Pickens Plan District Group VA-04

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Comment by Tom Bailey on November 2, 2009 at 5:57am

A huge help; for those like myself, (not comfortable face to face or good at speaking). Here are links to 2 places that you can easily drop a note to Newspapers and to your congressmen.
For the Newspaper site; What I do is compose a short letter (200 words) in my word program, allowing my spelling check as I’m a sandbox grad, I’ll even cut and paste “with permission” with energy concerns. Copy the letter and paste it in the message box, of this site , which gives you almost every paper. Hit send, & Presto you’re done. Pick a couple of papers at a time and if you could do this once a week you will be helping!
next= click to another link to write your congressmen.
I’ll ask you also paste and copy your letter to your district leader. Touch with them and they can give you an e-mail. Pickens Plan site mail has a character # limit.

Comment by Tom Bailey on October 15, 2009 at 6:00am

Had a great meeting with Boone,Clynton and a handful of people on the 13th.

Boone commended us all for our efforts, and asked we keep up on the letters to elected officials, opt-ed letters and notes.

Even if you feel you are not getting anywhere, and get the same copy response.

Your letter or opt-ed need not get published "however; that would be great" it is the constant awareness that will keep the fuel going to bring real advances in the goal of energy.

So far 1835 is a clean bill, and that is the best for our goals. Later on as it gets pushed through the process some other attachments could come into play. We will have to deal with that, then.

I know some are wondering if anything is happening.
Small steps people- consistant small steps.
I assure you things are happening!!!!!
Best; Tom

Comment by Clynton on September 23, 2009 at 7:34am

You are invited to participate in an audience-driven discussion of a pressing energy matter.

We would like to answer the question of how to put the two fundamental elements of the Pickens Plan into action – starting in Virginia.

Points of Discussion:
Development of and Investment in Clean Energy
Energy Tax Credits and Government Spending
Domestic and Off-Shore Development of Natural Gas
Employment Opportunities in Clean and Green Energy

Location: Williamsburg Regional Library, 515 Scotland Street, Williamsburg, VA 23185
Date: September 30, 2009
Time: 6-8 PM

Cost: Free

All with interest are invited to attend.

BYOBC (Bring Your Own Business Cards)

A bit short notice, but hopefully you ladies and gents can make it. This is one of those real events we've been wanting to put on, so I would appreciate your support.

Thanks
Clynton

Comment by Thomas H. Arrington III on July 8, 2009 at 10:48am

A Year Ago Today

On July 8th, 2008 T. Boone Pickens launched the Pickens Plan with hopes of having 1 million supporters by Inauguration Day. When President Obama took office, we had 1.4 million supporters. It’s because of your hard work and sacrifices that these numbers were reached. The Pickens Plan wants to generate 20% of our nation’s electricity needs through wind power, and divert the excess natural gas to the transportation sector. The United States imports nearly 70% of our oil from overseas. Over 50% of our imports are from nations that don’t care for us too much. If America wants to remain prosperous and vibrant well into the future, we must continue doing the work that Boone has prescribed.

As a Congressional District Leader, I never imagined that saving our country from its dependence on foreign oil would be so enjoyable. Meeting alternative energy minded people has created new friendships and experiences that I will never forget. If you truly want to help this effort, I would recommend becoming a District Leader. Boone has always said that “We are doing this for America”, and that’s why Republicans, Democrats and Independents alike, have signed onto the Pickens Plan. This plan makes sense, and is the only plan that utilizes natural resources that should have been used decades ago.

Come join us to save America.

Thomas H. Arrington III
Virginia 4th Congressional District Leader Pickens Plan
CEO, Atlantic Wind Energy

Comment by Ed Matricardi on July 1, 2009 at 4:43pm

Take Back Our Energy Future

A video reviewing the first year of the Pickens Plan has been completed and is available for you to view. It has snips of Boone talking about what he's done, where he's been, and why it is so important for America.

It also includes scenes of Army members, President Obama, former Vice President Gore and interviews with many of the leaders of the drive to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil.

You can be among the first to view the new video by clicking HERE
http://www.pickensplan.com/boonecam/2009/07/01/take-back-our-energy-future/

Comment by Ed Matricardi on June 18, 2009 at 5:30pm

We are fast approaching our one-year anniversary of the release of the Pickens Plan on July 8th and we need to jump-start our efforts!

Thanks to your help and Boone’s dedication, we have been able to build an army of almost 2 million online supporters...and we have put energy independence on the agenda in Congress. That is an amazing accomplishment and you can take great pride in your contribution to the effort.

But we are not done yet...not even close.

As we move into our 2nd year, we need to expand our efforts to include the offline community too...we need to approach a broad-based group of potential state and local allies that will partner with us to urge Congress to act on energy independence...everyone from progressive groups like the Sierra Club/etc to more conservative business-oriented groups like the state/local/regional chambers of commerce.

Every one of you has unique contacts at the local level that we need to spread the word about the Pickens Plan. Please let me know if you have any friends or other contacts at local groups and organizations (such as chambers of commerce, environmental groups, alternative energy associations, local elected officials, etc.) so that we can develop a game plan to recruit them as Pickens Plan supporters and mobilize their members to contact their elected officials.

We have done a great job recruiting and mobilizing online supporters...now we need to expand our outreach to local groups and leaders that have credibility with elected officials in your area. Please give me a buzz to discuss any specific contacts you have in your area...

Thanks again for all your help and I look forward to talking with you about any ideas you have on jump-starting activities in your area.

Ed Matricardi
202-531-4717

Comment by Clynton on June 16, 2009 at 5:04pm

A letter from the governor in case you didn't see it...

Dear [Super Clynton]:

Thank you for your interest in funding available to Virginia through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Both transparency and accountability are core requirements of ARRA-and I am pleased to update you on the Commonwealth's progress on projects and proposals related to the Recovery Act.

As you may know, my administration launched stimulus.virginia.gov earlier this year to gather project ideas from individuals, groups, and localities for potential funding through ARRA. Between February 10 and the March 6 submission deadline, more than 9,100 project proposals totaling $465.6 billion were suggested through the website. Since then, these proposals have been sorted and sent to the appropriate Cabinet Secretariat for evaluation.

Virginia's General Assembly incorporated ARRA program funding that is administered by agencies into the state budget and directed it to specific activities. The Recovery Act also increased funding to existing federal programs rather than allowing states to fund projects from a large discretionary fund. As a result, what little discretionary ARRA funding that existed was used by the General Assembly to address Virginia's projected budget shortfall. While these decisions around ARRA and the state budget-which I signed into law on March 30-are continuing to ease the economic downturn in the Commonwealth, they also mean there is no discretionary funding available to dedicate to specific projects.

Currently, under each Cabinet Secretariat, state agencies are working with their federal counterparts to implement ARRA funding for programs ranging from education to water quality, to transportation, to energy. These programs require that all project ideas meet specific criteria and be formally submitted through traditional federal funding processes. In most cases, these processes are now complete and work is ready to begin. Most of the projects that were funded via traditional federal measures were submitted as a project idea.

Although there are many other project ideas that could contribute to our economic recovery, a number of proposals we've received-including private business investment and tax reduction-fall outside the scope of ARRA funding provided to the Commonwealth.

I strongly encourage you to monitor the stimulus.virginia.gov website for information on projects being funded by the ARRA and to explore potential opportunities through the competitive grants process. Some projects submitted through stimulus.virginia.gov not selected for ARRA funds may be eligible to apply for a competitive grant directly from a federal agency.

Thank you again for your input. I always appreciate hearing from citizens of the Commonwealth and will take your thoughts and proposals into consideration as we work to get our economy back on track through ARRA. Please do not hesitate to contact me via my web form, and find out more about my initiatives on my web site at www.governor.virginia.gov.

Sincerely,
Timothy M. Kaine
Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia

Comment by Thomas H. Arrington III on June 5, 2009 at 12:16pm

First, I would like to thank everyone on their efforts in getting out Boones National Letter. Please call an write to your congressional leaders to support the (RES) Renewable Energy Standard. without this legislation in place, green energy jobs, will be lost to China and Europe.

My LTE on Pickens Plan will be published on 6/15/09 in The Blue Ridge Business Journal. www.bizjournal.com

I am working vigorously trying to get Boone to speak in Hampton Roads. I have forwarded this venue information to the proper sources, and am waiting for a response. I will keep you all in the loop. Thank you for all you do, and let's keep the pressure on.

"Yours in Truth,"

Thomas H. Arrington III

Comment by Ed Matricardi on May 17, 2009 at 7:28pm

Hope all is well and that you had a nice weekend...now we need to jump-start our efforts and make sure Congress acts on Energy Independence soon...otherwise they will go back to business as usual and hope nobody notices.

Thankfully, Boone is determined to keep the heat on Congress and ensure they don’t forget that the American people expect them to get us off our addiction to foreign oil. But we need your help!

We would like to discuss our efforts to identify and recruit local supporters in your area by using the Pickens Plan Petitions and Sign-Up Sheets on the Resources Page. You can circulate them in high-traffic areas – like shopping centers, post offices, community events or sporting events – and have an immediate impact on the debate by identifying local supporters in your area that we can incorporate into the effort.
http://push.pickensplan.com/page/page/show?id=2187034%3APage%3A1095041

After you print off the forms and collect the signatures/contact info, please contact me and I will give you information so you can send them in to Boone.

Thanks again for all your efforts.

Comment by Ed Matricardi on May 8, 2009 at 9:11pm

As many of you know, Boone attended this week’s Wind Power 2009 Conference & Exhibition in Chicago and generated a lot of interest in the NAT GAS ACT and Renewable Energy Standard (RES) legislation. As reported by the Associated Press, “Pickens told the American Wind Energy Association conference in Chicago on Wednesday that the renewable energy standard the industry wants could come as soon as six months from now.”

But Boone knows that this will only happen if the people continue to demand that their elected officials act on energy independence.

Thanks to your efforts (and Boone’s), we generated millions of contacts with Congress and it is making a difference. Now, Boone wants us to submit as many Letters to the Editor as possible to local newspapers. Believe it or not, every congressional office closely monitors the Letters to the Editor that appear in local newspapers within their home districts and this is a simple way to help define the debate in Congress.

If every Pickens District Group (ie- you) submitted just one LTE, that would be 435 LTEs in the next week...and it would be even better if you could get a couple of your most active local supporters to do the same. We could literally generate thousands of LTEs all across the country.

For a minimal effort, we could really drive the debate!!

Please draft a short LTE (maybe 3-4 sentences) and submit to your local newspaper ASAP. If you reference the Wind Conference, it will make your LTE more timely and more likely to get published. If you are not sure where to send your LTE or you need help finding contact info, just let me know. But please do something. The time is now and we will never have a better opportunity to convince Congress to act on energy independence by supporting the NAT GAS ACT and Renewable Energy Standard (RES) legislation.

Thanks,
Ed

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