Posted on 10/18/2003 11:22:05 PM PDT by jmcclain19
Morissette, Mike D Declare Eco War Sat Oct 18, 4:03 PM ET
By Wes Orshoski
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Alanis Morissette (news), Beastie Boy Mike D and producer Rick Rubin have joined environmental groups in an effort to oust the federal government's national parks czar.
In a letter posted on Morissette's Web site, the artists claim that Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles is failing to properly oversee such national parks as Yellowstone, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon.
"He has been leading the efforts to drill for oil and gas on these public lands, and he's been working to weaken the laws that protect the air," the letter reads.
It asks fans to sign a petition demanding the dismissal of Griles at firegriles.com, a site and movement spearheaded by such organizations as Greenpeace and Americans for Energy Freedom.
Prior to joining the Department of the Interior, Griles was an oil, gas and coal lobbyist. The letter claims that he is still being paid $284,000 per year by an "old lobbying company ... which we feel is a pretty big conflict of interest." Firegriles.com names that company as National Environmental Strategies.
"His job of overseeing our national parks is at odds with his working hard to help oil companies flourish," the letter continues.
Department of the Interior spokesman Mark Pfeifle describes the comments of Morissette and others as "discarded talking points from partisan special-interest groups." He stresses that Griles has instead worked to advance the administration's initiatives to make the land clearer, the air cleaner and the water safer than when he entered office.
He adds, "To borrow a line from Alanis, isn't it ironic that a Canadian citizen who is not registered to vote in the U.S. is leading" the effort, which he calls "misinformed."
Pfeifle says that while Griles did serve as a lobbyist for oil companies and electric utilities, he also lobbied for the nation's largest renewable energy company, New York state-based Caithness Energy.
The $284,000, he says, was approved by the government ethics office and in a bipartisan manner in the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committee before Griles appeared before the Senate for his confirmation hearing.
"It's fairly standard when somebody gives up his or her practice that they receive payment for it," Pfeifle says. "He worked many years at something; you don't just give it away for free."
Morissette is a supporter of numerous environmental, political action and human-rights groups, including Amnesty International. She is to receive the Missions in Music Award Nov. 5 at the 13th Annual Environmental Media Awards in Los Angeles.
Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this list.
I don't get offended if you want to be removed.
How nice of Ms. Morissette to come all the from Canada to tell us how to run our country.
And more importantly, her music sucks.
Yellowstone is highly doubtfull, it sits on a volcanic caldera.
As to Yosemite or the Grand Canyon, neither one impresses me as a site for either commodity.
Both are in fairly mountainous country, if I recall correctly, or at the least, on the edge of such terrain.
It seems to me that the geology would not be correct for oil or gas.
Minerals, maybe.
glenn ballard had a great deal to do with her success; too bad he didn't help her with her other records.... they're stinky
Envirodolts.
For Morissette, controlled 'Chaos'
By Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY
Posted 10/16/2003 8:20 PM
Alanis Morissette relied on stability and serenity to create So-Called Chaos, a new album due in February. She began a leisurely writing process in June "with, for the first time, the intent of not going to any extremes in terms of workaholism," she says. "I'd write a song, take a month off, write a few more songs. As the fall began, I had a real sense of the 10 songs that I wanted to be on the record."
Morissette's last album was 2002's Under Rug Swept.
Those songs were "channeled" quickly, she says. Any song that required more than 30 minutes to write was discarded. "Instead of spending months at a time in a belabored process, I was interested in something non-precious with an immediate visceral response."
Chaos, her first studio album since 2002's Under Rug Swept, echoes the themes and genres of such past works as 1995 breakthrough Jagged Little Pill and 1998's Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie. Autobiographical lyrics dwell on relationships, and the sound encompasses "my favorite hybrid of styles," she says. "It runs the gamut from ballads to very rock and extremely pop. It's hard to characterize, which is what I love about it."
Morissette plans limited touring, "but not the tyrannical cycle of killing myself for a year and then recovering for a year. I have no interest in that lifestyle anymore."
Agreed. She was (emphasis on "was") the Pat Benatar of her time (90's)--the hardened 'bitch' that ain't gonna take it anymore. It works for a song or two and then just gets monotonous before becoming down-right annoying.
If Mizz Morrissette is so concerned about air quality, I wonder if she's cut down on her airplane flights?
I'm guessing another Hollywood/recording industry Mutual Admiration Society award meant to raise public awareness of themselves. I could be wrong, but I highly doubt it.
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