda are available for public inspection and copying at the Office of the Commission Secretary, 1155 Market Street, 11th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103, Telephone: (415) 554-3165, Fax: (415) 554-3424. *CONSENT CALENDAR* 7. All matters listed hereunder constitute a Consent Calendar, are considered to be routine by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, and will be acted upon by a single vote of the Commission. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a member of the Commission or the public so requests, in which event the matter will be removed from the Consent Calendar and considered as a separate item. a) Staff Recommendation: *Approve Amendment No. 1 to Water Enterprise Water System Improvement Program-funded Agreement No. CS-834C4, Sunol Valley Water Treatment Plant (SVWTP) Expansion & Treated Water Reservoir Project -- Environmental Analysis Services*, with ICF Jones & Stokes and *authorize the General Manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to execute* this amendment increasing the agreement by $345,047, for a total agreement amount of $772,117, and with a time extension of one (1) year, for a total agreement duration of two (2) years, eleven (11) months and three (3) weeks. b) Staff Recommendation: *Approve Modification No. 1 to Enterprise-funded Contract No. HH-932, Job Order Contract, General Engineering Services (A-License),* Hetch Hetchy with Yerba Buena Engineering and Construction, increasing the contract by $1,500,000, *for a total contract amount not to exceed $4,500,000, and with a time extension of one year for a total contract duration of three (3) years. * 8. Report of the General Manager a) Water System Improvement Program (Labonte) b) Capital Programs (Kelly) *REGULAR BUSINESS* 9. Public Hearing to consider the proposed Operating and Capital Budgets of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission for FY 2009-2010, and possible action. (Rydstrom) *(Continued from the Special Meetings of January 16, January 20, January 23, and February 3, 2009) * 10. Public Hearing to consider approval of the proposed 10 Year Capital Plan for the SFPUC, and possible action. (Rydstrom) 11. Public Hearing to consider approval of the proposed Efficiency and Strategic Plans for the SFPUC, and possible action. (Rydstrom) 12. Discussion of current water supply conditions and possible drought responses. (Carlin) 13. Discussion of the status of and ongoing staff efforts to implement a Community Choice Aggregation program for San Francisco residents and businesses, including a 2-path approach utilizing 1) industry knowledge and input through a pre-qualification process, while 2) continuing to develop a comprehensive Operational Plan utilizing consulting resources; and the status of efforts with other entities, including the California Public Utilities Commission and San Francisco's Local Agency Formation Commission. (Hale) 14. Discussion and possible action *authorizing the General Manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) to execute on behalf of the City and County of San Francisco a Cooperative Agreement with the State of California, acting by and through its Department of Transportation, for proposed improvements to be made within the State Highway System right of way in connection with Water System Improvement Program. Approve the terms and conditions of, and authorize the General Manager, or his or her designee, to execute, any revocable Encroachment Permit, Joint Use and Maintenance Agreement, or other appropriate similar instrument with the State to allow the SFPUC to construct, maintain, replace, or repair improvements on or across the SHS ROW.* (Quan) 15. Discussion and possible action *authorizing the General Manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to request permission from the Board of Supervisors to accept and expend solar related grant funds*, totaling $610,080, through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008 as administered by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (109-58), with minimum required local matching funds of $610,080 from the Sustainable Energy Account (SEA) and to execute all documents required therefore. (Hale) 16. Discussion and possible action *authorizing the General Manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to request permission from the Board of Supervisors to retroactively accept and expend grant funds totaling $517,500 from the Department of Water Resources (DWR),* through the Contracting Agency, Zone 7 Water Agency (Zone 7); and to execute all required agreements. (Carlin) *REAL PROPERTY TRANSACTIONS* 17. Discussion and possible action *authorizing the General Manager of San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) to execute, on behalf of the City and County of San Francisco, a Memorandum of Understanding with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority (MTA)* which will allow MTA to transfer a 6,264 square foot parcel to the SFPUC and will also allow the SFPUC to transfer a 5,835 square foot parcel to MTA, subject to the terms and conditions specified in the MOU, and *to request the Director of Property to prepare and submit legislation to the Board of Supervisors* to accommodate the transfers. (Dowd) *CLOSED SESSION* etc. -- "I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves." -- Che Guevara

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Important: For Tonight's GM - Energy: Darling 'Bio'diesel Plant
by Eric Brooks 28 Jan '09

28 Jan '09

Hi all, This is information for the energy item during tonights GM meeting. Please read. The Mayor and the Port Commission have maneuvered to, by December, take what has until now been a local community and local waste driven biodiesel program and instead turn it over to the massive multi-national corporate animal parts rendering giant Darling, International which currently is trying to re-brand itself as a 'green' 'recycling' corporation. (The Biodiesel Access Taskforce has unfortunately gone along with this, although a couple of its members are vehemently opposed.) See the original community project information at http://sfwater.org/detail.cfm/MC_ID/18/MSC_ID/114/C_ID/4018/Keyword/grease Darling is the largest corporation of its kind in the world, and it has been guilty of ongoing corrupt and illegal environmental practises, and consumer protection violations. This move by Newsom is very similar to his maneuver a couple of years ago to hand over the City's emerging broadband internet service to the private ownership of Google and Earthlink; but this project has dire environmental, and public policy consequences. This is a quick report to flesh out what Darling is really all about. Darling is far and away the worldwide giant of processing waste animal agriculture parts and restaurant food waste. Many cities and industries depend heavily on it for these services. (Darling was founded 125 years ago as a joint project between the Darling family in Chicago, and Swift Meats.) Darling has launched a worldwide initiative to turn its rendering plants into bio-diesel facilities as an intrinsic part of both its business model and public profile. Apparently, animal parts rendering to create tallow is losing value and the recent biodiesel craze has definitely flipped dollar signs up into Darling's corneas. For a report mentioning why Darling is economically refocusing on biofuel, search for the word 'Darling' in the text at http://mailman.cloudnet.com/pipermail/compost/2001-June/008329.html Darling has been frequently sighted and penalized for violating odor and pollution restrictions, sometimes even after large numbers of complaints over long periods of time. Most importantly, it was found in criminal violation for wrecking the Blue Earth River ecosystem in Minnesota with illegal discharge and waste/carcass dumping from one of its facilities. Darling was also responsible for a big melamine-in-pet-foods incident and recall which apparently was not related to the Chinese melamine scandal. Darling's remedy was to recall the pet foods, grind them up, and then 'dilute' them into farm animal feed; which was then sold to big ag. Darling's new supposed 'green' transformation to biofuels production appears to also be an effort of the company to greenwash its previously very negative public image. You can get a sense of this greenwashing theme by going to Darling's own site at http://www.darlingii.com/ You can see a report that a stock trader made about Darling a little over a year ago, to get a sense of the huge magnitude of Darlings trade operations and profits; and in the final section of the report, the reporter's reference to Darling's potential for biodiesel sales as its "hidden gem" - highlighted with his comment that we should "burn it all"... See: http://seekingalpha.com/article/55125-darling-international-dirty-sexy-money To wrap all of this up, here's a listing, via websites, of various serious environmental and consumer violations of Darling International. Blue Earth River (Minnesota) http://www.dallasobserver.com/1997-01-02/news/darling-will-cough-up-4-milli… http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-62612946.html Melamine Recall http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/08/pet_food_recalls65.html Chula Vista, CA (search in the document for the word 'pollution') http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:FbZhPgS_5-0J:www.swrcb.ca.gov/rwqcb9/bo… Los Angeles, CA http://articles.latimes.com/1998/may/28/local/me-54057 http://www.laweekly.com/1998-03-05/news/oh-my-darling/ Dallas, Texas http://cbs11tv.com/local/Darling.International.Stink.2.849280.html Melvindale, Michigan (search the page for the word 'Darling') http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:r7HAypMZt_0J:www.michbar.org/environmen… Linkwood, Maryland (search the page for the word 'Darling') http://www.upc-online.org/wpost/990802/environment2.html http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:X6Zk_i2cDh0J:www.mde.state.md.us/assets… Cleveland, Ohio (search the page for the word 'Cleveland' - also see other parts of this report from Darling covering its full scope of operations) http://www.getfilings.com/o0000916540-00-000003.html peace Eric

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response to Huffington blog on nukes
by Don Eichelberger 30 Dec '08

30 Dec '08

I just posted the following to the Huffigton Post blog, fyi, Don ######################################### As pointed out, these terms, liberal, conservative, progressive, are just another "divide and conquer" strategy. As what many would consider a radical, I do not feel represented in the discussion of progressive values. As a radical, my major departing value is around energy, both where we get it and how we use it. For me, I see the nuclear issue as the difference between real progressive values and everything else. I admit I am passionate and ideological on this issue, and now am seeing it being allowed "on the tabe" for consideration in the Obama administration. No. That is the line. There are no reasonable reasons to go nuclear, even if the promises about being carbon-free were true. There are ideologues on both sides of the issue, but the only ones being admitted in to the White House appear to be those Ideologically in favor. Guess what kind of proposals he'll get. Nuclear is an economical black hole and produces waste that, while bad in its own right, also happens to be a coveted technology for developing nuclear weapons. We need to set a better example, and show we can use conservation and renewable energies to meet our needs. And re-evaluate what our needs really are.

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McGoldrick Clean Tech Measure Now Has Bad 'Cap & Trade' Supports
by Eric Brooks 03 Dec '08

03 Dec '08

Hey all, This one is urgent because the matter will go to the full Board of Supervisors next week. Supervisor McGoldrick recently put together an expansion of the City incentives for clean technology businesses (which would be a good thing) except that it just got passed out of committee with a bunch of amendments that industry wanted, and one of those amendments promotes businesses that do financial work around and promote CO2 'Cap and Trade' and 'carbon trading' systems. (See legislation attached.) 'Cap and Trade' has been in place in Europe for years and is a complete disaster. To put it simply, 'Cap and Trade' and other 'carbon trading' systems allow corporations to game the system and increase negative impacts on the climate crisis while pretending to decrease them; usually at the same time making totally unjustifiable profits out of nothing but thin air. For a short article about the actual record of 'Cap and Trade' in Europe and what it would mean for the U.S. see http://www.globaljusticeecology.org/connections.php?ID=108 (I'd also recommend spending some time doing a deeper web search on 'cap and trade' and 'carbon trading' to get a full sense of why these trading schemes are so bad.) It is crucial that the 'Cap and Trade'/'carbon trading' amendments to this legislation be removed so that San Francisco does not continue to amplify this already disastrous global policy. Supervisor McGoldrick is going to be justifiably reluctant to amend the legislation since the current Board is so close to its last meeting on January 6, but there is still time and we must prevail on him to remove these particular incentives. Please contact Supervisor McGoldrick (and other Supervisors) right away on behalf of your organizations/office to weigh in on this so that industry doesn't get the last word on this now flawed measure; and request that Supervisor McGoldrick further amend the legislation. thanks Eric Brooks SF Green Party Sustainability Working Group 415-756-8844 -- "I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves." – Che Guevara

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