Tuesday, January 13, 2009

MEDIA ADVISORY

From The Congress of Racial Equality

PRESS CONFERENCE PLANNED ON WEDNESDAY BY BLACK MINISTERS AND CIVIL RIGHTS AND PRO-FAMILY ADVOCATES TO PROTEST ROBERT REDFORD

For immediate release: Monday, Jan. 12, 2009

Salt Lake City -- Advocates for the poor from all over the nation will descend on Salt Lake this week to wage a protest against Hollywood actor Robert Redford's opposition to exploration of clean-burning Utah natural gas -- energy that helps heat millions of homes across America.

The protest press conference starts at noon on Wednesday, Jan. 14, in front of the Broadway Theater, 111 E. Broadway, which shows Sundance Films. The location is also near the Utah Division of Housing and Community Development, which runs energy assistance programs for low-income Utahns. Details of the press conference are below.

Organized by CORE, this protest will feature more than a dozen black, faith-based, civil rights and pro-family leaders who will call on Redford to "disassociate himself from environmental extremist groups and instead side with poor and low-income families who are struggling to afford high energy prices."

"Robert Redford may not realize that the environmental agenda he has bought into hurts a lot of low-income families at the other end of natural gas pipeline," said Niger Innis, National Spokesman for CORE. "I'm sure he feels strongly about these issues. I just think that he is either uninformed or has been misled on the real world consequences of his environmental activism."

"Robert Redford can afford to heat his 13,000-square-foot mansion in Utah no matter how high home heating prices get," said Bishop Harry M. Jackson, Jr., Chairman of the High-Impact Leadership Coalition and Senior Pastor at the Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, MD. "But grandmothers on a fixed income and single mothers dependent upon public assistance in South Chicago cannot. They count on energy production in states like Utah to continue so that their home heating costs stay as low as possible."

"Robert Redford needs to understand that it comes across a little hypocritical when he pushes to slow energy production here in Utah or anywhere in the Rockies," Innis said. "After all, it's a safe bet that, between his Utah mansion and the Sundance Resort, he and his business partners use more natural gas in a month than a single mother of two in South Chicago uses in a year. It becomes an issue of real-world perspective."

"We need actors in Hollywood to become advocates for people who are living really difficult lives now because of the high cost of living, joblessness and the economic recession," Bishop Jackson said. "We need to see our cultural icons open their eyes a bit and see beyond the lure of quick environmental headlines."

WHO: Black Ministers, Civil Rights and Pro-Family Activists including:

* Niger Innis, National Spokesman, Congress of Racial Equality (Nevada / New York)

* Bishop Harry R. Jackson, Jr., Chairman, High-Impact Leadership Coalition and Senior Pastor, Hope Christian Church (Beltsville, Maryland)

* Bishop Phillip Porter, Chairman, Colorado Consumers for Affordable Energy, Founding Pastor, All Nations Pentecostal Church of God in Christ (Aurora, Colorado)

* Bishop Bobbie Allen, Pastor, Griffin Memorial Church of God in Christ (Ogden, UT)

* Pastor Derek McCoy, President, Maryland Family Forum and Associate Pastor, Hope Christian Church (Beltsville, MD)

* Reverend Gerard Henry, President, Speak Life! and former Black Entertainment Television Host of the "Lift Every Voice" program (Atlanta, GA)

* Elder Sam Malone, Encampment Church and the Winburn Report (Cincinnati, OH)

* Pastor Terry Millender, Victorious Life Ministries (Alexandria VA)

* Dr. Rick Durfield, CEO, All About Marriage (North Las Vegas, NV)

* Dr. Cal Beisner, Ministerial Assistant, Holy Trinity Presbyterian Church, and National Spokesman, Cornwall Alliance (Pembroke Pines, FL)

WHAT: Press conference to protest Hollywood actor Robert Redford's activism against exploration of clean-burning Utah natural gas that helps to provide affordable home heating fuel to millions of families in the Intermountain West, the Midwest and the Eastern U.S.

WHERE: On the public sidewalk in front of the Broadway Theater (111 E. Broadway), where Sundance films are shown. This is also near to the Utah Division of Housing and Community Development, which helps distribute financial energy assistance to low-income Utah families.

WHEN: Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2009, 12 noon

BACKGROUND: Redford recently teamed with several extremist environmental organizations in a highly visible national campaign to denounce exploration and production of clean-burning natural gas in Utah.

CORE, the High Impact Leadership Coalition and a rapidly growing number of civil rights leaders, faith-based leaders and advocates for low-income families have publicly denounced Redford's attacks because restricting supply of natural gas in the Rockies can lead to higher prices for home heating fuel across the Midwest and other parts of the nation.

For example, it is estimated that approximately eight billion cubit feet (BCF) per day of natural gas flows east out of the Rockies to Midwestern and other markets. Utah's production comprises about one BCF of those exports to the East. The greater Chicago area alone consumes over four BCF of natural gas per day. Utah gas ends up flowing to many cities like Chicago to help families heat their homes.

These advocates say that Redford may not understand the impact of his environmental grand-standing or may have been misled by environmental organizations on the potential impacts of restricting natural gas supply in the Rockies. They plan to ask for a summit meeting with Redford to discuss their concerns and help to educate him on the how high energy prices disproportionately impact low-income families.