Monday, August 26, 2013

BP's Outreach “It’s all - it's all about the messenger, right.”

 Recently, I received copy of the latest Cape Vincent Wind Farm news letter . It came in an envelope with a return address of Trieste Associates Inc.

Marion Trieste President of Trieste Associates works for top tier industrial wind companies such as BP and typically she is brought in to industrial wind targeted communities where the proposed development has become controversial.  Trieste has a formula she calls “Grassroots organization”
 In a Webinair promoted by the Department of Energy Titled Community Acceptance of Wind , Marion describes her "Grassroots" formula for making a project work for the developer.

    Trieste tells developers
We really have to invest in the public”. “You’re only going to increase your odds of success if you're investing in our host communities.”

In 2008 British Petroleum hired Trieste to do "outreach work” and this is when and why she established Voters for Wind (VFW).

Trieste talks about her favorite group Voters for Wind, saying,
They actually established themselves two years ago.
 “And I worked with them with a BP wind power project here.” “BP was - is the developer that I'm - I've been working with here.”
It’s all - it's all about the messenger, right.”
 These groups work well because the developer may be seen as having other goals in mind such as profit.

Trieste Creates a pro - wind coalition or network by holding small private gatherings with landowners, that are not open to the public, arming landowners with generic information about the development process, crafted to debunk the myths about Property values. Birds, Sound etc.
At these gatherings they formulate their mission to go out and "educate" people and encourage them to show their support for the proposed wind development.

They promote the notion that they have altruistic motives in their desire to push a developers project and not because they are gaining financially from it;

It just warms my heart to watch what's - what evolves with connecting people to each other in a community.”

Trieste tells the developers, to distance themselves, so they don’t taint the process, people may think they are being used by the wind developers.

At GEOS we call ourselves like a little buffer between the wind farm developer who's our client and those on the ground who are basically those most impacted in the local communities.”
So we can do a lot more good out there if we are seen as independent and are and acting as independent individual grassroots organizations.”

Additionally Trieste stressed the importance of the economics of wind. 
Money is a method used to promote the project as well. “Money talks” this is where the host benefit packages come into play as she characterized our area as little Appalachia.

Trieste used the webinar as an opportunity to engage in exploitation of community division describing the typical industrial wind opponents, as wealthy short term summer residents, retired Wall Street attorney types from New Jersey and New York City that do not care about the community, jobs or taxes. 
They just care about their view-shed”

In contrast to the characterization of the Anti- wind Trieste describes the pro wind, as the downtrodden silent majority, farmers struggling to survive .  People who are invested in the community and have been invested in the land for generations and now their grand kids are never going to be able to live here because 

there’s nothing for them . They get it.”

Additionally, Trieste would like to educate our children about industrial wind as well.

I can't emphasize enough that we need to be more and more in our schools. to get young people involved, Let's go and let's shame the older generation into doing this.”


Link here to the US DEPARTMENT of ENERGY website and Trieste's ~ transcript & webcast

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Trieste and BP think Cape Vincent is Little Appalachia, eh?

I wonder how they will feel when us country bumpkins, with hayseed in our teeth, and deficient mental abilities attributable to inbreeding, throw the fourth largest corporation out of Little Appalachia? I wonder how Trieste will feel when we bumpkins send her packing?

BP and Trieste have been trying to shove their disastrous wind project down our pie holes for almost a decade and they are further away now than they have ever been.

Even us bumpkins can tell when those living across the mountain have stumbled and when they are less than serious. We can see that things aren't going so good for them and we can begin to see defeat in their eyes.

When they are gone we can continue our slow, deficient, rural ways, but we will always be ready to fight outsiders with big ideas for our small tight-knit Appalachian community.

Anonymous said...

Yup!

Anonymous said...

Its all about the messenger. Yup!

And, you are one the messengers they tried to SLAPP around with the dirtiest, scummiest, and most intimidating legal action allowed by US courts.

Gary King, Harvey White, Donnie Mason, Marty Mason, Paul Mason, Marlene Burton, Darrell Burton and Frank Giaquinto did the dirty work for Voters for Wind, the CFG and the Dem party.

I wonder how Marion Trieste thinks that all worked out for her favorite little applachians?

Frankly, perhaps little appalachian is a good term considering that they may have improperly assessed or even understood what a SLAPP is. I read the Hon. James P. McClosky court documents and his opinion regarding your motion for dismissal and in your favor.

Thanks to American Justice, Little Applachians have to obey the same laws we all do in the big city of Watertown and the land of traffic lights and Starbucks.

Anonymous said...

Yup!

Anonymous said...

Look at our present town officers...

Three town board members with military experience and even "rank". A military wife with business and worldly experience from places a CFG candidate would not even be able to spell. A man so competent and knowledgeable about the world that the only thing they could come up with is a desperate false slur of his personal life.

The people on the Cape Town board and their appointed committees and their volunteers have more diplomas than one candidate has chickens.

A town clerk to be proud of.

Engineering, the Arts, town planning, conservation, research, a former CEO of one of Jefferson County's oldest and respected manufacturing firms still holding their own today hiring more people in their proud custodial staff than a BP wind plant would bring to Jefferson County.

And what does the CFG and the democrats have to offer in their candidates other than a will to help BP?

Anonymous said...

3:26

Astute observation and this is more than Cape local politics. It is a bp assault on Jefferson County. Wise Cape Vincent voters will realize the significance and impact to our County and the Golden Crescent-Thousand Island Regions. A valuable asset not to be forfeited by our county leaders.

Anonymous said...

What makes you think that the anti wind are smarter than the pros.I know a lot of military people who has or had military experience. I know women who are military wives and has done a lot. But one big difference they are pro. So again what makes your anti wind any smarter than pro-wind. Why don't you folks get it out of your head your better. You're just meaner.

Anonymous said...

3:15 Question? you answered it. Did you get out of high school? Did you learn English. Before you run your mouth please learn how to speak. Common sense beats every thing you say. And worse yet you do not understand. There is no "mean" here you just do not want admit you are wrong.

Anonymous said...

"What makes you think that the anti wind are smarter than the pros"

For one, they did not put the town in jeopardy with a phony petition, illegal voter law and STAR intimidation.

They also are not going around the community spreading lies about voter fraud, a councilman being a druggie and wind being already done.

Anonymous said...

You windies won some big battles, but you didn't win the war. BP is still here, WHY because they know what the outcome will be. They may change the head people in their offices, but they have a plan that will not be side tracked. When they leave town then you'll be declared the winner, but until then are your negative comments are music to our ears, because you are fighting a losing battle. You must of hashed the same comment over and over more than once so it's getting a little sick reading them. As one of your writers once said it makes the vomit rise in my mouth or something like that. He's probably one of the lucky ones that'll have a turbine near his house when they get build. 500' isn't high enough, they should be 700' tall with 200' blades. Flicker, red lights and shadows will be his rewards. Ho Hum, what a bummer. Oh by the way I'm retired military.