GOO – Get Oil Out

Board Members

John Abraham Powell (Abe)
Mr. Powell has been President of Get Oil Out! Inc. since 1999. During his tenure GOO!, and as a member of the Santa Barbara Environmental Coalition, he has helped sponsor successful litigation to regain the State’s authority to conduct Environmental Review of Offshore oil and gas development (Sierra Club et. al. v. Norton). In 2001 Mr. Powell started a free alternative fuel cooperative to bring biodiesel fuel to the Santa Barbara area, providing a viable fuel alternative to the petroleum fuel monopoly. There are now two biodiesel fueling stations in Santa Barbara, and the City of Santa Barbara has switched all of it’s diesel vehicles to a blend of 20% biodiesel fuel (B20) to reduce air toxics, global warming and dependence on petroleum products. He is currently working with the Santa Barbara School district to switch the school buses to biodiesel to reduce children’s exposure to diesel exhaust related air toxics and carcinogens and to provide an educational opportunity regarding local sustainable solutions to the hazards imposed by fissile fuel use.

Mr. Powell is also President and CEO of Solforce Systems, Inc., a Santa Barbara based
solar electric systems provider and energy efficiency and green building consulting firm.
In 1998 Mr. Powell was a recipient of the Santa Barbara Green Award for his work in
Waste/pollution reduction in alternative manufacturing process design for the Santa Barbara based manufacturer and worldwide distributor of skateboard products, Skate One Corporation.

Mr. Powell Graduated with a degree in Philosophy from Vassar College in 1992 and
currently lives with his family in Santa Barbara, California.

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Carla Frisk
In 1979, Carla Frisk was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown to serve as a public member on the California State Board of Landscape Architects, a post she held for six years. From 1983-2003, she served as Administrative Assistant for Senator/former Assembly member Jack O’Connell in his Santa Barbara District Office. In addition to administering Senator O’Connell’s local office, Carla worked primarily on environmental issues, providing expertise and advice to Senator O’Connell on the myriad of environmental policy issues that came before the Legislature, including offshore oil, the transportation of toxic materials and waste, the Casmalia toxic waste facility, pesticides, coastal land use issues and open space acquisitions. Ms. Frisk is now a consultant, working in the area of land conservation.

In 2004, Ms. Frisk served as County Planning Commissioner for the 3rd Supervisorial District. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Community Environmental Council, We Watch, the Santa Ynez Valley Alliance, and Get Oil Out!, Inc.

In 1999, Carla received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the UCSB Environmental Studies Program and in June of 2001, she received the Environmental Defense Center’s first annual Environmental Award for Advocate. Later that year, she was honored by the North County Chapter of the National Organization for Women as part of Women’s Equality Day. Ms. Frisk was honored as Senator Jack O’Connell’s 2002 Woman of the Year. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Environmental Studies and a Certificate in Hazardous Materials Management, both from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

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Charles (Charlie) Eckberg
As vice-president of Investec Real Estate since 1994, Mr. Eckberg plans environmentally sensitive residential and commercial developments in California, overseeing residential projects from origination and entitlement through construction. His expertise includes a strong talent for fiscal analysis of real estate developments in consideration of complex environmental and land use issues. Active in real estate since 1975, Mr. Eckberg has managed the owners' association of a 15,000-acre residential development and served as a Senior Trust Real Estate Officer for Security Pacific Bank and Bank of America. He has also participated in personal projects including the creation of a nationally recognized public golf course.

Mr. Eckberg has advocated society’s conversion to renewable energy technologies for nearly 30 years. As a director of Get Oil Out!, he sought greater transparency regarding the energy sector and controls over offshore oil development in the Santa Barbara Channel. Additional NGO activities include 13 years as a director (three years as president) of Santa Barbara’s Community Environmental Council, a prominent think tank on recycling and the development of renewable energy policies, strategies and projects. He has served as a director of The Sustainability Project, a non-profit organization that raises community awareness regarding green building design, land use and resource issues.

Since 2004, Mr. Eckberg has participated on the Advisory Board and now as an active board member of Sea Breeze Power Corporation, a publicly traded Canadian based company developing wind farms and high efficiency transmission lines in Canada and the Western United States. Mr. Eckberg also participates on the Environmental Advisory Board of American Ethanol, a company proposing to establish an ethanol facility in Santa Maria, California.

As a member of the Dean’s Council of the Donald Bren School of Environmental Science & Management at UC Santa Barbara, Mr. Eckberg provided the school’s initial introduction to Green Building principles. Today the school is home of the nation’s first Platinum LEED rated institutional building, Bren Hall. Mr. Eckberg received bachelor degrees in Economics and Political Science from UCSB in 1970.

Mr. Eckberg was honored in 1992 as a Local Hero for his community activism and leadership in establishing Earth Day as a Santa Barbara institution.

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Michael T. Lyons
Mr. Lyons' employment history includes working as a cartographer making maps for various environmental consulting firms and private parties, and in the fields of industrial wastewater treatment, industrial water purification, and groundwater contamination monitoring, sampling, and site remediation. Additionally, Mr. Lyons undertook a journalistic endeavor, initiating and serving as Editor-in-Chief of the Environmental Awareness Review (“EAR”), a tabloid newspaper focusing on environmental issues and activities occurring in Santa Barbara County.

As a native to the Santa Barbara region, Mr. Lyons has enjoyed the incredible environment and outdoor activities the area offers including surfing, mountain biking, hiking, diving, fishing and camping. He has also traveled extensively around the world to partake in these endeavors in different settings. However, as Mr. Lyons and many Santa Barbarians will agree, it’s nice to get out of Santa Barbara -- it’s always nicer to come back. In appreciation of these opportunities and experiences, Mr. Lyons strongly desires to give back to the environment, and thus proudly serves as a board member of Get Oil Out!.

Mr. Lyons graduated from San Marcos High School and thereafter attended Santa Barbara City College where he focused on Environmental Studies. Mr. Lyons next attended the UCSB, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in both Geography (emphasizing hydrology and cartography) and Environmental Studies. He attended the Santa Barbara College of Law and graduated with a Jurist Doctorate Degree. My Lyons now practices law as an associate attorney for the Paladin Law Group in the Santa Barbara area, focusing on civil and environmental law.

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Jessica Ernst Powell
Ms.Powell has been a board member for Get Oil Out! since 2002. In 2001, together with her husband, GOO president John Abraham Powell, Dr. Powell established a free alternative fuel cooperative to encourage the use of biodiesel fuel, as an alternative to petroleum diesel, in the Santa Barbara Area. Dr. Powell is pleased to report that there are now two biodiesel fueling stations open to the public in Santa Barbara. Additionally, the City of Santa Barbara has recently begun using a blend of 20% biodiesel (B20) in all of its diesel vehicles.

Dr. Powell holds a Ph.D. in Hispanic Languages and Literatures from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an M.A. in Latin American Studies from Stanford University. She graduated in 1995 with a degree in International Studies from Vassar College. Dr. Powell’s professional interests include Literary Translation and Latin American literature, with an emphasis on Caribbean Literature, as well as Colonial and Contemporary Latin American history, culture, and literature. She is very excited to begin teaching, in the coming year, in the Literature program at UCSB’S College of Creative Studies. She lives in Santa Barbara with her husband and their daughter, Olivia.

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Tessa Bernhardt
Tessa Bernhardt is a master’s candidate at the Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management specializing in Conservation Planning with an emphasis on Coastal Marine Resources. Tessa was motivated to become involved with Get Oil Out! after witnessing the 2007 Cosco Busan oil spill in her hometown, the San Francisco Bay Area. The spill harmed wildlife and marred the very beaches that had first aroused her fascination with the ocean. Inspired to fight against oil development off the California coast and to promote alternative sources of energy, Tessa became involved with GOO! and the Santa Barbara Environmental Coalition. Tessa joined the GOO! Board of Directors in 2008.

Tessa is the recipient of the Bren School’s Wege Foundation Fellowship. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of California San Diego with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. Tessa currently holds a position at the Bren School as a graduate student researcher focusing on water quality issues. Along with her interdisciplinary educational and professional background, Tessa brings to the board of directors her passion and a strong desire to learn from the experiences of her colleagues.

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