While southern Orange progressives (OPies) like to dream of being on the political avant garde, once again a more grounded appraisal reveals the proclivity for these avant gardes to reinvent what has already been shown to be problematic elsewhere.
The local Orange Chatham chapter of the Sierra Club Foundation labors under the delusion that it promotes “environmentally sound” policy decisions by supporting dense growth, applauding rapid population growth from illegal immigrants, ignoring deals between the national Sierra Club and toxic chemical manufacturers (see Pulp Clorox Sierra Club Tie-in Story), and remaining silent about local surface water carrying capacity. Proud of this record, the local chapter works diligently to get into and sustain in local political office such “environmentalists” as Mr. Mike Nelson (of the faux “environmental scientitst” and the Adams Tract creekside Carrboro public works “never happened” garage fame) and Ms. Bernadette Pelissier (of Orange County solid waste environmental injustice ostrich fame).
However, the derring dos of these staunch defenders of the local environment pale in comparison to the “environmental” achievements of Mr. Harry Reid, the Democrats’ Senate leader.
Back in Nevada, Mr. Reid is an enabler for developers and pit miners. He almost singlehandedly is enabling the raping of a desert ecosystem. His runaway growth environmental policy is unchallenged by the Sierra Club. While Lake Mead (Las Vegas’s surface water reservoir) is drying up (48% capacity), “sustainable”, “smart growth”, and “master planned” communities of 16,000 homes continue to bulldoze the desert ecosystem.
Sound familiar Pulp readers?
In the middle of a record western drought, Senator Reid co-sponsored a law granting the Southern Nevada Water Authority (the Las Vegas OWASA) a free right-of-way on federal land to pipe groundwater into Las Vegas from central Nevada, hundreds of miles away. The $3,000,000,000 plumbing plan would tap the Great Basin aquifer, a vast underground sink that runs from Death Valley, California, across central Nevada, into western Utah. As the Great Basin's groundwater is drained, desert springs and seeps will dry up. Native desert plants and wildlife will die off.
Mr. Reid, the enabler, is a darling of East and West Coasts environmentalists. The influential League of Conservation Voters gave him a perfect score in FY 2005 for his voting record on environmental issues. The national Sierra Club praised him for his opposition to a laundry list of things such as coal-fired power plants and oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
So what was the official Sierra Club response to the Great Basin “Drainage” bill? Not a word. What about selling off large tracts of government land in the Las Vegas Valley to developers? Not a word. Senator Reid hobnobs with none other than Mr. Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club Foundation.
It’s not as if the Sierra Club didn’t know about the bill. Senator Reid personally briefed Mr. Pope. According to him, Mr. Reid said “Look, it's important to me that we deal with our water supply problems in Clark County. This appears to be the best way.” That’s all it takes for friends to do friends a favor.
Sound familiar Pulp readers?
The Sierra Club’s excuse? It focuses on broad issues such as climate change and doesn't make regional water disputes a high priority.
According to Ms. Janine Blaeloch, founder of Western Lands Project, a Seattle nonprofit that closely monitors Mr. Reid’s sell-off of government land for Las Vegas growth, ”What's so dismaying is that he gets away with it, because the big environmental groups are bought in.” No supportive response from the Sierra Club.
The Pacific Institute, in Oakland, California recently co-authored a study of Las Vegas, growth and water use. It found that through more conservation Las Vegas could save nearly as much water as Reid’s Great Basin drainage is designed to take. No supportive response from the Sierra CLub
Sound familiar Pulp readers?
Just like Orange County, Clark County, Nevada, is even more hooked on growth. Are there other similarities between Las Vegas and southern Orange?
Consider both locations have transient populations that don’t pay attention to the development costs and local politics. Both have about a 10% voter participation in local elections. Both have developer friends on the municipal governance boards. Both have a controlling economic engine that is a palocracy. Both have a growth and extraction culture, (one minerals and growth, the other students and growth).
Sound familiar Pulp readers?
Mr. Reid has acknowledged that population explosion and drought are posing “difficult choices” for Nevada. Southern Nevada's water managers say there's nothing to worry about with the pipeline. ”This organization is about as environmentally friendly as you'll ever find a water agency, But we'll never know what the precise impacts are until we stress the system.”, according to Southern Nevada Water Authority's deputy general manager.
Sound familiar Pulp readers?
See Portfolio Reid Pipeline Story.
“Holy” Civil Union
Clorox has introduced a new product of “green” products under the consumer warm and fuzzy name “Green Works”. Clorox apparently has concluded it needed to amend its public reputation, being named by the Public Interest Research Group in 2004 as one of a “dangerous dozen” chemical companies in the USA.
PIRG contended in a report that Clorox's handling of chemicals at U.S. production facilities left some 14 million people vulnerable to contamination in the case of an accidental release. (See PIRG Dangerous Dozen Report.)
Clorox has responded by introducing a new line of cleaning products alleged to be more environmentally friendly. Clorox's first new product line in 20 years consists of five cleansers for bathrooms, toilets, glass, surfaces and other uses. They are made from “natural” ingredients such as coconuts and lemon oil, contain no phosphorus or bleach, are biodegradable and are not tested on animals.
So some eyebrows can be forgiven for being raised when Clorox also announced its new “partner” in the Green Works line, the Sierra Club Foundation (“Sierra Club”). The activist “environmental” political advocacy group, used to be better known for suing corporations than forging royalty licensing alliances with them. The Sierra Club will assist in promoting Green Works Clorox products in exchange for a share of the profits.
The Sierra Club won't disclose how much money it will get from the sale of Clorox's “Green Works” cleansers. The Sierra Club says it has the same policy for all “donations”, even though most donations are not licensing royalties. (Yes, this is legally not taxable under the IRS Code, just like the tax-free “stealth PAC” operated by the Sierra Club, see Public Citizen on Stealth PACs.) Such is the state of semantics in protecting the environment. In the words of Mr. Carl Pope, the Sierra Club executive director, ”To us, this is a sign that major companies see the green market maturing and recognize it's possible to manufacture and sell products that will be good for business and for the planet.”
Curiously, the Sierra Club has not endorsed through a royalty license pioneers in the field of green cleaning products, such as as Seventh Generation Inc. or Method Products Inc..
Michigan Ethical Response
Some Sierra Club chapters have maintained a sense of ethical behavior and have cried foul. Officers in the Traverse City, Michigan chapter have resigned over the deal in protest. ”They sold their soul to the highest bidder,” according to Monica Evans, who helped reactivate the club's nine-county Traverse Group in 2000. She and the group's other five executive committee members resigned in May 2008. Their resignations were made public in July 2008. In Ms. Evans’ words, ”The Sierra Club has been fighting against Clorox for decades, trying to get them to be responsible,” Evans said. “Now we're partners with them? It doesn't make any sense. That's the kind of scale that we really need across many industries to transform the American economy to one that's much more environmentally friendly.” Willett said.
Besides the dramatic Michigan response, local Sierra Club chapters in New York, Florida, New Jersey and Tennessee have also criticized the deal.
(See IHT Clorox Sierra Club Story.)
Southern Orange Complicity
The local Orange-Chatham chapter of the Sierra Club (see Phictionary) has remained silent on the Clorox deal. Apparently, these environmental chickenhawks are too busy getting their members elected to “sustainable” local political offices (see Pulp Pelissier Stories), too busy facilitating and promoting overdevelopment, and too busy ignoring population effects from overdevelopment on their “sustainability” platform. Yes, the club exhibits the ethical conduct for which it is widely known locally. (See Pulp Local Sierra Club.)
What’s Next – Mutual Funds?
Having whet its appetite with Clorox, the Sierra Club appears to be considering branding a “green” mutual fund. (See New York Times Mutual Fund Sierra Club Story.)
No word on when the local Sierra Club chapter will hit up OWASA for a licensing deal.
There's no better look at the contorted perspective from which an OPie views the world than this special bit of logic from OWASA apologist and profiteer, builder Marc Marcoplos.
”Wow - that link to Squeeze the Pulp alerts us to the smear campaign they are gearing up toward Bernadette Pelissier. In a bizarre rant, they sought to blame her for everything they deem wrong with the county, including the wrongful proposed siting of a transfer station on Eubanks Rd., before she has even served as a commissioner. One might ask, where the hell have they been for the last decade with their passion for environmental justice? Maybe if they had stepped up a little sooner than this year and actually done some organizing instead of blowing smoke then maybe they could have effected change. It looks like at least we'll be treated to some nose-holding entertainment by these local swiftboaters and slimebaiters.“
Notice how Mr. Marcoplos ignores the following facts:
1) Ms. Pelissier was on the Orange County planning board approving developments without once mentioning the carrying capacity of the land for water consumption.
2) Ms. Pelissier was on the Orange County planning board approving developments without once speaking up about where the trash from those developments were going and who was being affected.
3) Ms. Pelissier was on the OWASA board and never once mentioned the carrying capacity of the land for water consumption.
4) Ms. Pelissier was the head of the local Sierra Club and declared that there was no environmental injustice issue surrounding the Eubanks Road landfill.
5) Ms. Pelissier was invited to hold a Sierra Club forum on the Eubanks landfill issue and ignored the invitation.
For all these acts, Ms. Pelissier is to be excused because in Mr. Marcoplos' mind, “she wasn't a commissioner yet”.
In a classic OPie move, the problem is not the message, but the messenger. If only the Pulp wouldn't mention these INCONVENIENT TRUTHS, then all would be well.
Perhaps the most revealing move by Mr. Marcoplos, who has never once shown up before the Orange County Commissioners advocating for the people who live around the landfill that receive his trash, is that he accepts without question that for over ten years the commissioners have been unable to correct their injustices. He reserves his enmity for those who point out the problem.
No, the local Orange County swiftboater award goes to Mr. Marcoplos, poseur and apologist extraordinaire! (See Phictionary).
I got news for you, waterboy. Ms. Neloa Jones is serious about getting environmental justice in Orange County. And when those who back her and her cause are done, your eco-posing, developer rights support group stroking (local Sierra Club, see Phictionary), do-it-if-it-sounds-good, clear-cutting, carbon neutral breathing, fellow clubber Bernadette will not have a ”pot to Pelissier” in. At long last, the ǘberProgressive, usufructing anarchists like you and your buddies that have trashed this little town have competition from people who have their feet on the ground.
If that makes you nervous, then maybe you should quit drinking the cumbayah cool-aid.
Since you are such a highly skilled builder, perhaps you can go stock up on R-40 insulation. You'll need something to deflect the heat that is coming.
