Story Assignment: Climate Change Proposals Will Harm Low-Income Households

Oregon Center for Public Policy
Media Advisory

April 17, 2008

For More Information Contact: (503) 873-1201

* Michael Leachman, Policy Analyst
* Chuck Sheketoff, Executive Director

Climate Change Proposals Will Harm Low-Income Households Unless Regional Effort Acts to Protect Vulnerable Households

OCPP submitted comments to the Western Climate Initiative urging the states participating in the regional effort to commit to fully shielding lower-income households from the impact of energy price increases resulting from climate change policies.

"Climate change policies should not push households deeper into poverty," said the public comment memo submitted by OCPP in collaboration with colleagues from California, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Washington.

OCPP's comments drew on research showing that price increases resulting from capping carbon emissions would hit lower-income households the hardest, and offered overarching principles for developing effective and efficient policies for protecting these households from facing additional hardship as a result of carbon emissions caps.

Read Public comment on the Western Climate Initiative's April 2, 2008 "Draft Allocations Design Recommendations," (PDF) jointly submitted by OCPP and the California Budget Project, the Children's Action Alliance of Arizona, New Mexico Voices for Children, Voices for Utah Children, and the Washington State Budget & Policy Center.

Visit OCPP's new Climate Change Resource Center for additional information.

Story Assignment: Political Analysis on Nepalese Elections

Institute for Public Accuracy
915 National Press Building, Washington, D.C. 20045
http://www.accuracy.org * ipa@accuracy.org

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Maoist Victory in Nepal

Interviews Available

AFP is reporting: "Nepal's Maoists, on track for victory in landmark elections, on Wednesday called on the country's embattled king to step down 'gracefully' or else face a humiliating eviction from his palace. "The call came as the former rebels maintained a strong lead in the count from last Thursday's vote on the impoverished country's political future.

"The Maoists so far look set to dominate a 601-seat assembly that will rewrite Nepal's constitution, and have said their first act will be to sack King Gyanendra and abolish his 240-year-old monarchy."

MARY DES CHENE, [in Nepal, nearly 10 hours ahead of U.S. ET] mdeschen@artsci.wustl.edu
Mary Des Chene is an anthropologist and editor of the journal Studies in Nepali History and Society. She is fluent in Nepali and has been conducting research in Nepal for more than two decades. She was interviewed Wednesday on Democracy Now! www.democracynow.org

PRAMOD PARAJULI, pramodp@pdx.edu,
http://www.piiecl.pdx.edu/community_partners/pramod_bio.htm
Professor at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon,
Parajuli was born and raised in Nepal. He is founding executive director of the
Portland International Initiative for Leadership in Ecology, Culture
and Learning.
Parajuli said today: "I was last in Nepal at the end of 2006 and
met with those who will be in the new leadership. The U.S. government
should immediately withdraw its designation of the Maoists as 'terrorists' and
graciously welcome the people's verdict. ... It is natural that the
elites of Nepal are completely shocked and aghast at the new developments; the political class and the media expected the Maoists to come in third. ...
"This victory is partly a vote for the Maoists -- many think they
will do something good -- but it's largely a vote away from the other
parties, for they failed to meet raising expectations of the masses or
make any dent on the very entrenched unequal and unjust structure of
the Nepalese state. ..."

Story Assignment: Interview U.S. Rep. David Wu, D-Portland on Sci-Biz Initiative

FOR NEWS PLANNING

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Contact: Julia Louise Krahe

202-225-0855

******NEWS ADVISORY******



WU LEADS EFFORT TO SUPPORT INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES

Subcommittee Acts to Reauthorize SBIR/STTR



WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today Congressman David Wu introduced H.R. 5789, the Science and Technology Innovation Act of 2008, which reauthorizes the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and the Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) program. He will lead the House Committee on Science and Technology’s Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation in marking up the bill tomorrow, Wednesday, April 16, 2008 at 2:00 pm EST.



SBIR and STTR comprise the largest source of federal support for technological innovation in the private sector, providing over $2 billion annually to small, high-tech entrepreneurial companies that are creating revolutionary new technologies.



SBIR is designed to increase the participation of small, high-tech firms in federal research and development efforts. STTR provides funding for innovative technologies that have been developed by an eligible nonprofit research institution, such as a university, and are being commercialized in partnership with a small business.



H.R. 5789 reauthorizes SBIR and STTR through 2010, increases the percentage of research and development funds set aside for the program by participating federal agencies, and increases the size of available awards.



“This legislation is a fundamental part of Congress’ innovation agenda,” said Congressman Wu. “Reauthorizing SBIR and STTR will demonstrate our commitment to promoting the fundamental science and technology components that drive our global, innovation-based economy.”





WHAT: Science and Technology Innovation Act of 2008 Markup



WHO: Congressman David Wu, Chairman, House Committee on Science and Technology’s Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation



WHEN: Wednesday, April 16, 2008, 2:00 pm EST



WHERE: 2318 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, D.C.

View live webcast at http://science.house.gov/

Author Interview Assignment: Military Analyst Michael T. Klare

"Well-researched and incisive throughout, Klare provides a comprehensive but approachable overview of a complex problem, and offers promising policy alternatives to disaster." -Publishers Weekly

Dear Producer,
No longer does the possession of a powerful military guarantee the United States its dominant position in the world. A new political landscape has formed, one in which nations with colossal reserves of oil, natural gas and other sources of primary energy wield disproportionate power. Bestselling author of the now-classic Resource Wars Michael Klare argues that the struggle over energy has become the central dynamic of world affairs in his revealing new book, RISING POWERS, SHRINKING PLANET: The New Geopolitics of Energy. Energy-rich nations such as Russia and Venezuela have begun to wield disproportionate power. As energy-scarce nations compete for depleting resources they form unlikely partnerships with countries rich in oil, natural gas and uranium reserves, providing them arms, troop deployments and dangerous military alliances.

Despite the gloomy prognosis, Klare believes that the worst can be avoided with several important national and international changes. Calling for a China-United States partnership, RISING POWERS, SHRINKING PLANET shows that if the two world powers cooperate, they can work together to develop alternative fuels and energy-saving technologies, making all of us winners and slowing the disappearance of vital materials.

Interviewed on NPR's Fresh Air on Monday, Klare is the author of thirteen books. A regular contributor to Harper's, Foreign Affairs, and the Los Angeles Times, he is the defense analyst for The Nation and the director of the Five College Program in Peace and World Security Studies at Hampshire College in Amherst.

Would you be interested in interviewing him about the book?
Thank you for your consideration, Kate

Kate Pruss Pinnick
Associate Director of Publicity
Shreve Williams Public Relations
kate@shrevewilliams.com

Story Assignment: Net Worth of the Candidates

Institute for Public Accuracy
915 National Press Building, Washington, D.C. 20045
http://www.accuracy.org * ipa@accuracy.org
___________________________________________________

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Net Worth of the Candidates

Interviews Available

The following is the net worth as of 2006 for each of the presidential
candidates of the two major parties:

John McCain: $27,817,187 to $45,045,011
http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/CIDsummary.php?CID=N00006424&year=2006

Hillary Clinton: $10,360,009 to $51,021,998
http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/CIDsummary.php?CID=N00000019&year=2006

Barack Obama: $456,012 to $1,142,000
http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/CIDsummary.php?CID=N00009638&year=2006

For interviews, contact Massie Ritsch at press@crp.org; communication director of the Center for Responsive Politics.

KBOO Community Radio: The Dada Festival is Back! Call for Submissions....

The original Dada Fest in 2001 became a national sensation, with the involvement of dozens of contributors. Dada's daddy, the beloved Richard Francis, is one of my favorite radio producers because of his penchant for airing audio landscape recordings (Best Of: half an hour of simple ambient noise from a French village square on a summer afternoon, with birds, children and church bells). Here our friends are looking at any cool thing you are willing to commit to radio -- one to three minutes or so. If you're interested, email: onehundredonehours@yahoo.com .


Hi All,

I am passing this along at the request of one of our program hosts--
it's an open call to get involved in some radio surrealism. Please read on.
cheers,
ani

Hello KBOO Volunteer,

In the spring on 2001 I was on the phone with Daniel Flessas in the air room
at KBOO just as Jennifer Robin walked in the door and just as I said to
Daniel "Let's do a Dada/Surrealism festival.

In August of 2001, approximately 200 volunteer and previously non-radio
community people engaged in a KBOO radio celebration of Dada &
Surrealism which lasted over 80 hours spread over one week, won us national
recognition and eventually engaged more radio "producers" than simply Jennifer,
Daniel and myself.

We attempted to do all that we could to make it an historically-based,
content-pure event with a strong emphasis on many of the original written
texts transposed for radio mixed with locally produced, often live
contemporary material created by local and regional artists in the tradition
of Dada or Surrealism.

We are presently planning on organizing another celebration, this one
theoretically running 101 hours continuous from Thursday evening at 7p
until Monday night midnight, titled: "One hundred one hours of innumerable
small events which may or may not be related to one another." Our
Program Director, Chris has us "penciled in" for Labor Day weekend.

Richard Francis (me) and Jennifer Robin are again taking on the job of
primary producer/organizers for the event, at least at the outset. But we
hope to keep this event as open and egalitarian as the 2001 celebration
and are wide open for ideas, potential producers/engineers, artists and
proposals.

You may produce only a 1 minute reading of a poem, you might produce a
scattering of small mini-events, or you might take charge of several
hours to produce your own major mini-event within the festival.

Right now we are just looking to see who might be interested in joining in
the fun and how many of you there are who want to begin the groundwork.

This coming Thursday night, April 10 from 9-midnight Jennifer and I
will be presenting a "best of" special pledge-drive show to kick off awareness
of our upcoming festival and hopefully raise some cash. If you can't
imagine how to do Dada and Surrealism, you might want to have a listen.

If you find yourself to be among the interested, please contact this
email
address:

onehundredonehours@yahoo.com

This will enable us to contact you about any upcoming meetings and
festival
news plus it will open a channel for us to keep in touch. Or if you
are
still not internetted, contact either Richard or Jennifer through their
real
world mail boxes at the station.

I have been collecting many new translations of the historical material
which I will make available for those interested in recreating some of
the
past. And you are free to do your own research or branch out into the
latest developments in the tradition (or anti-tradition).

Please spread the word and please let us know.

Once we have collected email addresses of the interested, we will be
contacting you soon about our first meeting where we will have a large
collection of the original material for you to explore and we will be
discussing potential events and the first major steps required to
really get
things rolling.

Thanks for your time and your interest.

Richard Francis
host of
A Different Nature
primary producer for the 2001:
Several Days of Innumerable Small Events Which May or May Not Be
Related To
One Another

IPA Story Assignment of the Week: Airlines and Whistleblowers

Institute for Public Accuracy
915 National Press Building, Washington, D.C. 20045
http://www.accuracy.org * ipa@accuracy.org
___________________________________________________

PM Thursday, April 10, 2008
Airlines and Whistleblowers
Interviews Available
PAUL HUDSON, acapaviation@yahoo.com
Hudson is executive director of the Aviation Consumer Action
Project and a longtime member of the FAA's Aviation Rulemaking Advisory
Committee for air safety who represents airline passengers. He said
today: "What has in effect happened over the last several years is that
airplane safety inspections have been largely privatized.
"The government is allowing airlines to do self-policing -- that
is, airline employees are charged with doing and monitoring safety
inspections. To the extent that government workers do much of anything,
it's mostly just checking over the paperwork.
"We've been critical of this approach. At minimum, the airline
employees doing this need to have whistleblower protection and should
take an oath of office as deputized FAA inspectors. As it is, they are
conflicted and may even be offered bonuses that encourage going along
with questionable procedures."

MARSHA COLEMAN-ADEBAYO, NoFearCoalition@aol.com,
http://web.mac.com/kbstreetlevel/iWeb/nofearinstitute/Home.html
President of the No Fear Institute, which is organizing
Whistleblower Week in Washington in May, Coleman-Adebayo said today:
"The crisis within the aviation industry is just the tip of the
iceberg. ... The Environmental Protection Agency has voluntary initiatives where
industry is policing itself and public health is calculated using a
cost/benefit analysis. If the cost is too high, the public suffers.
Other agencies, such as the Food and Drug Administration, fail to
protect our food supply.
"The brave whistleblowers we've seen this week on the airlines will
likely be retaliated against once the cameras have shut down. Congress
does not protect people who testify before that body, it only allows
them minimal recourse after they've been retaliated against.
"Being a whistleblower almost certainly means the end of your
career in our system. And it frequently means the end of your life -- many
whistleblowers I've met have died from the stress and from the
reprisals.
"A 'perfect storm' composed of corruption, silencing of
whistleblowers, retaliation and discrimination has been gathering for
decades; the outcome of this storm will be devastating.
"I'm currently on leave from the EPA -- I testified twice before
Congress and been retaliated against. The EPA orchestrated a vicious
campaign to force me to take leave without pay. Even with major
congressional leaders, such as John Conyers, Sheila Jackson Lee, Tom
Davis, Henry Waxman and Chris Van Hollen [writing on my behalf], the
EPA has simply ignored them. In fact, Congress generally ignores members
who attempt to fight on behalf of whistleblowers. My situation is not an
isolated case but represents a pattern of vicious retaliation."