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Written by: James Evans, Berwin Berlin, Rebecca Curry

Published: 20 April 2007

Created: 20 April 2007

Last Updated: 21 April 2007

An open letter to California's Congressional Delegation:

American voters strongly rejected the Bush Administration's war of aggression in Iraq by electing Democratic majorities in both houses of congress. The Democratic Party earned a mandate for change which must now be translated into action.

Of all the issues confronting the new Congress, ending the occupation in Iraq is at the top of the list because of its great complexity and huge financial impact. The Lake County Democratic Club strongly urges and supports the votes of our California Congressional Delegation to do the following:

– Provide funding to equip and train our troops and provide needed medical and ongoing care to all of our veterans.

– Set a timeline for immediate re-deployment of our troops from Iraq, moving them out of a full blown civil war.

– Prohibit establishment of permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq.

– Make future proposed economic assistance to Iraq subject to strict congressional pre-conditions and accountability.

– Undertake comprehensive regional and international diplomatic initiatives to achieve a political settlement in Iraq and prevent the conflict from spreading into a wider regional war.

These provisions were included in HR 787, introduced by Congressman Mike Thompson. The provisions have been included in the recently passed House and Senate supplemental bills. These bills require that our troops are trained and ready, that our veterans and their families receive the care

they deserve, and that the executive is accountable to the people regarding military spending.

We also urge our California legislators ensure that no funds appropriated by Congress may be expended to engage in war with any people, nation or movement unless a formal Declaration of War has been made by Congress.

Once a settlement in Iraq is achieved, we can focus our national resources toward underfunded vital issues such as health care, education, and environmental protection.

Respectfully,

James Evans – Issues & Legislation Committee Member

Berwin Berlin – Issues & Legislation Committee Member

Rebecca Curry – Chair

on behalf of the membership of the Lake County Democratic Club

 

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Written by: Lake County News Reports

Published: 17 April 2007

Created: 17 April 2007

Last Updated: 07 May 2007

The success of the Sierra Club Lake Group's April 14 Global Warming rally at Clearlake's Austin Park despite distinctly uninviting weather was due primarily to the many individuals in our community who refused to let rain, wind, and cold keep them from demonstrating their concern for the fate of our planet.

Thanks to you, we were able to add the voices of Lake County to the nationwide chorus emanating from more than 1,400 events in the Step It Up campaign's National Day of Climate Action. Together, we sent a powerful message to our elected leaders: we need to fend off the threat of catastrophic climate change, and in order to do so we must all work together to cut global warming emissions enough to culminate in an 80 percent reduction by the year 2050.

The Lake Group is particularly grateful to Supervisor Ed Robey for his deft services as master of ceremonies; to Mayor Judy Thein for her warm welcome on behalf of the City of Clearlake; to Lake County Special Districts head Mark Dellinger for his account of the county's remarkable ongoing efforts to trim its own carbon footprint; to Barbara Christwitz for her persuasive discussion of the virtues of solar ovens and the ease of constructing them; and especially to Supervisor Denise Rushing, whose inspiring presentation, "Global Warming and You: what individuals can do to make a difference," was the keynote of the event.

Peter Senkowski's electric vehicle, Eileen Irving's information about Lake Transit, and Glenneth Lambert's green building display all engaged the interest of participants. Janis Paris and Paul Frindt provided a truckload of sound gear and the professional expertise needed to make it function, and with the assistance of bass player David Gilmore also treated us to several rousing sets of songs that were as musicially adept as they were spiritually invigorating. Thank you!

Thanks also to Hiram Dukes, who videotaped the event, and to Denise Rushing, Shirley Howland, and Juliana Vidich for their quick response to an emergency appeal for equipment that could provide a refuge from the elements. The hasty construction of several shade shelters and a substantial tent in the rain and wind was something of a challenge, but due to the efforts of Jack Arnold, Ryan Callen, Fred Cork, Lars Crail, Denise Rushing and Juliana Vidich we made it in time to offer a dry venue to grateful tablers. Bill and Barbara Christwitz, Paul Kolb, Jack Arnold, and Juliana Vidich then took everything apart again two hours later.

Many thanks to all of you: your dedication, your commitment, and your hard work are precisely what this planet needs, and this community too.

Victoria Brandon
Chair, Sierra Club Lake Group

 

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Written by: Lake County News Reports

Published: 16 April 2007

Created: 16 April 2007

Last Updated: 16 April 2007

A stake has to be driven through the heart of an incomprehensible rationalization advanced by President Bush and others for not taking decisive action against global warming: It must not hurt the American economy.

Do Bush and his advisers really think that global warming is not going to hurt the economy worse if they don't act? Do they think that permanent drought in western agricultural areas is not going to hurt the economy? That flooding of our coastal cities and relocation of millions of citizens is not going to hurt? Does it bother them at all that up to 1.7 billion people worldwide will not have enough water?

Do they actually believe that a mass refugee movement into the Pacific Northwest will not tax its resources? Do they not care about the flooding of coasts and islands where hundreds of millions people live?

Do more hurricanes worry them? Do they remember Katrina? Are they concerned about the dangers to the world's vulnerable poor? About mass extinctions of species?

Apparently, not much. Is it that they care most about preserving the finances of the richest Americans, of Bush's friends, relatives and associates in the oil industry, and about continuing to put maximum free market profits above any other public consideration? Are they out to make as much they can before a Democratic president gets in? Is this the economy they mean? That at least would make sense.

Otherwise, pardon the language, this business about not hurting the economy amounts to pure bovine scat.

Larry Spears

Eugene, Ore.

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