BRA Advocacy Center

The board sport industry as a whole is comprised of environmentally conscious consumers, athletes, retailers and manufacturers. Between Saving Trestles and opposing development of the toll road, petitioning airline baggage fees for surfboards and snowboards, and supporting SurfAid and Surfrider, there are a number of causes that individuals can get actively involved in. The Advocacy Center is a collection of industry initiatives that need your support.

Offshore Drilling - if you Live between virginia and Florida your beach is at risk

Thanks to our friends at ESM, we have some tips to help let our elected officals know that we are concerned about the impact of offshore drilling.

1. Understand the issue so that you speak intelligently on the topic. Research what your town earns off of fishing, tourism, and other industries compared to what the oil companies are proposing. We all know the risks of offshore drilling with the recent oil spill in the Gulf. Add to that risks complicated by hurricanes and nor-easters or other adverse weather conditions.

2. Write each of your elected officials directly. go to www.Congress.org and type in your zip code to get contact info for state legislators. Follow-up on your email with a phone call. Make sure that they understand you will hold them accountable for lost businesses, lower tax revenues and affected coastal property values.

3. Turn your letter into an op-ed piece and consider submitting to your local newspaper.

 4. Point your mouse to www.nottheanswer.org or www.surfrider.org to learn more and find out what local groups are gearing up for fights in your area.

Credit Card Interchange Fees

Interchange fees are imposed on merchants every time a customer uses a credit card. The cost of these fees ranges from 1 percent to 3 percent of the total purchase price. Following recent passage of a consumer oriented credit card protection policy, Congress has been considering a number of intitiatives to help alleviate some of the interchange fees retailers are often forced into paying.

In May, Rep. Peter Welch (D–Vt.) and Rep. Bill Shuster (R–Pa.) introduced the Credit Card Interchange Fees Act (H.R. 2382), which would demand that the Federal Reserve and the Federal Trade Commission put together new rules to ensure greater transparency in how interchange fees are formed.

In June, Rep. John Conyers (D–Mich.) and Shuster reintroduced the Credit Card Fair Fee Act (H.R. 2695), which gives retailers antitrust protection to organize and negotiate with credit card companies on interchange fees.

Also in June, Sen. Richard Durbin (D–Ill.) introduced Credit Card Fair Fee Act (S. 1212), which is similar to Conyers’ and Shuster’s bills. But it also calls for a three-judge arbitration panel to rule on interchange fees if retailers and credit card companies cannot reach an agreement.

Since H.R. 2382 was introduced, it was discussed in October in the Committee on Financial Services. H.R. 2695 and S. 1212 were respectively referred to the House Judiciary Committee and Senate Judiciary Committee, and no further action has been taken.

SurfAid Padang Earthquake Relief

Two major earthquakes have hit the Padang, West Sumatra, region - the initial 7.6 and then a 6.6 quake.  Padang, the gateway to the Mentawai Islands and where most of the surf charter boats are based, has been seriously damaged and the death toll is more than 1,100 but there are fears that thousands more are still trapped beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings.
 
SurfAid has gone into emergency mode and has staff doing assessments of the needs of the people in the coastal areas south of Padang, which are heavily populated and impoverished.  SurfAid had Mentawai health program staff already in Padang and they have been reassigned to emergency work.  SurfAid will respond to the immediate urgent needs with medical staff and supplies.  SurfAid has eight doctors and three nurses preparing medical supplies.
 
SurfAid is buying tents, tarpaulins, food, water and sanitation and medical supplies in Medan, North Sumatra, and getting these to Padang.

SurfAid has launched the SurfAid Padang Earthquake Relief Appeal. You can donate via their website at www.surfaidinternational.org

SIA Fighting to Secure Retail Funding

News of the possible collapse of CIT, a major creditor to small businesses throughout the action sports industry rocked markets worldwide. According to CIT, more than 1,000,000 business customers “depend on CIT to provide the financing they need to run their businesses. And for more than 100 years, CIT has remained committed to the lending needs of the small and middle market – providing needed capital to markets that other larger and smaller financial institutions often don't.”  

CIT announced it reached an agreement securing $3 billion in last-minute rescue financing from its bondholders that will keep it out of bankruptcy.  According to the Wall Street Journal, “the deal charges CIT high interest rates, and it doesn't permanently fix the company's long-term financing needs, say people involved in the transaction. But it buys time for the lender to restructure itself, and minimizes bondholders' losses.”  Although CIT has avoided bankruptcy in the short term, faltering markets may continue to threaten credit markets in general and CIT specifically.

SIA has joined more than 30 organizations including the Apparel and Footwear Association in communicating the very severe ramifications that a CIT bankruptcy would have on more than one million small-and medium-sized businesses, their partners in the U.S. retail industry and the manufacturers and service providers that supply that sector.

Please click HERE to contact your members of Congress http://track.snowsports.org/CT00054801NDQ1.HTML?D=2009-07-20

Surfrider Needs Help to Save North Carolina Surf Spots

Act Now- SB 832

For the third year in a row, the N.C. General Assembly is considering a bill that would punch a hole in North Carolina’s long-standing ban on hardened structures that keeps our beaches public and natural. These structures can have major impacts on surf spots and healthy beaches. We need your help today if North Carolina’s beaches are to be protected for tomorrow.

The bill, SB 832, which already passed the N.C. Senate, is set to be heard by the House Environment Committee. Please contact your House representative and ask them to oppose this grave threat to our beaches.

The natural beauty and economic value of North Carolina’s public beaches and inlets exists today in large measure because our state leaders long ago adopted a conservative management policy that bans the use of hardened structures-seawalls, jetties and groins of any kind-from our coast. We agree there needs to be a plan for property threatened by coastal erosion –but tell the legislators that S832 is not it.

Take action by clicking here.

Speak Out Against Oil Drilling

Now is your opportunity to tell national leaders that offshore drilling is a BAD POLICY for our oceans and our future. Offshore oil and gas leasing poses a seemingly endless list of harms to the ocean, caused by both large spills and gradual degradation of the ocean associated with drilling-related activities. The dangers range from the vast long-term ecological impacts to the destruction of marine habitat, recreational uses and the economic value of our ocean resources.

Take action now – log on to www.nottheanswer.org and educate yourself. Click on the "Action Alert" link and automatically send a "no drill" message to Obama. Secondly, write a logical, personal plea and submit it to the Mineral Management Service (www.doi.gove/ocs). Then submit it to all your elected officials. Follow these steps and then go to a Surfrider meeting.