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Fall 2005

Testified before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission(FERC) in support of the Broadwater Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Project planned for the middle of the Long Island Sound

Stony Brook, New York, September 13, 2005

Shoreham, New York, September 14, 2005

East Lyme, Connecticut, September 20, 2005

Branford, Connecticut, September 21, 2005

Met Bruce Willis at a National Fish & Wildlife Foundation event on Randall's Island in New York.

Met Spike Lee at a book signing event in Washinton, DC. Briefly discussed climate change and his planned documentary on New Orleans and Katrina.

Summer 2005

Established , L.A. Office website and Hollywood Blog.

Attended signing of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Attended L.A. Mayor Villarigosa Inauguration at City Hall and met Arnold Schwarzenegger, Cheech Marin, and Ed Begley, Jr. Interviewed by CBS.

Visited Catalina Island.

Toured San Onofre nuclear power plant near San Diego.

Toured Grand Gulf nuclear power plant in Port Gibson, Mississippi.

Testified before Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Port Gibson, Mississippi in support of Grand Gulf nuclear plant Early Site Permit.

Spoke on panel at Queens, New York Energy Forum.

Spring 2005

WPFW 98.3 FM Pacifica Radio interview with Mike Tidwell, Director of Chesapeake Climate Action Network in Washington, DC.

BBC Radio interview on the future of nuclear power in Germany.

WVOX radio interview in New Rochelle, New York with Mt. Vernon Mayor Ernie Davis. Energy policy discussion.

Attended the 7th Annual "Keepers of the Dream" Dinner and Awards Ceremony sponsored by Reverend Al Sharpton and the National Action Network in New York. Denzel Washington, Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs, Suzanne DePasse, and Spike Lee, among others were recognized.

Conducted radio interview on the nation's only environmental radio station, WRYR 97.5 FM in Sherwood, Maryland. It is a 100 watt station seveing the Eastern and Western Shores of the Mid-Chesapeake Bay Region.

Attended the 18th Annual New York State Assembly/Senate Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force Conference in Albany, NY sponsored by Assemblyman Jose R. Peralta -- panelist for Environmental Injustice Workshop.

Visited Dominion's North Anna nuclear power plant near Mineral, Virginia.

Toured Exelon's Clinton, Illinois nuclear power plant. Presented statement at Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Early Site Permit hearing in Clinton, Illinois.

Winter 2005

Testified on the Maryland Clean Cars Act before the Judicial Proceedings Committee of the Maryland Senate and the Environmental Matters Committee in the Maryland House of Delegates..
Testified on the Emissions of Four Pollutants From Power Plants Act before the Education, Health & Environmental Affairs Committee of the Maryland Senate and the Economic Matters Committee of the Maryland House of Delegates.
Attended and commented at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission headquarters meeting on the Combined Operating License (COL) of Duke Power for considering two new plants near Charlotte, NC.
Attended the 34th Annual Legislative Conference of the New York State Association of Black and Puerto Rican Legislatiors at Empire State Plaza in Albany, New York. As part of that conference, I attended the Environmental Health conference hosted by the W. Haywood Burns Environmental Education Center.
Attended the Nuclear Regulatory Commission hearing on the Early Site Permit application for Dominion Power to build two new plants at its current North Anna power plant site.
Spoke at a press conference in Baltimore with Maryland PIRG and others on the low-emission vehicle Clean Car Campaign. The hearing was held in Mineral, Virginia -- 80 miles South of Washington, DC.
Spoke at the Maryland State Highway Administration's Black History Month speakers series.
Testified at the Intercounty Connector hearing conducted by the U.S. Federal Highway Administration and the Maryland Department of Transportation.
Spoke at the New York Urban League's Third Annual Rev Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. Symposium at the Schomburg Center in Harlem, New York.

Fall 2004

Spoke at the Black Enterprise magazine headquarters in New York on environmental and energy issues.

Testified before the Army Corp of Engineers in Boston on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement in support of the Cape Wind energy project proposed for Nantucket Sound. Met with the President and Vice President of Cape Wind Energy at their office in Boston.

Spoke at the Maryland Black Caucus Annual Legislative Weekend's Environmental Justice Workshop. The theme was 'Water & Our Health.'

Spoke on the environmental justice panel at the Society of Environmental Journalists annual conference in Pittsburgh.

AAEA was invited by the White House to attend President Bush's acceptance speech at the Ronald Reagan Building.

Summer 2004

Met with with Jim Connaughton, Chairman of the White House Coucil on Environmental Quality.

Met Ms. Ayanna King, Director Environmental Justice Institute.

AAEA worked with New York City Council Charles Barron to get a New York City Environmental Justice Act introduced before the New York City Council.

Spring 2004

Met approximately 15 ministers in Harlem and assisted in the establishment of an environment committee.

Played in a benefit golf tournament to help Fort Foote National Park in Prince George's County, Maryland.

Winter 2004

Worked out of AAEA's newly established New York Office located in the South Bronx. Looked at the numerous trash transfer stations, Hunts Point (produce delivery station), power plants and other industrial facilities.

AAEA also commissioned a Southeastern Regional Office with Sulaiman Mahdi, who once ran the AAEA Georgia Office for the Southeastern Region.

Fall 2003

Visited each of 39 offices of the Congressional Black Caucus and met with either staff or a member at least once--in some cases 2, 3 or 4 times. Visits were to discusss energy and air legislation. Also discussed the Green Group Report Card.

Presented testimony before the New York Westchester County Board of Legislators (County Council) in support of the Indian Point nuclear power plant.

Attended the opening of the New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance (NY AREA). Met with Rudy Giuliani, who is a security consultant for the owner of the plant. He provided opening comments at the meeting.

Proposed environmental justice legislation at a meeting of Delegate Clarence Davis' Environmental Justice Committee at the Maryland Legislative Black Caucus 2003 Legislative Conference in Annapolis, Maryland.

Attended Delegate Davis' follow-up meeting at Morgan State University in the President's Conference Room. The Environmental Justice Committee discussed the upcoming legislative session. Delegate Davis provided lunch.

Summer 2003

Played in the Congressional Black Caucus Spouses 11th Annual Education Scholarship Fund Golf & Tennis Tournament at Argyle Golf Course in Silver Spring, Maryland. Attended the Congressional Black Caucus Pre-Tournament Gala aboard the glass-topped cruise ship Odyssey on the Potomac River with entertainment by Kenny Lattimore and Regina Carter. The scholarship fund awarded more than $700,000 in 2003.

Played in a golf tournament at Tantallon Country Club in Prince George's County, Maryland to support the restoration of Fort Foote National Park.

Played in a golf tournament at Willow Ridge Country Club in Westchester County, New York sponsored by the African American Men of Westchester County to support their youth program.

Briefed Reverend Al Sharpton on environmental and energy issues for his appearance at the League of Conservation Voters Presidential debate in Los Angeles

and

Met President Bush the same day at the White House for the first time.

"What is happening to the black family in America is the sociological equivalent of global warming: easier to document than to reverse, inconsistent in its near-term effect -- and disastrous in the long run.

Father absence is the bane of the black community, predisposing its children to school failure, criminal behavior and economic hardship, and to an intergenerational repetition of the grim cycle. The culprit is the decline of marriage." --William Raspberry, The Washington Post

Black Squirrels Have you heard about the black squirrels in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area? The Washington Post quoted scientists: "they were multiplying because their dark coats allowed them to retain heat from sunlight, leaving them less desperate for warmth than their lighter-colored cousins...If you can do it with solar heat, you don't need quite as much metabolic heat, and therefore, need less food." Unfortunately, these solar powered brother squirrels did not get the memo and have been migrating faster into Northwest Washington and out to Gaithersburg and Rockville in Montgomery County. According to the Post, "Some residents have called to complain that the new squirrels are aggressive, driving out the friendly gray squirrels." Although the county parks department has assured residents that, "It's the same squirrel, just a different color," I am sure arrangements will be made to redirect these squirrels to Prince George's County.

Pulling Weeds I love pulling weeds in the front and back yards. It is relaxing. I guess it is the country boy in me. I remember spending part of my summers as a boy with my grandmother, Kate Best. Grandma had flowers throughout her front yard, a half-acre garden on the side of her house and woods everywhere else. She was a tenant farmer, so there were also fields of corn or soy beans for as far as you could see. She also had a walnut tree in the front yard. She would get her hoe and chop weeds in her garden. We would sit on the porch and 'shuck' beans. Drinking water came from a groundwater well and there was an outhouse (a wasp seemed to always provide interruptions). Anyway, it sure does feel good to pull weeds by hand in the sterile suburbs.

Capitol Hill Sure Has Changed I remember when Capitol Hill was a relaxed little village. Now it is being hardened to address terrorist threats. I think the new visitor center underground on the east side also doubles as a nice shelter. Various tunneling projects also sprout out from the House and Senate sides. The Capitol Power Plant is being expanded. Barriers now block streets next to the House Office Buildings. Police presence has greatly increased and walking up to the Senate Chamber is an intense experience now. There was a time when you could just walk in the Capitol Building from almost anywhere. I sure do miss the good old days when you could just about walk right in anywhere in Washington, DC without being examined. Those days are over.

In 2003 Black Households in America Earned $656 Billion According to Target Market News, African Americans spent:

My son's Godfather, Chaplain Ollis Jon Mozon, Jr. greets President Bush at Camp Lejeune Marine Base in Jacksonville, North Carolina

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Norris McDonald at State Department Climate Change Summit