<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><br><blockquote type="cite"><div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000"><div class="moz-forward-container"><div>
<div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#030008" face="arial,
sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:
13px; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap; "><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.elkgrovenews.net/2014/05/big-oil-lobbyist-praises-edf-for.html">www.elkgrovenews.net/2014/05/big-oil-lobbyist-praises-edf-for.html</a></span></font></div>
<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(17, 17,
17); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><br>
</span></div>
<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(17, 17,
17); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(17,
17, 17); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;
"><strong><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/05/15/18755842.php" style="color: rgb(11, 45, 90); border-top-style: none;
border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none;
border-left-style: none; border-width: initial;
border-color: initial; ">http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/05/15/18755842.php </a></strong></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial,
sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">
<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:
rgb(17, 17, 17); font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; "><br>
</span></span></div>
</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial,
sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">Photo of Governor Jerry
Brown courtesy of Damien Luzzo.</span>
<div style="float: left; padding-left: 6px; width: 936px;
">
<div class="webcast" style="margin-top: 0px;
margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left:
0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px;
padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); position:
static; z-index: auto; ">
<center style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;
font-size: 13.3px; ">
<div class="media" style="font-family: arial,
sans-serif; font-size: 13.3px; "><img alt="no_more_fracking___.jpg " style="border-top-width: 0px;
border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width:
0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style:
initial; border-color: initial; " height="350" width="507" id="477eb585-33c8-4b17-8ba0-fb17924d18cf" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" src="cid:part3.05070605.01030702@mcn.org"><br>
<strong>no_more_fracking___.jpg</strong><br>
</div>
</center>
<br>
<div class="article"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Arial" size="6">Big Oil lobbyist praises EDF
for “balanced approach” to fracking </font><br>
<br>
<font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial,
sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px; ">By Dan Bacher </span></font><br>
<br>
<font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial,
sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px; ">Catherine
Reheis-Boyd, the President of the Western States
Petroleum Association (WSPA) and the former
Chair of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA)
Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force to create
so-called “marine protected areas” in Southern
California, has praised the supposedly “balanced
approach” to fracking advocated by the
Environmental Defense Fund and former New York
City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. </span></font><br>
<br>
<font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial,
sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px; ">The Environmental
Defense Fund (EDF), the recipient of millions of
dollars of Walton Family Foundation money every
year, is a supporter of the environmentally
destructive practice of fracking for natural gas
and oil. The group claims fracking would provide
“measurable environmental benefits” in spite of
the enormous harm that fracking poses to human
health, groundwater and surface water supplies,
and fish and wildlife populations. </span></font><br>
<br>
<font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial,
sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px; ">EDF is no stranger
to corporate greenwashing campaigns, since the
corporate “environmental” NGO is also a big
backer of “catch shares” or “catch and trade”
programs that privatize fisheries. These
programs for the 1 percent result in fisheries
being transferred from traditional fishing
families into fewer, increasingly corporate
hands.The Walton Family Foundation donated
$8,500,000 to EDF to promote catch shares in
2013 and $7,800,000 in 2012 (</span></font><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org/about/2012-grant-report#environment" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size:
13.3px; color: rgb(11, 45, 90); border-top-style:
none; border-right-style: none;
border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style:
none; border-width: initial; border-color:
initial; ">http://www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org/about/2012-grant-report#environment</a><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:
13.3px; ">.) </span></font><br>
<br>
<font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial,
sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px; ">Reheis-Boyd, in her
latest blog on the Western States Petroleum
Association website (</span></font><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.wspa.org/" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size:
13.3px; color: rgb(11, 45, 90); border-top-style:
none; border-right-style: none;
border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style:
none; border-width: initial; border-color:
initial; ">http://www.wspa.org</a><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:
13.3px; ">), applauded Fred Krupp, President of
the Environmental Defense Fund, and Michael
Bloomberg for calling for “sensible rulemaking”
and “measurable regulations” on fracking in
their April 29 op-ed in the New York Times. </span></font><br>
<br>
<font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial,
sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px; ">It is crucial to
understand that the Western States Petroleum
Association that Reheis-Boyd heads is the most
powerful corporate lobbying group in Sacramento.
The organization spent a total of $5,331,493 in
2009, $4,013,813 in 2010, $4,273,664 in 2011,
$5,698,917 in 2012 and $4,670,010 in 2013 on
lobbying at the State Capitol - and spent
$1,456,785 in just the first 3 months of 2014. (</span></font><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.truth-out.org/speakout/item/23365-californias-big-oil-dirty-dozen" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size:
13.3px; color: rgb(11, 45, 90); border-top-style:
none; border-right-style: none;
border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style:
none; border-width: initial; border-color:
initial; ">http://www.truth-out.org/speakout/item/23365-californias-big-oil-dirty-dozen</a><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:
13.3px; ">) </span></font><br>
<br>
<font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial,
sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px; ">Reheis-Boyd said: </span></font><br>
<br>
<font class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana"><i>“In
an April 29 opinion editorial published in the
New York Times, the Environmental Defense Fund
(EDF) joined former New York City Mayor Michael
Bloomberg in advocating for a balanced approach
to hydraulic fracturing: <br>
<br>
‘The shale gas boom is indeed lowering energy
costs, creating new jobs, boosting domestic
manufacturing and delivering some measurable
environmental benefits as well. Unlike coal,
natural gas produces minuscule amounts of such
toxic air pollutants as sulfur dioxide and
mercury when burned — so the transition from
coal- to natural-gas-fired electricity
generation is improving overall air quality,
which improves public health. There’s also a
potential climate benefit, since
natural-gas-fired plants emit roughly half the
carbon dioxide of coal-fired ones.’ <br>
<br>
We agree. Krupp and Bloomberg also called for
sensible rulemaking and measurable regulations
that protect the environment while allowing the
petroleum industry to capitalize on an historic
moment in our nation’s economy. Despite the
emotions surrounding hydraulic fracturing, the
American energy renaissance, led by the increase
in domestic shale oil and gas production, can
move forward safely.” </i></font><br>
<br>
<font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial,
sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px; ">Reheis-Boyd then
used her blog piece to greenwash Senator Fran
Pavley’s Senate Bill 4, the green light to
fracking bill in California, claiming that
“California is leading and innovating this
entire discussion.” </span></font><br>
<br>
<font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial,
sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px; ">The vast majority of
conservation and environmental justice groups
strongly opposed Senate Bill 4 because it would
create a clear path to expanded fracking in
California. However, the Environmental Defense
Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council and
League of Conservation Voters supported the
legislation until the last minute - withdrawing
their support only after the oil industry added
“poison pill” amendments to further weaken the
badly-flawed legislation. </span></font><br>
<br>
<font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial,
sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px; ">Reheis Boyd also
reiterated oil industry disinformation claiming
that the Pavley bill created the “most
stringent” fracking regulations in the nation: </span></font><br>
<font class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana"><i><br>
“Senate Bill 4 regulations, passed at the end of
last year’s session, are the most stringent
hydraulic fracturing regulations in the nation.
The bill requires companies to obtain a permit
from the state, notify surrounding landowners,
conduct pre and post fracturing water tests,
disclose all chemicals used in the process,
conduct regular pressure tests on wells to
ensure well integrity and submit extensive water
management plans. <br>
<br>
This week’s New York Times opinion editorial is
a good reminder we must finally agree to embrace
balanced policies that can achieve strict
environmental protection, economic growth, and
increased domestic energy security.” </i></font><br>
<br>
<font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial,
sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px; ">Reheis-Boyd is
extremely hypocritical for saying she supports
"balanced" policies and “strict environmental
protection," based upon her dubious record as
the Chair of the MLPA Initiative Blue Ribbon
Task Force for the South Coast. (</span></font><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/mpa/brtf_bios_sc.asp" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size:
13.3px; color: rgb(11, 45, 90); border-top-style:
none; border-right-style: none;
border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style:
none; border-width: initial; border-color:
initial; ">http://www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/mpa/brtf_bios_sc.asp</a><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:
13.3px; ">) </span></font><br>
<br>
<font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial,
sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px; ">She and her
collaborators on the task force made sure that
the questionable "marine protected areas"
created in Southern California under her
"leadership" fail to protect the ocean from
fracking, oil drilling, pollution, corporate
aquaculture, military testing and all human
impacts on the ocean other than sustainable
fishing and gathering. Reheis-Boyd, state
officials and MLPA Initiative advocates ensured
that these alleged "marine protected areas" were
good for big oil and ocean industrialists - and
bad for fishermen, tribal gatherers and the
public trust. </span></font><br>
<br>
<font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial,
sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px; ">Reheis-Boyd also
"served" on the MLPA initiative Blue Ribbon Task
Forces to create so-called "marine protected
areas" on the North Coast, North Central Coast
and Central Coast and she currently sits on a
federal "marine protection" panel, NOAA's 20
member Marine Protected Areas Advisory
Committee. As she served on these panels, the
oil industry engaged in a frenzy of
environmentally destructive fracking operations
off the Southern California coast, as revealed
in an Associated Press and Freedom of
Information Act investigation last year. </span></font><br>
<br>
<font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial,
sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px; ">The corrupt process
that Reheis-Boyd oversaw created no take "state
marine reserves" that violate the traditional
gathering rights of the Yurok Tribe and other
California Indian Tribes to harvest seaweed,
mussels and fish, as they have done for
thousands of years. The privately funded process
also rejected numerous requests by Yurok Tribe
scientists and lawyers to present scientific
studies that countered the terminally flawed and
incomplete "science," based on flawed
assumptions, that drove the MLPA Initiative. (</span></font><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.indybay.org/uploads/2011/07/15/lop_yurok_6-29_11.pdf" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size:
13.3px; color: rgb(11, 45, 90); border-top-style:
none; border-right-style: none;
border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style:
none; border-width: initial; border-color:
initial; ">http://www.indybay.org/uploads/2011/07/15/lop_yurok_6-29_11.pdf</a><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:
13.3px; ">) </span></font><br>
<br>
<font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial,
sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px; ">As Frankie Joe
Myers, Yurok Tribe member and Coastal Justice
Coalition organizer, said before a direct action
protest against the MLPA Initiative in Fort
Bragg in July 2010, “The whole process is
inherently flawed by institutionalized racism.
It doesn’t recognize Tribes as political
entities, or Tribal biologists as legitimate
scientists.” (</span></font><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/07/24/18654645.php" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size:
13.3px; color: rgb(11, 45, 90); border-top-style:
none; border-right-style: none;
border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style:
none; border-width: initial; border-color:
initial; ">http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/07/24/18654645.php</a><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:
13.3px; ">) </span></font><br>
<br>
<font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial,
sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px; ">“Whether it is their
intention or not, what the Marine Life
Protection Act does to tribes is it
systematically decimates our ability to be who
we are,” emphasized Myers. “That is the
definition of cultural genocide. </span></font><br>
<br>
<font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial,
sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px; ">To make make matters
even worse, Ron LeValley, the Co-Chair of the
MLPA Science Advisory Team – the same
controversial state panel that inexplicably
rejected the Yurok Tribe’s science studies -
will be sentenced on May 20 on a single federal
charge of conspiracy to embezzle nearly $1
million from the Yurok Tribe!(
<a href="http://theava.com/archives/28651">theava.com/archives/28651</a>) </span></font><br>
<br>
<font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial,
sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px; ">On February 11,
LeValley, of Mad River Biologists, pled guilty
to the charge in federal court. Court documents
reveal that LeValley conspired with Roland
Raymond, former Yurok Tribe forestry chair, to
embezzle the funds through a complex scheme of
fake and inflated invoices and payments for
spotted owl surveys that LeValley and his
organization never performed. The link to the
federal indictment is available at: </span></font><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://noyonews.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/U.S._v._Ron_LeValley_As_Filed.pdf" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size:
13.3px; color: rgb(11, 45, 90); border-top-style:
none; border-right-style: none;
border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style:
none; border-width: initial; border-color:
initial; ">http://noyonews.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/U.S._v._Ron_LeValley_As_Filed.pdf</a><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:
13.3px; "> </span></font><br>
<br>
<font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial,
sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px; ">More recently, the
industry that Reheis-Boyd lobbies for engaged in
over 100 violations of California’s new public
disclosure rules for fracking and other
dangerous oil production methods. The violations
were uncovered by a Center for Biological
Diversity analysis of records from the state,
the oil industry and South Coast air quality
regulators. (</span></font><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2014/fracking-04-30-2014.html" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size:
13.3px; color: rgb(11, 45, 90); border-top-style:
none; border-right-style: none;
border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style:
none; border-width: initial; border-color:
initial; ">http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2014/fracking-04-30-2014.html</a><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:
13.3px; ">) </span></font><br>
<br>
<font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial,
sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px; ">In a letter to
Governor Jerry Brown, the Center revealed that
state regulators with the Division of Oil, Gas
and Geothermal Resources have failed to disclose
legally mandated reports for 47 frack jobs and
notices for more than 100 uses of other risky
oil production techniques. </span></font><br>
<br>
<font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial,
sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px; ">“This lack of
disclosure underscores the failure of current
regulations and the need for strong action that
will protect public health and safety and the
environment,” the letter says. </span></font><br>
<br>
<font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial,
sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px; ">However, these overt
violations of California environmental law are
just a small taste of the massive violations of
environmental laws that will take place if
Reheis-Boyd and her collaborators are allowed to
proceed with their plans to expand fracking
operations in California. </span></font><br>
<br>
<font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial,
sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px; ">If the oil industry
and Governor Jerry Brown have their way,
groundwater and surface supplies will be
polluted with numerous toxic chemicals,
including methanol, benzene, naphthalene and
trimethylbenzene. According to the Center,
evidence is mounting throughout the country that
these chemicals are making their way into
aquifers and drinking water. </span></font><br>
<br>
<font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial,
sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px; ">Human health,
endangered Central Valley salmon, steelhead and
other fish populations and many wildlife species
will be imperiled by increasing water pollution
in California, as well as by the increasing use
of water for fracking that is badly needed for
people, farms and fish during the current
drought. </span></font><br>
<br>
<font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial,
sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px; ">In addition, air
pollution caused by fracking contributes to the
risk of asthma, cancer, and other health
problems in people living near fracked wells,
according to a Colorado School of Public Health
study. (</span></font><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://articles.latimes.com/2012/mar/20/local/la-me-gs-fracking-increases-air-pollution-health-risks-to-residents-20120320" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size:
13.3px; color: rgb(11, 45, 90); border-top-style:
none; border-right-style: none;
border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style:
none; border-width: initial; border-color:
initial; ">http://articles.latimes.com/2012/mar/20/local/la-me-gs-fracking-increases-air-pollution-health-risks-to-residents-20120320</a><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:
13.3px; ">) </span></font><br>
<br>
<font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial,
sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px; ">There is no doubt
that we must completely reject the false claims
by the oil industry, the Environmental Defense
Fund and Michael Bloomberg that fracking can be
conducted in a "safe" and "sensible" manner that
"protects" the environment. We must call on
Governor Brown and other state officials to ban
fracking now! </span></font><br>
<br>
<font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial,
sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px; ">We must also call on
Brown and state and federal officials to halt
the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) to build
the peripheral tunnels under the Sacramento-San
Joaquin River Delta, the biggest estuary on the
West Coast of the Americas. The tunnels will
provide water for fracking and steam injection
operations used to extract oil in Kern County,
as well as for corporate agribusiness interests
irrigating drainage impaired land on the west
side of the San Joaquin Valley, and Southern
California water agencies. For more information
about the twin tunnels, go to </span></font><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.restorethedelta.org/" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size:
13.3px; color: rgb(11, 45, 90); border-top-style:
none; border-right-style: none;
border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style:
none; border-width: initial; border-color:
initial; ">http://www.restorethedelta.org</a><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:
13.3px; ">. </span></font><br>
</div>
<div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="arial,
sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.3px; "><br>
</span></font></div>
</div>
</div>
</span></span>
<div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#111111" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; "><br>
</span></font></div>
<div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#111111" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; "><br>
</span></font>
<div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#111111" face="arial, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; "><br>
</span></font></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
</div>
<br>
</div>
...........................<br><br>To unsubscribe from this list send an email to <a href="mailto:opc-leave@lists.mcn.org">opc-leave@lists.mcn.org</a><br>To complete the process you must reply to the email you receive in response.<br><br></blockquote></div><br></body></html>