Global warming work is heating upWith global warming on the cov-ers of major magazines, the sub-ject of Hollywood movies (donʼt miss Al Goreʼs An Inconvenient Truth), and in newspapers on a daily basis, momentum is grow-ing for action on global warm-ing in state capitols across the country and in D.C.

Itʼs a good thing, too. In recent months scientists have con-cluded that the world is warming more quickly than expected.

We already knew that sea level rise is caused by global warm-ing, but scientists now predict an even faster rise due to the rapid melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. This summer, state PIRGs across the country are joining forces to mobilize support for long-term solutions to global warming.

Fresh off a major victory on our Million Solar Roofs Initiative, Environment California, the home of CALPIRGʼs environ-mental program since 2003, wants the state to once again lead the way—this time on global warming.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger pledged his support for strong limits on global warming pollu-tion at a news conference with Environment Californiaʼs Ber-nadette Del Chiaro in April. Now Bernadette is leading our

campaign to hold the governor to his promise to sign global warm-ing legislation this summer.

Building on recent victories on clean cars and clean energy, NJPIRGʼs Dena Mottola and Doug OʼMalley are calling on Gov. Jon Corzine to adopt a plan that would cut global warming pollution 20 percent by 2020 and 70 percent by 2050.

Similarly, Environment Illi-nois—one of the newest state en-vironmental groups and headed by Becky Stanfi eld—is asking Illinois legislators to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 10 percent over the next 10 years and 80 percent over the next 50 years.

In early May, the Massachusetts Legislature took an impor-tant step toward solving global warming by giving The Global Warming Bill (SB 2475) a fa-vorable recommendation from the environment committee at a hearing in the state house.

This bill would have Massachu-setts rejoin the Regional Green-house Gas Initiative (RGGI), an effort of eight other Northeast-ern states to cut global warming pollution from power plants.

In this issue . . . PIRGIM helps reduce mercury pollution . . . pg 2Governor requires power plants to reduce mercury pollution 90 percent.

Coloradans breathe easier . . . pg 2CoPIRG celebrates passage of Clean Indoor Air Act.

Featured Alumna Ennis Carter . . . pg 3Ennis named one of 50 Best Women in Business by Penn. Gov. Rendell.

Meet the new alumni coordinator . . . pg 5Kirsten Schatz will take over as the SPAN coordinator in the fall.

Grateful friends bid farewell to Gene Karpinski . . . pg 7Gene spent 22 years as director of PIRGs’ D.C. lobbying offi ce.

Summer 2006State PIRG Alumni Newsletter

MAKING PROGRESS AGAINST GLOBAL WARMING—Environment California s̓ Bernadette Del Chiaro thanks Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for his leadership on the California Solar Initiative.

—Continued on page 5

Campaign Highlights

Pe n n P I R G F i g h t s F o r Consumer Privacy Rights

Testifying before the IRS on April 4, PennPIRGʼs Beth Mc-Connell urged offi cials to reject a proposal that would allow H&R Block and other tax pre-parers to share or sell the entire contents of taxpayer fi lings with corporations that want the infor-mation for marketing purposes.

Three weeks earlier, Beth ap-peared on CNBCʼs Street Signs program, advocating PIRGs ̓po-sition, while former IRS Com-missioner Donald Alexander took the other side. Please visit www.pennpirg.org to see the video.

Mercur y Reduc tion In Michigan

On April 17, Gov. Jennifer Gra-nholm of Michigan announced that she is requiring power plants to reduce toxic mercury pollu-tion 90 percent by 2015, a step that will clean up Michiganʼs waterways and protect the health of Michigan families.

Gov. Granholm s̓ announcement directs the Michigan Depart-ment of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) to immediately begin a rule-making process to require coal-burning power plants to reduce mercury emissions.

While 90 percent reductions can and should be accomplished sooner than 2015, the stateʼs action is nonetheless a welcome

milestone in PIRGIMʼs multi-year effort and a tremendous improvement over weak fed-eral standards that would delay meaningful reductions for 20 years.

Gov. Granholmʼs announce-ment follows similar action by the governors of Illinois and Pennsylvania, and lawsuits fi led by over a dozen states (includ-ing Michigan) against the Bush administrationʼs weak mercury rules that violate the Clean Air Act.

Coloradans Breathe Easier

Health groups in Colorado are celebrating the passage of House Bill 1175, the Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act. The new leg-islation will make all bars and restaurants in Colorado smoke free starting on July 1.

In March, the Colorado Leg-islature approved the bill and Gov. Bill Owens signed the bill into law.

The Smoke Free Colorado coali-tion, which included CoPIRG, American Lung Association, American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, Colorado Restaurant Associa-tion and others, had been work-ing for a statewide smoking ban for 5 years.

Rex Wilmouth, director of CoPIRG says, “Itʼs a big day for the people of Colorado, given 80 percent of the population does not smoke. They can now go into

bars and restaurants and breathe clean air.”

There had been an enormous outpouring of public support since the bill was introduced. More than 216 businesses and organizations, as well as a num-ber of elected offi cials and City Councils, had been working for the passage of this statewide smoking ban.

WISPIRG Wins Energy Standards

Wisconsin recently joined 11 other states with PIRG-spear-headed clean energy standards. The state Assembly voted unan-imously in favor of a bill that requires utilities to get 10 per-cent of their energy from clean, renewable sources by 2015, and Gov. Jim Doyle signed the bill when it reached his desk.

Currently, Wisconsin generates 70 percent of its electricity from coal, 20 percent from nuclear power and less than one percent from clean, renewable sources.

WISPIRGʼs Jen Giegerichreports the Wisconsin bill also requires the state government to purchase 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2011 and protects funding for energy effi ciency and conservation.

The state PIRGs have backed and won similar standards in California, Colorado, New Mex-ico, Texas, Maryland, Pennsyl-vania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Vermont. Efforts are underway to strengthen these standards and win new rules in Arizona, Or-egon, Maine and elsewhere, with a goal of dramatically ramping up demand for wind, solar and other clean alternatives to oil, gas, coal and nuclear power.

Rex Wilmouth stands with Colorado State Sen. Dan Grossman following the Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act victory.

Page 2

Alumni Profi les

Daniel Silverman fi rst got in-volved with the PIRGs knocking on doors during the summer after his freshman year at UC Berke-ley. As a student, he was on the CALPIRG board of directors and proudly remembers recruit-ing the freshman chef, Andre Delattre, into the chapter.

He took some time off of school to work with Michael Stusser and April Smith as a campus organizing trio to win the UCLA reaffi rmation vote. Daniel spent a lot of time following around UCLA basketball star Reggie Miller trying to gain his endorse-ment. He never got it, but they did win the big vote.

Daniel SilvermanAfter getting his bachelors de-gree, Daniel moved to Wash-ington, D.C., to be U.S. PIRGʼs fi eld director, where he worked on clean air, clean water and fuel effi ciency standards. During that time, he learned a tremendous amount from Gene Karpinski who pushed him to do better with every campaign.

Before leaving the PIRGs, Dan-iel worked briefl y on the Save our Skies campaign to stop an advertising agencyʼs plan to put mile high, mile long mylar bill-boards in space. Daniel, working with Dave Hamilton, led the fi ght to kill the plan.

Congratulations to Ennis Carter! Not only is her company, Design for Social Impact (DfSI), cel-ebrating its tenth anniversary, but Ennis was recently named one of the Best 50 Women in Business by Pennsylva-nia Gov. Ed Rendellʼs offi ce: http://www.newpa.com/news-Detail.aspx?id=389.

Ennis (known to many PIRGers as Debbie Ennis) founded DfSI in 1996 to help affect social change by helping groups tell their stories. DfSI specializes in communication strategy, graphic design, web design and print

Ennis Carter: One Of PA’s Best Businesswomenproduction and has supported hundreds of nonprofi t organiza-tions over the last 10 years. Prior to starting her own business, Ennis helped co-found Public Interest GRFX with Ken Wardand directed the GRFX offi ce in Philadelphia from 1994-1996.

Ennis got her start in 1987 as a NJPIRG campus organizer alongside Matt Baker, Jen Coken, Dave Pringle and Lau-rie Moskowitz. She fondly re-members getting up at 4 a.m. to gather petitions during morning rush hour at local train stations for the bottle bill, as well as

trucking out the 500 pound fi sh named Wanda for Clean Water Enforcement rallies.

She spent her second year or-ganizing at Rutgers-Newark before moving to Trenton as NJPIRGʼs administrative direc-tor in 1990, a position she held for four years.

Ennis lives in Philadelphia with her husband Phil (theyʼve been married for 10 years) and their daughter Elspeth Orange Carter, who is now 2 years old. To contact Ennis, visit www.designforsocialimpact.org.

Over the past 14 years, Daniel has worked for Jerry Brown, for the Sierra Club as national media director, for Communication Works and for Fenton Commu-nications. In December he joined the James Irvine Foundation as the director of communications. In that capacity he oversees the

Daniel, Jana, Maya and Oliver Silverman.

Ennis Carter at DfSI

foundationʼs external commu-foundationʼs external commu-fnications.

Daniel lives in San Francisco with his wife Jana and two kids Maya (age 9) and Oli-ver (age 5). They are already hoping to make it to Alumni Aspen 2007. Contact Daniel at Dsilverman@irvine.org.

Babies:Liz Delleart Raiberti, former NJPIRG organizing director, and her husband Charles welcomed the arrival of their daughter, Lily Paige, on March 17. Amber Lynn Lane, former TOP assistant director, and her husband Erik are proud to announce the birth of Jasper Kenneth Lane on March 3. Jason Shure, former state PIRG development assistant, and Nicole Carney, former FFPIR canvass director recently celebrated the birth of their daughter Colette.

O n D e c e m b e r 2 9 , 2 0 0 5 , Amy Miller Keane, former MASSPIRG staffer, and her husband Peter announced the birth of their son, Eamonn Thomas Keane. Beckie Lee, former FFPIR canvass director,

Page 4

and Tim Kniser, former FFPIR fi eld manager, who met on the 1998 summer OSPIRG canvass, announce the birth of their daughter, Lucy Lee Kniser, on October 21, 2005.

Movers and Shakers:In case you missed it, Amy Marrinan, former NJPIRG or-ganizer, was seen at the Oscars when her sister, Corinne, won the best documentary short. Corinne thanked Amy and the camera got a shot of her in the audience.

Vanessa Kirsch , fo rmer MASSPIRG board chair, is the president and founder of New Profi t, Inc., a national venture philanthropy fund. Lora Won-dolowski, former MASSPIRG

and Ohio PIRG organizer, was recently hired as the found-ing Executive Director for the Mass League of Environmental Voters. Previously, she ran the New England programs for the League of Conservation Voters Education Fund and directed LCVEF s̓ national student voter organization program.

Steve Ma, former NJPIRG board chair and advocate, will soon be moving from AARP New Jersey to AARP s̓ Offi ce of Social Impact in DC. He will be focusing on preserving Medicare and Social Security as well as defending consumers.

Seth Kilbourn, former FFPIR canvass director, recently joined Equality Californiaʼs staff as political director. Kathleen Traphagen, former MASSPIRG and Publications staffer, was recently named senior partner at Summit Collaborative, a consulting group for nonprofi ts and foundations, founded by alumnus Marc Osten.

Ellynne Bannon, former state PIRG higher education advocate, recently joined Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi s̓ D.C.-based out-reach staff. Ben Prochazka, for-mer USPIRG fi eld organizer and ecopledge organizer, is currently working for the Save Darfur Co-alition. Frank Houston, former Illinois PIRG associate, is cur-rently the Center for Progressive Leadershipʼs program manager in Michigan.

Amie Diffenauer , former NJCWW organizer, is currently working with ROSE Community Development in Portland, Ore. as a community organizer. Daniel Malarkey, former MASSPIRG bottle bill organizer, is the president of a new company called Washington Biodiesel LLC. Morgan Sheets, former MASSPIRG campus organizer, recently started a new position with the Amputee Coalition of America as its national campaign director.

K.D. Parman and Jeana Frazzi-ni, both former FFPIR canvass

New Babies

Lily Paige Raiberti Jasper Kenneth Lane Lucy Lee Kniser

Alumni UpdatesAspen 2007

Eamonn Thomas Keane

Itʼs not too early to start planning for next yearʼs Aspen, Dec. 14-22, 2007. Come celebrate the state PIRGs ̓ 35th anniversary. Only full time professional staff members who worked with one of the state PIRGs or affi liated organiza-tions are eligible to join us in 2007. For more details contact alumni@pirg.org.

Kirsten Schatz will be taking over the State PIRG Alumni Network Coordinator position this summer after she wraps up her San Diego assistant canvass director duties.

For the last year and a half, Kirsten has been the campus organizer at University of

California San Diego working with students on hurricane relief, affordable education and the Million Solar Roofs Initiative.

Originally from New Jersey, Kirsten graduated from Rice University in 2003 with degrees in Environmental Science and Sociology.

Welcome The New Alumni Coordinator

Afterwards she joined the central staff of the New Voters Project where she recruited dozens of staff for the project as well as assistant directed the get-out-the-vote offi ce based in Denver.

You can contact Kirsten at alumni@pirg.org. alumni@pirg.org. alumni@pirg.org.

Global Warming—Continued from page 1

In a recent victory, Brad Heavner helped convince the Maryland Legislature to join the RGGI.

Arizona PIRGʼs Diane Brown released “Blueprint for Action,” a report offering concrete steps for cutting the stateʼs global warming pollution by adopting poli-cies which would lead to cleaner cars, more effi cient energy use and more solar and other clean, renewable energy sources. It contains 14 policy strategies that would help Arizona sta-bilize emissions despite population growth.

OSPIRG has launched its Clean Energy for Oregon campaign calling on the state to get 25 percent of its energy from clean sources by 2025. OSPIRG also wants to expand the Energy Trust of Oregon to fund even more conservation and renewable energy projects.

At the federal level, U.S. PIRGʼs staff is working to introduce new bills in the House and Senate to reduce global warming 60 to 80 percent by 2050. Through the efforts of our staff, we will build a core of sup-port for our statewide and national global warming campaigns this summer. To read the latest updates about our global warming work nationwide, visit www.pirg.org. pirg.org. pirg.org.

directors, fi led a lawsuit in April against the State of Oregon for same-sex parental rights.

Will Haynes-Morrow, former FFPIR assistant director, is working with Human Transla-tion, a nonprofit that raises awareness and funds for people in need in Balang, Cambodia.

Daphne Sorensen, former GC organizer (ʻ02) and USPIRG Field Organizer in Florida, is moving to Mozambique to work with Save the Children UK as the organizationʼs provincial manager in Zambezia province. She plans to be in Mozambique for at least 2 years. David Yea-ger, former MASSPIRG orga-nizer, has recently returned to the states from three years in Sa-rajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he served as International Attorney and Registrar of the Human Rights Chamber for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Marianne Zugel, former Fron-tier Group staffer, recently com-pleted a fi lm entitled “Powder River Country,” documenting coalbed methane development in Montana. The idea for the fi lm originated with a CoPIRG energy report she worked on.

Michelle Ehlen, former PIRG Media Center staffer, runs her own fi lm production company called Ballet Diesel Films. One of her short fi lms, “Half-Laugh-ing,” is now being distributed through Wolfe Video. Check it out at www.balletdiesel.com.

Lev Anderson, former OSPIRG associate, is currently working with Collective Eye, a nonprofi t fi lm studio that recently released an award-winning documentary, “The Real Dirt On Farmer John,” the story of a progressive farm community.

Sara Rasmussen, former FFPIR pre-recruitment staffer, is cur-rently the Sales and Marketing Associate with Idealbite.com. Rob Berridge, former Green Century Funds marketing asso-ciate, is launching a new project called wikiforgood.org, a site similar to wikipedia that focuses on boosting the public good.

Liz Russell, former FFPIR re-gional director, recently gradu-ated from UC Boulder with a Masters in Geography. She now works with Trout Unlimited on abandoned hardrock mine clean-ups in Colorado.

Glenn Barnes, former FFPIR canvass director and sustainer coordinator, will be starting his Masters in Public Administration at UNC this fall. Chris Mac-Clinchy, former FFPIR canvass director and TOP staffer, will be starting his Master s̓ program in Urban Planning at the University of Southern Maine this fall.

Please send alumni news, updates and photos to alumni@pirg.org.

Kirsten Schatz will be the state PIRGs’ new alumni coordinator.

Page 6

Current Career Opportunities With The State PIRGs And Affi liated Organizationsrefi ne the look, navigation and structure of our sites. Create new tools, develop and promote new designs and strategies, and train staff around the country on how to keep key parts of their sites up to date.

• Associate Director of Hiring, State PIRGsLocation: Boston, MARecruit and hire experienced staff to work for the state PIRGs and affi liated groups as advocates, attorneys, organizing directors, program directors, and more.

• Field Director, Environmental Action Location: Boston or D.C. Expand the infl uence of the organization by building long-term political power and access to decisionmakers, representatives of key constituencies, experts, media and activists. Mobilize that network around environmental campaigns that protect from special interest polluters and their allies in government.

• Grantseeking Department Director, State PIRGs Location: Los AngelesOversee the organization’s development staff and grant writers to assist the grantseeking efforts of over 150 environmental and public interest attorneys, advocates, organizers, and scientists across the country.

For more information, please visit www.pirg.org/jobs. You can also call Dana Dorman at 617-747-4321.

• Media/Arts and Entertainment Industry Organizer, State PIRGsLocation: Los Angeles, CARaise visibility and deepen the state PIRGs’ access with the national media and the arts & entertainment industry. Package and pitch stories to reporters, producers and other journalists, and build our political network by reaching out to artists, publicists and key contacts in the entertainment industry to involve them in our programs and campaigns.

• Preservation Advocate, U.S. PIRGLocation: Washington, D.C.Lead our federal efforts to advocate for the preservation of publicly owned forests and the critical wildlife habitat, clean drinking water, and recreational opportunities they provide. Conduct research, create policy solutions, lobby, cultivate relationships with media and coalition partners, and fundraise for U.S. PIRG’s preservation program.

• Web Developer, State PIRGsLocation: PhiladelphiaImprove and upgrade the Web presence of over 30 organizations around the country. Work with designers, online organizers and message developers to

Environment Maine staff Matthew Davis and Heidi Overbeck with alumni Amanda Sears, Amy Thompson, Maggie Drum-mond and Craig Brown at the recent Maine alumni social.

On May 4, Brad Heavner of-fi cially announced the creation of Environment Maryland, the new home of MaryPIRGʼs en-vironmental work. At the event, he was joined by approximately 30 staff, alumni, legislators and coalition partners.

Brad is also happy to announce that Johanna Neumann (for-mer Green Corps class of 2002 and Toxics Action Center or-ganizer) will be rejoining staff as MaryPIRGʼs public interest advocate.

Environment Texas and Environment Maryland Launched

On March 22, alumni, coalition partners, legislators and staff met up at a local Austin venue to announce the new home of TexPIRGʼs environmental work.

Luke Metzger, joined by alum-ni Stephanie Carter, Clarence Johnson, Justin Ruben, Tedd Siff, Larry Warshaw, Me-lissa DeHaan, Cris Feldman and Tara Losoff, offi cially an-nounced the creation of Environ-ment Texas.

After 22 years as U.S. PIRGʼs only executive director, Gene Karpinski started his new posi-tion as President of the League of Conservation Voters.

On April 5, friends, family, coalition partners, alumni and congressional members joined us at the Frederick Douglass Museum in Washington, D.C. to poke a little bit of fun at Gene as well as thank him for his hard work and dedication to fi ghting the good fi ght.

Doug Phelps, Chair of U.S. PIRG, paid tribute to Gene with his remarks and presented him with a Grateful Dead-in-spired T-shirt from his “Grateful Friends.” Listed on the back of the shirt were campaigns Gene helped lead in true tour fashion.

U.S. PIRG Preservation Ad-vocate Athan Manuel shared

more recent stories about Gene s̓ fashionable Jerry Garcia ties and some members of the Capitol Hill Policeʼs ʻlove ̓of Gene.

Thanks to all the alumni who shared stories about Gene. We compiled them in a scrapbook full of photos and presented it to Gene later in the evening. Below youʼll fi nd a few excerpts from friends ̓comments.

“I admire your tenacity and your con t inued energy.”—Rep. Sherwood Boehlert

“A nat ional lobby direc-tor with so much respect for f ield seems impossible—LCV is lucky to have Gene.” —alumna Julie Miles

“A lot of people, including me, love Gene Karpinski for liv-ing his life in a way that lifts up and inspires the rest of us.” —alumnus Joel Ario

Once a month for 22 years, Gene would begin Monday morning staff meetings with a quiz, testing whether his staff had been following the news and reading the PIRG field update. (In fact, he announced that he and his wife Elizabeth Collaton were expecting their fi rst child in a bonus question.) Hereʼs a quick quiz to test your knowl-edge of Gene s̓ 22 years with the PIRGs.

1. How many postcards did Gene deliver to President Clinton in 2000 to protect the nation s̓ roadless forests?

2. What bone did Gene break in the 2005 PIRG basketball tournament?

3. How many couches did Gene sleep on when traveling to brief state PIRG staff on federal issues?

4. Who walks faster—Gene Karpinski or Roadrunner?

5. How many oil companies have set up shop in the Arctic Refuge on Gene s̓ watch?

Additional Nonprofi t Career Opportunities

Rep. Ed Markey and Gene Karpinski at Gene’s going away party.

Check out these career opportunities around the United States.

To list open positions, e-mail alumni@pirg.org.

• Work with alumna Aisling Kerins in Seattle, WA on the No on 933 campaign as an organizer. Send resume & cover letter to aisling@protectcommunities.org.

• Work with alumnus Tawal Panyacosit at the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center. They are seeking a Field Organizer for the Vote for Equality campaign. Send resume & cover letter to jobs@lagaycenter.org.

Thank you, Gene Karpinski!Gene’s Quiz!

• Work with alumna Heather Smith at Young Voter Strategies in Washington, D.C. Open positions include National Field Coordinator and Research Associate. Send resume & cover letter to Info@YoungVoterStrategies.org.

• Alumnus Steve Ma is seeking to fi ll AARP New Jersey’s Associate State Director of Advocacy position. Send resume & cover letter to djohnston@aarp.org.

• The League to Save Lake Tahoe is seeking a skilled and passionate Program Director to implement its conservation and communications programs. Send resume & cover letter to Julie@keeptahoeblue.org.

Answers:

1. 1.6 million

2. his nose

3. too many to count

4. Gene 5. none . . . and he will continue that fi ght at LCV.

“If PIRGers wore jerseys, they would have to retire your number!”

—Rep. Ed Markey

Save The Date

You’re invited to an alumni social near you!

Staff and alumni are organizing social events all across the U.S. this year. Check out the summer social dates below.

For more details and to RSVP visit: www.pirg.org/alumni/calendar.html. If youʼd like to host a social event in your city, contact alumni@pirg.org.

New Brunswick, New Jersey July 22Contact Doug OʼMalley: domalley@njpirg.org

Denver, Colorado July 22Contact Matt Baker: mbaker@environmentcolorado.org

The State PIRG Alumni Network1536 Wynkoop Street, Suite 100Denver, CO 80202www.pirg.org/alumni

Address Service Requested

NON PROFIT ORG.U.S. POSTAGE PAID

BROCKTON, MAPERMIT NO. 430

Alumni Pam Gilber t, K athleen We l c h a n d G e n e K a r p i n s k i at K arpinski ’s going away par ty.