If he can do it, there’s hope for millionaires everywhere. For every future election. Doesn’t that just make you feel good inside?
Friday, August 31, 2012
Mitt Romney's Heroic Story
If he can do it, there’s hope for millionaires everywhere. For every future election. Doesn’t that just make you feel good inside?
Friday, August 24, 2012
This will make your day!
Isaac's Live Lip-Dub Proposal from Isaac Lamb on Vimeo.
On Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012, I told my girlfriend to meet me at my parent's house for dinner. When she arrived I had stationed my brother to sit her in the back of an open Honda CRV and give her some headphones. He "wanted to play her a song"...
What she got instead was the world's first Live Lip-Dub Proposal.Enjoy! To Watch on YouTube: youtube.com/watch?v=5_v7QrIW0zY
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Inferno fears halt ethanol train - Speak Out!
And they want to bring this through Boston neighborhoods???
Photo by AP (file)
DISASTER: This aerial photograph shows a freight train carrying ethanol that derailed and caught fire on July 11 near Columbus
Boston --
Monday, August 27th, 11:30 a.m....important meeting to attend regarding ethanol coming to East Boston, Revere, Chelsea, Everett and beyond...need to let citi councillors know about our concerns, our fears, and the risks to our neighborhoods.
Contact Gail Miller for additional information:
EastieGails@aol.com
617-567-5072
Don't have time to attend the day time meeting?
Send your comments to:
City Councillor Salvatore Lamattina
City Councillor Charles Yancey
Inferno fears halt ethanol train
Gov backs safety report on fuel delivery
By Jessica Van SackSaturday, August 11, 2012
Patrick signed a transportation bond bill for state infrastructure projects that includes a provision to study the environmental and safety impact on homes, schools, day care centers and other facilities along the route of the federally regulated train.
Under a plan by Waltham-based Global Partners LP, about 1.7 million gallons of ethanol would be carried on a freight train that is 60 cars long twice a week through two dozen communities, including Cambridge, Somerville, East Boston, Everett and Chelsea, ending at a waterside shipping center in Revere.
“Anyone living, working, playing, visiting or driving near a rail line has had their safety greatly enhanced by the action of our Legislature and endorsement by the governor,” Chelsea City Manager Jay Ash said.
Ash said he wants Global Partners, which did not return a call seeking comment, to consider shipping to its Revere facility by barge, where it would benefit from Coast Guard security similar to that of liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments.
Ethanol trains have been classified by the Department of Homeland Security as a potential terrorist target, especially at train intersections and during unloading.
State Sen. Anthony Petruccelli (D-East Boston) filed the bond bill amendment to study the train’s impact. He said the federal government has not been forthcoming on security protocols for the train, and that while the legislation cannot stop the train altogether, it can delay the start.
“There are a lot of concerns and there’s not a transparent process,” Petruccelli said. “The concern is the unknown.”
A 2011 study commissioned by the state Department of Environmental Protection found ethanol is now the most hazardous substance being transported by rail in the United States.
On July 11, a 98-car train carrying ethanol partly derailed and exploded north of downtown Columbus, Ohio. The train was reportedly traveling below the speed limit in the middle of the night, and just two people were hurt. Investigators are trying to determine the cause.
http://bostonherald.com/business/general/view/20220811inferno_fears_halt_ethanol_train_gov_backs_safety_report_on_fuel_delivery
Monday, August 20, 2012
Activists call on gov to close Somerset's Brayton Point plant, transition state away from coal
It's time!
Activists call on gov to close Somerset's Brayton Point plant, transition state away from coal
The Patrick Administration is committed to an aggressive clean energy agenda by enacting nation-leading policies to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy and Massachusetts and New England, said spokesman Reginald Zimmerman in an email.
“In addition to signing the Green Communities Act, which fosters increased energy efficiency, Gov. Patrick has also signed into law the Global Warming Solutions Act, creating the most ambitious greenhouse gas emission reduction initiative in the country. These policies are driving our clean energy revolution and will deliver environmental and economic benefits for generations to come, ” Zimmerman said.
When Brayton Point Power Station was purchased by Dominion, $1.2 billion in environmental improvements were put in place, said Brayton Point Power spokeswoman Lisa Lundy, and the plant meets all federal environmental regulations.
“We are very much in compliance and our goal is to be a reliable producer of electricity while protecting the environment,” Lundy said.
As coal-burning power plants shut down throughout the state — the Salem Harbor Coal Plant is slated for closure in 2014 — communities face the loss of jobs, municipal revenues and property redevelopment.
The closing of the Somerset Station in 2010 is a perfect example of how a former pollution-generating, coal-fired power plant may be redeveloped into an oceanic research facility — a current proposal by developers of the property — said Broude, who called the proposal “an ambitious but realistic plan.”
Dionne said it’s crucial to change the paradigm of reliance on the coal-burning power plants that operate in communities to green industry that will produce jobs, economic development and tax revenue.
“This is the perfect place for the state to get involved, it is really an example of what we’re talking about. The state has the opportunity to help Somerset with that transition,” Dionne said.
Neighbors and local activists who fought against Somerset Station for years are credited with shutting down the coal-burning operation, once included on the “Filthy Five” list of the worst-polluting plants in the state.
Read more: http://www.heraldnews.com/news/x2038877262/Activists-call-on-gov-to-close-Somersets-Brayton-Point-plant-transition-state-away-from-coal#ixzz2464dUTqU
Activists call on gov to close Somerset's Brayton Point plant, transition state away from coal
Local activists rallied at Kennedy Park, overlooking the Brayton Point Power Station, on Wednesday, calling on Gov. Deval Patrick to push for the closure of the plant’s coal-burning operation.
With the Brayton Point Power Station as a backdrop, a group of local activists rallied on the overlook at Kennedy Park on Wednesday to call on Gov. Deval Patrick to move the state away from coal and to help communities in economic transition as coal-powered plants shut down.
Organizers of the Coalition for Clean Air South Coast also announced that 100 local business owners in Fall River, New Bedford, Swansea and Westport pledged support of the group’s initiatives, which include shutting down Brayton Point Power Station’s coal-burning operation by 2020.
“We want to see Brayton Point Power Station commit to make a transition away from coal, but we don’t think they will do it on their own and that’s why we are looking for Gov. Patrick’s support,” said Sylvia Broude, of Toxics Action Center.
Patrick signed the Global Warming Solutions Act into law in 2008, making Massachusetts one of the first states in the nation to move forward with a comprehensive regulatory program to address climate change and greenhouse gases.
Brayton Point Station, the largest power station in New England, was purchased in 2005 by Dominion, a national company that produces gas, nuclear, LNG and coal power along the eastern seaboard.
In 2010, the power station was deemed by the EPA as the largest polluter in New England and responsible for nearly half of all mercury emissions in the state.
Westport resident David Dionne, of the Coalition for Clean Air, told about 25 supporters the state has one of the highest rates of childhood asthma in the country.
“The emissions of burning of coal has a direct link to the incidents of asthma. We are here today to reduce those numbers and we’re going to do it by eliminating that coal pile,” Dionne said, pointing across the Taunton River to the Brayton Point Station site.
The country is still in the dark ages when it comes to producing electricity, said Al Lima of the Coalition for Clean Air and Green Futures, who questioned why the country won’t move away from coal power.
“The answer is we lack the political will to go beyond coal. We know how to do it but we are stuck in the status quo. We are here today to go beyond coal. We are here today to demand that Gov. Patrick take action to adopt clean resources of power, to implement energy conservation measures and to free us from the scourge of dirty coal,” Lima said.
Organizers of the Coalition for Clean Air South Coast also announced that 100 local business owners in Fall River, New Bedford, Swansea and Westport pledged support of the group’s initiatives, which include shutting down Brayton Point Power Station’s coal-burning operation by 2020.
“We want to see Brayton Point Power Station commit to make a transition away from coal, but we don’t think they will do it on their own and that’s why we are looking for Gov. Patrick’s support,” said Sylvia Broude, of Toxics Action Center.
Patrick signed the Global Warming Solutions Act into law in 2008, making Massachusetts one of the first states in the nation to move forward with a comprehensive regulatory program to address climate change and greenhouse gases.
Brayton Point Station, the largest power station in New England, was purchased in 2005 by Dominion, a national company that produces gas, nuclear, LNG and coal power along the eastern seaboard.
In 2010, the power station was deemed by the EPA as the largest polluter in New England and responsible for nearly half of all mercury emissions in the state.
Westport resident David Dionne, of the Coalition for Clean Air, told about 25 supporters the state has one of the highest rates of childhood asthma in the country.
“The emissions of burning of coal has a direct link to the incidents of asthma. We are here today to reduce those numbers and we’re going to do it by eliminating that coal pile,” Dionne said, pointing across the Taunton River to the Brayton Point Station site.
The country is still in the dark ages when it comes to producing electricity, said Al Lima of the Coalition for Clean Air and Green Futures, who questioned why the country won’t move away from coal power.
“The answer is we lack the political will to go beyond coal. We know how to do it but we are stuck in the status quo. We are here today to go beyond coal. We are here today to demand that Gov. Patrick take action to adopt clean resources of power, to implement energy conservation measures and to free us from the scourge of dirty coal,” Lima said.
The Patrick Administration is committed to an aggressive clean energy agenda by enacting nation-leading policies to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy and Massachusetts and New England, said spokesman Reginald Zimmerman in an email.
“In addition to signing the Green Communities Act, which fosters increased energy efficiency, Gov. Patrick has also signed into law the Global Warming Solutions Act, creating the most ambitious greenhouse gas emission reduction initiative in the country. These policies are driving our clean energy revolution and will deliver environmental and economic benefits for generations to come, ” Zimmerman said.
When Brayton Point Power Station was purchased by Dominion, $1.2 billion in environmental improvements were put in place, said Brayton Point Power spokeswoman Lisa Lundy, and the plant meets all federal environmental regulations.
“We are very much in compliance and our goal is to be a reliable producer of electricity while protecting the environment,” Lundy said.
As coal-burning power plants shut down throughout the state — the Salem Harbor Coal Plant is slated for closure in 2014 — communities face the loss of jobs, municipal revenues and property redevelopment.
The closing of the Somerset Station in 2010 is a perfect example of how a former pollution-generating, coal-fired power plant may be redeveloped into an oceanic research facility — a current proposal by developers of the property — said Broude, who called the proposal “an ambitious but realistic plan.”
Dionne said it’s crucial to change the paradigm of reliance on the coal-burning power plants that operate in communities to green industry that will produce jobs, economic development and tax revenue.
“This is the perfect place for the state to get involved, it is really an example of what we’re talking about. The state has the opportunity to help Somerset with that transition,” Dionne said.
Neighbors and local activists who fought against Somerset Station for years are credited with shutting down the coal-burning operation, once included on the “Filthy Five” list of the worst-polluting plants in the state.
Read more: http://www.heraldnews.com/news/x2038877262/Activists-call-on-gov-to-close-Somersets-Brayton-Point-plant-transition-state-away-from-coal#ixzz2464dUTqU
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Do you hear the people sing?
Do you hear the people sing? Online political parody video set to Les Miz music
By Sam Go - Sat Aug 18, 2012
Published on Aug 13, 2012 by Christina Saffran Ashford Broadway and musical theatre performers Sean Smith, David Burnham, Kim Huber, Christina Saffran Ashford, Damon Kirsche, David Engel, Jennifer Shelton, Emma Ashford, Matthew Ashford, Ali B. Olmo, Johnny Pastor, Bubba Dean Rambo, William Martinez, Flora Rubenhold, Takako Gregg, Teri Yates, Mason Keane, and Paula Keane sing from their heart with the lyrics of Don DeMesquita, in a parody of One Day More from "Les Miserables". For more info and facts, go to www.OneTermMore.com
The folks at PoliticusUSA point out this music video “One Term More,” a 2012 election take on a Les Misérables song. Lyrics were creatively rewritten by producer Don DeMesquita to criticize Republicans and encourage Democrats to get out the vote, and were set to the musical's climactic number “One Day More.”
It’s pretty entertaining to hear “speculums,” “contraception,” and “unemployment” against music by Claude-Michel Schonberg.
The timing works: the previews for the movie version of the musical, starring Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway, have just started to hit theaters.
On the site, the artists said they are “remarking on the political divisiveness and social unrest of an historically polarizing election" and are "commenting... on Victor Hugo's fictional historic struggle at the barricades of freedom.”
A fun watch— especially if you're tired of the same old political videos.
http://leanforward.msnbc.com/_news/2012/08/18/13340366-do-you-hear-the-people-sing-online-political-parody-video-set-to-les-miz-music#.UDAmgj06NAE.facebook
Friday, August 17, 2012
Senator Brown's Obstructionist Record
The website congress.org [http://www.congress.org/news/] offers a subscription service that notifies you of the votes of your 2 Senators and Congressman called MegaVotes:
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/megavote/
If you had followed the votes of Senator Scott Brown, you would have known that his phony rhetoric never matched his votes.
It's important to make an informed vote!
New Study: ProgressMass Analysis of Scott Brown's Voting Record Reveals Highly Partisan Record, Overwhelming Support for Republican Obstruction in U.S. Senate
For Immediate Release: May 7, 2012
Contact: Mathew Helman, Communications Director
E-mail: mathew@progressmass.org, Cell: 617-821-8004
BOSTON - A new study of Republican Scott Brown's voting record in the U.S. Senate by ProgressMass reveals that, when Brown had the opportunity to oppose Republican obstruction in the U.S. Senate and demonstrate bipartisan leadership, he voted overwhelmingly with his Republican colleagues. This finding runs directly counter to Republican Scott Brown's recent claims of bipartisanship. Brown voted with his Republican colleagues at a rate of over 75% (over 93% prior to Elizabeth Warren's entry into the Senate race) to block legislation that had the support of 50 or more Senators, measures that would have passed the U.S. Senate on a so-called "up-or-down vote," according to the ProgressMass review of Brown's Senate record.
"Republican Scott Brown's misleading claims of bipartisanship ring hollow when we take a close look at his actual voting record," noted Mathew Helman, Communications Director for ProgressMass. "On the votes where he could have displayed true bipartisan leadership, Republican Scott Brown overwhelmingly supported his right-wing Republican colleagues, choosing partisan obstruction over getting something accomplished for the American people. That is Republican Scott Brown's real record; and, he can't Etch-A-Sketch it away, no matter how many times he simply repeats the word 'bipartisanship' on the campaign trail."
ProgressMass tallied every roll call vote Republican Scott Brown has taken during his time in the U.S. Senate (ranging from when he began casting votes on February 9, 2010, through the end of April 2012) in which:
- 50 or more Senators supported a measure, meaning it would pass on an up-or-down vote;
- the Republican minority used Senate procedural rules to require 60 votes for passage instead of a simple 50 vote majority for passage; and,
- a majority of Republican Senators opposed a measure.
The result is a collection of 53 roll call votes during Republican Scott Brown's roughly 27 months in the U.S. Senate. Analysis of these 53 roll call votes resulted in findings roundly discrediting Brown's recent claims of bipartisanship. Quantitative observations included:
- Republican Scott Brown supported Republican obstruction of measures that had the backing of at least 50 Senators - measures that failed but would have passed on an up-or-down vote - 40 times out of 53 roll call votes, or 75.5% of the time. In other words, during his tenure in the U.S. Senate, when Republican Scott Brown was faced with a choice between bipartisan leadership and partisan obstruction, Brown chose partisan obstruction over bipartisan leadership 3 to 1.
- Eleven of the thirteen votes Republican Scott Brown took in opposition to Republican obstruction of a measure with majority support occurred after Elizabeth Warren officially filed papers to form her Senate campaign's exploratory committee on August 18, 2011. Obviously, this event gave Brown clear political motivation to artificially distance himself from his Republican colleagues.
- Perhaps the most revealing finding of the study - the metric that best indicates how Republican Scott Brown will vote in the U.S. Senate in 2013 and beyond should he win re-election - is that, prior to the formation of Elizabeth Warren's Senate campaign exploratory committee on August 18, 2011, Brown voted in support of Republican obstruction of measures with majority support a resounding 30 out of 32 times (93.8%).
Not only does Republican Scott Brown's voting record reflect a pattern of partisan obstruction, but it is especially shocking to consider the actual pieces of legislation that Republican Scott Brown voted to obstruct.
Among the 40 measures with majority support in the U.S. Senate that Republican Scott Brown voted with his Republican colleagues to obstruct were:
- 4/26/10: S. 3217, Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010 (Senate Vote 124)
The bill was the original financial regulatory reform bill, increasing accountability and transparency, and ending "too big to fail."
- 7/27/10: S. 3628, Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections (DISCLOSE) Act (Senate Vote 220)
This bill would have increased transparency of corporate and special-interest money in national political campaigns, in response to the notorious Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court, as well as prohibited foreign influence in federal elections.
- 9/28/10: S. 3816, Creating American Jobs and Ending Offshoring Act (Senate Vote 242)
This bill would have given companies a two-year payroll tax holiday on new employees who replace workers doing similar jobs overseas, as well as revoked provisions of the tax code that encourage companies to outsource their workforce.
- 11/17/10: S. 3772, Paycheck Fairness Act (Senate Vote 249)
This bill would have provided more effective remedies to victims of gender-based discrimination in the payment of wages.
- 12/8/10: S. 3985, Emergency Senior Citizens Relief Act of 2010 (Senate Vote 267)
This bill would have provided a one-time payment of $250 to all Social Security recipients to help compensate for the lack of a cost-of-living adjustment.
- 12/9/10: H.R. 847, James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 (Senate Vote 269)
This was the original version of the 9/11 first responders bill to improve health services and provide financial compensation for 9/11 first responders who were exposed to dangerous toxins and were now sick as a result. The bill would establish a federal program to provide medical monitoring and treatment for first responders, provide initial health screenings for people who were in the area at the time of the attack and may be at risk, and reopen the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund to provide compensation for losses and harm as an alternative to the current litigation system.
- 5/4/11: S. 493, Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer Reauthorization Act of 2011 (Senate Vote 64)
This bill would reauthorize the "Small Business Innovation Research" (SBIR) and "Small Business Technology Transfer" (STTR) programs, which Scott Brown earlier said provided "vital resources to small businesses nationwide, and this reauthorization is incredibly important for Massachusetts and our country," and signed on as a co-sponsor of the measure before Republicans lined up behind a competing measure.
- 5/17/11: S. 940, Close Big Oil Tax Loopholes Act (Senate Vote 72)
This bill would have eliminated five tax subsidies for U.S. oil companies and closed a loophole that oil companies exploit to disguise foreign royalty payments as taxes and reduce their domestic tax bill. Resulting savings would have been applied to reducing federal budget deficits.
- 10/11/11: S. 1660, American Jobs Act of 2011 (Senate Vote 160)
The bill would have created an estimated 1.9 million jobs nationwide, including 16,000 in Massachusetts. It would have extended several stimulus measures scheduled to expire at the end of 2011, including the employee payroll tax holiday, and extended unemployment insurance, helping over 170,000 Massachusetts residents. It also included several measures designed to prevent layoffs and encourage businesses to hire new workers, including: $35 billion in aid to local governments to help slow job losses in the public sector, about $100 billion in various infrastructure improvement programs, tax credits for businesses that hire long-term unemployed workers, and reductions in the level of payroll taxes that businesses have to pay.
- 10/20/11: S. 1723, Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act of 2011 (Senate Vote 177)
This bill would have invested $35 billion in state and local governments, including $591 million in Massachusetts, to prevent layoffs of public workers and first responders, including an estimated 6,300 education jobs in Massachusetts. The spending would have been offset by a 0.5% surtax on all income earned above $1 million.
- 11/3/11: S. 1769, Rebuild America Jobs Act (Senate Vote 195)
This bill would have invested $50 billion in infrastructure repair, plus another $10 billion in an infrastructure bank, which would provide loans for private, revenue-generating infrastructure projects. The spending would have been offset with a 0.5% surtax on all income earned above $1 million. The measure would have created an estimated 11,000 jobs in Massachusetts and invested $850 million in the Commonwealth's infrastructure.
- 12/1/11: S. 1917, Middle Class Tax Cut Act of 2011 (Senate Vote 219)
This bill would have reduced employment tax rates in calendar year 2012 (payroll tax holiday period) for both employers and employees to 3.1%.
- 12/8/11: S. 1944, Middle Class Tax Cut Act of 2011 (Senate Vote 224)
This bill would have extended through 2012 the reduction in employment taxes for employees and the self-employed.
- 3/29/12: S. 2204, Repeal Big Oil Tax Subsidies Act (Senate Vote 63)
This bill would have limited or repealed certain tax benefits for major oil companies while extending a number of energy efficiency and renewable energy tax credits.
- 4/16/12: S. 2230, Paying a Fair Share Act of 2012 (Senate Vote 65)
Known as the Buffett Rule, this bill would have enhanced tax fairness by ensuring a 30% effective tax rate on income exceeding $1 million.
ProgressMass on the Web
ProgressMass Website: http://www.ProgressMass.org/
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ProgressMass on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ProgressMass
http://www.progressmass.org/press/new-study-progressmass-analysis-of-scott-browns-voting-record-reveals-highly-partisan-record-overwhe.html
Group rallies against Fall River coal plant
Thank you to the local heroes who spoke out against Dirty Coal!
FALL RIVER — Environmental activists and SouthCoast small business owners called on Gov. Deval Patrick today to close the Brayton Point coal plant by 2020.
The group of more than 20 people gathered in Fall River’s Kennedy Park, within full view of the plant’s three smoke stacks, and carried homemade signs advocating for the closure of the Somerset plant.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in 2010 a total of 147 pounds of mercury and mercury compounds were released in Massachusetts, 64 by Brayton Point. Also according to the EPA, in 2008 the power plant emitted more than 37,000 tons of toxic chemicals into the air.
“This pollution doesn’t only affect Somerset; the majority spreads and settles in cities and towns across a 30-mile radius from the power plant,” Sylvia Broude, executive director of the Toxics Action Center, said. “We are calling on Gov. Patrick to use his power to transition Massachusetts away from coal.”
The Patrick administration directed requests for comment to the Massachusetts Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. Office spokesman Reggie Zimmerman said in a statement that the administration “has been committed to an aggressive clean-energy agenda."
Representatives from Brayton Point did not respond to requests for comment. The power station’s website notes that Dominion, which owns the plant, has spent approximately $1.1 billion on environmental improvements to the plant since it was acquired in 2005.
Such improvements include an ash recovery system to offset emissions and reduce landfill needs. In 2009, Dominion built two cooling towers next to the plant to cool waters released by the plant into Mount Hope Bay that had been causing fish kills.
This is the TVA Coal Ash Spill that destroyed Harriman, Tennessee!
James McIntyre, a Somerset resident who is a member of the Coalition for Clean Air, said the environmental improvements were not good enough.
“What they ought to do is get rid of the coal entirely,” he said. “Now we have all those other things like wind and solar to fire up people’s boilers. We don’t need to be using coal and giving people asthma and health problems all up and down SouthCoast.”
Group rallies against Fall River coal plant
The group of more than 20 people gathered in Fall River’s Kennedy Park, within full view of the plant’s three smoke stacks, and carried homemade signs advocating for the closure of the Somerset plant.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in 2010 a total of 147 pounds of mercury and mercury compounds were released in Massachusetts, 64 by Brayton Point. Also according to the EPA, in 2008 the power plant emitted more than 37,000 tons of toxic chemicals into the air.
“This pollution doesn’t only affect Somerset; the majority spreads and settles in cities and towns across a 30-mile radius from the power plant,” Sylvia Broude, executive director of the Toxics Action Center, said. “We are calling on Gov. Patrick to use his power to transition Massachusetts away from coal.”
The Patrick administration directed requests for comment to the Massachusetts Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. Office spokesman Reggie Zimmerman said in a statement that the administration “has been committed to an aggressive clean-energy agenda."
Representatives from Brayton Point did not respond to requests for comment. The power station’s website notes that Dominion, which owns the plant, has spent approximately $1.1 billion on environmental improvements to the plant since it was acquired in 2005.
Such improvements include an ash recovery system to offset emissions and reduce landfill needs. In 2009, Dominion built two cooling towers next to the plant to cool waters released by the plant into Mount Hope Bay that had been causing fish kills.
This is the TVA Coal Ash Spill that destroyed Harriman, Tennessee!
James McIntyre, a Somerset resident who is a member of the Coalition for Clean Air, said the environmental improvements were not good enough.
“What they ought to do is get rid of the coal entirely,” he said. “Now we have all those other things like wind and solar to fire up people’s boilers. We don’t need to be using coal and giving people asthma and health problems all up and down SouthCoast.”
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120815/NEWS/120819913/1018/OPINION
Support a coal-free Massachusetts by signing the petition:
Support a coal-free Massachusetts by signing the petition:
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Veterans' Care is NOT an "Entitlement"
When a nation sends its citizens to war, it has an obligation to provide health care - not as a gesture, but as a commitment.
Bush/Cheney began slashing care, providing it on the cheap. Romney/Ryan will continue it.
It was never about caring for Veterans, it was about feeding the Military/Industrial Complex and making profits.
The US spends more on Defense than too many other nations combined. What are we afraid of? It seems more a question of who we're rewarding.
Romney running mate Ryan is no friend to disabled vets
Ryan repeatedly voted against veterans' benefits and programs
Dear Editor;
As a 100% disabled Vietnam Marine Corps combat veteran I will not vote for the Romney/Ryan ticket. Ryan wants to do away with VA medical care for disabled veterans and replace it with vouchers. This is a ploy to fatten the already blotted insurance companied profits.
Ryan's record:
- Voted against protecting veterans' benefits from the Cut, Cap, and Balance Cuts, July 2011 [St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 7/25/11]
- Supported budget that cut veterans programs, 2005 [“Summary and Analysis of FY 2006 Budget Resolution Conference Report,” 4/28/05]
- Opposed fiscally responsible FY 2009 budget with $48.1 billion for veterans' services. In 2008, Ryan voted against a budget resolution that would establish the Congressional budget for FY 2009. [Congressional Quarterly; “Summary of the 2009 Democratic Budget”; House Committee on the Budget, 3/11/08]
- Opposed budget that included record increase for veterans. In 2007, Ryan voted against the fiscal year 2008 budget conference report that began to reverse six years of Republican fiscal mismanagement, provided for middle-class tax relief and would return the budget to balance [Six for ‘06, 5/24/07; Military Officers Association of America; American Legion; Veterans of Foreign Wars, Washington Weekly, 5/25/07]
- Ryan opposed historic funding increase for veterans programs. In 2007, Ryan voted against a budget that provided a $6.6 billion increase in funding for veterans programs. The Veterans of Foreign Wars applauded the budget and the House and Senate leadership who were instrumental in the adoption of this historic increase. These additional resources would cover increases in the costs of health care.
Sandwich, MA
http://www.capecodtoday.com/news/letters/2012/08/15/romney-running-mate-ryan-is-no-friend-to
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Friday, August 17th, DEADLINE to register to vote!
DEADLINE......REGISTRATION DEADLINE.....PASS THE WORD!!!!!
The deadline to register to vote for the THURSDAY September 6th primary is Friday August 17th.
Please ensure that you, your family, friends, colleagues and neighbors are registered to vote.
The deadline to register to vote for the THURSDAY September 6th primary is Friday August 17th.
Please ensure that you, your family, friends, colleagues and neighbors are registered to vote.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Cape Cod wind farm tiptoes ahead
Nuclear Energy is 100% taxpayer guaranteed even though it's more expensive than wind or solar.
Dirty Coal blows up Mountains in the process of Mountain Top Removal, destroying communities, their drinking water and is excused from environmental laws.
Coal Ash is stored around the nation in unlined pits, contaminating rivers and streams.
Fracking and Tar Sands cause their own environmental destruction as the US becomes little more than a Third World nation, governed by Dirty Energy and Democracy Sold.
The rest of the world moves on, leading in Alternative Energy.
So should we!
- Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club.
Hy-Line's Mr. Scudder watched from his dock as research crews unloaded ocean samples from the Megan Miller research vessel that had returned from the sound as part of Cape Wind's survey work. A decade of review on the project has eased any questions he had, he said. Photo courtesy of Cape Wind.
But now, Mr. Scudder, a 13th generation Cape Codder and part of the family that owns Hy-Line Cruises, supports Cape Wind, the proposal to place 130 wind turbines, with the highest blade tip reaching 440 feet above water, some five miles offshore. He says it would bring not only clean energy but economic opportunity: Hy-Line is now shopping for vessels to eventually give "eco-tours," educational boat rides out to see the turbines up close.
Cape Wind spokesman Mr. Rodgers believes some opponents, like Bill Koch, who has a waterfront home on Cape Cod and who is in the coal business, are worried about competition from wind energy. Mr. Koch is a founder and largest funder of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound. The Alliance is the project's main opponent.
Sierra Club "follows the money"
A recent Sierra Club expose followed the trail of money from big polluters to politicians and non-profit front groups. For example, the oil and gas industry spent more than $146 million on lobbying alone in 2011, while Big Oil tycoons David and Charles Koch gave at least $85 million to 85 right-wing “think tanks” and advocacy groups over the past decade and a half. Meanwhile, organizations like the Manhattan Institute and the Heartland Institute that defend oil subsidies while attacking renewable energy have received upwards of $600,000 each since 1998 from the oil company Exxon.
The report concludes that over the past decade the fossil fuel industry has mounted a coordinated campaign to discredit renewable energy and hinder its growth.
Clean Energy Under Siege, reveals how the fossil fuel industry is using tactics such as financial contributions to political campaigns, faux “think tanks,” phony intellectuals, and astroturf groups to shift public opinion and discredit renewable energy.
Click here to read this article in the Wall Street Journal. [Article below]
http://www.capecodtoday.com/news/EXTRA/2012/08/11/cape-cod-wind-farm-tiptoes-ahead
U.S. NEWS
August 10, 2012, 6:53 p.m. ET
But now, Mr. Scudder, a 13th generation Cape Codder and part of the family that owns Hy-Line Cruises, supports Cape Wind, the proposal to place 130 wind turbines, with the highest blade tip reaching 440 feet above water, some five miles offshore. He says it would bring not only clean energy but economic opportunity: Hy-Line is now shopping for vessels to eventually give "eco-tours," educational boat rides out to see the turbines up close.
Mr. Scudder illustrates the conflicting views on the long-debated project in an area known as the jewel of Massachusetts and a vacation land for the affluent. After a decade, Cape Wind developer Energy Management Inc. is beginning geological survey work in the sound, a precursor to its goal of starting construction next year.
But whether the wind farm is built remains to be seen. Cape Wind has yet to receive all the approvals it needs to start construction. Opposition is firm and has included wealthy Cape Cod homeowners from the late Sen. Edward Kennedy to Republican donor and energy businessman William Koch.
![[image]](http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/NA-BR988_WIND_NS_20120810154813.jpg)
The Obama administration is pushing for more renewable-energy projects, both on and offshore. This week, the Interior Department said it was assessing a proposal by the North American arm of Statoil STO +0.20%ASA, a Norwegian energy company, for a wind farm off the coast of Maine.
The Interior Department approved Cape Wind in 2010. The project calls for the off-white wind turbines in a 25-square-mile area in a shallow part of the sound, a triangular body of water surrounded by Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. The closest vantage point would be nearly five miles away in Mashpee, next to Barnstable.
The turbines are "majestic and beautiful," and on a clear day would appear "like a half-inch sailing mast on the horizon," said Jim Gordon, the president of Energy Management, Cape Wind's developer.
Opponents are skeptical.
"I'm just not buying it," says Barnstable Town Manager Thomas Lynch, who worries about public-safety costs to the town if there were a problem at the wind farm.
The project is estimated to cost $2 billion. Energy Management said it has spent $50 million developing it and is working with Barclays PLC to secure private funding. The wind farm is expected to produce as much as 468 megawatts of renewable energy, which is about 3.5% of the 13,300-megawatts total generating capacity in Massachusetts.
Cape Wind has signed long-term contracts to sell 78% of its power to the state's largest utilities.
The wind power's cost is as much as twice that of conventional power, but because it would be a small portion of the overall energy pool, consumers would see at most a 2.2% increase to their monthly bills, according to estimates in a 2010 report by Massachusetts regulators.
Cape Wind has yet to clear one major regulatory hurdle: the Federal Aviation Administration is reviewing the project after opponents appealed its initial approval in 2010. The FAA must determine whether the wind farm would pose a risk to aircraft radar.
The project also faces headwinds from a decline in the price of natural gas, which undermining the case for renewable energy—though it isn't clear how long the dip will last.
In addition, the federal government's tax-credit program for wind projects is set to expire at year-end, and Congress has shown little gusto for alternative-energy subsidies in the wake of the fallout over government loans to failed solar-panel company Solyndra LLC.
"It's more difficult, but our plan is to do everything we can to move forward in any way," said Mark Rodgers, a spokesman for Energy Management.
Mr. Rodgers believes some opponents, like Mr. Koch, who has a waterfront home on Cape Cod and who is in the coal business, are worried about competition from wind energy. Mr. Koch is a funder of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, said his spokesman Brad Goldstein. The Alliance is the project's main opponent.
Mr. Goldstein said Mr. Koch's business interests have nothing to do with his opposition to the project. Mr. Koch believes the proposal isn't feasible without government support and that it "spoils a beautiful sanctuary," Mr. Goldstein said.
Thursday, at the harbor in Hyannis Port, a village that is part of Barnstable, Hy-Line's Mr. Scudder watched eagerly from his dock as research crews unloaded ocean samples from a vessel that had returned from the sound as part of Cape Wind's survey work. A decade of review on the project has eased any questions he had, he said.
Motioning out to Nantucket Sound, he said, "Some people are worried because there's never been something out there, so it's unknown. But the chance to have the first offshore wind farm in the U.S. on Cape Cod—I see it as an opportunity."
Write to Jennifer Levitz at jennifer.levitz@wsj.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 2, 2012
Contact: Eitan Bencuya, 202-495-3047
WASHINGTON D.C. – Over the past decade, the fossil fuel industry has mounted a coordinated campaign to discredit renewable energy and hinder its growth, according to a new report released today by the Sierra Club.
The report, Clean Energy Under Siege, reveals how the fossil fuel industry is using tactics such as financial contributions to political campaigns, faux “think tanks,”phony intellectuals, and astroturf groups to shift public opinion and discredit renewable energy.
This misinformation campaign is currently evident in the struggle to renew the Production Tax Credit (PTC) for wind energy. The PTC helps support the more than 75,000 jobs in the wind industry, but if the tax credit is not renewed before the end of this year, as many as half those jobs could be lost.
"From California to Pennsylvania, clean energy jobs are under attack by fossil fuel interest groups – yet many in Congress are sitting on their hands while tens of thousands of American jobs hang in the balance," said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club. "It seems these members of Congress prefer serving the interests of the big polluters that bankrolled their campaigns over the interests of working families. That needs to end now. Congress must stand up for the tens of thousands of Americans whose jobs are on the line and renew the Production Tax Credit."
The Sierra Club’s report follows the trail of money from big polluters to politicians and non-profit front groups. For example, the oil and gas industry spent more than $146 million on lobbying alone in 2011, while Big Oil tycoons David and Charles Koch gave at least $85 million to 85 right-wing “think tanks” and advocacy groups over the past decade and a half. Meanwhile, organizations like the Manhattan Institute and the Heartland Institute that defend oil subsidies while attacking renewable energy have received upwards of $600,000 each since 1998 from the oil company Exxon.
Dirty Coal blows up Mountains in the process of Mountain Top Removal, destroying communities, their drinking water and is excused from environmental laws.
Coal Ash is stored around the nation in unlined pits, contaminating rivers and streams.
Fracking and Tar Sands cause their own environmental destruction as the US becomes little more than a Third World nation, governed by Dirty Energy and Democracy Sold.
The rest of the world moves on, leading in Alternative Energy.
So should we!
Cape Cod wind farm tiptoes ahead
08/11/12 posted by CCToday
TODAY's quote: "It seems these members of Congress prefer serving the interests of the big polluters that bankrolled their campaigns over the interests of working families. That needs to end now. Congress must stand up for the tens of thousands of Americans whose jobs are on the line and renew the Production Tax Credit."
- Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club.
Cape Winds changes minds
Hy-Line's Mr. Scudder watched from his dock as research crews unloaded ocean samples from the Megan Miller research vessel that had returned from the sound as part of Cape Wind's survey work. A decade of review on the project has eased any questions he had, he said. Photo courtesy of Cape Wind.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Hy-line Cruises President Philip Scudder said his ferry company here was once a vocal opponent of the alternative-energy proposal that blew into Cape Cod nearly a decade ago. The U.S.'s first offshore wind farm? In the middle of pristine Nantucket Sound? He wondered how his boats carrying vacationers bound for Martha's Vineyard would navigate around the turbines.
Cape Wind spokesman Mr. Rodgers believes some opponents, like Bill Koch, who has a waterfront home on Cape Cod and who is in the coal business, are worried about competition from wind energy. Mr. Koch is a founder and largest funder of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound. The Alliance is the project's main opponent.
Sierra Club "follows the money"
A recent Sierra Club expose followed the trail of money from big polluters to politicians and non-profit front groups. For example, the oil and gas industry spent more than $146 million on lobbying alone in 2011, while Big Oil tycoons David and Charles Koch gave at least $85 million to 85 right-wing “think tanks” and advocacy groups over the past decade and a half. Meanwhile, organizations like the Manhattan Institute and the Heartland Institute that defend oil subsidies while attacking renewable energy have received upwards of $600,000 each since 1998 from the oil company Exxon.
The report concludes that over the past decade the fossil fuel industry has mounted a coordinated campaign to discredit renewable energy and hinder its growth.
Clean Energy Under Siege, reveals how the fossil fuel industry is using tactics such as financial contributions to political campaigns, faux “think tanks,” phony intellectuals, and astroturf groups to shift public opinion and discredit renewable energy.
Click here to read this article in the Wall Street Journal. [Article below]
http://www.capecodtoday.com/news/EXTRA/2012/08/11/cape-cod-wind-farm-tiptoes-ahead
Cape Cod Wind Farm Tiptoes Ahead
Work Gets Started Even as Controversial Offshore Massachusetts Project Faces Regulatory Hurdles and Stiff Opposition
By JENNIFER LEVITZ
BARNSTABLE, Mass.—Philip Scudder said his ferry company here was once a vocal opponent of the alternative-energy proposal that blew into Cape Cod nearly a decade ago. The U.S.'s first offshore wind farm? In the middle of pristine Nantucket Sound? He wondered how his boats carrying vacationers bound for Martha's Vineyard would navigate around the turbines.
Matthew Healey for The Wall Street
Journal
Randolph Bolton is shown Thursday with a tube of sediment
from the sea floor collected as part of survey work for the Cape Wind
project.
But now, Mr. Scudder, a 13th generation Cape Codder and part of the family that owns Hy-Line Cruises, supports Cape Wind, the proposal to place 130 wind turbines, with the highest blade tip reaching 440 feet above water, some five miles offshore. He says it would bring not only clean energy but economic opportunity: Hy-Line is now shopping for vessels to eventually give "eco-tours," educational boat rides out to see the turbines up close.
Mr. Scudder illustrates the conflicting views on the long-debated project in an area known as the jewel of Massachusetts and a vacation land for the affluent. After a decade, Cape Wind developer Energy Management Inc. is beginning geological survey work in the sound, a precursor to its goal of starting construction next year.
But whether the wind farm is built remains to be seen. Cape Wind has yet to receive all the approvals it needs to start construction. Opposition is firm and has included wealthy Cape Cod homeowners from the late Sen. Edward Kennedy to Republican donor and energy businessman William Koch.
The Obama administration is pushing for more renewable-energy projects, both on and offshore. This week, the Interior Department said it was assessing a proposal by the North American arm of Statoil STO +0.20%ASA, a Norwegian energy company, for a wind farm off the coast of Maine.
The Interior Department approved Cape Wind in 2010. The project calls for the off-white wind turbines in a 25-square-mile area in a shallow part of the sound, a triangular body of water surrounded by Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. The closest vantage point would be nearly five miles away in Mashpee, next to Barnstable.
The turbines are "majestic and beautiful," and on a clear day would appear "like a half-inch sailing mast on the horizon," said Jim Gordon, the president of Energy Management, Cape Wind's developer.
Opponents are skeptical.
"I'm just not buying it," says Barnstable Town Manager Thomas Lynch, who worries about public-safety costs to the town if there were a problem at the wind farm.
The project is estimated to cost $2 billion. Energy Management said it has spent $50 million developing it and is working with Barclays PLC to secure private funding. The wind farm is expected to produce as much as 468 megawatts of renewable energy, which is about 3.5% of the 13,300-megawatts total generating capacity in Massachusetts.
Cape Wind has signed long-term contracts to sell 78% of its power to the state's largest utilities.
The wind power's cost is as much as twice that of conventional power, but because it would be a small portion of the overall energy pool, consumers would see at most a 2.2% increase to their monthly bills, according to estimates in a 2010 report by Massachusetts regulators.
Cape Wind has yet to clear one major regulatory hurdle: the Federal Aviation Administration is reviewing the project after opponents appealed its initial approval in 2010. The FAA must determine whether the wind farm would pose a risk to aircraft radar.
The project also faces headwinds from a decline in the price of natural gas, which undermining the case for renewable energy—though it isn't clear how long the dip will last.
Matthew Healey for The Wall Street
Journal.
Captain Brad Primer on the Megan T. Miller as it heads
out to collect seabed samples for the offshore wind turbine
project.
In addition, the federal government's tax-credit program for wind projects is set to expire at year-end, and Congress has shown little gusto for alternative-energy subsidies in the wake of the fallout over government loans to failed solar-panel company Solyndra LLC.
"It's more difficult, but our plan is to do everything we can to move forward in any way," said Mark Rodgers, a spokesman for Energy Management.
Mr. Rodgers believes some opponents, like Mr. Koch, who has a waterfront home on Cape Cod and who is in the coal business, are worried about competition from wind energy. Mr. Koch is a funder of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, said his spokesman Brad Goldstein. The Alliance is the project's main opponent.
Mr. Goldstein said Mr. Koch's business interests have nothing to do with his opposition to the project. Mr. Koch believes the proposal isn't feasible without government support and that it "spoils a beautiful sanctuary," Mr. Goldstein said.
Thursday, at the harbor in Hyannis Port, a village that is part of Barnstable, Hy-Line's Mr. Scudder watched eagerly from his dock as research crews unloaded ocean samples from a vessel that had returned from the sound as part of Cape Wind's survey work. A decade of review on the project has eased any questions he had, he said.
Motioning out to Nantucket Sound, he said, "Some people are worried because there's never been something out there, so it's unknown. But the chance to have the first offshore wind farm in the U.S. on Cape Cod—I see it as an opportunity."
Write to Jennifer Levitz at jennifer.levitz@wsj.com
A version of this article appeared August 11, 2012, on
page A3 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Cape
Cod Wind Farm Tiptoes Ahead.
Sierra Club --
August 2, 2012
Contact: Eitan Bencuya, 202-495-3047
Sierra Club Releases New Report Highlighting Attack on Clean Energy
“Clean Energy Under Siege” Study Follows Money Trail Behind Campaign Against Renewable Energy
WASHINGTON D.C. – Over the past decade, the fossil fuel industry has mounted a coordinated campaign to discredit renewable energy and hinder its growth, according to a new report released today by the Sierra Club.
The report, Clean Energy Under Siege, reveals how the fossil fuel industry is using tactics such as financial contributions to political campaigns, faux “think tanks,”phony intellectuals, and astroturf groups to shift public opinion and discredit renewable energy.
This misinformation campaign is currently evident in the struggle to renew the Production Tax Credit (PTC) for wind energy. The PTC helps support the more than 75,000 jobs in the wind industry, but if the tax credit is not renewed before the end of this year, as many as half those jobs could be lost.
"From California to Pennsylvania, clean energy jobs are under attack by fossil fuel interest groups – yet many in Congress are sitting on their hands while tens of thousands of American jobs hang in the balance," said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club. "It seems these members of Congress prefer serving the interests of the big polluters that bankrolled their campaigns over the interests of working families. That needs to end now. Congress must stand up for the tens of thousands of Americans whose jobs are on the line and renew the Production Tax Credit."
The Sierra Club’s report follows the trail of money from big polluters to politicians and non-profit front groups. For example, the oil and gas industry spent more than $146 million on lobbying alone in 2011, while Big Oil tycoons David and Charles Koch gave at least $85 million to 85 right-wing “think tanks” and advocacy groups over the past decade and a half. Meanwhile, organizations like the Manhattan Institute and the Heartland Institute that defend oil subsidies while attacking renewable energy have received upwards of $600,000 each since 1998 from the oil company Exxon.
Wind power is a clean, competitive energy source that has seen strong momentum over the past few years. Already, states like Iowa and South Dakota generate 20 percent of their electricity from wind power, and the wind industry is on track to produce 20 percent of America’s electricity by 2030.
More than 400 American manufacturing plants build wind components, keeping jobs close to home.
To read the report Clean Energy Under Siege visithttp://www.sierraclub.org/pressroom/downloads/SierraClub-CleanEnergyUnderSiege.pdf
###
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Middleboro utility board ratifies Granahan separation agreement
Middleboro utility board ratifies Granahan separation agreement
Former general manager’s resignation took effect Aug. 7
Middleboro Gas & Electric General Manager John Granahan Jr. has a salary that's higher than any other general manager of a municipal utility in the state.
MIDDLEBORO —
Gas & Electric Commissioners met for two hours behind closed doors on Wednesday before ratifying in open session a July 31 separation agreement with John P. Granahan, 65, who resigned as general manager.
Granahan’s resignation as general manager triggered a seven-day right of rescission under the Older Americans Act and was not effective until Aug. 7, said Chairman John F. Healey.
Granahan’s $223,373 buyout fell short of the $1 million potential that was provided in his “evergreen” contract negotiated by a prior board of commissioners Healey explained.
“It wouldn’t be productive to have John Granahan continue to work for the current board,” said Healey when he released the terms of the agreement.
A round of applause greeted the commissioners unanimous vote to promote Jacqueline Crowley from power supply manager to interim general manager for up to a year with a $155,000 salary and four weeks vacation. Under the board’s plan, Crowley will fill both positions, which Healey said will allow the utility to recoup Granahan’s buyout within a year and not cause a rate increase.
Crowley, 50, of Barnstable, has been with the town-owned utility since 2006 and was making $115,000 before the promotion. In an Aug. 2 letter to the board, Crowley outlined her goals as general manager.
“A critical area of focus should be fostering a more collegial relationship with town offices” said Crowley said . “We must reaffirm our status as a team player.”
Crowley said she would like to develop a relationship with the School Department, and possibly establish a renewable energy program for upper grade levels.
Crowley said the protracted stalemate between Granahan and commissioners has lead to a tarnished reputation of G&E employees which had a demoralizing effect.
“With a careful transition – we, senior management and commissioners can affirm the commitment to support, empower and educate employees,” she said. “Middleboro is well positioned to go forward to provide safe, reliable and reasonable priced service.”
Granahan’s resignation as general manager triggered a seven-day right of rescission under the Older Americans Act and was not effective until Aug. 7, said Chairman John F. Healey.
Granahan’s $223,373 buyout fell short of the $1 million potential that was provided in his “evergreen” contract negotiated by a prior board of commissioners Healey explained.
“It wouldn’t be productive to have John Granahan continue to work for the current board,” said Healey when he released the terms of the agreement.
A round of applause greeted the commissioners unanimous vote to promote Jacqueline Crowley from power supply manager to interim general manager for up to a year with a $155,000 salary and four weeks vacation. Under the board’s plan, Crowley will fill both positions, which Healey said will allow the utility to recoup Granahan’s buyout within a year and not cause a rate increase.
Crowley, 50, of Barnstable, has been with the town-owned utility since 2006 and was making $115,000 before the promotion. In an Aug. 2 letter to the board, Crowley outlined her goals as general manager.
“A critical area of focus should be fostering a more collegial relationship with town offices” said Crowley said . “We must reaffirm our status as a team player.”
Crowley said she would like to develop a relationship with the School Department, and possibly establish a renewable energy program for upper grade levels.
Crowley said the protracted stalemate between Granahan and commissioners has lead to a tarnished reputation of G&E employees which had a demoralizing effect.
“With a careful transition – we, senior management and commissioners can affirm the commitment to support, empower and educate employees,” she said. “Middleboro is well positioned to go forward to provide safe, reliable and reasonable priced service.”
Read more: http://www.enterprisenews.com/topstories/x181548061/Middleboro-utility-board-ratifies-Granahan-separation-agreement#ixzz232vI2NQq
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Middleboro G&E Mtg Aug 8th 7:30 PM
Please consider attending or watching --
Middleboro utility head resigns
Read more: http://www.enterprisenews.com/topstories/x356062500/Middleboro-utility-head-resigns#ixzz22xJ34cyS
Middleboro utility board takes action on general manager
Read more: http://www.enterprisenews.com/topstories/x2069500209/Middleboro-utility-board-takes-action-on-general-manager#ixzz22xK1Q9jX
Read more: http://www.enterprisenews.com/topstories/x2069500209/Middleboro-utility-board-takes-action-on-general-manager#ixzz22xJq7H5N
Middleboro utility head resigns
MIDDLEBORO —
John P. Granahan has resigned as general manger of the town’s Gas & Electric Department.
John F. Healey, chairman of the Gas & Electric Commission, declined to discuss the details of Granahan’s resignation, saying his board would make a full disclosure at Wednesday’s meeting in Town Hall at 7:30 p.m.
According to Treasurer and Collector Judy M. MacDonald, Granahan’s buyout is $223,373, which includes $125,900 for eight months severance pay; $48,850 in unused sick time and $48,623 in vacation time.
In a letter dated Aug. 7, Granahan said he was “irrevocably resigning” from his position and released the town from liability.
Granahan was hired as the utility’s business manager in 1999, at a salary of $68,000. By 2008, his salary was bumped up to $135,000 and then increased to $188,000 in 2009 when he was named general manager.
Granahan was paid $196,277 in 2011. His salary was the highest of any public utility manager in the state.
His refusal to provide the town treasurer with a copy of his contract prompted over a year of intense public scrutiny and sparked a flurry of public record requests as well as Open Meeting Law complaints. The controversy contributed to the election of two new Gas & Electric commissioners.
John F. Healey, chairman of the Gas & Electric Commission, declined to discuss the details of Granahan’s resignation, saying his board would make a full disclosure at Wednesday’s meeting in Town Hall at 7:30 p.m.
According to Treasurer and Collector Judy M. MacDonald, Granahan’s buyout is $223,373, which includes $125,900 for eight months severance pay; $48,850 in unused sick time and $48,623 in vacation time.
In a letter dated Aug. 7, Granahan said he was “irrevocably resigning” from his position and released the town from liability.
Granahan was hired as the utility’s business manager in 1999, at a salary of $68,000. By 2008, his salary was bumped up to $135,000 and then increased to $188,000 in 2009 when he was named general manager.
Granahan was paid $196,277 in 2011. His salary was the highest of any public utility manager in the state.
His refusal to provide the town treasurer with a copy of his contract prompted over a year of intense public scrutiny and sparked a flurry of public record requests as well as Open Meeting Law complaints. The controversy contributed to the election of two new Gas & Electric commissioners.
Read more: http://www.enterprisenews.com/topstories/x356062500/Middleboro-utility-head-resigns#ixzz22xJ34cyS
Middleboro utility board takes action on general manager
John Granahan, general manager of the Middleboro Gas & Electric Commission
Read more: http://www.enterprisenews.com/topstories/x2069500209/Middleboro-utility-board-takes-action-on-general-manager#ixzz22xK1Q9jX
MIDDLEBORO —
Gas & Electric Commissioners this week stepped up the pressure on General Manager John P. Granahan after months of controversy over his contract and other utility issues.
On Tuesday, the utility commissioners voted to take actions regarding the general manager and his department, including:
After the meeting, Murphy said he did not support the measures because “it would be an admission I didn’t know what I was doing.”
The actions came after questions surfaced over the validity of Granahan’s appointment as general manager. After reviewing previously unreleased meeting minutes, Chairman John F. Healey contended Granahan’s 2009 appointment and succeeding pay raises were invalid because they were not ratified in open session, as required by state law.
When proposing to hire labor counsel to defend the commission, Healey said, “Mr. Granahan has lawyered up, and rightly so. It is important the commission be represented. ... We need to have an attorney that represents our position.”
Granahan’s personal attorney attended Tuesday’s meeting, but did not address the commission.
The commissioners agreed to send a letter to Granahan’s attorney establishing ground rules during the dispute. They agreed Granahan will continue to perform the duties of general manager, but did not concede his contract is valid and binding.
“The situation is not of our making. It grew out of a culture of arrogance,” Healey said, pointing to a pattern of secrecy that led to alleged Open Meeting Law violations.
On Tuesday, the utility commissioners voted to take actions regarding the general manager and his department, including:
- Break off contract negotiations with Granahan.
- Hire labor counsel to defend the commission.
- Interview four prospective firms to complete a forensic audit.
- Require Granahan to report daily to the chairman.
- Notify Granahan’s attorney the commission is not conceding his contract is valid.
After the meeting, Murphy said he did not support the measures because “it would be an admission I didn’t know what I was doing.”
The actions came after questions surfaced over the validity of Granahan’s appointment as general manager. After reviewing previously unreleased meeting minutes, Chairman John F. Healey contended Granahan’s 2009 appointment and succeeding pay raises were invalid because they were not ratified in open session, as required by state law.
When proposing to hire labor counsel to defend the commission, Healey said, “Mr. Granahan has lawyered up, and rightly so. It is important the commission be represented. ... We need to have an attorney that represents our position.”
Granahan’s personal attorney attended Tuesday’s meeting, but did not address the commission.
The commissioners agreed to send a letter to Granahan’s attorney establishing ground rules during the dispute. They agreed Granahan will continue to perform the duties of general manager, but did not concede his contract is valid and binding.
“The situation is not of our making. It grew out of a culture of arrogance,” Healey said, pointing to a pattern of secrecy that led to alleged Open Meeting Law violations.
Read more: http://www.enterprisenews.com/topstories/x2069500209/Middleboro-utility-board-takes-action-on-general-manager#ixzz22xJq7H5N
Monday, August 6, 2012
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Putting Women in Charge
I loved this and had to share --
By Amantha Perera
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AlertNet) – In 2006, when the Asian Development Bank (ADB) decided to launch a multi-million dollar rural water project in eastern and north central regions of Sri Lanka, there was one overriding requirement – women would be placed in key positions.
As a result, experts say, the $263 million program, aimed at providing drinking water to over 900,000 people by 2011, has been a particular success.
In the village of Talpothta, in the rural north-central Polonnaruwa District, the village women’s association is now central to the proper functioning of the new water supply plant provided under the ADB programme. Its members visit the over 200 users, read meters and more importantly advise beneficiaries on water usage when drought sets in.
“We know how much is needed. Women do most of the household work like cooking (and) washing clothes. We ask our members to limit use when we have problems,” said Sheila Herath, an association member.
Kusum Athukorala, one of the country’s leading experts on water management, agrees that women are key to adapting effective measures to deal with water challenges and changing climate patterns.
“Women are the foot soldiers of climate change adaptation,” said Athukorala who heads the Network of Women Water Professionals, Sri Lanka (NetWwater) and the Women for Water Partnership.
NetWwater’s efforts to create awareness among rural women on climate change, adaptation and water management have won support from Brandix, one of the island’s largest garment. That allows Athukorala to now travel the country, educating women on water management.
“One sixth of our water supply is from rural programmes managed by community-based organizations. If we don’t recognize the impact of over half of the population, these programmes will never succeed,” she said.
INDONESIA, CHINA AND FORESTS
In other Asian countries women also are playing crucial roles at the grassroots level in preserving the environment and making sure human-inflicted damage remains controllable. Avi Mahaningtyas, an Indonesian expert on forest management and Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) told AlertNet that it was rural women who knew intimately the forest’s value to their lives.
“They know it by heart and by birth,” said Mahaningtyas, who heads the Environmental and Economic Governance Cluster of the Kemitraan-Partnership for Governance Reform in Indonesia, a national body that works on good governance.
The same sentiment is true in rural China, says Xiaobei Wang, a China gender specialist with Landesa Rural Development Institute, an international organisation that works on poverty and land rights. Wang told AlertNet that as men increasingly migrated to cities looking for jobs, it was women, left behind in the villages, who took care of the land and the forests.
"In China most of men from areas near forests have left as migrant workers, making women the major labour force. About 60 percent of those working in forests and farm land are women. If their rights are not protected and enforced, there will be lots of issues in reducing poverty in forest areas and ensuring the sustainable management of forests,” she said.
Indonesia’s Mahaningtyas said that if a forest is to be preserved, like any other natural resource, it needs to carry a value. “A forest with a value will not easily be cut down. And it is the people who work within it who will know intimately that value.”
However, despite their importance, women are still being largely left out of the decision making, according to a new report by the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI). The report - The Challenges of Securing Women’s Tenure and Leadership for Forest Management: The Asian Experience - found that gender discrimination is still rampant.
Arvind Khare, RRI’s senior director of country and regional programmes, said that women’s roles should not only be recognized but should also be enforced. He took the case of land rights in rural China, where women often find themselves losing land, due to cultural and social norms, despite laws that are gender neutral on paper.
“How can we look at climate adaptation and food security when those who do most of the work at ground level have no say?” he asked.
Indonesia’s Mahaningtyas feels that the continuing lack of recognition of the crucial role women play could be due to lack of scientific studies. “Gender documentation is quite low and we are still to quantify the impact of the role.”
Sri Lanka’s grassroots worker Athukorala sees a much more practical reason: lack of women in decision making positions.
“They are the foot soldiers, but how many female generals do we have in our countries fighting climate change?” she asked.
Amantha Perera is a freelance writer based in Sri Lanka. He can be followed via Twitter on @AmanthaP
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/women-are-the-foot-soldiers-of-climate-change-adaptation-expert