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ANNOUNCEMENT OF EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY
Presented by the WV Sierra Club
THE MARCELLUS ACADEMY
A Weekend of presentations and workshops about Marcellus shale gas drilling in WV
June 18-19, 2011 at WV Wesleyan College in Buckhannon.
Meals and lodging are provided, mileage is reimbursed.
Registration is limited, so get your application in early.
Schedule below.
The purpose of the Marcellus Academy is to educate volunteer activists about the facts and impacts of drilling with horizontal hydraulic fracturing and to train them on how to bring about meaningful regulation.
There may be a special session this summer to pass Marcellus regulation and we want to be ready to show our legislators how we voters feel, as opposed to hordes of well paid industry lobbyists. Marcellus Academy will train a new cadre of activists who can proactively work on Marcellus in their communities and build grassroots support for new legislation.
You ideally would be willing to organize citizens in your communities by talking to neighbors, holding meetings, giving presentations, organizing house parties…..generally serving as a leader for building public support. The training will also equip you to enlist others to help you with these tasks.
All of your expenses for the workshop (lodging, meals, mileage) will be covered by WV Sierra Club. Several environmental organizations in WV are collaborating on this workshop, but no personal affiliation with any of them is necessary. The program will run from 10AM Saturday until 3PM Sunday.
Our trainers have backgrounds in politics, lobbying, geology, organizing and activism. There will be sessions on direct action organizing, including identifying goals, targets, strategies and tactics; how to do house parties, LTEs, planning events and news media. Saturday evening will be “entertainment” by videos of experts from other states. Sunday, trainees will do actual planning, report-backs, role playing, and then refining action plans.
We want to stress that there is limited space so only a limited number of registrations will be accepted. Applicants will be considered based primarily on geographical region, resulting in new organizers in as many regions as possible. We do hope to see more than one person from a community, so they can be a team, but the number will depend on applications from the rest of the state.
Since space is limited, please respond as soon as possible listing your name, address, county, phone number and email. If you cannot attend but know of someone in your community who fits our guidelines and could benefit from joining us, please let us know. Again, they should be people who can make a clear commitment to do what it takes to build local grassroots on their home turf.
We hope you will consider this opportunity to grow our numbers and create a strong, intelligent response to the challenge of Marcellus drilling in our neighborhoods.
Here's the agenda for the weekend. We hope to see you there.
Contact: Chuck Wyrostok, Sierra Club Outreach Organizer
Toll free 877 252 0257 E: outreach@marcellus-wv.com http://www.marcellus-wv.com/
Marcellus Academy
June 18-19
West Virginia Wesleyan College, Buckhannon
Purpose: To train activists to be ready to take on the Marcellus issue in the special and regular legislative session and to proactively work on Marcellus in their communities.
Schedule
Saturday
10:00 Coffee and Registration
10:30 Welcome and Introductions
10:45 Kickoff - Hiram Lewis, Morgantown, WV, a fiery lawyer who has battled to protect citizen
land owners from the worst abuses of the Marcellus onslaught.
11:30 Training Goals & Objectives Orientation – Jim Kotcon, Chair, WV Sierra Club Energy Committee;
teaches environmental protection at WVU
12:00 Lunch
1:00 Marcellus Geology and Drilling Technology – what actually happens - Dan Soeder, Sierra Club member
and geologist with 30 years experience in shale gas drilling and hydrology
2:00 Regulation - current regulation, needed regulation – Don Garvin, WV Environmental Council
Legislative Coordinator
3:00 Break
3:15 How to get what we want - strategy and tactics – Chuck Wyrostok, Outreach Organizer WV Sierra Club;
Leslee McCarty & John Christensen, WV Environmental Council lobbyists;
Jim Kotcon, WV Sierra Club Energy Committee; Beth Little, WV Sierra Club
Marcellus Campaign Chair
4:30 The WV Legislature - who’s who, how it works – Delegate Mike Manypenny (D-Taylor Co.)
5:30 Supper
7:30 Video presentations – Ron Bishop, Anthony Ingraffea,
“A Snowmobile for George”, “Gasland”
Sunday
8:00 Breakfast
8:45 Risks - what has happened, what can happen – Beth Little, WV Sierra Club Marcellus
Campaign Chair
9:30 Legal Framework - surface owners, mineral owners, contracts - Dave McMahon,
Director, WV Surface Owners’ Rights Organization
10:30 Break
10:45 Environmental Activist Skills and Resources - Bill Price, Sierra Club Organizing
Representative, Environmental Justice Program, Beyond Coal to Clean
Energy Campaign
12:00 Lunch – Groups meet over lunch and do local planning
1:00 Report Back & Role Playing
2:30 Refine Plans Develop Action Schedules
