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"Sport Utility Owners of America' (SUVOA) is a public-relations campaign run from the Washington DC offices of Strat@comm / Fleishman-Hillard. SUVOA describes itself as "a nonprofit consumer organization dedicated to supporting the rights and serving the interests of SUV owners. Two days ago, SUVOA issued the appended press release announcing their launch of a campaign that portrays environmentalists and the California Air Resources Board as clowns. What they did not explain is WHO they are or HOW this campaign meshes with other similar anti-environmental efforts.
Look at SUVOA's Board of Directors www.suvoa.com/about and you discover that everyone except their newly-hired President (Barry McCahill, a PR expert) is a member of the powerful American Recreation Coalition (ARC) www.wildwilderness.org/docs/arcmem2.htm. SUVOA's board includes ARC's own President, Derrick Crandall and ARC's Founder and Chairman, David Humphreys. Do a little snooping and you'll discover that Crandall is, or has been, on the Boards of "Foundation for Clean Air Progress" (FPAC) and "Coalition for Vehicle Choice" (CVC).
FCAP is a PR campaign run by the firm of Burson-Marsteller. Their message explains that air quality is improving and regulations can be lifted. CVC is a PR campaign run by the firm of Fleishman-Hillard. Their message includes a broad attack upon those trying to fight Global Warming. FCAP is a covert campaign. CVC is a strident, in-your-face, anti-environmental effort.
What is important to appreciate is that Crandall and Humphreys represent the interests of all forms of motorized recreation, from motorhomes to jetskis, from snowmobiles to cabin-cruisers from off-roading to cruising America's byways. These two are America's most prominent and influential defenders of the rights of every man to burn just as much petroleum as he or she can afford. Crandall has testified before congress in support of drilling the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, saying that motorized recreationists and the tourism industry need cheap oil. Both Crandall and Humphreys have testified before congress in support of the Recreation Fee Demonstration Program --- a program for which THEY have taken full credit.
So what's the connection between fee-demo and all of ARC's other motorized interests?? Simple. Fee-demo is about buying access to public lands. Anyone willing to pay will get to play. No motorized recreationist will ever be left behind, so long as he is willing to buy his access. Knowing what you now know, please read the following news release.
Scott
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http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040802/dcm015_1.html
Press Release Source: Sport Utility Vehicle Owners of America
SUV Group Launches 'Climate Clown Corps' Campaign to Protest
Regulation Monday August 2, 5:01 am ET
CA Air Resources Board Regulation Puts SUVs & Pickups in Crosshairs Click http://www.climateclown.com to Hear, See Ads
SUVOA's Ron DeFore is Barnstorming California the Week of August 1,
Traveling from San Diego to Sacramento and Several Stops Between
Aug. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- SUV Owners of America (SUVOA) is taking to
California airwaves and print this week to protest the harmful and
dangerous effects of proposed regulation by the California Air
Resources Board. SUVOA's ads employ humor -- in the form of clowns
starring in ads on drive-time radio and in USA Today (California
editions) -- to drive home the no-chance odds the regulation will
achieve its stated objective (reducing global climate emissions), while
underscoring the rule's costly and deadly side-effects. In short, the
regulation would downsize many vehicles, make larger SUVs and pickups
hard-to-find and less useful, and drive up vehicle cost.
"Who hasn't been to the circus and seen the routine where clowns cram
into tiny cars -- so who better to show Californians how to squeeze
into small vehicles than a corps of clowns?" said Barry McCahill,
president of SUVOA. "Coming soon to California dealerships: 'Squeezy
the Climate Clown' to help consumers learn how to fit into their next
car!
"We are debuting the absurd Climate Clown Corps campaign to fittingly
illustrate the folly of this approach," noted McCahill, a retired
former National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) official
now living in Eagle, Idaho. "But the negative consequences of this
mistake-in-the-making are no laughing matter. NHTSA and other studies
demonstrate that downsizing vehicles in the past has resulted in
thousands more deaths and tens of thousands more injuries."
Directed by a new California law, CARB is proposing regulations to
drastically reduce global climate emissions from personal vehicles,
chiefly carbon dioxide (CO2) -- despite the fact that any reduction in
CO2 from California vehicles will be far overwhelmed by rising
emissions elsewhere, particularly China. Unlike smog (ground-level
ozone) emissions, there is NO catalytic-converter type technology to
reduce CO2. The ONLY way to do so is to burn less fuel. Consequently,
the regulation takes direct aim at California farmers, families,
carpoolers, boaters, horse riders and others who want and need SUVs and
pickups that deliver seating capacity, power and utility.
SOURCE Sport Utility Vehicle Owners of America
Web Site: http://www.climateclown.com or http://www.suvoa.com
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To learn more:
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=105&STORY=/www/story/02-26
-2003/0001898010
http://www.forrelease.com/D20040121/dew027.P2.01212004124114.17857.html
http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml?title=Stratacomm
http://www.fleishman.com/news/pr032604.html
http://www.whatwouldjesusdrive.org/blog/120
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