The Banks of America

A lot of those I know are really upset that big banks are getting bailout because they are thought to be too big to fail or some such poppycock. However, the economic power of banks can also be used to do good, especially when they are convinced that there is a downside to doing otherwise.

Click Read more! and I'll give you a great example.



I was a strong supporter of Jesse Johnson as he ran for Governor of West Virginia. As far as I was concerned, this was the best shot to take political action against the mining political complex that dominates West Virginia, its politics, its economy, its life.

Of course, the best best way to influence an economic decision is to cut off funding, and that is beginning to happen. Thanks to Los Angeles Green, Lisa Taylor, I learned about the new "Coal Policy" at Bank of America.

From my role with the EcoAction Committee, GP US, I have pushed to take on coal on two fronts. First as a major contributor to greenhouse gas buildup in the atmosphere which we all know is a major contributor to global warming. The second is the fact that big coal companies in Appalacia have taken strip mining to entirely new levels. Now, they take the tops off mountains and fill in the surrounding valley's and streams, creating a new wasteland.

The first step may be to cut of devlopment funding and that is exactly what B of A is doing.

Extraction
Bank of America is particularly concerned about surface mining conducted through mountain top removal in locations such as central Appalachia. We therefore will phase out financing of companies whose predominant method of extracting coal is through mountain top removal. While we acknowledge that surface mining is economically efficient and creates jobs, it can be conducted in a way that minimizes environmental impacts in certain geographies.

What ever you think about banks and bailouts, sometimes they do do the right thing. George Bailey would approve.

Now, however, we need to make sure that B of A is not the only one. Every bank needs to be pressured to follow their lead. If you have an account at a major bank, threaten to transfer it to B of A. In these times, no bank wants to lose a client.

Jesse Johnson picks up another endorsement

There are a couple of strange things going on in West Virginia. If you listen to McCain and Palin, you would think that they should be endorsing the Democratic Governor of West Virginia, Joe Manchin III. If you listen to Obama and Biden, you would think that they should be endorsing the Mountain Party Candidate, Jesse Johnson.

Of course, neither is the case. Yet, one by one, Johnson picks up some very welcome endorsements; first from the Sierra Club and now from the West Virginia Citizen Action Group through its Citizen Action Fund. I hope that brought some financial support, but case Jesse needs every cent he can bring in.

Full text of an endorsement release can be read by clicking "Read more!"


Mountain Party gubernatorial candidate Jesse Johnson endorsed by West Virginia Citizen Action Fund


WASHINGTON, DC -- The Jesse Johnson campaign for Governor of West Virginia was endorsed by West Virginia Citizen Action Fund

The Citizen Action Fund, a new political action committee formed by West Virginia Citizen Action Group, is the state's oldest consumer protection and government watch-dog organization.

The endorsement, announced last week and reported in the Huntington Herald-Dispatch ("Citizen group announces endorsements," Oct. 19, http://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/x107810239/Citizen-group-announces-endorsements) recognizes Jesse Johnson's outspoken advocacy for West Virginians in public health, the environment, workers' and consumers' protections, transition to clean alternative energy, and other areas.

"The CAF endorsement clearly acknowledges Jesse as the gubernatorial candidate who will fight for the people of West Virginia instead of powerful corporate interests who've treated the state like a dumping ground," said Lesia Angel, Deputy Commissioner of the Mountain Party.

"Because of mountaintop removal and the power of the coal companies, West Virginia has become ground zero for global climate change in the US," said Jesse Johnson. "The Interior Department is now relaxing rules on mountaintop mining, which will bring untold devastation to the natural environment and a massive threat to public health, through contamination of water and other resources. I'm the only nominee addressing this crisis, because the Democrat and Republican are too closely allied with the coal companies that are plundering West Virginia."

Johnson supporters also noted his strong opposition to a plan by Governor Manchin to allow electric transmission lines, which would allow private, out-of-state companies to take private property from West Virginia citizens and gouge ratepayers.

On October 3, Jesse Johnson was endorsed by the Sierra Club (http://www.greenpartywatch.org/2008/10/06/sierra-club-endorses-jesse-johnson-for-wv-governor/). Mr. Johnson is a former chair of the West Virginia Mountain Party, and as chair, he affiliated the Mountain Party with the Green Party of the United States (http://www.gp.org).

Video clip of Jesse Johnson speaking at a recent West Virginia Youth Commission forum: http://vimeo.com/2013

Jesse Johnson for Governor (of WV) - Sierra Club

I only wish that Jesse were out here to run for Governor of California. I have not found any Green Party candidate for higher office that excites me more. When first introduced to Jesse via his video introduction as a Presidential Candidate from the Reading National Meeting, I had no way to see that he had the ability to run a professional campaign. Having watched from afar as he has moved forward in the West Virginia gubernatorial race, those doubts were pushed asidem and then I found that I was not the only one to be impressed.


Recently, Jesse garnered the endorsement of the Sierra Club in the race for Governor.

“Johnson showed how seriously he takes this issue by speaking to tens of thousands of people nationwide during the last year about the harsh realities of mountaintop removal. His plan for the economy proposes tax breaks and incentives for businesses using renewable energy technology and he has urged that citizens be given a dividend from taxes generated from non-renewables such as coal and natural gas. Unfortunately, Governor Manchin’s support of mountaintop removal has kept West Virginia from moving towards a clean energy future that would benefit the economy and the environment.”

In every case, what I have seen from Johnson is that he has thought through each issue and is prepared to deal with it both rhetorically and practically.

The fight is really about what kind of state West Virginia is, or wants to be. The following from an OpEd by D. Stephen Walker [board member: WV Coal Association] in the Charleston, Gazette tells you exactly why we need Jesse Johnson leading this battle.

Anti-coal extremists and these types of lawsuits also undermine West Virginia's clean coal future and the economic, environmental and social opportunities that will come with it. Coal technologies will help address coal's carbon footprint and offer opportunities for more high-tech, high-wage jobs.

An editorial in the same issue of the Gazette offers a different view of "clean coal."

Supporters of coal like to say that the traditional, plentiful fossil fuel can be part of the nation's energy supply, even as the world desperately needs to reduce emissions from fossil fuels because of climate change.

Coal can be burned more cleanly, they say, and the emissions can be sequestered in the ground instead of emitted into the atmosphere to contribute to global warming.

Yet, if you made a list of the steps required to develop this nonexistent carbon capture and sequestration on a large scale, you would find that few of the steps have actually been done.

The timing is critical now. I wish that Jesse had the funds for a major media buy and just maybe he could get added attention. There are two ways to contribute:

• From the Mountain Party web site: http://www.mtparty.org/donate/index.html
  
• From Jesse's campaign web site: http://www.jesse4wvgov.org/ (Click to enter, click DONATE in top menu).
  

Homegrown Greens

The Green Party has always fallen prey to the idea that the only candidate who can win is one that comes in from the outside with a full blown resume and national name recognition. Thus, we had Nader and he did well... for a while. Now, we have Cynthia McKinney who comes in with a reputation that is filled with pluses and minuses. Yes, she has the moxie to stand up and tell the truth when few others will. Yes, she has a tendency to believe, or at least use, all of the conspiracy theories that might help here cause.

In the mean time, a home grown leader has emerged. That is Jesse Johnson. If you did not pay any attention to him during the presidential primary, you really should start doing so now. Jesse is the real leader in the Green Party affiliated Mountain Party of West Virginia. Right now, he is running for governor there and needs all of the support that we can give him. Follow the Read More link and I will give you raft of reasons why.


Jesse Johnson is playing a smart political game. One by one the road blocks that the machine politicians of West Virginia have placed in the way of the Mountain Party are dropping. They went to court to force inclusion in gubernatorial debates, and won. They went to court to get Cynthia McKinney recognized as a proper candidate for President... and they won.

The more that I learn about him, the more I am impressed with both his biography and his actions.

Now, you know that he is making waves when he gains the endorsement of the Sierra Club. In general, they do not endorse candidates other that Democans unless they think that the endorsed candidate has a chance to win. Well, I will give them credit for a few endorsements for Greens when the other two candidates were simply God-awful He also picked up an endorsement via an OpEd by Mike Gravel in the Charleston Gazette.

In fact, Johnson is doing so well that his campaign has gotten the attention of the National Committee of the Green Party long enough to interrupt the everlasting discussion of bylaws and that says a lot. In fact, if he chooses to run, I will support Jesse for President in 2012.

Given that, I am asking California Greens to contribute Jesse's campaign. Click on the Donate Tab at the top of his home page.