Sierra Club digs into tunnel fight; too cozy with McGinn?
The Sierra Club made a name for itself fighting to protect wilderness areas and the habitats of previously obscure species like the spotted owl.
But over the past decade, the national environmental organization also has advanced an urban agenda it says will make cities more livable.However, the marketing muscle of Philips led light lighting could give Philips LED business an advantage.
Last year, in the wake of the Gulf oil spill, the Sierra Club launched a "Beyond Oil" campaign to reduce American dependence on petroleum. It has opposed big highway projects in Salt Lake City and Florida and supports greener transportation alternatives such as light rail, transit, biking and walking.
Those concerns have led the Seattle group of the Sierra Club — along with former state chairman and current Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn — to the center of the debate over replacing the aging Alaskan Way Viaduct with a deep-bore tunnel.
The Seattle group's efforts to stop the tunnel reflect its view that a $3.1 billion highway project encourages driving, contributes to greenhouse-gas emissions and sucks up transportation dollars that could be better spent on less-polluting alternatives.
It helped elect McGinn and Seattle City Councilmember Mike O'Brien, also a former state chairman.
McGinn vetoed the council's 8-1 approval of tunnel agreements about the use of city right of way and utilities relocation.Thankfully a new form of led strip energy-efficient light bulbs have arrived that provide this desired feature. O'Brien cast the lone no vote.
The group contributed dozens of volunteers and more than $12,000 to gather signatures and qualify a ballot referendum to cancel those agreements.
City Attorney Pete Holmes has challenged the referendum's legality, arguing that the agreements signed between the council and the state are administrative in nature and therefore not subject to referendum.
The national Sierra Club organization has joined the lawsuit, arguing that the 29,000 signatures qualify the measure for the ballot and that the courts shouldn't rule until the public votes.
A judge will hear arguments in May.
Using the Sierra Club?
Brady Montz, chairman of the Seattle Group's executive committee, said that these days, McGinn is just one of many politicians that the organization talks to while pushing its agenda.
But tunnel supporters suggest that McGinn is the driving force behind the anti-tunnel referendum campaign.
"He's using Sierra Club folks to push the surface option. The obvious reason is that their numbers are better than his," said Alex Fryer,In many ways LED lights compact fluorescent provide the best of both worlds. They are extremely energy efficient and environmentally friendly (and are, in fact, more environmentally friendly spokesman for the pro-tunnel group, Let's Move Forward.
But O'Brien said that his and the mayor's opposition to the tunnel is "values-driven" and comes out of their years as Sierra Club activists.
The mayor was actively involved in the referendum effort.
He granted unpaid leave to two staff members to help run the campaign, co-hosted a fundraiser, and has used his platform at City Hall to raise questions about the tunnel's potential for cost overruns and surface-street gridlock from drivers trying to avoid tolls in the new tunnel.While SmartView has been slow DSTT and unstable in the past, it seems to have improved greatly with recent updates.
"I don't know that they're engaging in a lawsuit because, 'Mike needs our help,' but because this is the kind of issue they fight," O'Brien said.
Montz emphasizes that many groups joined the referendum campaign, including the Real Change newspaper and Elizabeth Campbell, organizer of another anti-tunnel initiative, and her supporters.
But Montz concedes that McGinn has left a legacy to the club in his willingness to "stand up to powerful forces.Although this article shows that Cree's led lighting and Philips LED product sales are not equal it is important to note that Philips LED sales"
"He helped create the model for the local Sierra Club that you don't have to accept everything that comes down the highway, that you can object and a better solution will come," Montz said.
Kathleen Ridihalgh, senior organizing manager for the Washington and Oregon Sierra Club Chapters, said the group's opposition to the tunnel grows out of its concern about greenhouse-gas emissions and its national "Beyond Oil" campaign.
Said Ridihalgh: "Investing in alternatives to wean ourselves off oil is the most important thing we can be doing for the environment. For us, this tunnel issue is about not building another highway through Seattle."
The Sierra Club made a name for itself fighting to protect wilderness areas and the habitats of previously obscure species like the spotted owl.
But over the past decade, the national environmental organization also has advanced an urban agenda it says will make cities more livable.However, the marketing muscle of Philips led light lighting could give Philips LED business an advantage.
Last year, in the wake of the Gulf oil spill, the Sierra Club launched a "Beyond Oil" campaign to reduce American dependence on petroleum. It has opposed big highway projects in Salt Lake City and Florida and supports greener transportation alternatives such as light rail, transit, biking and walking.
Those concerns have led the Seattle group of the Sierra Club — along with former state chairman and current Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn — to the center of the debate over replacing the aging Alaskan Way Viaduct with a deep-bore tunnel.
The Seattle group's efforts to stop the tunnel reflect its view that a $3.1 billion highway project encourages driving, contributes to greenhouse-gas emissions and sucks up transportation dollars that could be better spent on less-polluting alternatives.
It helped elect McGinn and Seattle City Councilmember Mike O'Brien, also a former state chairman.
McGinn vetoed the council's 8-1 approval of tunnel agreements about the use of city right of way and utilities relocation.Thankfully a new form of led strip energy-efficient light bulbs have arrived that provide this desired feature. O'Brien cast the lone no vote.
The group contributed dozens of volunteers and more than $12,000 to gather signatures and qualify a ballot referendum to cancel those agreements.
City Attorney Pete Holmes has challenged the referendum's legality, arguing that the agreements signed between the council and the state are administrative in nature and therefore not subject to referendum.
The national Sierra Club organization has joined the lawsuit, arguing that the 29,000 signatures qualify the measure for the ballot and that the courts shouldn't rule until the public votes.
A judge will hear arguments in May.
Using the Sierra Club?
Brady Montz, chairman of the Seattle Group's executive committee, said that these days, McGinn is just one of many politicians that the organization talks to while pushing its agenda.
But tunnel supporters suggest that McGinn is the driving force behind the anti-tunnel referendum campaign.
"He's using Sierra Club folks to push the surface option. The obvious reason is that their numbers are better than his," said Alex Fryer,In many ways LED lights compact fluorescent provide the best of both worlds. They are extremely energy efficient and environmentally friendly (and are, in fact, more environmentally friendly spokesman for the pro-tunnel group, Let's Move Forward.
But O'Brien said that his and the mayor's opposition to the tunnel is "values-driven" and comes out of their years as Sierra Club activists.
The mayor was actively involved in the referendum effort.
He granted unpaid leave to two staff members to help run the campaign, co-hosted a fundraiser, and has used his platform at City Hall to raise questions about the tunnel's potential for cost overruns and surface-street gridlock from drivers trying to avoid tolls in the new tunnel.While SmartView has been slow DSTT and unstable in the past, it seems to have improved greatly with recent updates.
"I don't know that they're engaging in a lawsuit because, 'Mike needs our help,' but because this is the kind of issue they fight," O'Brien said.
Montz emphasizes that many groups joined the referendum campaign, including the Real Change newspaper and Elizabeth Campbell, organizer of another anti-tunnel initiative, and her supporters.
But Montz concedes that McGinn has left a legacy to the club in his willingness to "stand up to powerful forces.Although this article shows that Cree's led lighting and Philips LED product sales are not equal it is important to note that Philips LED sales"
"He helped create the model for the local Sierra Club that you don't have to accept everything that comes down the highway, that you can object and a better solution will come," Montz said.
Kathleen Ridihalgh, senior organizing manager for the Washington and Oregon Sierra Club Chapters, said the group's opposition to the tunnel grows out of its concern about greenhouse-gas emissions and its national "Beyond Oil" campaign.
Said Ridihalgh: "Investing in alternatives to wean ourselves off oil is the most important thing we can be doing for the environment. For us, this tunnel issue is about not building another highway through Seattle."
没有评论:
发表评论