Rivers of Thought
Life, Leadership, Business & Technology
No, that is not my shopping list for a home renovation, believe it or not, this is a partial list of the junk we found during the White River cleanup last Saturday! The list also includes over 20 car tires (some still on the rims), a couple of truck tires, ½ of a boat, a chair, part of a dock, and mounds of trash! All in, our crew of 14 hauled an estimated ¾ of a ton of trash and debris out of a 2 mile section of the White River.
For our Fall Cleanup we joined forces with groups across four counties that worked to remove over TWENTY TONS of trash, two and half tons of recyclable metals and several hundred tires. What is absolutely mind boggling, is that this was the 15th annual clean up…you’d think we would run out of crap to pick up…but no…people keep tossing in more junk. Some of this stuff is thrown off of bridges or down embankments, purposely tossed into the river. Other stuff comes from parking lots, roads, and fields where people throw out their trash and it washes into the rivers. What really scares me is that this 20 tons of trash is only the stuff we can SEE. What about all of the crap that is either buried in the river bottom or in water too deep to spot it…or what about the stuff we can’t see because it is chemical in nature?
I could go on and on…but what I really wanted to do was to thank the 14 people that gave up 5 or 6 hours of a gorgeous September Saturday morning to provide the muscle needed to accomplish this daunting task! Our 11 canoeists were ably supported by a land crew of three that helped shuttle us along the route and made sure lunch was ready when we were finished. The 11 members of the water crew weere in six canoes (thanks Alan for volunteering to go solo!) and had a fantastic barge provided by the City of Noblesville. Within the first quarter mile we had amassed so much stuff, we had to offload the barge and a couple of canoes at the 206th bridge, where a group of boy scouts helped to move it to the dumpsters.
Before we had gone much further, the barge was again loaded down with enough junk that it could not be towed behind a canoe. So Skipper Scott Martin hopped aboard, sat on an over turned barrel and PADDLED the barge downstream. It looked like the Beverly Hillbillies on their way to Hollywood! After piling on the dock, an erosion tarp, and a half dozen more tires, even Skipper Martin couldn’t steer the load. Yours truly grabbed a rope and pulled the barge downstream towards the finish, aided by some pushing from the team of Brown and Brown. After a mile or so, 51 year old legs and lungs gave out, and Skipper Martin grabbed the rope and finished the journey. 
About a half dozen of the tires we collected had to be hauled out of the river more than once. Within sight of the take out, a stack of tires shifted in one of the canoes…sending them, other trash, and the pilot of the vessel into the water.
After a little over three hours, we arrived at the take out, unloaded the canoes and barge and hauled our collection up the banks where employees of the City of Noblesville loaded the refuse into trucks for its trip the main collection site.
Many, many thanks to the canoe crew of: Scott Martin, Carrie Tarver, Don Weiser, Jamal Handy, Alan Francoeur, Rick Brown, Cody Brown, Brad Ton, JT Ton, and Carmen Ton. Thanks also to our land crew: Andrea Osman, Mary Ellen Ton, and Gene Ton. In addition to the donations of time and muscle, we were supported by a group of sponsors who helped by providing much needed financial support. The sponsors helped to provide lunch, t-shirts and prizes for the event. Many thanks to Elements Engineering, Ron West, Nishida Services, Arete Software, Cisco Systems, Brad Real, and ROI-LLC!
I had never heard of Black Liquor until a colleague told me about it a few weeks ago (though I do confess to drinking several Black Dogs with some locals in a bar in Mumbai India a few years back…but that is another post!). Turns out, Black Liquor is not a drink at all, but is VERY bitter to swallow.
We’ve all heard of the bank bailout, we’ve heard of the auto industry bailouts, who knew we were bailing out the paper mill industry? Who knew they even need bailing out? Who knew we were bailing them out to the tune of $4 billion a year?
In 2005 congress enacted a law as part of a highway bill that would provide a tax credit to companies that would mix alternative fuels with fossil fuels. This tax credit provided a 50 cent per gallon tax credit OR DIRECT PAYMENT. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that this credit would cost the US Taxpayers (me and you) about $61 Million. Now, dear reader, how would YOU interpret the intent of this law? Any sane person would think something that is part of a highway bill would apply to vehicles, right? Any logical person would think the intent of this bill was to reduce the amount of fossil fuels used, right? I think even my dear friend Jay would agree that those are both logical conclusions.
Ok…put that on hold for a minute, while I tell you about Black Liquor. Black Liquor is a byproduct of the paper pulp making process (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_liquor). Since the 1930’s paper mills have been using Black Liquor as a fuel to create energy for their plants. Truly green, before green was cool! Before the recovery boiler was invented in the 30’s this Black Liquor was dumped in to streams and rivers killing off untold numbers of aquatic life. Some mills now achieve over 99% recovery and reuse of this byproduct. In fact US mills produce about 28.5 megawatts of electricity from the burning of this byproduct.
So, all you environmentalists are feeling pretty good about this about now…but as Paul Harvey used to say…in a moment the rest of the story.
Somewhere in 2007, some corporate bean counter had a brilliant idea. “What if we take diesel fuel and MIX it with the Black Liquor? It will still burn in our boilers…AND we will qualify for the Alternative Fuel Tax Credit. WHAT? You are going to take a process that used zero, zip, zilch fossil fuels and introduce the burning of fossil fuels so you can get a tax credit, a refundable tax credit at that (read…a direct payment). An average mill burns about 175 million gallons of black liquor, which equates to about 90 million bucks you and I are giving them! 90 Million bucks to an average mill and the entire program was only supposed to cost 61 million! My guess is that some of the folks that own these paper mills are the some folks complaining about the mounting federal deficit, decry government bailouts and think they pay too much in personal income tax! Hypocritical?
And now? We have Canada ticked off at us! Canada! Mad at us! Their mills don’t get part of this “bail out”! In fact, this practice has lead to layoffs in Canada. (think how outraged WE would be if it were reversed!)
Congress has a lot of issues in front of it when it returns from summer vacation…health care reform, the American Clean Energy and Security Act and countless others. Please express your feelings to your representatives…let them know they need to close this loop hole to stop the bail out of the paper industry!
I am sure by now that you have seen the disruptions of town hall meetings throughout the country (unless of course you don’t read the paper, blogs or the only TV news you watch is on ESPN). What has been an integral part of the American democratic process for over two centuries devolves into nothing but a contest to see who can yell the loudest or the longest or both without really making a point. It’s all over the news media. Something you may have missed however and something that I feel completely undermines the political and democratic process in this country and is far more serious than a handful of folks with the capacity to yell loudly, something that should have all of us outraged…
As reported by the New York Times and others, a firm working for the lobbyist group American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) forged a dozen letters from various community organizations and sent them to members of congress. These letters included the community organization’s name and logo and purported to speak on behalf of the organization’s membership. These letters urged the members of congress to vote against the American Clean Energy and Security Act. Forged Letters! One of the fundamentals of democracy is that our representatives in Washington are just that, OUR representatives. Through letters, phone calls and emails, our representatives gain an understanding of how we, their constituents, feel on any given matter. Forged Letters!
Now, the ACCCE is outraged that a subcontractor to one of its vendors committed such a heinous act. So outraged that they waited over a month to own up to the forgery and then didn’t own up to it until after it was uncovered by the press. So outraged in fact that they basically washed their hands of the situation and accepted no responsibility except to point a finger at the subcontractor of the subcontractor. So outraged in fact that when they learned of the fraud on June 24 TWO DAYS BEFORE Congress was to vote on the American Clean Energy and Security Act they did NOTHING! It is interesting to note, that two of the three Representatives that received these letters voted against the bill.
As I’ve stated in previous postings, I am not a lawyer but let me show you the definition of “Mail Fraud”, a felony.
MAIL FRAUD – 18 U.S.C. 1341, makes it a Federal crime or offense for anyone to use the United States mails in carrying out a scheme to defraud.
A person can be found guilty of that offense only if all of the following facts are proved: First: That the person knowingly and willfully devised a scheme to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false pretenses, representations or promises; and Second: That the person used the United States Postal Service by mailing, or by causing to be mailed, some matter or thing for the purpose of executing the scheme to defraud.
In addition the False Statements Accountability Act states:
The False Statements Accountability Act of 1996, amending 18 U.S.C. § 1001, makes it a crime knowingly and willfully: (1) to falsify, conceal or cover up a material fact by trick, scheme or device; (2) to make any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or (3) to make or use any false writing or document knowing it to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry; with respect to matters within the jurisdiction of the Legislative, Executive, or Judicial branch. The False Statements Accountability Act does not assign any responsibilities to the Clerk and Secretary.
I would think someone needs to go to jail over this. I, for one, certainly feel defrauded and frankly violated. Congressman Markey, one of the authors of the American Clean Energy & Security Act, has expressed deep concern over these forgeries and is demanding some answers from the subcontractor. Other groups are urging the Justice Department and Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate the matter.
We need to take action! I urge you to join me in expressing outrage and in taking back one of our fundamental rights of democracy, the right to have our voices heard.
Please write to Attorney General Eric Holder and encourage him to investigate this matter and hold all the parties responsible, not just the subcontractor to the subcontractor. You can write to Mr. Holder at:
The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Attorney General US Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington DC 20530-0001Next write to the Office of the Clerk of the US House of Representatives and ask them to investigate this as a violation of the Lobbying Disclosure Act and to revoke the registration of the ACCCE to lobby in the House.
Office of the Clerk US House of Representatives B-106 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515Then write to your respective congressmen or congresswomen and urge them to raise the voices and express their outrage.
Finally, write to Stephen Miller the President and CEO of ACCCE and express your outrage to him. Ask him to accept responsibility for those that were under contract to his firm. Ask him why he failed to notify congress the minute he learned of the forgery. You can contact Mr. Miller at:
Mr. Stephen Miller 333 John Carlyle Street Suite 530 Alexandria, Virginia 22314Of course, when you do send these letters you might need to provide 3 or 4 pieces of ID so that they know it’s really you! Or on second thought, why don’t I just write some letters and sign your name…you wouldn’t mind…would you?
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