Houstonians Amazed by Bizarre "Welcome" at Gene Green 's Office : Houston Indymedia

The group at the press conference today included religious, community, educational, and labor leaders, teachers and students, environmentalists, scientists, health professionals, and small business owners. See below for two of the statements they presented.

Following the event, one of the attendees tried to deliver a letter to Rep. Green's office stating her concerns, but was prevented from even going up to the office by the building security guard.

The group had tried to meet with Rep. Green or his chief of staff on March 2, when Rep. Green was in town, but Rep. Green told the group something had come up and he had to leave town the morning of the meeting, and a substitute meeting with his chief of staff was cancelled because that person was not available, either.

Before the press conference today, Bill Crosier and Ron Hayden went up to Rep. Green's office on the 4th floor at 11811 East Freeway, to let his staff know they were here and invite them to attend, but found the door locked. Rep. Green had been previously invited to join the group at the press conference. A note on the door said the office was closed today because the staff was at a senior activity.

Crosier and Hayden were met by a security guard who asked if they were there for the "protest". They replied they were there for a press conference, not a protest, and hoped representatives of Rep. Green's office would be in attendance because his constituents wanted him to know how they felt about impending climate change legislation. They asked if the press conference could be held in the atrium of the building and were told no. They then asked if it could be held outside the building on the east or west sides, and were told no. The guard said the building management had been contacted by Rep. Green's office and the management said they could not hold the press conference anywhere on the property, not even on the parking lot.

Once outside, the guard and Officer Joseph C. Cram, with the Criminal Intelligence Division of the Houston Police Department, both told the group that they could not hold the press conference or any event anywhere on the property. Other police also arrived, apparently concerned about the event as well.

The group then moved to the parking lot of an adjacent property.

The press conference began with statements asking why the group was treated with rejection rather than being welcomed by Gene Green's representatives. They expressed surprise that Rep. Green's office had not arranged for a better welcome for people wanting to tell him about their concerns regarding climate change legislation being considered by the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Rep. Green is the only Houston-area member on that committee, which is chaired by Rep. Waxman. The committee is currently working on a climate change bill, and the activists wanted to ask Rep. Green to take a stronger stand in support of climate change legislation than what the oil and gas industry supported.

Following the press conference, Madeleine Crozat-Williams of Code Pink tried to deliver a letter stating her concerns to Rep. Green's office, but was prevented from even going up to the office by the building security guard, citing some possible security risk. Crozat-Williams offered to be searched and said she just wanted to put the letter under the door and said she had a right to communicate with a member of Congress, but the security guard prevented her from even going up to the floor where Rep. Green's office is.

The press conference and rally was sponsored by: Texas Climate Emergency Campaign, CLEAN, GHASP/Mothers' for Clean Air, Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services, Houston Climate Protection Alliance, and the Progressive Action Alliance.

Organizations represented at the event today include the following:
Texas Climate Emergency Campaign
Citizen's League for Environmental Action Now
Progressive Action Alliance
Sierra Club
Houston Peace and Justice Center
Code Pink
Houston Climate Protection Alliance
Oil Patch Democrats
Harris Co. Green Party
Dominican Sisters
Central American Resource Center
TEJAS
KPFT

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Following are excerpts from the statement of Bill Crosier, co-chair of the Progressive Action Alliance:

I'm disappointed at the "welcome" we got today when trying to communicate with the only Congressperson from our area who's on the House Energy and Commerce Committee -- the committee that is writing the climate change legislation.

I had expected that Rep. Green's staff would have ensured that we'd be welcome at the building, or at least on the parking lot, where his office is, rather than being forced to hold this press conference completely off of the property.

I had expected that he'd do whatever he could to facilitate communication with people from our area.

Let's hope that he hears our message, though -- not just the messages from the coal, oil, and gas companies. Let's hope he's thinking of the need to put Houstonians to work in green jobs that will both help our local economy this year, and help future generations as well.

It's time to think of the future we're leaving for our children and grandchildren. Will it be environmental devastation, flooded coastlines, food shortages, and more powerful hurricanes? I want us to turn the corner on global warming, get serious about greenhouse gas emissions, and put people to work on energy efficiency programs that will help us save on electric bills while leaving an enduring legacy for future generations.

With the cost of oil, gas, and coal continuing to go up and up, we should rely on technology whose price continues to go down and down, like wind and solar and the cheapest form of energy of all – efficiency. Those special interests who have hired their high priced lobbyists and their million dollar ad campaigns are trying to scare people into thinking that acting on climate will increase your electric bills. This is a lie and they know it! Not only will energy efficiency and renewable energy create new jobs, it will save us money on our energy bills from day one.

Bill Crosier
Progressive Action Alliance

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Following is the statement read at the press conference by Ron Hayden of the Sierra Club:

Press Conference III
Gene Green’s Office
May 11, 2009

Every once in a while, maybe once or twice in a person’s life time, the opportunity to do something truly heroic presents itself.

Gene Green, this is your opportunity.

What is this heroic act?

It is the act of standing up for what is right. It is the act of going against all your political instincts to support those fossil fuel interest that provide financial support for your campaign.

I know that the pressures are immense. They may withhold financing if you don’t support them. They may run a candidate against you in the next election if you don’t support them.

This is where true courage and real heroism come in to play. If you are willing to put your own political career at risk to save the planet as we know it. You will be truly regarded as a hero.

What do I mean save the planet?

Greenhouse gas accumulations in the atmosphere have reached unsustainable levels. These man made greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane have thrown our climate system out of whack. More than 70% of the excess greenhouse gases come from coal and auto emissions. Peer reviewed, Nobel prize winning climate scientist have shown that mankind must reduce greenhouse gases by more than 35% by 2020 and 80% by 2050 if we are to keep the planet from entering the era of runaway climate change. This will not be easy. It will be hard. Americans will have to sacrifice. The health of the planet hangs in the balance. Let me give a few examples of the consequences of runaway climate change.

1. The American west from Kansas to California and Texas to North Dakota will become like the Sahara Desert due to extreme and continuing drought.

2. Food production from grain and cattle will be severely reduced because of reduced arable land in the US.

3. The Amazon rain forest will wither and die, becoming Savanah in 50 years and eventually turning to desert due to drought.

4. The oceans of the world will turn acid. Excess carbon dioxide produced by feed back loops will put more CO2 in the ocean than can be safely absorbed. As the ocean turns acid the plants and animals that live in the ocean will die. People on earth who depend on fish for food will be severely impacted.

5. The arctic ice cap will melt which will hasten the melting of the great Greenland and Antarctic Ice sheets. This will cause sea levels to rise world wide and will inundate coastal communities around the world, including cities like Miami, Boston, New York and Washington D.C. and Galveston just to name just a few.

6. 50% of all the species on earth will die, due to hotter temperatures that will soar more than 10 degrees F. above the current temperature today. To put this in perspective, the global temperatures have only risen by about 2 degrees since 1900. This 2 degree temperature rise has already caused havoc all over the world. A 10 degree rise will change our planet into something that mankind has never experienced before. Our world will be changed forever.

7. Because of the damage from storm surges, heat waves, drought, crop failures and flood events the insurance industry will go bankrupt and throw the worlds financial institutions into chaos.

8. Mountain Glaciers will melt. These are the headwaters for major river systems that feed more than 40% of the people on earth. When the glaciers are gone, these rivers will cease to flow, causing loss of crops due to lack of irrigation and resulting in massive starvation.

The list of catastrophes is endless. Estimates are that more than 2 billion people will die due to food and water shortages, heat related events, and weather catastrophes such as hurricanes cyclones, tornados and storm surges.

So you see Gene Green, you have the opportunity to write an energy bill that will prevent the worst case scenarios of climate change. If you write a strong bill that meets the benchmarks that the scientist say is needed, you will truly be a hero. If you compromise and write a weak ineffective energy bill, you will personally be responsible for millions deaths around the world and for creating an unsustainable world that your own grandchildren will inherit. We are very near the tipping point. We don’t have much time before it will be too late. Once we pass the climate tipping point, feed back loops will take over and there will be nothing we can do to stop it.

This is not a case of environmentalist fighting industry. This is a case of saving the planet as we know it.

If we produce a weak ineffective energy bill, the conference in Copenhagen will be doomed to failure. God help us and our unborn children. You cannot compromise with Mother Nature. You cannot bargain with Mother Nature. You cannot bail out Mother Nature. It is pure physics. Mother Nature does not care a hoot about our economy, our job situation or our people. Nature has a requirement. If we meet those requirements she will let us continue to live on this planet and prosper. If we do not meet nature’s requirement, we will see the wrath of Mother Nature come down in ways that humankind has never experienced before, in the last 20,000 years.

You see Gene Green, your hand is on the switch. We will only have one chance to get this right. Will you listen to the scientist and have the courage to do the right thing? Minimum of 35% reductions by 2020?

Ron Hayden
Sierra Club Houston