Tea Party Infiltration Report: Signs of the Tide: How to Be an Advocate for Your Community

USD Law School hosted an event by San Diego CoastKeepers called "Signs of the Tide:How to Be an Advocate for Your Community." The event focused on training environmental activists and advocates to be more effective when dealing with legislative and regulatory agencies.  As a tea party supporter, the event was an opportunity to learn the tactics of the environmental left.

Before we dive into a summary of the discussion, let me set the scene. CoastKeepers served Oggi's Pizza, cookies, submarine sandwiches and even mini-muffins. It was a delicious and free meal for aspiring environmental lawyer activists. The organization must be well funded.  The USD campus is beautiful and the building Warren Hall was nice.  Room 3A was very hot and a diesel generator was just outside the window. The noise made it difficult to hear the discussion.  The tea party did not place the generator nor turn off the air conditioning.

Former San Diego city councilwoman, Donna Fry used humor to keep the crowd engaged. Democrat San Diego City Council president Tony Young participated. Sara Wan, former California Coastal Commissioner and Arthur Coe, a former staff member at Regional Water Quality Control Board rounded out the discussion panel. The audience consisted of various former and current officials and staff members along side the future environmental advocates.

The presentation was even-handed and avoided most extreme left-wing politics. The event was informative but for a target audience of lawyers it seemed simplistic. Much of the discussion centered upon building credibility with officials who you intend to influence.

Aspiring activists were given a list of do's and dont's: ( listed in approximate order of importance)

Do:

1. Build Credibility.
2. Be concise.
3. Propose a solution. "State what you want the officials to do."
4. Stick to the main topic.
5. Understand CEQA.
6. Bring someone with a personal story related to the issue at hand.
7. Understand the political climate around the decision makers.
8. Bring supporters who are informed about the issue at hand.
9. Spread major points between several concise allies.
10. Get a meeting with the officials you wish to interact with. An introduction meeting is enough to get the ball rolling.
11. Know your audience. "Do not talk to the Water Quality Control Board about air quality."
12. Get involved at the beginning of the process because the "ball is rolling downhill" later in the process.
13. Learn about the officials you are presenting to and know details like what they like for breakfast.
14. Sue the government to force enforcement of existing law.

Don't:

1. Insult the officials.
2. Lie or make unsupported claims. "You will lose all future credibility."
3. Don't come late to the party. "By the time something is on the official agenda, you are a year behind the political process."
4. Antagonize your opponents or engage in a debate during your limited presentation time.
5. Make enemies with your opponent activists and advocates because you may be able to work together on other issues.
6. Don't bring a bus load of "people wearing buttons who don't know why they are there."

Two groups were singled out as examples of what not to do:

First, the medical marijuana movement had won. It then worked to repeal its own victory in San Diego in order to get a more perfect outcome. The result was a shut down of the marijuana dispensaries by the Department of Justice.

Second, Occupy San Diego evolved from gaining the sympathy of left-leaning Democrats into a disorganized mess. Examples were given of occupiers arguing among themselves. OSD also lost coherent leadership which could be worked with by other advocates and activists. It is assumed that references to "people wearing buttons who don't know why they are there," referred to Occupy San Diego.

At risk of wandering off topic, Doo Doo Economics has been tough on the occupy movement. This is not due to hate, but of concern for American's safety. The occupy movement is now cannon fodder for the progressive movement. 

Occupy is simultaneously being used as controlled opposition and demonized as violent. Controlled opposition takes political focus off of the multiparty success of the tea party movement. Demonization establishes, with regard to President Obama, "the perception of a violent occupy movement is a perfect opponent." This perception of violence is used to assault the first and second amendments and further centralize corrupt power. We may disagree on the chicken-and-the-egg arguments between government corruption and corporate corruption, but that does not preclude compassion for fellow Americans.

Absent were mentions of factual arguments. Most of the discussion points came down to "personal relationships" with the decision makers, their staff and other advocates. This is not surprising as the speakers were all left-leaning and more concerned with emotional appeals.

Humanity is best when intellect and emotion come together. In sports we call this convergence, "being in the zone." America has traditionally benefited from having liberals and conservatives approach common problems from different points of view. So, hopefully, some left-wing advocates will develop working relationships with the rest of us. Don't hold your breath, but this civility sentiment was echoed when Donna Fry mentioned:

Don't make everything personal. Not everyone on the other side is evil because they disagree with you.

It is unlikely to happen while the Obama administration drives division through class, sex and race warfare.

USD Law School Hosts Open Environmental Junk Science Training

Announcing a free seminar on how to overthrow the capitalist system with environmental junk science on Aug 7. This is a must see event. Stay quiet and respectful so they can speak freely. It will be hilarious!

Signs of the Tide:

How to Be an Advocate for Your Community

Feel like you can’t make a difference? Don’t know where to start? Let us teach you at Signs of the Tide. Join to learn about how to be a better advocate for your community and leave with a stronger voice.

Former City Councilmember Donna Frye will moderate a panel of experts including:

• Sara Wan, a coastal advocate and former California Coastal Commissioner, will share her perspective as an experienced and successful environmental activist.
• Arthur Coe, a former staff member at Regional Water Quality Control Board, will share an inside view of regulatory decision-making and what makes an effective regional board advocacy.
• Tony Young, San Diego City Council president, will provide an inside view of decision-making as an elected representative.

Join us on August 7 at University of San Diego Law School from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. in Warren Hall, Room 3A. There is parking available either in the lot adjacent to the law school or the Mission parking area. (Please see campus map here.)

We will provide you some light food and refreshments for you to enjoy.
Slideshow photo credits include Jackie Loza and Raymond Shipps.

Tea party activists, libertarians and conservatives will learn a lot about the opposition by attending this meeting.

San Diego: Lord Monckton Battles Global Warming Mad Men

Photo by Anthony Porrello

Lord Christopher Monckton gave a real Reason Rally at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice Theater at the University of San Diego. The crowd rose to their feet on several occasions as Lord Monckton presented the truth about global warming "science" and the consequences to human freedom. The Viscount Monckton of Brenchley mixed good humor and good information for an terrific presentation.

Some of the key points of the presentation

The primary formula used to calculate "feedback" warming from CO2 is clearly wrong. Observational data was presented that clearly shows global climate is cooler now than it was in the Medieval warm period and within the natural climate variation of the last several thousand years. The "feedback" formula was shown to be a factor of 4.4 times the actual observed and measured value. Further, the actual "feedback" works to stabilize temperatures, not exacerbate them.

The computer models used by the IPCC are based upon a decline in escaping heat with increased CO2. The observed data, in green at the center, shows the opposite result.

Lord Monckton walked through the four IPCC climate reports and showed the evolution of lies and "tricks" used to create and maintain the Global Warming Scam. The take away from this portion of the presentation is the discredited "Hockey Stick."  To create the hockey stick, numbers were not just manipulated and "tricked," they were generated. You can read an entire book on this subject called The Hockey Stick Illusion.

Another key presentation point was on the validity of "Consensus." Science is not consensus and consensus is not science.The notion that "2,500 scientists can't be wrong," is just a fallacy. The climate models and data actually all boils down to one scientist who used the formula for electrical feedback (aka microphones) as the basis for the modeling of CO2 "feedback." There is no scientific consensus on how much the world has warmed or will warm.

If you want all the nitty gritty details on the global warming scam, here is a list of some of my previous posts:

• Global Warming Hoax Update: Little Ice Age Censored from Books
• An Astronomical Theory of Climate Change
• Milankovitch Cycles
• Heroes of the Republic at the AFA/UCLA Big Footprint Conference (featuring Lord Monckton)
• Harold Lewis Emeritus Professor of Physics Resigns over Climate Change Fraud
• Solar Irradiance Causes Climate Change

The Point to the Conference

The point to the conference was the peril California faces this summer. In August 2012, California holds the first cap and trade / carbon tax credits auction. It is expected to raise one billion dollars for the state. At that point, this will become a revenue source with big bank and political ties that will never be undone. CO2 becomes a  commodity to be traded and taxed. It will mark the largest transfer of wealth from private citizens to big banks and big government in American history. Europe is already wasting hundreds of billions on this useless scam. The impact on the economy is apparent. The impact on the environment is not.

The best case scenario is that California will raise 400+ billion dollars in taxes to reduce global warming by .001 degree Celsius over 100 years. In reality, the scheme will enrich the regulators and break the public. It will do nothing of worth.

In Britain a similar scheme was passed with absolutely no measurable benefits. No study to gauge the benefits of taxing the public for "carbon pollution" was done prior to the law being passed. Estimates of revenue generated were completed.

In Europe 5/6 of government decisions are made by regional regulators who are not elected nor held accountable. America, through cap-and-trade and agenda 21, is facing the same fate. America is bowing to the same global governance scheme. We Americans will have all the trappings of democracy without the messy democratic process.

The Conference

This important and hugely successful event was organized by Americans Protecting Property Rights and CfactSoCal.org. The hall was overflowing and video conference rooms were required for the additional attendees. Lord Monckton was friendly and open to questions before and after the event. The excellent efforts of the volunteer organizers are greatly appreciated. It is good to see such forward thinking and competence in organization from fellow tea party volunteers. The familiar faces and welcoming attitudes are a hallmark of the movement. For examples of attitudes from the left, look no further than ThinkProgress.org's coverage of Lord Monckton. You can also follow Lord Monckton's exploits as a contributor at Whats Up With That. Americans Protecting Property Rights is also found on facebook.

Conclusion

From the beginning of the Global Warming Hoax, I have been trying to expose the utter ignorance of the entire argument. It appears the end game has arrived. While we have successfully debunked the science, politicians are woefully ignorant of the facts. There are also progressive forces who are actively trying to destroy our economic and political freedoms to undermine our constitutional rights in order to accumulate power and control. 

California Assemblyman (77th) Brian Jones commented that many lawmakers who passed The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB32) did not know what it was. It turned out to be the United Nations 1997 Kyoto Accord. AB32 is the entry point for global governance.

The members of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) are appointed and operate outside any legislative oversight. CARB will be implementing Cap and Trade.

If you ask why these people would harm you and your family, the answer lies in these anti-American comments:

• "All of these dangers are caused by human intervention... the real enemy then, is humanity" Alexander King 
• "...current lifestyles and consumption patterns of the affluent middle class--involving high meat intake, use of fossil fuels, appliances, home and work air conditioning, and suburban housing --are not sustainable" Maurice Strong, Secretary General, UN Conference on Environment & Development, 1992 (Rio Earth Summit)

This is the last call for freedom. As Lord Monckton emphatically proclaims,

"I was born in a democracy. I will die in a democracy."

 America is an idea, based in freedom. So I proclaim that our ally Lord Monckton is a great American. We need more great Americans to stand at our side.

Voodoo Environomics

H. Leighton Steward of the Washington Times has written an article outlining that "Fantasy replaces reality in Obama's green economy." The article is entitled Voodoo Environomics which has obvious synergy with this blog and much of my focus.

Here is a short except to help promote this endeavor:

At the very heart of voodoo environomics, of course, is the much-hyped theory linking man-made carbon dioxide (CO2) and climate change. Without the world’s policy focus on CO2 emissions, climate-change alarmists would be robbed of the ammunition they need to change and control human behavior via draconian energy policies. They also would be robbed of the substantial financial support needed to continue their biased research.

When adopted as official government policy, voodoo environomics can wreak havoc on the economy and represents a double whammy for working Americans. The admitted goal of CO2-slashing schemes such as “cap and trade” is to jack up the price of energies like gasoline and coal to make expensive alternative energies more competitive financially. Of course, their proponents hope you don’t realize that it’s ordinary Americans who are stuck paying higher prices for utilities and gasoline.

Cash for Clunkers Continues with CARB's VAVR Program

Bloomberg/Businessweek is reporting a surge in new car sales:

Light-vehicle sales in December, set for release tomorrow, may have run at a 13.4 million seasonally adjusted annual rate, the average estimate of 14 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, up from the 12.5 million pace a year earlier. While the rate may trail the 13.6 million seasonally adjusted pace in November, typically a slow sales month, the number of units sold increased in December, according to the average of five estimates.

They have failed to report the fact that many low income consumers are now without transportation. Cash for Clunkers is still alive and well in California as Voluntary Accelerated Vehicle Retirement (VAVR). The misconceived program makes vehicles unattainable for young and low income people. VAVR also pushes middle income people into debt for new cars with the cost of adherence to environmental regulations combined with large cash incentives.

The State’s recently enhanced Consumer Assistance Program (CAP) was developed by the ARB in consultation with BAR and provides $1,000 per vehicle and $1,500 for low-income consumers for unwanted vehicles that have either FAILED or PASSED their last Smog Check Test. (CA.gov Car Scrappage webpage)

Maybe I need a second pair of eyes on that sentence; does it read $2500 for a clunker? (UPDATE) Thank you for helping resolve this conundrum, it is $1000 or $1500 per this application.

The VAVR program uses tax money to remove fully functional and smog compliant vehicles from the road. The California market is gentile on used cars due to the favorable weather. Southern California has the best climate in the country and many of the region's cars and light trucks gain a greater operational life than vehicles from colder, saltier and more humid climates. Regardless, our environmental overlords have decided that the back of a bus is better suited to low income citizens.

...monetary or other incentives to vehicle owners to voluntarily retire their older, more polluting vehicle. (CA.gov VAVR webpage)

This is a program that trickles down to every used car consumer in America because the "retired" vehicles are dismantled.  (A list of "auto dismantlers" can be found on this FAQ sheet.)  Here is a quick list of the immediately foreseeable negative consequences of this policy:

• Hinders employment for those who cannot find cheap reliable transportation. 
• Spawns a new breed of exploitative scams against the old and low income. 
• Wastes scarce tax money.
• Calls for higher taxes to pay for "firemen, police and teachers" when the real problem is wasted money.
• Falsifies economic indicators as the choices to purchase used cars are reduced.
• More union money stolen from consumers and "redistributed" into politician's back pockets.
• Class warfare exacerbated as poor and old are left even more dependent.
• More pollution as smog compliant vehicles are "dismantled" leaving low income people with bad alternatives.
• Increased pollution as a few more coal powered, toxic-battery powered electric vehicles are pushed into service.
• Increased human misery as more people are forced into illegal, immoral and undignified behavior.
• Price gouging for new and slightly used cars due to lack of alternatives
• That's enough for now...but more in-depth analysis is available from Beers with Demo.

This is more fascism attributed to the blind environmentalist cult known commonly as progressives. Maybe we should redefine this as Mayan Economics, in honor of 2012.

Environmental Justice EPA Strategy EJ2014

The Environment Protection Agency is doubling down on Environmental Justice with Agenda EJ2014. The agency has published resources at the website, which include the strategy's effusive goals:

The goals of the plan are to:

• Protect health in communities over-burdened by pollution
• Empower communities to take action to improve their health and environment
• Establish partnerships with local, state, tribal and federal organizations to achieve healthy and sustainable communities.

Plan EJ 2014 is not a rule or regulation. It is a strategy to help integrate environmental justice into EPA's day to day activities.

It is time to do some further reading, but an example of how EJ2014 works has already been revealed in Corpus Christi, Texas, From PowerlineBlog.com's John Hinderaker:

The EPA’s stated concern is for communities called Hillcrest and Dona Park, which are “located along the fence line of Ship Channel facilities.” The EPA cites a single local pressure group, Citizens For Environmental Justice, as a source of its focus on Corpus Christi. So, what does the agency propose to do, given that Corpus Christi’s refineries are already satisfying the government’s emission standards?

Members of the Hillcrest and Dona Park neighborhoods have concerns about excess emissions, flaring, and industrial accidents affecting residents near the fenceline of large industrial facilities, even if environmental compliance is improved. In addition, some community residents have expressed a strong desire to be relocated.

Relocated? Does that mean the EPA might buy them a bus ticket? Or does it mean the agency will try to pressure the owners of the refineries to buy them a new home, somewhere else?

EPA Commitments: EPA will encourage and join in discussions between concerned members of communities, the City, industry and other interested stakeholders regarding voluntary options for addressing important fenceline community issues, including increased buffer zones, reduced emissions, better communication and relocation.

“Increased buffer zones” means relocating the people who live closest to the refineries and razing their homes.

Although EPA’s legal authority to require the creation of buffer zones or to order industries to relocate nearby residents is very limited, EPA will work to bring all parties together at a Summit where issues can be identified and workgroups can be formed to find constructive solutions.

“Very limited”? To my knowledge, the EPA has no authority whatsoever to order citizens to move, to destroy their homes, or to force industries to buy new houses in different locations for people who happen to live near their facilities–most of whom moved there long after the refineries were constructed.

The EPA does have the ability to cost private businesses millions of dollars through extortion by slowing or blocking access to the government agency's permitting process. Businesses who do not pay "protection money" in the form of whatever is deemed "Environmentally Just" will be damaged or destroyed.

Chicago style government corruption is growing at a startling rate. Bribes and extortion are inevitable when reasoned equal justice through publicly debated law is swept aside by Eric Holder and Barack Hussein Obama in favor of social, environmental or other meaningless forms of "justice."

Read the entire series on this issue at Powerlineblog.com and keep up to date with Tea Party issues by visiting the San Diego Local Order of Bloggers.

$132,272 of Your Tax Money Found!

Your money is hiding at Drew Ford in La Mesa, California next to the I-8 highway. Perfectly positioned to advertise the green agenda redistribution of wealth.  Drive by and proudly bask in the bureaucratic accomplishment of enriching Bill Drew.

An article entitled First Local Auto Dealer Goes Solar  found at energycenter.org touts the bureaucratic accomplishment as follows:

"Terry Clapham, CCSE manager of distributed generation, presented general manager Bill Drew a rebate check for $132,272 from the California Solar Initiative."

Bill Drew: “Furthermore, it makes economic sense because we will save as much as 30 percent on our dealership’s utility costs and recover nearly 70 percent of the investment through rebates, tax credits and depreciation.”

Thank goodness we no longer live in a world where "economic sense" is based on economics or sense. If these solar panels made actual "economic sense" wouldn't the power company, with all its billions of dollars of capital, be operating solar power farms.

Maybe they can't run solar power generation farms due to environmental regulations... huh?

Well, why worry our heads with confusing notions like logic. Lets get back to screwing in some hazardous waste based CFL light bulbs and driving our coal powered electric vehicles. At least we can sleep soundly in the knowledge that our money is being used for the greater good (of politicians).


5/26/2008 update: (yes that is a joke - Westminster Abbey guest book)

Drew Ford is having a sale! No electric vehicles, three trucks, 2 SUVs, and the 2011 Fusion SE are advertised. They must be trying to make room for the solar panel powered electric vehicles. (caugh)