Projects of Earth Alert, Inc. arth Alert, Inc., a tax-exempt nonprofit organization, began as International Eco Features Syndicate. "Eco Features'" first offering was an op-ed piece by-lined by Andy Lipkus, founder of TreePeople in Los Angeles. It was purchased by the now-defunct Los Angeles Herald-Examiner and appeared in December 1982. In three years, Eco Features sold more than 100 articles, primarily in the U.S., but also in Canada, Mexico and Singapore, representing writers from all over the world to publications including New York magazine, the Long Island daily Newsday, the Los Angeles Times, the Sacramento Bee, Mother Earth News and numerous U.S. alternative newsweeklies. In 1983 and 1984, Eco Features' stories were included in the list of "The 25 Most Underreported Stories of the Year," a national media research effort conducted annually by Project Censored, which identifies important news issues not widely covered by the national media. The first story concerned President Reagan's capitulation to Japan on enforcement of the Marine Mammal Protection Act; the second was about impending shortages of safe drinking water in the U.S. Eco Features broke the story on pollution in Santa Monica Bay when a small item appeared in the July 11, 1984, L.A. Weekly. It was the first mention on the degree of pollution of Los Angeles-area coastal waters to appear in any of the local media. Coverage of the issue followed with a feature in the South Bay Easy Reader in January 1985. An op-ed by Patrick Wall, executive director of Earth Alert, appeared in the Los Angeles Times on May 12, 1985, resulting in a capacity crowd at a hearing the following day at which Los Angeles requested an extension of the 301(h) waiver to the Clean Water Act. The City anticipated that the waiver would allow it to continue to dump partially treated sewage into the bay, but the EPA turned down the request, accomplishing the first step in the long process to clean up Santa Monica Bay. More Eco Features stories in the L.A. Weekly and the San Diego Newsline kept the issue before the public. In November 1984, the Internal Revenue Service granted tax-exempt status to Earth Alert, Inc., and Eco Features continued operations for another year under the Earth Alert! umbrella. At that time, Executive Director Patrick Wall's growing involvement with cable TV production gradually reduced the time devoted to Eco Features. Cable TV & Video Production  Over four years, Earth Alert! went from producing in-studio public-access TV shows to winning an Emmy award for a half-hour documentary on pollution in Marina del Rey. The show also won "Best Information" Public Access show in 1987. Among the many subjects covered by the Earth Alert public access show was the first presentation in 1984 of the issues confronting the Ballona wetlands. For simple, low-budget productions, the programs had remarkable effectiveness. A few examples: the Marina del Rey pollution documentary was sent to County officials who made the decisions to help reverse the problem. A segment on the threatened destruction of the USC campus rose garden for a parking lot helped to prevent it. Another segment on the little-known presence of a nuclear reactor on the UCLA campus helped get it removed. In November 2004, Earth Alert revived its public access TV show with the first of a series on "Heroes of the Coast," an effort to document the contributions of some of the people who launched the successful initiative that created the Coastal Act and the California Coastal Commission. The first interview was with Ellen Stern Harris, one of the early Coastal Commissioners who is known as "the mother of the Coastal Act." In Spring of 2005, Earth Alert launched a new public access program, "Preserving Enchantment," a monthly half-hour talk show taped at Channel 27 in Albuquerque. Janet Bridgers will host leaders of the state's environmental organizations. The program will be cablecast on the state's network of public access stations, and duplicated as DVDs to be mailed throughout the state to other environmental and political organizations. Discussions will be illustrated by auxiliary footage shot in the field. In March of 2006 Earth Alert was awarded a grant by the California Council for the Humanities (www.calhum.org) to produce an environmental history of the coastline of Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties. The grant is part of the “California Stories” program sponsored by the Council. It continues the "Heroes of the Coast" project Earth Alert began in 2004 to interview many of the state’s foremost coastal activists.   Recycling Projects  Earth Alert! has several recycling-related credits. It launched what became the municipal recycling program for the City of West Hollywood and was awarded a "Pat on the Back" Award by the California Department of Conservation, Division of Recycling, as well as a "Certificate of Commendation" by the West Hollywood City Council. It suggested and helped implement the first U.S. directory publisher-sponsored telephone book recycling campaign. At the time, United Publishers of Los Angeles was a subsidiary of NYNEX, the "Baby Bell" company then providing service to New York and New England. NYNEX became aware of the program by seeing its publicity results and instituted a similar program. Within two years, major telephone companies all over the country had implemented telephone book recycling campaigns. Coastal Wetlands Protection  In the past three years, Earth Alert has become deeply involved in efforts to preserve Ormond Beach, called the most important wetland in Southern California. Bridgers has written numerous op-eds published in the Ventura County Star in support of Ventura County environmental issues, especially Ormond Beach. Earth Alert secured a County grant for fencing and signage materials at Ormond and participated in a successful appeal that prevented one development project in the area.   [about us][our mission][projects][articles][contact us][links][home]