Don Lieber

2015-10-20T05:37:00.001-07:00

Open Challenge to Rebecca Rimel, President of Pew Charitable Trusts: Match Your Mission Statement With Your Position On Alaskan Oil Drilling

Dear Ms. Rimel, I am an independent writer with an interest in environmental issues. I am a father, and an informed citizen. The credentials I hold as a writer and citizen are no less important than those of yours, which, I presume, may be bred from similar motivation: intellectual curiosity and, mostly, a committed citizen and…

2014-05-27T12:56:00.004-07:00

Coldplay: Say Something, I’m Giving Up on You

Flash back - Fall 2007

Mega-billion seller band RADIOHEAD releases long-awaited CD "In Rainbows". The band takes control of its own distribution and sales, and makes the CD available directly from the band's website (i.e., no distributor), at a cost of…. whatever you can afford.

It was an experiment, certainly at the chagrin of the band’s previous corporate label and distribution partners, to support their fans and all music lovers / participants with more affordable music by eliminating middlemen corporate structures. It also was an effort to establish a new distribution model - to be used by other bands as an independent alternative to relying exclusively on the traditional, highly limiting, corporate music industry.

Other artists have also ventured, with limited success, to establish independent labels and distribution. Prince may be the most notable example of a major artist who has shunned the traditional corporate industry structure once he became successful, seemingly placing a higher priority on supporting new artists and artistic integrity than on corporate-driven profits.

Flash to present: May 2014

Mega-billion seller band COLDPLAY releases long-awaited CD “Ghost Stories” by announcing that the band will not offer the CD to internet streaming services, such as Spotify, in an effort to avoid any free downloads. This, concurrent with the band’s signing of huge exclusivity contracts in marketing, distribution and sales with two of the largest communications and music retail corporations in the world, iTunes and Target. The band is now featured in a popular music video it made as a Target television ad (view it, above.)

I’ve been a huge fan. But perhaps, in recognition of the band’s evolution, it’s time for an official name change. I suggest “Oldplay”.

I find myself directing the following plea, taken from another current popular song, towards Mr. Martin and the Coldplay boys: "Say Something, I'm Giving Up on You."

2014-04-07T12:21:00.001-07:00

Spills, Explosions, Earthquakes and War: Welcome to American Energy “Independence” (via Desmogblog)

Fri, 2014-04-04 12:07Don Lieber A well-deserved show of gratitude to the efficient and reliable fossil fuel sources of American energy independence — oil, coal and gas — is in order, following a truly remarkable string of success stories in recent…

Wifey - CD RELEASE DUE SPRING 2014!!

2014-03-25T06:23:00.000-07:00

My new morning work out routine

2014-03-08T09:06:00.001-08:00

Post by Sina Aria.

2014-02-19T09:33:00.002-08:00

Brenna is an old buddy of mine from Portland, Oregon; her show is a comedic life-story set to the music of the '70s give or take a few years. Fun stuff. Good band, good vibes. Thanks Brenna!

Divest Now! A Night of Performance to Support NYU Divest.

2014-01-22T08:10:00.003-08:00

I'm proud to announce the upcoming night of performance which I've organized. What a cool group of amazing artists - film, music, theater, comedy - who've agreed to come together in support of NYU Divest. Details here: It'll be a very cool night of fun. and I'm super-psyched to be playing bass for Devon Glover aka: "T-Dome featuring The Sonnet Man." He.Is.Amazing.. JOIN THE FUN!!!!

Top 10 Toxic Ingredients Used In The Fossil Fuel Industries | PlanetSave

2014-01-22T07:59:00.001-08:00

Top 10 Toxic Ingredients Used In The Fossil Fuel Industries | PlanetSave

The Coming ‘Instant Planetary Emergency’ | The Nation

2013-12-29T21:14:00.001-08:00

The Coming ‘Instant Planetary Emergency’ | The Nation

Methane Emissions "Through The Roof" As Arctic Melts Faster Than Predicted: Arctic Study Group | PlanetSave

2013-11-18T18:54:00.001-08:00

Methane Emissions "Through The Roof" As Arctic Melts Faster Than Predicted: Arctic Study Group | PlanetSave

2013-09-24T16:18:00.002-07:00

Stanford Scientists: Climate Change Occurring 10 times Faster Than Any Time in Past 65 Million Years (via Desmogblog)

With scant media attention, climate scientists from Stanford University have concluded that climate change is occurring 10 times faster than at any time in the past 65 million years, and the current pace of change will lead to a 5-6 degree (Celsius)…

2013-07-25T17:02:00.000-07:00

Peru To Power 2 Million Of Its Poorest — By Solar Energy (via Planetsave)

Peru last week initiated a new program that will provide electricity to more than two million of its poorest residents using solar panels. Energy and Mining Minister Jorge Merino said that the program will allow 95% of Peru to have access to electricity…

My latest - from DeSmog Blog

2013-07-01T17:22:00.001-07:00

Obama’s Climate Pledge: The Keystone XL Fracking Double Standard (via Desmogblog)

President Obama, during his climate speech last week, surprised many observers by his unexpected remarks about the Keystone XL pipeline. The President, for the first time, placed a clear condition on the pipeline’s approval – its impact on the…

2013-06-17T18:14:00.001-07:00

Tar Sands Giant Suncor Announces Fewer Safety Checks To Avoid “Foregone Revenue” (via Desmogblog)

This is a guest post by Don Lieber, originally published on PlanetSave. Suncor Energy, the largest producer in Canada’s tar sands oil operations, has announced it will require fewer major safety maintenance “shut-down” checks at its Alberta production sites, decreasing the required checks to…

2013-05-30T15:07:00.001-07:00

US Coal Exports: “The Worst Of The Worst” (via Planetsave)

First, a historical parallel: The US tobacco industry, during the late 1990s, targeted children in underdeveloped parts of the world — South America, Asia, and the middle-East — with a particularly abhorrent marketing program: they gave away free cigarettes to children in order to introduce them…

2013-04-30T16:55:00.002-07:00

Fracking Waste: Too Toxic, Even For A Hazardous Waste Site (via Planetsave)

On April 19, a truck delivering waste from a fracking operation in Greene County, Pennsylvania, was quarantined after being rejected by a hazardous waste landfill as too dangerous. The truck was carrying highly radioactive radium-226 in concentrations 86 times higher than allowed per EPA limits. After…

2013-04-27T22:32:00.002-07:00

The Great Green Wall Of Africa — A 4,000 Mile Defense Against Climate Change (via Planetsave)

One of the most unique large-scale international climate change projects is underway in Africa. A 4,000 mile “wall of trees” is being constructed across the east-west axis of the continent as a defense against rapid, expanding desertification of the Sahara. 11 nations — Mauritania, Senegal,…

2013-04-02T08:09:00.000-07:00

Opposition To Keystone Pipeline, Stigmatization Of Tar Sands Increasing (Pictures) (via Planetsave)

Public opposition to the Keystone “Tar Sands” Pipeline continues to increase, with protests against ‘the dirtiest fuel on the planet‘ taking new and increasingly organized public forms of civil disobedience in the United States and around the world. Last week, the “National Week of Action…

2013-03-23T07:46:00.001-07:00

Largest German Research Center Cuts Ties to Alberta Tar Sands (via Planetsave)

Germany’s largest research institution — one of the world’s most prestigious — has withdrawn from a multi-million dollar Canadian-funded “tar sands” research project, citing the tar sands’ significant environmental concerns as posing a ”risk to our reputation”. “It’s a clear signal…

Proposed Gas Pipeline in New York City Poses Huge Climate-related Risks | EMagazine.com

2013-01-18T12:09:00.001-08:00

New Worries for New Yorkers | EMagazine.com

TransCanada Awarded Nobel Prize for Innovative Climate Change Policies (cough cough...)

2013-01-18T11:58:00.001-08:00

TransCanada Awarded Nobel Prize for Innovative Climate Change Policies

Fracking Industry Cited By Prominent Medical Journal For Infringing Upon Patient–Physician Relationship

2012-12-30T12:00:00.001-08:00

Fracking Industry Cited By Prominent Medical Journal For Infringing Upon Patient–Physician Relationship

Environmentalists Set High Climate Policy Expectations For John Kerry As Secretary of State: Pipeline Rejection Tops The List

2012-12-30T07:58:00.001-08:00

Environmentalists Set High Climate Policy Expectations For John Kerry As Secretary of State: Pipeline Rejection Tops The List

2012-10-09T06:52:00.001-07:00

Romney, In Brilliant Appeal For Appalachian Votes, Declares: “I Like Low Birth Weight. I Mean… Coal” (via Planetsave)

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, in a passionate appeal for American energy independence, proudly proclaimed “I like coal” during the October 4 Presidential debate, advancing his unique and much touted job-creation plan — linking employment opportunity in Appalachia to leukemia, heart disease…

Toxins in the air, in our foods: will effect your children...and theirs. Any better reason to go organic?

2012-10-01T08:39:00.003-07:00

Dioxin Causes Disease And Reproductive Problems For Generations, Study Says (via Planetsave)

Dioxin, one of the main ingredients in Agent Orange, which was widely used in Vietnam, has now been shown to cause significant disease and reproductive problems multigenerationally. In the new research, the third generation of rats descended from an exposed group of rats had even more dramatic disease…