election – Page 5 – Creative Greenius

Al’s Bright Idea for Hermosa, Ted’s Tough Stance Against Oil & Why I’m Worried About It Mattering

April 25, 2014April 25, 2014citizen volunteer, climate change, election, environment, environmental legislationLeave a Comment

Sarah Sikich, Heal the Bay’s Science and Policy Director, Coastal Resources at the podium, California State Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi and State Senator Ted Lieu behind her – Photo by Jose Bacallao (lifted from Facebook)

I was very happy to be asked by the Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi’s staff to stand with my environmental brothers and sisters from Surfrider Foundation, Heal the Bay, Los Angeles Waterkeeper and Earthworks in support of Al’s new bill, AB2711 which would oh so cleverly and ironically allow the City of Hermosa Beach to Hermosa Beach to borrow money from the state tideland oil revenues fund to payoff E&B after the city votes to maintain their ban on oil drilling. (It’s a long story why they’d have to pay in order to maintain a current ban against drilling, but it involves less than mensa major level negotiators from the City Council – Bobko and DiVirgilio – being played like patsies at the poker table when they cut a panicky settlement deal over a law suit they thought they would lose.)

And what we especially dig about Al’s proposal is that the loan repayments Hermosa Beach would make would be deposited into the State Coastal Conservancy Trust Fund to be used for its Climate Ready Program. Payoff money to an oil company that actually pays for some of the damage the oil’s company’s products caused every time they are burned. You’ve got to love it.

And you’ve got to love Ted Lieu’s strong and no holds barred statements in support of Al’s bill and against oil drilling in Hermosa Beach and he made a point of saying,

“I can’t think of anything more stupid than to do oil drilling in Hermosa Beach.”

Ted said he has always opposed oil drilling anywhere on our coast and especially in Hermosa Beach. He spoke about legislation he previously had introduced to try to help Hermosa when McPherson Oil’s lawsuit was still threatening the city. I applauded him.

Continue reading ➞ Al’s Bright Idea for Hermosa, Ted’s Tough Stance Against Oil & Why I’m Worried About It Mattering

I’ve Done The Math – Now I’m Doing Something About It

October 18, 2013November 14, 2013Bicycles, carbon producers, citizen volunteer, climate change, Community Activists, election, energy efficiency, environment, environmental legislation, fossil fuels, green jobs, Ocean, politics, renewable energy, sea-level rise, solar power, Sustainability6 Comments

Why would your Creative Greenius walk away from his high-paying, highly rewarding executive role at CBS EcoMedia where I was working to fund environmental, education, and wellness projects all across the USA, just as the company hit more growth milestones and was likely to pay generous bonuses?

The answer is simple and direct – because I have done The Math.

And so it is that I resigned from my position as Director of Strategic Partnerships and Public Affairs for CBS EcoMedia effective the first of this month and I will now be devoting my full time to working on climate change response with the South Bay 350 Climate Action Group, the South Bay Bicycle Coalition and 350.org

I had no other choice once I did The Math and saw what things add up to – and how little time we have left before the global temperature goes past the Game Over limit of 2°C.

Continue reading ➞ I’ve Done The Math – Now I’m Doing Something About It

Meet A Leader In Today’s Death Wish Congress

March 2, 2011March 4, 2011carbon producers, climate change, election, environment, environmental legislation, Environmental Politics, fossil fuels, Killer Coal, politicsLeave a Comment

According to yesterday’s Environment and Energy Daily (subscription required):
“Senator John Barrasso continued his campaign yesterday to stop the Obama administration from incorporating climate change into federal plans and policies, taking aim at an interagency report released in October that proposed ways for the federal government to respond to increased frequency of severe weather events and other effects of global warming.”

Barrasso, a rightwing whack job from Wyoming, introduced a bill (S. 228) that would bar the federal government from implementing any law or regulation related to climate change, whether it has to do with cutting industrial greenhouse gas emissions or not.

That might make some Bizarro Planet sense if Barrasso was just an ignorant dolt who didn’t have any education and knew nothing about science – but he can’t cop to that. Dude was a physician before becoming the Senator from one of America’s dirtiest coal producing states.

What kind of doctor looks at the overwhelming weight of scientific evidence of rapidly accelerating global warming and then decides we should pass a law keeping the feds from doing anything about it? I’m betting the kind who had his fingers crossed when he took the pledge to “first do no harm.” The kind who still probably recommends cigarette smoking to his patients to help them calm their nerves and improve their health.

The kind who doesn’t have the balls to just come out and say, “Look, my state is the number one coal producing state in the USA and I am not going to do anything to stop the world’s #1 source of climate changing greenhouse gases from doing whatever the hell they want to in order to keep their profits and payoffs spewing. If we’ve got to sacrifice the future generations to make that happen then so be it.”

The Greenius Misplaces His Mojo… Momentarily

March 1, 2011March 2, 2011carbon producers, citizen volunteer, climate change, election, environment, environmental legislation, Environmental Politics, fossil fuels, politicsLeave a Comment

P1120762 — The entire 2nd half of 2010 found the Greenius in a Mystery Spot where the rules of nature no longer applied....

Wow, March First already. Time do fly, don’t it? It has definitely been been awhile, hasn’t it? How you been?

Your beloved Greenius has been M.I.A. from this URL for all of 2011 – until now. Maybe you noticed, maybe you didn’t. Either way, I’m back and I’m returning with a new attitude, recharged energy and a fresh direction. I can only imagine how thrilled you must be.

After playing a more subdued, measured and politically correct role locally for the past two years I am soooo over that. I’m taking the gloves back off and cracking my knuckles. Consider me now unshackled, uncensored and unafraid. The perfect positioning for our What the Fuck? era.

I’d say “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” but hell I’m such an inherently nice guy at heart that no one would believe that… well, except maybe the gasholes who I’ll be metaphorically skewering like a razor sharp steel spike through a marinated lamb shish-kabob over burning hot coals. Doesn’t that sound like fun?

I put up with a lot of crap last year and some of it shook me to my core. I’ll be the first to admit it, I lost my mojo as 2010 wore on and it wasn’t pretty. Ennui and despair are a bitter and ugly cocktail to swallow, but that’s what was being served at the Green Bar for the last six months of 0h-ten and I drank enough to suffer a long hangover.

But I’m not hungover any more. And I’ve not only got my mojo back, I’m ready to have me some laughs. Seriously.

Continue reading ➞ The Greenius Misplaces His Mojo… Momentarily

Climate Criminal Carly Fiorona BUSTED by Greenpeace, Slinks Away In Shame

September 25, 2010election, environment, Environmental Politics, fossil fuels, greenwashing, Killer Coal, VotersLeave a Comment

Disgraced former HP executive Carly Fiorona who is running as the bootlicking sycophant of dirty polluters and big oil for a US Senate seat in California was caught shoveling more cash into her pocketbook for her campaign last week by my heroes from Greenpeace.

California and the nation lose if unaccomplished mercenaries and carbon collaborators like Fiorona win.

President Obama, Bill McKibben & I Want You To Man Up on Global Warming. It’s Time To Book Your Hotel In Copenhagen NOV 25 UPDATE: 1 Day Later Obama Says He’s Going

November 24, 2009November 25, 2009campaign, carbon producers, citizen volunteer, climate change, election, environment, environmental legislation, Environmental Politics, fossil fuels, politics, Saving Energy, sea-level rise, solar power, Sustainability, Voters, Yes We Can!Leave a Comment

I voted for Barack Obama and I worked hard campaigning to get him elected. I would do it again and I’m proud of the small contribution I made to achieve change.

But I’m not happy with the President’s strategy or performance when it comes to our nation’s response to global warming. After the jump I’ll share what I said on Climate Progress about it yesterday, and you can read Bill McKibben’s comment there too.

But first, let’s listen to what McKibben told Grist TV yesterday about it:

Continue reading ➞ President Obama, Bill McKibben & I Want You To Man Up on Global Warming. It’s Time To Book Your Hotel In Copenhagen NOV 25 UPDATE: 1 Day Later Obama Says He’s Going

Ted Lieu Wants My Money, Wants My Vote, But Doesn’t Want To Talk About AB 920

June 28, 2009June 28, 2009campaign, climate change, election, environment, environmental legislation, Environmental Politics, fossil fuels, politics, solar power6 Comments

I’m beginning to think that Ted Lieu only co-authored AB 920, the Feed-In Tariff bill as window dressing in order to try to pad his environmental resume.

Ted doesn’t talk about the bill in public, won’t put anything about it on his own web site, and looks down at his shoes and changes the subject if you ask him about the bill personally.

Why shouldn’t we conclude that Ted is practicing political greenwashing when he won’t show any backbone or courage and lobby on behalf of his own bill even when you ask him to?

Until Ted proves otherwise, that’s the conclusion I have reached. And in case you’re wondering, I’m a registered Democrat and a member of the Beach Cities Democratic Club, but fellow Democrat Lieu gets zero slack cut on this issue from me.

Ted Lieu used to be one of my city councilmen here in Torrance, but he didn’t stay local long because Ted had much bigger political ambitions than that.

Continue reading ➞ Ted Lieu Wants My Money, Wants My Vote, But Doesn’t Want To Talk About AB 920

Exxon/Mobil To Fund Solar Financing Bond For Torrance Homeowners

March 8, 2009May 25, 2009carbon producers, climate change, election, environment, environmental legislation, Environmental Politics, fossil fuels, politics, recycling, solar power, Sustainability, water conservation, Yes We Can!2 Comments

In a deal brokered by the city’s newly commissioned Citizens Environmental Task Force, Exxon/Mobil, owners of the Exxon/Mobil Refinery in the City of Torrance agreed today to fund a bond that will make low cost financing of solar energy systems for home and apartment owners. The loans for solar power, authorized under California’s AB 811, are added as assessments to a homeowner’s property tax bills and are passed on to the new owner if a home is sold.

Without Exxon Mobil’s funding of the financing bonds the program would not have had the money to offer loans in Torrance. The city had no money in the budget to make the program possible and no plans to find any in the midst of the on-going economic crisis. But Exxon/Mobil had no such money problems. “We’ve had one record profit quarter after another,” said a spokesperson for the oil company.

“We are so cash rich at the moment that we’re spending money all over the place while everyone else is forced to cut back. We know carbon taxes are coming and we won’t always be floating in a sea of profits we made at your expense. So it seemed only logical that we give a little back to a community we’ve released an awful lot of carbon in. Hell, that entire property our refinery’s on will probably be a superfund site after they force us to stop producing our fossil fuels.“

Continue reading ➞ Exxon/Mobil To Fund Solar Financing Bond For Torrance Homeowners

Lillian Light Is No Lightweight – The Environmental Lioness of the South Bay is Fired Up, Ready To Go!

March 5, 2009March 6, 2009citizen volunteer, climate change, election, environment, environmental legislation, fossil fuels, green education, renewable energy, Saving Energy, solar power, Sustainability, Voters, water conservation, Yes We Can!2 Comments

hummin-v27_3-lillian-light The more time I spend with Lillian Light the more I admire, respect and flat out like her.

Our relationship started about a month ago when we spent an evening together carpooling to a UCLA workshop on communication climate change that we both participated in.

I wrote about our experience at the time in Greenius On The Green Scene The South Bay Report.

I dug Lillian right away. She speaks her mind, she knows what she’s talking about and she does more than just talk, she walks the environmental walk. Lillian is the real deal and a rare commodity in this world – authentic and genuine without the slightest hint of pretense or self-importance.

Lillian is also the President of the Environmental Priorities Network (EPN) and I wanted to learn more about them and more about Lillian herself. When I asked her if she’d agree to be interviewed for Creative Greenius she graciously agreed.

Continue reading ➞ Lillian Light Is No Lightweight – The Environmental Lioness of the South Bay is Fired Up, Ready To Go!

Dr. James Hansen Has Something To Tell You

February 26, 2009February 27, 2009carbon producers, citizen volunteer, climate change, election, environment, Environmental Politics, fossil fuels, Killer Coal, politics1 Comment

This just in from Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, via her blog (thanks to Joe Romm of Climate Progress)

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Today, Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid sent the following letter to the Acting Architect of the Capitol, Stephen T. Ayers, asking that the Capitol Power Plant (CPP) use 100 percent natural gas for its operations. They write, “the switch to natural gas will allow the CPP to dramatically reduce carbon and criteria pollutant emissions, eliminating more than 95 percent of sulfur oxides and at least 50 percent of carbon monoxide…We strongly encourage you to move forward aggressively with us on a comprehensive set of policies for the entire Capitol complex and the entire Legislative Branch to quickly reduce emissions and petroleum consumption through energy efficiency, renewable energy, and clean alternative fuels.”

Your Greenius says, the threat of Monday’s civil disobedience got this letter written and I hope the action itself moves us from letters to legislation. I strongly encourage Speaker Pelosi to join the Capitol Climate Action civil disobedience protest and get arrested on March the 2nd to show where she stands. She’s already in DC, it’s only a few blocks away, Speaker. Go ahead and march on over, even if it’s cold.