tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70223939332406054752024-02-07T08:33:46.700-08:00 EcoAlert - Local Action Tools for Returning Power to the PeopleMelinda Pillsbury-Fosterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15407874300095337146noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7022393933240605475.post-28207023009178752582016-04-11T05:40:00.001-07:002016-04-11T05:40:38.810-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Dave gave this speech at the United Nations for Earth Day Equinox and then again to a gathering of environmental groups in Gloucester, MA. Now, we are focusing on preparations for the Presidential Forum and Eco-Emergency Alert, the app that puts the facts in your hands on petroleum disasters and pollution of all kinds. Find it at Google Play. And yes, we are working on an iPhone version. <br /><div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
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The War on Science, People
and the Earth</div>
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The Earth Society has struggled for
nearly a half century to persuade Americans climate change is real.
Now, the issues of pollution, oil disasters, and the rising levels
of disease and early deaths is becoming impossible to ignore. The
cost in human suffering and the impact on our air, water and land
cannot even be calculated. But in flashes on the news we see it.
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In the Central Valley of California
1,000 children die each year of asthma caused almost entirely by
petroleum poisoning. Need I mention the children of Flint? No, I
don't. Because you are here today because you realize the gravity of
the problems we face.
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Despite this, I am here to bring you
hope, because today Americans are realizing what is happening and are
desperate enough to take action.
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In this season for campaigns more and
more Americans are realizing there are only two political parties.
Corporations and The People.
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Today, we are seeing the future the
corporations created for us. America's college graduates are the
least technically trained in our history. A technically aware
electorate would be too dangerous to the power of corporations so
determining what our children learn and understand became another
item on their agenda – along with accountability for how they 'do
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Did Exxon know their practices were
causing global warming? Yes, they did – and because they knew I
can tell you for a fact so did every other major oil company. These
are the kind of facts they share within the confines of their
industry. I know. Once, I was one of them.
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Don't mistake what I am saying. These
are the facts. Transnational corporations through their denials of
accountability have systematically conducted an undeclared war on
science and Common Sense which has led to catastrophic consequences
for people, communities and the Earth. Yet those who brought us to
this space in time have never been more vulnerable.
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With collapsing fuel prices, the fossil
fuel industries are now in serious decline. Drilling rigs in the US
this week are at their lowest levels since the early 1800’s. The
1800s!!!!</div>
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Meanwhile, exploding oil tank cars in
N. Dakota, oil spills in Michigan and Arkansas, gas leaks in
California and earthquakes in Oklahoma are being recognized as
man-made disasters caused by the use of obsolete and dangerous
equipment. Could you believe Plains All American Pipeline, with
Exxon one of the instigators of the Refugio Spill less than a year
ago now intends to open up for use a pipe which is nearly a century
old? That pipeline is under the clean water of the Detroit River.
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It's true – and it is not 'if' a blow
out will happen to this ancient pipe. It is only – when. And
this pipeline is not that much older than many others still in use
today. The so-called “accidents” of oil disasters take place
because of abominably poor maintenance and unreasonable cost-cutting
even when prices were high and bonuses and profits were setting new
records.
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This is just the beginning. Using
ancient pipes, even when they are known to leak, is an industry
practice which will increase.
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These corporations show little regard
for human health and safety. Citizens are denied legal recourse
because they trust the government owned by the corporations. When, as
we have, you see people suffer both the health impact of petroleum
poisoning and the shock of understanding why there will be no justice
- it hurts every single one of us.
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This must be stopped before our
metropolitan areas are turned into sacrifice zones as monuments to
greed and carelessness. In the near future, as profits drop even
lower, expect fewer oil companies and a safety margin so thin you
can see through it.
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We must face the fact the corporations
control the regulatory infrastructure intended to enforce good
practices and minimize risk to people and our environment. There is
not one cause, but many. Oil industry lobbyists demand fewer
regulations. They strangle government oversight agencies by reducing
funding. Lobbyists cycle in and out of these agencies, paid to put
us at further risk.
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These are the facts. Now, for the hope
which is our exit from this long nightmare. Despite all of this we
have the power for change in our hands.
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Every community must learn about its
own vulnerabilities and prepare to protect themselves.
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The first step is knowing the facts,
and every American can have them.
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With this goal in mind, we developed
the Eco-Emergency Alert App for Android phones which tracks the
entire Energy Infrastructure in the US and pinpoints sources of toxic
pollution and spills in near real-time in every neighborhood.
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Using the app you can see the cancer
clusters and much more integrated with a human health and historical
database of emissions as well as alternative energy sources of solar,
wind, geothermal and hydro power.
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This is a tool, the starting point.
But the real action must come out of our communities. We are calling
for every community in the United States to begin training for the
disasters which will, inevitably, continue to increase.</div>
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Coming together to help each other will
change communities, and each of us. This will bring us together in
ways living generations have forgotten. Have you ever wondered what
made America Great? It was this, standing up for each other when the
bad times come. We must love one another.
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If we act nowmCommunity Teams will be
ready to help victims gauge their danger, help them relocate, show
them how to monitor their health and also show victims how to ensure
the company responsible pays real reparations and cleans up the mess
instead of shoving it into a storm drain.
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Providing this training to local
groups is our mission. Can we stand up for each other and the Earth?
Yes, we can. Because we possess in our hearts and minds the will
and determination to begin the world over again and this time, get it
right.
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Melinda Pillsbury-Fosterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15407874300095337146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7022393933240605475.post-33093734457427746592016-03-04T06:03:00.001-08:002016-03-04T06:03:39.673-08:00EcoAlert - Phase One<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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No one in Mayflower, Arkansas expected
it. But it happened. On March 29, 2013 crude oil began to flood out
into a beautiful subdivision of homes, oozing across lawns and
carrying with it a stink foreshadowing an impact continuing to this
day.
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The company responsible was Exxon, the
same company now publicly exposed for covering up the impact of oil
on the environment in the early 80s and <a href="http://acpvision.blogspot.com/2015/07/exxons-oil-plains-pipe-tyrannosaurus-in.html">complicit</a>
in the Refugio Spill with Plains All American Pipelines near Santa
Barbara last year.
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These are the incidents which broke
though the silence which once protected oil companies from bad
publicity and accountability. We are determined to stop this. </div>
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Every day oil spills, gas seeps, explosions, frackquakes
and other oil disasters happen. Their incidence is more common than
normal earthquakes or other natural disasters. Oil disasters are
very unnatural, bringing with them life changing shocks and enormous
losses to those on the receiving end. Mayflower made the news. Most
of these disasters do not – but they harm people and destroy the land, air and water common to all of us just the same. </div>
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We have seen the petroleum industry lie
for decades, showing no trace of conscience for the wastelands they
have created out of pristine meadows, lakes, neighborhoods which are
home to families.
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Oil is the cause. We face a driving
need to fight back against Big Oil. With this dawning also comes the
reality government is firmly in the pocket of these and other
corporate interests. Petitioning and protesting alone will not work.
If we are going to enact real change we have to organize locally and
do it ourselves. </div>
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When an oil disaster strikes the PR
campaign rolls out, telling frightened victims there is no threat to
their health or the health of their children just because they can
smell the stench of oil everywhere. Residents are told the nose
bleeds, sinus infections, trouble with breathing, and other symptoms
of petroleum poisoning are caused by something, anything, else.
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Late last year we founded
EcoAlert to launch this campaign, provide essential knowledge, and
train activists willing to spend their time protecting their
communities.<br />
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We have the tools to help communities protect people and enforce
accountability for Big Oil. This can only happen with local
activism, finding people committed to returning our world to clean
air, water, and land. <br />
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Our Director for Research, Dave
Lincoln, worked for most of the major oil companies, leaving in 1996
when he gave up on believing they would ever change. Dave knows the
practices, culture and science of Big Oil like no one else in the
business. Added to this he understands the strategy they use to
evade accountability. This happens by multiple avenues. First, they lie. Second, they play
the Wait 'til They Die Game, watching as class action lawsuits
collapse and victims accept gift certificates for pizza instead of
being compensated for their losses. Third, they destroy the body of evidence necessary to obtain justice through our court system. We can change all of this. We will show you what to do to protect your community and win this war. </div>
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Dave is starting the EcoAlert Tour, starting as the honored speaker at the United Nations Earth Day Event on <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Sunday, March 20, 2016, Equinox at 12:31 AM EDT. From there, he will be speaking first in Gloucester, Mass. <a href="http://www.ecoalert.us/Contact.html">Contact us</a> to schedule Dave for your local area or group. </span></span></div>
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This site, Local Action, is for listing local efforts as they begin. Contact us for tutorials on using <b><span style="color: #274e13;">Eco-Emergency Alert</span></b>, the App (Download at Google Play) we designed to put reliable, legally admissible, facts in your hands. The legally admissible issue is essential to enforcing accountability. <div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
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Get basic facts and videos at <a href="http://ecoalerts.blogspot.com/">Get the Facts.</a> </div>
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We repost important articles, and our own articles, at: </div>
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<a href="http://acpvision.blogspot.com/">Arthur C. Pillsbury Vision & Action Newsletter</a> ( Arthur C. Pillsbury was an original inspiration).</div>
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Our hub and training site is: <a href="http://ecoalert.us/">EcoAlert - Justice & Accountability</a>. </div>
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It is time to come together, past all boundaries and barriers for Peace, Justice & Care of the Earth. </div>
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Melinda Pillsbury-Fosterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15407874300095337146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7022393933240605475.post-74038370145906548252015-06-04T04:32:00.005-07:002015-06-04T04:32:41.671-07:00Noozhawk - Investigation Finds Ruptured Pipeline in Refugio Oil Spill Was Extensively Corroded<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> By Giana Magnoli, <a href="http://www.noozhawk.com/article/investigation_ruptured_pipeline_extensively_corroded_refugio_oil_spill">Noozhawk</a> News Editor</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Federal agency reports the pipe’s wall thickness had eroded to 1/16
of an inch and that results from a recent inspection showed corrosion
at other sites</span></span></i><br />
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<img alt="<p>An aerial photo shows the section of pipeline that ruptured on May 19, sending thousands of gallons of crude oil into the ocean at Refugio State Beach. Federal officials announced Wednessday that a preliminary examination showed extensive corrosion in the section of pipe.</p>" class="cboxElement" height="420" src="http://www.noozhawk.com/images/uploads/052715-Ruptured-Pipeline-jw-630x420.jpg" style="border: 0;" width="630" /><div class="caption">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">An
aerial photo shows the section of pipeline that ruptured on May 19,
sending thousands of gallons of crude oil into the ocean at Refugio
State Beach. Federal officials announced Wednesday that a preliminary
examination showed extensive corrosion in the section of pipe. (<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jw4pix">John Wiley</a> photo)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The portion of the <a href="https://www.plainsallamerican.com/" rel="nofollow">Plains All American Pipeline</a>
crude oil line that ruptured causing the May 19 oil spill near Refugio
State Beach was extensively corroded, according to the federal
regulatory agency investigating the cause of the spill.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">On Wednesday, the Department of Transportation’s <a href="http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/" rel="nofollow">Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration</a> issued <a href="http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/pv_obj_cache/pv_obj_id_2AF69661C2D90F10B8AADA248944E4F3FC120500/filename/520155011H_Amended_Corrective_Action_Order_06032015.pdf" rel="nofollow">an amended corrective order</a> that gives new details into the condition of the failed Plains pipeline.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Experts in the field estimated that corrosion at the failure site had
degraded the pipe’s wall thickness to 1/16 of an inch and results from a
recent inspection show corrosion at other sites as well. <a href="http://www.noozhawk.com/article/investigation_ruptured_pipeline_extensively_corroded_refugio_oil_spill">MORE</a></span></div>
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Melinda Pillsbury-Fosterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15407874300095337146noreply@blogger.com