Cheney Dirty Energy Protest
June 16, 2003

Protestors were front and center for the vice president's visit to Harrisburg...

"Pennsylvania Families Deserve Safe, Clean & Affordable Energy Future"

Local Sierra Club members and other concerned citizens held a demonstration today to tell Vice-President Dick Cheney that Harrisburg families want a responsible clean energy plan from the Bush administration. The protesters outside the Crowne Plaza Hotel, where the Vice-President was speaking at a political fundraiser for Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), demonstrated against the Senate energy bill, much of which stems from Cheney's controversial Energy Task Force plan, announced two years ago and developed in secret with the help of energy industry officials.

There were about 75 people with a variety of issues. Our visuals were by far the best - nuclear cooling tower, smokestack, oil barrel and grim reaper costumes plus several signs. We received coverage by several local news outlets. Below is partial coverage from WHTM-27 Harrisburg (at http://www.whtm.com/getscript.hrb?s=5_pm.htm)

About 50-75 protesters representing various groups carried signs and voiced their displeasure with the administration. "The Bush administration and their friends in the Senate are giving billions of dollars to dangerous and polluting industries while Americans get energy market manipulation, more pollution in our air and water, and increased dependence on oil," said Phila Back, Conservation Coordinator for the Pennsylvania Sierra Club. "Every Pennsylvania family deserves a safe, clean and affordable energy future, and fortunately the technology exists to get us there. But the Bush administration and congressional leadership are taking us down the wrong path with a destructive, expensive and polluting energy bill." "There are renewable sources of energy out there, and we want the administration to know we will not support their current energy policies," according to Monica Willett, Sierra Club PA Chapter staff.

A number of folks carrying signs that they hoped the vice president would see as his motorcade arrived. "I didn't expect that he was gonna come out and read all our signs individually, but I think he got the gist as he was going around the corner that there were people here protesting, and there is dissatisfaction in central Pennsylvania with his administration."

"We're really concerned with what the oil industry is doing to the environment, and we'd like to promote alternative energy so the grim reaper doesn't take too many people too soon." (Kim Anderson, local Sierra Club activist)

What is it like to be a human smoke stack? "It stinks!" (Monica Willett, Sierra Club PA Chapter staff)

From funneling billions of dollars to dangerous nuclear and other polluting industries, to opening up our coasts and special places to oil development, to removing key consumer protections in electricity markets, this bill fails on all counts. The current bill is even worse than last year's energy bill and should not be passed.

Much of the Senate energy bill currently under debate reflects priorities established by Vice President Cheney's secret Energy Task Force. According to media accounts, energy industry leaders participated extensively in closed-door meetings with Cheney and other Bush administration officials. As a result, the Energy Policy heavily favors these industries; in fact, some parts of the Policy expressly mimic industry proposals. The result is a destructive energy bill that would open up new areas to drilling and mining, permanently destroying precious and unique places while increasing emissions of global warming gases and our reliance on outdated nuclear and fossil fuel industries.

After numerous attempts by Congress and others to find out how much influence polluting industries had in drafting the Bush administration's Energy Policy, the Sierra Club filed a suit against Vice President Cheney's Energy Task Force. The suit, filed in federal court under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), asks that the Bush administration give a full accounting of who from private industry participated in crafting the national energy policy. A District Judge in Washington, DC has ordered the Administration to begin producing information, but Vice President Cheney appealed the order. A decision on the appeal is expected in the next few weeks.

"The energy policy that came out of the Bush administration has serious impacts on the health and safety of American communities. The public deserves to know who drafted that policy," said Back.

For more background on the Bush administration's energy proposal, see www.sierraclub.org/energy/bush_plan/

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