HEAL the OCEANS Benefit Rocks Out!

<div>HEAL THE OCEANS BENEFIT ROCKS SANTA BARBARA<BR>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<BR>MICHAEL FRANTI  SPEARHEADS ALL STAR BILL</div> <div>----------------------------------------------------------------------------<BR>DREW ATTENTION TO URGENT SOUTH COAST ISSUES</div> <DIV>===============================================<BR>Santa Barbara, CA <BR>Michael Franti and his band, Spearhead,  headlined a dynamite benefit </DIV> <DIV>concert for various environmental organizations lead by Heal the </DIV> <DIV>Ocean this weekend. Adding to the festivities was a special guest</DIV> <DIV>appearance by Jack Johnson.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> Michael is a long time political activist, using his </DIV> <DIV>musical talents to support anti-racist, anti-police brutality and anti-war </DIV> <DIV>organizing around the country. Other fantastic acts included the Animal </DIV> <DIV>Liberation Orchestra and
multimedia artist Mathew McAvene, who </DIV> <DIV>provided awesome puppets in the form of fish, jellyfish,  and assorted </DIV> <DIV>creatures of the sea. Opening was the Culver City Dub <BR>Collective. </DIV> <DIV>The benefit was organized under the inspiring moniker  Solutions for </DIV> <DIV>Dreamers. It would be impossible, in a brief news item such as this,  to </DIV> <DIV>do justice to the many fine performers and outstanding activists who </DIV> <DIV>contributed to this event. Please surf the websits and educate yourself </DIV> <DIV>on the fine work being done by http://www.healtheocean.org/ and </DIV> <DIV>http:////edcnet.org. Then reward yourself by cruising over to the </DIV> <DIV>musican websites which are listed at </DIV> <DIV>http://www.solutionsfordreamers.org.</DIV> <DIV>Heal the Oceans believes that
the ocean can no longer be used as a </DIV> <DIV>dump. Attacking all sources of ocean pollution, the group has an </DIV> <DIV>interesting take on activism: instead of lobbying the government for </DIV> <DIV>action on ocean-pollution issues, they study the problem ourselves and </DIV> <DIV>recommend practical solutions.</DIV> <DIV>They recently scored a major victory in the campaign to stop the </DIV> <DIV>dumping of homeowner waste into the ocean. They succeeded in getting </DIV> <DIV>a district of 81  homes to change their method of waste management. </DIV> <DIV>This will remove septic systems from seven miles of coastline in the </DIV> <DIV>Santa Barbara south coast.</DIV> <DIV>Other organizations represented at the event include the Environmental </DIV> <DIV>Defense Center. IMC spoke to Shiva Polefka, EDC Marine </DIV> <DIV>Environmental  Analyst, who described numerous issues such as the </DIV> <DIV>Liquified Natural Gas projects which the energy
companies are striving </DIV> <DIV>to plant off the southern California coast. According to the EDC </DIV> <DIV>website, the proposed Cabrillo Port would be moored off Malibu and </DIV> <DIV>Oxnard for at least 40 years and would have no firm expiration date </DIV> <DIV>and the floating factory terminal could remain moored offshore for </DIV> <DIV>decades longer. This raises serious environmental concerns, as LNG is </DIV> <DIV>just a continuation of fossil fuels dependency with commensurate </DIV> <DIV>impact on global warming and disruption of marine ecosystems. </DIV> <DIV>The LNG factory terminal threatens one of the world’s richest and </DIV> <DIV>most productive ecosystems -The Channel Islands National Park and </DIV> <DIV>Marine Sanctuary.  Cabrillo Port would be sited just outside the </DIV> <DIV>sanctuary, resulting in serious impacts which may be irreversible.</DIV> <DIV><BR>Other projects of EDC include work with the Mixtec agricultural </DIV>
<DIV>worker community - Central Coast Envionmental Health Project.  </DIV> <DIV>These workers, many of whom labor under the spectre of deportation, </DIV> <DIV>are often subject to levels of pesticides which are intolerable. Due to </DIV> <DIV>their technical immigration status, they are subjected to greater  </DIV> <DIV>pressure to accept substandard working conditions and heightened </DIV> <DIV>risks to their health and well being. EDC has trained trainers who are </DIV> <DIV>conversant in both Spanish and Mixtec so that workers will be aware of </DIV> <DIV>the risks and in a position to insist on safer workplace practices. </DIV> <DIV>Shiva was also aware of recent developments in the ongoing issue of </DIV> <DIV>Naval sonar war games and its impact on marine life. Despite efforts </DIV> <DIV>via the California Coastal Commission and a coalition of activist </DIV> <DIV>organizations, the Navy appears to be prepared to completely disregard </DIV>
<DIV>the recommended stipulations to reduce the impact of sonar on marine </DIV> <DIV>mammals. In other words, the military wants to use sonar round the </DIV> <DIV>cloack at will, with no mitigation; for whales and dolphins, this means </DIV> <DIV>pure hell, disrupting their own natural sonar navigation and possibly </DIV> <DIV>endangering the viability of whole tribes of marine mammals. </DIV> <DIV>This point was brought home by a Nils Larson documentary, filmed </DIV> <DIV>entirely underwater, in which the soundtrack was increased until </DIV> <DIV>everyone in the audience was forced to cover their ears. This hellish </DIV> <DIV>racket is what Naval sonar sounds like to the whales and dolphins.</DIV> <DIV>Despite the serious issues at hand, the festival focused on spirit and </DIV> <DIV>light and affinity for the awesome oceans on this planet and the </DIV> <DIV>inhabitants therein. As I remarked to my companion, " Soy una </DIV> <DIV>criatura del mar, tu es
una creatura del mar, todos criaturas del mar."<BR>I am a creature of the sea, you are a creature of the sea, we are all </DIV> <DIV>creatures of the sea.</DIV> <DIV>As this shared planet grows more crowded, it is inspiring that we can </DIV> <DIV>still bond in celebrations such as this one, brought to you by Jacob Tell </DIV> <DIV>and Oniric Records, Simple Shoes, and the organizing efforts of Heal </DIV> <DIV>the Oceans.  Be sure to check out the compilation CD and the websites </DIV> <DIV>of these dynamic organizations. </DIV> <DIV>(C)2007 Geof Bard</DIV><p>

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