I'm forwarding this to the St. Paul list because this gentleman contacted me and some others some time ago about the GSE ethanol fight in St. Paul and wanted some assistance with his own area's fight against an ethanol plant---I don't know if he contacted everyone in St. Paul who was involved with the fight here and I wanted everyone who might be able to help him to do so.
Cheers, Elizabeth Dickinson West Side Hello all, Forgive me if it is, as this can be considered quite poor netiquette for including people's email addresses in an unsolicited mass email. I know many of you have spoken to me before and know I am a real person and not another email solicitation for Viagra, cheap software or "making millions on eBay" and at least have some shared concerns or interests with the rest of us on the ethanol subject. Hopefully i don't sound like one of those plea emails or newsletters you get from relatives durring the holidays either. (it sort of does though) Please let me know immediately (kindly reply to me and not a broadcast to the entire list either) if you want to be taken off this list. I will not share it with anyone as it is now and it will stay on my computer. Many of you deserve a tremendous amount of thanks for helping our own group out in Ontario with our own so called "bio-refinery" Anyone out of the loop on the situation and wants to really know our latest news (we have been bad at keeping people interested but not intimately involved updated) is that it mostly has to do with our own particular legal battle on a rezoning issue and is in a holding pattern. For those out of the area and not a land use attorney you're eyes will glaze over on this I promise, so send me a note and I'll give you an update if you're really interested. The main purpose of this email is to ask you folks for current and updated contact info to start developing a comprehensive and accurate database and or email list on a national level. (and overseas for you folks) I'm working with an organization in Philly (Energy Justice Network) <http://www.energyjustice.com/> (some of you may not believe it but there are technologies and methodologies being developed in the energy sector that could actually be beneficial to us) and we are in the process of setting up a centrally organized means of sharing resources and information on current and future ethanol industry goings on. New plant construction, grass roots groups fighting existing proposals, methods that worked, methods that don't, how to organize, legal avenues, political activism, working with policy makers, current research, media coverage and etc... You get the "big picture" here right? There is a real need for this nationally as more and more of these facilities come on line mostly at the expense of communities and policy makers who have little care for or knowledge of and individuals who have little say in the process of making an informed decision. This is by no means a complete or exhaustive list thus far as I have had to scrounge and cull up what contacts I have had over the past year or two from various sources of which many i have lost already. I know many of you have had contact with others far beyond my own experience and am asking for you to compile your own lists of contacts (or ask among your own organization's members) that could contribute or be interested in being included in the effort in whatever capacity you might think beneficial as a starting point. Initially we would like to simply have a current list of the various grass roots groups opposed to current plant proposals. Maybe one or two names, numbers etc... where these groups can consistently be contacted. There are only about 5-6 that i have been in contact with. I know there are more as well as many other agencies, organizations and experts in various related industries and fields that some of you are aware of or members in or have had contact with that I don't know how to contact or anything about for that matter. If you could speak among yourselves in your own groups and then get back to me if possible. I'd like to know things such as: Types of companies, type of plant, coal, gas fired, water use, capacity, status of project, city, county, state location. grant money, project funding sources, political structure, web sites etc... i know there is quite a cross section of professional and organizational background represented on my meager list and I'm not smart enough to figure out how to best sort us all out yet, legal, academic, political, environmental, media, activist, scientific, hippie etc... Any ideas? I know there are as many as four new plant proposals out here near us in Idaho one being a huge 150 mgy capacity proposal by Shell Oil and a bio engineering company from Canada supposedly going to use genetically modified straw as a feed stock. Probably news to many of you where you are outside the area but I would ideally like to track down as many of these newer proposals that are cropping up everywhere from the one in Alaska using salmon oil to the proposals in Hawaii using sugarcane if you know or hear about them also. From here, we'll start developing an online discussion area, affiliations with other agencies, orgs, legal, policy makers etc... develop speaker events or conferences, media strategies, publish articles, distance ed courseware, community SWAT teams, create a new political party, start our own country, i don't know, you get the picture... there are plenty of you people smarter than i that probably have better ideas. A real organization that can actually help everyday folks, policy makers and hopefully your own existing organizations and or agencies if applicable. My apologies if you get doubled up with this email. Please let me know so i can fix that. Again, thanks to everyone for their help and your own individual efforts and struggles locally with this issue. Hopefully we can continue to help each other and expand to help others be well informed on the subject. Steve -- Steve Penn 3754 Alameda Drive Ontario, Oregon 97914 <www.concernedcitizensofmalheurcounty.org> _____________________________________________ To Join: St. Paul Issues Forum Rules Discussion Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [email protected] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
