[Sdpg] 2/15, Support Clean Energy, Oppose LNG

[San Diego Economic Conversion & Permaculture Center]

Dear Friends of the San Diego Economic Conversion Council &
the San Diego Permaculture Center,

This week Ratepayers for Affordable Clean Energy (RACE) will sponsor a
series of events in So. California to oppose the energy industry's push to
import Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) into California.  The educational tour,
entitled "LNG: The Wrong Choice for California," includes events in
Ensenada (2/14), San Diego (2/15), Long Beach (2/16), Oxnard (2/17), and
Santa Monica (2/17).

Please join us for the San Diego press conference on Tuesday, Feb. 15th, 12
noon, at
the City Hall Concourse (outdoor open area) at 2nd and B Street in downtown
San Diego (in the shadow of the Sempra Energy office tower to the immediate
south).

The San Diego event will include a statement from City Councilwoman Donna
Frye and Deputy Mayor Michael Zucchet.  Donna Frye and Michael Zucchet
co-signed a letter to the California Public Utilities Commission in December
2004 calling for evidentiary hearings on the question of whether California
should be facilitating liquefied natural gas imports to the state.  Sempra
is planning to import LNG from a pristine area of Indonesia, West Papua,
where an independence movement has been simmering for 45 years. Indonesian
human rights activist John Rumbiak will speak on the impacts of this LNG
project on the environment and people of West Papua.  Carla Garcia Zendejas,
an environmental attorney from Tijuana, will speak of the impacts of the
Sempra LNG import terminal on Baja California.  A legendary big wave will be
destroyed by the breakwater being built for the Baja terminal.  Serge Dedina
of Wildcoast will address how the project will put an end to a unique surf
spot.

The coalition includes additional experts who will speak on the following
issues:

.       The questionable need for LNG in California, and the myth of
declining domestic natural gas reserves;
.       The safety hazards posed by LNG terminals in coastal communities;
.       The environmental damage in Baja California caused by LNG terminals
proposed by Sempra, Shell, and ChevronTexaco to serve San Diegans;
.       The human rights and environmental impacts of LNG extraction abroad
in Russia, Indonesia, and Peru;
.       The impact of further dependence on fossil fuels on global warming;
.       Exporting $10s of billions overseas to buy LNG when our state has
made a commitment (the Energy Action Plan) to using these $ to accelerate
energy conservation and renewable energy sources at home;
.       Clean energy alternatives to LNG.

For more info, contact Bill Powers (619) 295-2072 or cell (619) 917-2941 or
email <bpowers at powersengineering.com>