Door-to-door outreach has begun
My wife and I spent several hours this weekend towing our two small children around the neighborhood to get the word out to our neighbors about the plant. We offered a small flyer with some key facts, and also presented the petition to PG&E for signatures. We got Questa done first, as there aren’t that many folks out there yet and they would be the most affected, and then we did Wyndham, Stratford, and a start on Hawthorne. Here’s a map of what we’ve covered so far:
This is a big undertaking, and we are going to need a lot of help if we are going to be able to complete coverage of Mountain House in the next couple of weeks, before the announcement of PG&E’s shortlist of competitors for the contract on October 20th.
If you can help out by covering a neighborhood, or even your street, please send email to stopmhpowerplant@yahoo.com, and we will send you the flyer we are using, as well as petition sheets that you can print. Or you can arrange to come by our house and pick up our preprinted ones. We will even deliver them to you if possible, and we will also come by to pick up signed petition sheets.
Our experiences so far are that, first, about 90% of our neighbors had no idea about the plant at all. The other 10% or so have heard something about it, but didn’t realize it was so close, or so large, or that it was permitted without any analysis of our health risk. We’ve met a few people who have been following it online and had signed the online petition.
The second thing I’ve noticed is that we live in a great neighborhood. I haven’t had a single unpleasant experience yet in talking to my neighbors. The vast majority are very supportive and thankful for what we were spending our Saturday and Sunday doing. It’s a great way to get out and meet your neighbors. Can you help us fill in a little more of the map?
Update Oct. 8th: Avondale and Hawthorne have now been covered and the coverage map updated. We have volunteers for Colebrook, Glenmore, Marbella, Palisades, Roxbury, Toscana, and Cambridge Place. We are still seeking volunteers for all remaining neighborhoods not listed.
October 6th, 2008 at 9:25 am
My grandchildren live in Mountain House and I am VERY concerned about the health and economic impact of the plan to build one of the largest power plants in the State of California adjacent to this new community. Obviously, since the impact studies were done BEFORE the groundbreaking for the 1st house to be built in the new community, it is imperative that the residents become involved to stop this plan.
I live in Florida and one reason that I am writing is that I participated in a successful campaign where I live to stop a plan by Progress Energy to build high-voltage power lines through our community north of Tampa. We did it by mobilizing volunteers in each neighborhood in our community and going door-to-door gathering signatures on a petition from each person living in each house in the entire community and calling the newspapers to attend a meeting at the local middle school where the petitions were presented and the company officials presented their plan and the residents were able to ask questions and present their objections.
Within three weeks, there was a newspaper announcement that Progress Energy had decided to avoid our entire county and use existing power corridors in other areas for their new power lines.
This was a huge victory for our community’s health and economic status and I hope that Mountain House will rise to the occasion to achieve the same victory.
October 7th, 2008 at 7:19 am
Thanks so much for visiting today! I’m sorry that we missed you. We will certainly sign the petition. Thanks so much for your hard work and energy. We will definitely contact you for some fliers.