Plastic Alto with Mark Weiss

Sponsors of the forum on Green palo alto council members:

350 Silicon Valley

Acterra

Action for a Healthy Planet

California Interfaith Power and Light

Canopy

Carbon-Free Palo Alto

Citizens Climate Lobby (their account made this possible)

Cool Block Palo Alto

Cool Planet Working Group

Friends of CalTrain

LCV Our Earth is Worth Fighting For (League of Conservation Voters)

Mothers Out Front Mobilizing For a Livable Climate

Palo Alto Forward

Sunrise Movement

Peninsula For Everyone

Peninsula Interfaith Climate Action

Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition
University AME Zion Church

UUCPA Green Sanctuary Committee

I’m wondering to what extent the green panel with 9 candidates for Palo Alto City Council was a hoax or that the groups were really a bunch of pro-growth green washing groups.

I watched the event and real time and found it close to useless. So much jargon. None of these people stuck me as particularly green.

I asked a question about parks and specifically adding a park componenet to the Ventura Fry’s plan but was ignored.

As the event was ending a hot mic caught the event organizer saying that there were a bunch of “weird ass questions”.

I wrote to a purported Green columnist of the Weekly named Sherry Listgarden who may or may not be part of the group who created the document and she deleted my comment.

My basic question was: why don’t we discuss the fact that Pat Burt was the founder of a polluter named Acterron which he sold to a polluter called Flextronics. Also, why didn’t he recuse when Palo Alto leadership confronted CPI, which was observed to be releasing poison gas into Barron Park.

Palo Alto Foward is a pro-housing organ for builders. They were also aligned with Palantir, the surveillance society company (that made $16B recently in its IPO or is worth that now).

Acterra is the former Bay Area Action. BAA was something I participated in; I often say Earthwise Productiions is a spinoff of BAA. I know slightly Debbie Mytels formerly of Peninsula Consevation which merged with BAA. Is BAA a high point of environmental activists here — it produced Earth Day. Sometimes I thought of BAA as riddled with COINTELPRO. It produced future mayor Peter Drekmeir and commissioner Owen Byrd.

I was pleased to hear Jim Newton interview Jerry Brown about their book, Man of Tommorrow and mention that the governor was influenced by E.F. Schumacher’s books, which I see in a lot of the book lists of the books I read.

I think of myself as environmentalist in that I tried to quit corporate capitalism. My list gig was writing free lance ads for Chevron via either Young and Rubicam or Saatchi. I literally said “no” to a gig and drove out to Stinson Beach.

I don’t know what the 350 thing means. Its weird to take a measure but don’t question manufacturing per se or toxics or capitalism.
See Robert Reich.

I remember going to the home of a guy on TK — next to Krissy Sabin’s house — and being interviewed. Alexander I think was the leader. Also, Terry Turnbull. But even as a concert promoter named Earthwise riding a bike to an interview — or all such fora — I never got respect from the green groups during my campaigns. (I got 8,000 votes in three tries, but spend no money and too no contributions. Terry made buttons and yard signs but below the level of reporting. I call it $2,000 all in or 25 cents per vote).

I’ll edit to add any useful info on who they are. I’d say also there are 3 churches but no synagogues. Beth Am I’m certain has a green group.
I wonder about any religious green group if they believe that God put people in charge of the animals. Yeah, I know its in Genesis what they call OT but we call The Torah. Or Five Books of Moses.

I posted to Sherry’s column:

I don’t think that shutting people up, deleting them or calling them names is consistent with a societal growth or change or turning that is more nurturing or sensitive or environmental or judicious and equitable. 
I’m saying it is a cognitive dissonance for you Sherry to have a column on the environment yet abuse me so.
Wielding your power to silence me seems like a male, patriarchal, privileged and white supremacist thing to do.
So if you are emblematic of the new green deal or whatever it makes me depressed and not hopeful.
Mark Weiss
Palo Alto community member since 1974
Environmental as “Earthwise Productions” since 1994

I’m asking for someone to check my assertion of facts about a candidate whose company was listed as a polluter; and why didn’t he recuse when City Council deliberated about CPI releasing Poison Gas
And, sure, for bonus points or style points, what is Acteron’s role here relative to HP, pros and cons

Palo Alto had a group called Beyond War –can we make real changes and influence the region, the country, the free world?
In the 26 years since I tried to be green, or earthwise, I think greenwashing has increased but the planet is more polluted

(four previous posts — maybe more — were deleted plus i object to her claiming or implying I am disreputable)