Greenpeace Demands Answers, Balance in Newsweek’s Pay-to-Play Forum with Big Oil

Washington, DC — Greenpeace Executive Director Phil Radford today pressed Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham for answers on the magazine’s financial ties to Big Oil companies and for balance in an upcoming “pay-to-play” forum about climate legislation that currently includes only one panelist, Big Oil’s top lobbyist.

Recent reports from Greenwire and Talking Points Memo detail Newsweek’s history of selling advertising packages to the American Petroleum Institute (API) in exchange for the right for co-host “public policy forums” with API President Jack Gerard. This controversy follows in the wake of revelations that Newsweek’s sister publication, The Washington Post, organized top-dollar “salons” between corporate lobbyists, top government officials, and Post staff.

In Radford’s letter, he demands that Newsweek disclose the total amount of advertising revenue they have received from API this year and how much money the company has made in return for organizing the forums. He also urges Newsweek help provide some balance on their panel by including a leading clean energy advocate such as Carl Pope of the Sierra Club, an independent climate expert such as NASA scientist Jim Hansen, and a prominent spokesperson for the countries most vulnerable to unchecked climate change like President Mohamed Nasheed of the Republic of Maldives.

Newsweek asserts there is a separation between the advertising revenue it has been paid by API and its news operation. However, the forum will be held on December 1st, “moderated” by Newsweek columnist Howard Fineman, part of the magazine’s news division.

The full text of Radford’s letter is below.

---

Mr. Jon Meacham
Editor, Newsweek
395 Hudson St.
New York, NY 10014

Dear Mr. Meacham:

Yesterday, Talking Points Memo, The New York Times and Environment and Energy Publishing reported on Newsweek’s disturbing practice of selling its name and the participation of a top commentator to industry lobbyists. These include five “energy policy” forums, and another upcoming forum on December 1st. I was recently forwarded the attached invitation from Newsweek External Relations Manager Jennifer Slattery to attend that forum entitled, “Climate and Energy Policy: Moving?” This panel is strategically planned exactly one week before the crucial global climate negotiations in Copenhagen.

At present, the panel’s only member is American Petroleum Institute (API) President Jack Gerard.

As you know, Mr. Gerard is the nation’s top registered lobbyist for Big Oil. API and its biggest member, ExxonMobil, have aggressively lobbied against global warming policy solutions that will inevitably limit global consumption of oil. API and its members have spent tens of millions of dollars over the past decade alone on propaganda efforts and front groups to undercut public confidence in the wide and deep global scientific consensus that global warming is real, that human consumption of fossil fuels is driving it, and that the problem is a serious threat to America and the rest of the world.

Mr. Gerard’s outlier activities put him on the opposite side of the world scientific consensus formed of thousands of scientists on the Nobel Prize- winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. That consensus has been recognized by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Senator John McCain, retired military leaders such as General Anthony Zinni, and the heads of major corporations.

It’s clearly not my place to tell you how to run your news organization. However, as one of your readers, I want to save you the extended embarrassment experienced by Newsweek’s sister publication, The Washington Post, when it considered “salons” that would have given polluting industry lobbyists access to top Post news staff. That story was an example of the conflicts that can arise when a news publication sells its name to those lobbying for influence through public relations opportunities.

I hope you’ll consider that it is not a good idea for news organizations, however financially troubled in this recession, to sponsor public relations functions with the lobbyist for the world’s most powerful polluting industry.

To restore some credibility to this upcoming forum, I request that Newsweek and The Washington Post Company take the following steps:

   1. First, disclose the total amount of advertising revenue the company has received from the American Petroleum Institute and its member companies in 2009.
   2. Second, disclose the specific amount of money Newsweek has made by selling its name for use in these “public policy forums.”
   3. Third, balance the panel to avoid the appearance of pay-to-play propaganda by expanding it to include:

    * Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope, or the head of another environmental group working to address global warming
    * An independent scientist such as top NASA climate scientist Jim Hansen
    * Republic of Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed, who is preparing to move his entire nation due to rising sea waters and acidified seas.

At the risk of being presumptuous, we have already begun contacting each of these three men to see if they would consider participating in your forum at Newsweek’s expense.

These people would balance the panel by:

    * Pairing Mr. Gerard, a top lobbyist and propaganda funder working against solving the global warming, with an advocate who is promoting solutions to the problem.
    * Providing a top international scientific expert on the impacts and urgency of global warming, who has nothing financially to gain from his viewpoint.
    * Adding the benefit of a leader who is engaged in the global treaty negotiations and president of a nation that will likely cease to exist because of the burning of the product produced by Mr. Gerard’s industry.

Especially given the stakes for humanity, I hope you will use this forum as an opportunity to discuss the best way to move our nation to a clean energy economy. A broad array of national security experts have identified global warming as one of the national greatest security threats of the 21st century. For the rest of the world, the urgency is just as great:  The new report by Save the Children predicts that 250,000 children will die next year from the severe impacts of global climate change.

Considering that last fact alone during the panel should make for a much more interesting conversation with Mr. Gerard before members of Congress.

We look forward to your prompt response to this letter. I want to assist Newsweek in balancing this event to avoid further damage to Newsweek’s reputation, and to ensure public is better informed about the urgency of addressing this problem in accordance with the wide and deep scientific consensus that already exists.
 
Regards,

Phil Radford

Greenpeace: Pres Obama Must Cut Pollution By 2020

H1N1 And Your Cat: When Flu Transmission Occurs

Shawn Messonnier, DVM--

Yesterday it was reported that a cat tested positive for the swine flu virus (H1N1,) likely contracting it from one of its infected, sick owners. Should you be worried about this?

My first thought when I heard about this was, “That’s nice, so what?!”
As a doctor and a scientist, it’s always interesting when it is discovered that a virus can jump species and infect a different species of animal. Practically though, this really doesn’t mean much at this time.

If large numbers of household pets become infected with and transmit the H1N1 virus to people, that’s a different story. But at this point, a single case of a cat infected with the swine flu really doesn’t mean much.

As a rule, pets and their owners don’t share or transmit many diseases. That’s good because we live in very close proximity with our pets. For those diseases where we know that transmission is possible and even likely (such as various intestinal parasites and skin diseases,) proper precautions must be taken to minimize transmission between owners and their pets.

At this point, the story makes for interesting reading but shouldn’t cause any panic. We already have enough panic about the swine flu. Many so-called “experts” recommend everyone get vaccinated for the swine flu (even though few people are likely to become infected,) and there is not enough vaccine to vaccinate even a small fraction of the population.

Recently a new vaccine became available to vaccinate our canine family members against the dog flu. One of my local colleagues bragged on a recent TV news story that he’s already vaccinated hundreds of dogs! My guess is that most of not all those dogs did not need vaccination, as they are unlikely to ever come in contact with the dog flu virus. While he made a lot of money scaring his clients into believing that their pets were in grave danger of contracting and dying from the dog flu, it’s unlikely any of his patients even benefited from their unnecessary immunization.

Here’s my rule to determine if people or pets should be vaccinated against a certain disease. I always look at the risk of that person or pet actually coming in contact with the disease. Then I examine what would happen if the person or pet did contract an infection-would it cause a mild illness or would it cause large numbers of fatalities? Finally, I accept that the majority of people and pets have healthy immune systems that can actually fight off most disease causing microorganisms. With this information in mind, it is usually unnecessary for people and pets to routinely be vaccinated on a regular basis for most infectious diseases.

Dr. Shawn Messonnier, DVM the host of the weekly award-winning radio show, "Dr. Shawn-The Natural Vet" on Martha Stewart Radio (Sirius 112 Tues 8-10 PM EST and Sat 9-11AM EST) sits on the advisory board of the Journal Veterinary Forum, and is a holistic pet columnist for Animal Wellness, Body + Soul, and Veterinary Forum. In addition to serving clients in his Paws & Claws Animal Hospital, he has written several books on the natural care of pets, including The Natural Health Bible for Dogs & Cats, The Allergy Solution for Dogs, 8 Weeks to a Healthy Dog, Preventing and Treating Cancer In Dogs and most recently Unexpected Miracles (Forge Books/ Aug 2009). He is also the creator of a new line of organic pet products, Dr. Shawn's Pet Organics (www.Dr.Shawnspetorganics.com)  You'll find him online at www.petcarenaturally.com

99% Of Cats Unnecessarily Prescribed Antibiotics For FLUTD

Influenza A H3N8: Dog Flu, Not All Dogs Need The Vaccine

Copyright © 2006-2010, Basil & Spice. All rights reserved.

Book Review: One Hundred Butterflies By Photographer Harold Feinstein

By Bev Ethington MerryWeather

One Hundred Butterflies is Harold Feinstein's latest work of a collection of 'one hundred' of nature's beautiful creations.  He has also in the past published, One Hundred Flowers and One Hundred Seashells. 

This is a beautiful book that showcases the vast varieties of butterflies.  The foreword was written by Fred Gagnon, curator of a man-made ecosystem that shelters three to four thousand butterflies, as well as the plants needed for their habitat.

Harold Feinstein started his photography career at the early age of fifteen, specializing in black and white photography with a documentary flair.  He has studied and become a master of digital photography.  His '100' books would make a wonderful edition for any nature lover's library.

Harold Feinstein's distinguished career in photography began in 1950, when Edward Steichen purchased his work for the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art and exhibited it frequently during his tenure there. Feinstein's photographs have also been exhibited by and represented in the collections of the International Center of Photography, the George Eastman House, the Museum of the City of New York, and the Musie d'Art Moderne in Paris. He is the author of 100 Flowers, Foliage, The Infinite Rose, and The Infinite Tulip.

You'll find the author online at www.haroldfeinstein.com

Fred Gagnon, who wrote the foreword to One Hundred Butterflies,  is curator of butterflies at Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory and Gardens in South Deerfield, Massachusetts, where he tends over three thousand butterflies from Asia, Australia, Africa, South America, and North America.

One Hundred Butterflies (Little, Brown & Company/ Nov 2009) by Photographer Harold Feinstein

Book Review: Early Spring by Amy Seidl

Copyright © 2006-2010, Basil & Spice. All rights reserved.

FirstLook Review: The Butterfly's Treasure By Schim Schimmel

A Kids Pick By Alice Berger

Young Caterpillar is just about to go to sleep before his metamorphosis. But before he does, Old Monarch visits him after a year’s journey around the world, and shares the secret of Earth’s treasure.

In his travels around the planet, Old Monarch has seen all the wondrous sights of Africa, Antarctica, the oceans, and the forests. He visits gorillas, dolphins, penguins, and snow leopards. And he’s constantly awed by the beauty of this amazing treasure he’s found.  So now he wants to let Young Caterpillar in on this secret, just as he overheard father lion tell his son.

In this beautiful book, The Butterfly's Treasure (SchimmelSmith Pub/ Nov 2009) Schim Schimmel has once again created a masterpiece in color, with bright, vibrant and stunning animal pictures to delight the reader. This timeless message of treasuring the earth’s beauty comes alive in his magnificent illustrations, reminding us that only we can save this planet before it’s too late. The Butterfly’s Treasure belongs in every nature lover’s collection.

Also recommended by Jane Goodall PhD, DBE
Founder the Jane Goodall Institute & UN Messenger of Peace

You'll find Schim Schimmel online at www.schimmelsmith.com

 Alice Berger is Author of Who's Taking A Bath?

 Kids Pick Review: Where The Wild Things Are By Maurice Sendak

Copyright © 2006-2010, Basil & Spice. All rights reserved.

Bidders From 102 Countries To Support Charitybuzz 6th Chevy Chase Green Auction

charitybuzz is holding its 6^th annual Chevy Chase Green Auction online.  Celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Dustin Hoffman, Stephen Colbert, Dave Mathews Band, and Regis Philbin have teamed up to bring these items to the auction.  The proceeds benefit The GREEN Community Schools, who strive to create model GREEN schools and promote sustainability. 

The GREEN Community Schools mission is to create long-term holistic partnerships between the school, local community residents, stakeholders, available resources and families to ensure that the community is environmentally aware and able to successfully practice and promote sustainability in their lives, communities and globally.

The GREEN Community Schools Model employs strategies that provide supports, resources and opportunities to impact students directly and to influence those systems which have potential for contributing to successful youth development – the school, the family and the community.

Beginning with pilot programs in Chicago and Detroit, we will create model green schools where all parties will be able to thrive and grow to their potential. The GREEN Community Schools are stronger, safer and healthier places of learning.

The GREEN Community Schools Model represents the joint vision of the MGR Foundation and its Board Member, Jayni Chase. The MGR Foundation has been working in community development and education since 2001. MGR Foundation has designed, developed and implemented a wide array of unique programs and services targeting society’s most deserving citizens.

Jayni Chase has over 20 years of experience with Green education and environmental community action. She is tirelessly dedicated to providing under served communities with the tools and resources necessary to create healthy learning environments and greener neighborhoods. The combined experience of Jayni Chase and the MGR Foundation has proven to be a powerful force for positive change.

The GREEN Community Schools Model initiative will transform school buildings into centers for green development. GCSM combines the resources of non-profits, corporations, government agencies, educational institutions, private individuals and community members in order to spread environmental literacy and awareness. Through our efforts we will move individuals into action not only in their own lives, in their school and professional lives, but within the American culture to create behavioral shifts.

AUCTION ITEMS:

Meet Oprah Backstage!: Enjoy tickets to "The Oprah Winfrey Show" plus a meet and greet/photo opportunity with Oprah.  This is your chance to meet the multiple Emmy Award winning host of the highest-rated talk show in television history!

Spend a Day in the Studio with Howard Stern: Sit in on the Howard Stern Show and watch Howard and Robin and the gang do their show live--you'll also get a full tour of the studio and offices by Gary "Baba Booey" Dell' Abate! However, as promised by Howard, this year will be even better!

Meet Chevy Chase on the Set of "Community"!: Relive your college days and meet Chevy Chase with a visit to the set of the NBC hit comedy, "Community!"

Enjoy 4 Tickets and Pre-Show Passes to the Jimmy Buffett Concert of Your Choice: Whether you're a full blown Parrothead or just enjoy an occasional Cheeseburger in Paradise these tickets are a guarantee for a great night of music with one of the best!

Spend a Day on the Set with Dustin Hoffman: Meet world famous actor Dustin Hoffman and spend a day with him on the set of an upcoming movie.

The 6^th Annual Chevy Chase Green auction is open from the beginning of November, 2009 until the 18^th  of the month online.

About charitybuzz

Charitybuzz is the leading online community of upscale bidders who truly doGOOD and liveWELL and believes that there is nothing more important than the works non profits undertake.   The company believes that cause marketing can be both effective and trend setting and its innovative auctions reach millions on a global basis. Its  growing community of bidders are driven to do well, affluent, well educated, well informed and brand loyal.   The top celebrities on the planet are found at www.charitybuzz.com and we encourage visits to the site to learn more.

FirstLook Review: The Conscious Cook By Tal Ronnen