[350 CT-Bpt-Coal] Update

[dlen...@sbcglobal.net]

On Thursday, February 23, the Bridgeport Coal Campaign Coalition met
again. The great news is that we got a permit for a public hearing
with DEEP. The exact date has not yet been set but we have been told
that it will be sometime in April. I believe that we will be given a
30-day notice.CT Sierra Club's new organizer, Onte' Johnson was
introduced to the Coalition. At this meeting, a couple of the people
in the research group shared their feedback about PSEG's target
decision makers. We noted that PSEG touts themselves as being "green"
in New Jersey (where the co. is based). We were wondering why this
isn't the case in Bridgeport (go figure!). Apparently, PSEG invests in
renewable energy and has a solar panel factory in PA. Once we
identified the primary decision makers, we discussed the influences
on target decision makers e.g. elected officials.We began to discuss
strategy and tactics of the campaign. We added more working groups. At
this point, attendees volunteered to take part in one or more of the
following groups: corporate research, faith organizations, outreach,
media, mission statement, and door knocker.
I have since taken part in several conference calls re Sierra Club's
future strategies.
On Friday, March 2, I will be joining others at a public hearing on
the CT IRP in New Britain. Some of Sierra Club's talking points will
be based upon supporting DEEP's targets on efficiency, pushing back
against DEEP's plans to weaken the RPS by including Canadian hydro,
and getting DEEP to model a scenario where Bridgeport retires.
Our next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 8th at 6:30 P.M. in
Bridgeport. Once again, we are trying to keep this particular
coalition to the attendees who have been attending the meetings from
the beginning. The only reason for this is so we can get more
accomplished within a 2-hour meeting.