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Natural Resources Defense Council's
CALIFORNIA ACTIVIST NETWORK ACTION
ALERT
NRDC's California
Activist Network was formed to mobilize and provide
action tools to Californians and others concerned with
protecting the
state's extraordinary wealth of natural
treasures and the health of
its citizens.
========================================
October 1, 2001
Note: While NRDC was deeply saddened by the
tragic events of
September 11th and continues to offer
its deepest sympathies to all
those affected, the need
for our work, and our commitment to
protecting the
health and well-being of our planet and its
inhabitants, remain strong. We are therefore continuing our
regular
publication of the California Activist Network
Action Alert, and
include our sincerest wishes that our
readers and their loved ones are
all safe and well.
======================================================
In This Issue:
--Action alerts--
1. Urge Governor Davis to act on
the year's top environmental bills
2. Tell your representative to oppose a water bill that
would damage
California's environment and economy
======================================================
You will also find these alerts in NRDC'S Earth Action
Center, which
includes tools for taking action easily
online, at
http://www.nrdc.org/action
(Please do not reply to this message; see the instructions
below for
how to unsubscribe or contact NRDC with
questions or comments.)
=============
Action alerts
=============
1. Urge Governor Davis to act on the year's top
environmental bills
On
September 15th, the California legislature finished its work and
sent hundreds of bills to Governor Davis, who has until
October 14th
to either sign or veto them. Among the
most important bills concerning
the state's environment
and public health are:
** AB
1602, The California Clean Water, Clean Air, Safe Neighborhood
Parks, and Coastal Protection Act of 2002 -- The
legislature approved
placing this $2.6 billion bond on
the March 2002 primary ballot. If
signed by the
governor and approved by voters, the bond would invest
funds in California's land, air and water, including money
for state
park acquisitions, neighborhood parks, clean
beaches, diesel pollution
reduction and agricultural
land protection.
** AB 599,
The Groundwater Quality Monitoring Act of 2001 -- This bill
would improve California's ability to monitor and protect
its
groundwater, the source of drinking water for half
the state's
population.
** SB 497, Subdivision Map Act Clarification -- This bill
would close
a loophole in existing law that is being
exploited by developers to
drive up the cost of
acquiring land for conservation purposes. The
current
Subdivision Map Act enables land speculators to subdivide and
rearrange lots based on sketchy 19th century records;
speculators are
abusing the law to realize windfall
profits at the expense of
taxpayers and
philanthropists.
** SB 1170,
State Vehicle Fleet Fuel Efficiency -- This bill would
require purchase of fuel-efficient vehicles and replacement
tires for
the state vehicle fleet to help address the
problem of increasing
gasoline consumption in
California, which threatens the state's
environment and
economy.
** SB 1,
Rigs to Reefs -- This bill would allow old offshore oil rigs
to be left in place as artificial reefs. Environmental and
commercial
fishing interests oppose the bill because
there is no clear scientific
evidence that rigs provide
additional habitat, and believe that
offshore drilling
operators should return the ocean to its previous
state
when their extraction activities are completed.
== What to do ==
Contact Governor
Davis and urge him to sign (or, in the case of SB 1,
veto) these important bills before his October 14 deadline.
== Contact information ==
You can contact Governor Davis directly from NRDC's Earth
Action
Center at http://www.nrdc.org/action. Or use the contact
information
and sample letter below to send your own
message.
Governor Gray Davis
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-445-2841
Fax: 916-445-4633
Email: graydavis@governor.ca.gov
== Sample letter ==
Subject: Sign AB 1602,
AB 599, SB 497, SB 1170; Veto SB 1
Dear Governor Davis,
As you consider the hundreds of bills on your desk, I call
your
attention to several that affect the quality of
California's
environment. Specifically, I urge you to
sign four bills (AB 1602, AB
599, SB 497 and SB 1170)
that improve protection of the state's land
and water
and to veto one (SB 1) that threatens California's oceans.
AB 1602 would give California
voters a chance to approve a $2.6
billion bond on the
March 2002 primary ballot. We need this investment
to
protect California's land, air and water, all of which are
threatened by the state's surging growth. AB 599 would
improve
California's ability to monitor and protect its
groundwater, the
source of drinking water for half the
state's population (the state
currently fails to
comprehensively monitor and assess this vital
natural
resource). SB 497 and SB 1170 would close a loophole in the
Subdivision Map Act and require purchase of fuel-efficient
vehicles
and replacement tires for the state vehicle
fleet, respectively.
Please sign all of the
aforementioned bills.
Please
do *not* sign SB 1, which would allow old offshore oil rigs to
be left in place as artificial reefs. We have no clear
scientific
evidence that rigs provide additional marine
habitat; offshore
drilling operators should, therefore,
return the ocean to its previous
state when their
extraction activities are completed.
Sincerely,
[Your name and address]
2. Tell your representative to oppose a water bill that
would damage
California's environment and economy
Last spring we alerted you that
Sen. Feinstein had drafted a bill that
would authorize
the construction of costly and environmentally
destructive new dams across the state. Now, Rep. Calvert
(R-Riverside)
has introduced H.R. 1985, legislation
that would be even more damaging
than Senator
Feinstein's. H.R. 1985 supposedly is designed to
implement CALFED, an ambitious joint state-federal program
that would
help restore the San Francisco Bay-Delta
Estuary, and improve water
quality and water supply
reliability for all Californians. CALFED also
supports
ecosystem restoration and water conservation. But Rep.
Calvert's bill would destroy the balance in the CALFED plan
and could
seriously harm California's
environment.
Specifically, the bill would:
** Interfere with ecosystem restoration and endangered
species
protection by blocking land purchases to
restore habitat or even
diverting ecosystem restoration
funds to provide new water subsidies
for agribusiness.
** Eliminate the requirement
to obtain congressional authorization
before beginning
the construction of new dam and canal projects across
the state, including raising Shasta Dam, which would flood
the
state-protected McCloud River. Instead, the bill
would give Interior
Secretary Gale Norton sweeping
authority to authorize virtually any
dam project in the
Central Valley.
** Authorize
unlimited new federal taxpayer subsidies to pay for these
facilities.
** Guarantee subsidized water to agribusiness at the
expense of
endangered Bay-Delta fish species, ecosystem
restoration and other
urban and agricultural water
users.
The bill will move
through the House Resources Committee during the
first
half of October and will come to a floor vote before the House
adjourns for the year.
== What to do ==
Tell your
representative to oppose H.R. 1985.
== Contact information ==
You can
email or fax your representative directly from NRDC's Earth
Action Center at http://www.nrdc.org/action. If you prefer to call
your representative, the Capitol Switchboard number is
202-224-3121.
==================================================
About Our Bulletins/How to Subscribe & Unsubscribe
==================================================
NRDC distributes three bulletins
by email. To subscribe to any or all
of them or to join
our activist networks, go to:
http://www.join.nrdcaction.org/subscribe.asp.
If you already subscribe and want
to change your subscriptions or
update your email
address or other information, go to:
http://www.join.nrdcaction.org/profileeditor
(or see the unsubscribe information below).
The CALIFORNIA ACTIVIST NETWORK
ACTION ALERT is distributed monthly to
members of
NRDC's California Activist Network and provides action
tools to Californians and others concerned with protecting
the state's
natural resources and the health of its
citizens. To unsubscribe from
the California Activist
Network Action Alert, send an email message to
wildcalifornia@nrdcaction.org with REMOVE in the subject
line.
EARTH ACTION is sent
biweekly and calls out urgent environmental
issues at
the national level and from around the country. To
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earthaction@nrdcaction.org with REMOVE in the subject line.
LEGISLATIVE WATCH is sent
biweekly when Congress is in session and
tracks
environmental bills moving through the federal legislature. To
unsubscribe from Legislative Watch, send an email message
to
legwatch@nrdcaction.org with REMOVE in the subject
line.
==========
About NRDC
==========
The Natural Resources Defense
Council is a nonprofit environmental
organization with
over 500,000 members nationwide and a staff of
scientists, attorneys and environmental experts. Our
mission is to
protect the planet's wildlife and wild
places and ensure a safe and
healthy environment for
all living things.
For more
information about NRDC or how to become a member of NRDC,
please contact us at:
Natural Resources Defense Council
40 West 20th Street
New York, NY
10011
212-727-4511 (voice) / 212-727-1773 (fax)
General email: nrdcinfo@nrdc.org
California Activist Network email: wildcalifornia@nrdc.org
http://www.nrdc.org
Also visit:
BioGems -- Saving
Endangered Wild Places
A project of the Natural
Resources Defense Council
http://www.savebiogems.org
1. Introducing HOT n' BOTHERED! Student
Climate Activists vs. Citigroup
2. CALL TO ACTION -
October 3 Citigroup Global Warming Phone Zap
3. How to
Organize a Call in Day
4. Talking Points for Speaking
your Mind straight to Citi
For
more info on Citigroup's destructive activities around the world check
out : www.ran.org for more
information about global warming check out :
http://www.freetheplanet.org/CoolThePlanet/index.html
www.shiftpower.org
email
organize@ran.org or hot_an_bothered@hotmail.com
or call
415-398-4404/1-800-989-RAIN
*
* * * * * * * * *
#1
Greetings
from HOT n' BOTHERED
Hi
everyone,
We wanted to let
y'all know about a new global warming campaign we've been
working on.
President Bush has made it painfully clear that we can't
expect our
government to do anything to curb global
warming, let alone develop the
renewable energy sources
that we need to really begin fighting climate
change.
The only hope is in
convincing, or forcing, other institutions to pick up
the government's slack. In order to do this the Hot n
Bothered Climate
Campaign works on two levels:
(inter)national and local.
Nationally, students will be working to make Citigroup, the
world's largest
financier of fossil fuels, stop
underwriting the destruction of our climate.
We will
come together on days of action with students across the country,
Rainforest Action Network), Power Shift, Free The Planet!
and other
grassroots organizations to demand that Citi
stops financing fossil fuel
projects and stops
discriminating against renewable energy.
Right now Citigroup gives extremely generous loans to oil
pipeline
development projects, which not only lead to
more greenhouse gas emissions,
but also destroy
eco-systems and displace indigenous people in the process.
At the same time, the loans that Citi offers people
interested in purchasing
solar panels make solar power
more costly than it has to be. Rather than
giving
people long-term, low-interest loans to buy solar panels, Citi makes
people pay off their loans before the panels pay themselves
off. This must
stop.
On a local level students will be working to end their
campus's dependence
on fossil fuels for electricity.
Students will be working with Greenpeace
and Free The
Planet! to get our colleges and universities to procure 100% of
their electricity from renewable sources. This will ensure
that we stop
being part of the problem and start being
part of the solution to the
approaching climate
catastrophe. This goal may sound lofty, but it is
necessary if we are to break our society's addiction to
fossil fuels.
If you're
interested in learning more about what you can to stop Citigroup
from destroying our climate or about how to start shifting
your campus to
renewable electricity or just want to
give some feed-back on the campaign
and its goals
please email hot_an_bothered@hotmail.com.
all the best,
Matt Ewing and
Vanessa Pierce
* * * * * * * * * *
#2
TAKE ACTION - CALL CITIGROUP AND TELL THEM TO STOP FUNDING
GLOBAL WARMING!
OCTOBER 3 NATIONAL PHONE ZAP
As we speak, the earth is heating
up.
Thousands of people all
over the world are becoming climate refugees as
floods,
hurricanes and other extreme weather events increase in frequency.
Tropical diseases are migrating
north and will soon be coming soon to a city
near you.
Eco-systems are disappearing.
The driving force behind
global warming-related destruction is the fossil
fuel
industry, an industry reliant on huge loans in order to finance its
devastating business of fossil fuel exploration. And who is
willing to
finance these dirty energy projects?
Citigroup.
Citigroup, the
world’s largest financial institution, finances dirty energy
projects far more generously than clean energy. In fact,
Citigroup has no
system of accounting for global
warming, species extinction, and a whole
host of other
problems that result from its investments.
In the face of this blatant disregard, it's time for
students from across
the country to take the matter
into their own hands. We need to start
fighting for the
solutions to this impending climate catastrophe. We must
organize to stop Citigroup from underwriting the
destruction of our future
with more fossil fuels and
start investing in solar and other renewable
energies.
Wednesday, October 3 is the
national call-in day of action against
Citigroup. Join
students across the country calling on Citigroup to:
·
Stop financing fossil fuel projects
· Start providing
loans for renewable energy that can make solar and wind
competitive against dirty fossil fuels
Call Investor Relations toll-free
at:
1-888-250-3985 and dial 0 to reach a human
operator.
Below are some
sample talking points for the call as well as a general
instruction sheet on how to organize a call-in day of
action.
THE TIME HAS COME TO
TELL CITI TO CLEAN UP ITS ACT!
If you are interested in taking part in this day of action,
or working with
us to build the CLIMATE COMPONENT of
the Citigroup coalition please email
us at :
hot_an_bothered@hotmail.com
The Hot n Bothered Climate Campaign is a student run and
developed campaign
working to end our society's deadly
addiction to fossil fuels within one
generation by
promoting renewable energy alternatives. HBCC works with
student and national groups to reach this goal.
* * * * * * * * * *
#3
ORGANIZING A CALL IN DAY!
Because
call-in days are effective way to generate hundreds, even thousands,
of calls in a short amount of time, they are a great way to
demonstrate
public support for an
issue. Through the sheer volume of calls focused on
one issue, we can make Citigroup take our concerns
seriously.
Step 1:
Set a date for the call-in (in this case, the date is Oct.
3) and figure out
where to set up your table for the
call-in. If you can organize this with
other
student groups at colleges in your area, you can increase the
effectiveness of your message. Set a goal for
the number of calls you want
to generate, so that you
know what you are working towards. Figure out how
many phones that you will need (figure you can generate at
most 20 calls per
hour per phone) and how many people
you need to staff the table during the
call-in
day. Start recruiting people for the event.
Step 2: Arrange to have some cell
phones donated for the event. Contact
local
cell phone dealers, let them know that you’re a student group on
campus, and that if they would be willing to donate some
phones for your
event, you’d be willing to advertise
for them (this could be a sign on the
table that says
“Cell phones donated by XXX). If you can’t get phones
donated, set your table up near a payphone or, use a
cordless phone, or set
your table up near a phone jack
and use your own phone for the action.
Step 3: Make up some signs for the day of the call-in, and
get together any
other materials you may need for the
call-in day.
Step 4: Plaster
the campus with posters a few days prior to the event.
Contact somebody from your campus paper, and get them to
write up an article
or print something in the “calendar
of events” section if there is one. Put
more
posters up the night before the call-in day.
Step 5: The call-in day! Be out early to set up
your table, and rock out
the calls. Don’t be
shy! Ask everyone who passes by the table to make a
call and catch their attention with a quick opening like,
“Hey, will you
make a quick call to protect the
environment?” Make sure to send us an
update
on what went down, along with those great media clips. Also, send a
thank you note to the cell phone company.
* * * * * * * * * *
#4
SPEAK YOUR MIND STRAIGHT TO CITI! - SAMPLE TALKING POINTS
Watch out Sandy we have phones in our hands and we’re
not afraid to use ‘em!
Caller:
Hello, this is XXXX XXXXX calling from XXXXX (your community or
campus) I was would like to speak with Sandy Weill.
Receiver: I am sorry you can’t
speak with him right now. How can I help
you?
Caller: Yes, I would like it if
you could rely a message for me. I am
calling because
I’m deeply concerned about Citigroup’s role in funding
global warming. I’m upset that Citigroup continues to
invest in
destructive fossil fuel projects while
discriminating against renewable,
clean energy sources.
It is time that CitiGroup offers mortgages and
long-term loans to make renewable energy sources
competitive in the energy
marketplace. It has been
shown that this is a $4 billion market and
CitiGroup
can lead the way, and help us address global warming before its
too late.
Until Citi takes action to stop destructive investments I
will not be doing
business with your corporation and I
will be urging all my friends and
neighbors to take
similar action.
Please pass my
message along the Sandy and the Board of Directors. It would
be greatly appreciated. Thanks and have a great day.
OTHER TALKING POINTS :
Citi is one of the largest funders
of the oil, mining and gas industry
around the planet.
These projects not only accelerate global warming but
many of them are also threaten fragile ecosystems and
indigenous peoples.
Why isn’t Citi phasing out
investments in fossil fuels?
Fossil fuels are the next tobacco of the investment
community. The moral,
social and environmental cost of
investing in fossil fuels is too high.
Citi should be
sending a strong message to the oil industry by investing in
the transition to clean renewable energy sources rather
than funding further
fossil fuel development.
Some of the destructive fossil
fuel projects Citi is currently involved in
include :
1) Underwriting over half of all coal production on the
planet
2) The OCP pipeline in Ecuador which will cut
through the Mindo cloudforest
reserve and other
pristine areas and expand oil drilling across the
Ecudorian Amazon.
3) Funding a
pipeline across Venezuela’s Orinoco river delta through the
homelands of the Warao people.
4)
Investing in the Camisea natural gas project in Peru which will bring
drilling to pristine rainforests that are home to
uncontacted peoples.
Frontline Information
Service - News 10/01/01
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - -
HLS Scum of the
week: Charter House Clinical Research Unit
__________________________________________________________
The HLS Scum of the week this week
is Charter House Clinical Research Unit.
Charter House send all sorts of blood and other samples off
to HLS to be
analysed.
They are giving money to HLS who poison and abuse over 500
animals every day of
the week, they have been sent all
the info and still they give money to the
animal
killers at HLS.
We have tried
to contact Charter House and their medical director over 20 times
in the last 3 months and have had every excuse in the book
ranging from
meetings to holidays and even ‘he has just
popped out to the post box on the
corner’!
It is time to show Charter House
that we do not take kindly to HLS Scum
ignoring us.
Ring them, email them, write to them and fax them AGAIN and AGAIN
and AGAIN.
The last two companies who were announced HLS SCUM OF THE
WEEK have been driven
around the twist by YOU so keep
it up.
There are animals dying
at HLS right now and that is the fault of companies
such as Charter House.
ADDRESS:
Charterhouse Clinical Research Unit Ltd,
The Stamford Hospital,
Ravenscourt
Park,
London W6 0TN, UK
Charter House are based on the 3rd floor.
TELEPHONE:
020 8741 7170
FREE PHONE:
0800 036 0366
FAX:
020 8741 5986
EMAIL:
bd@charterhouse-clinical.com
daryl.bendel@charterhouse-clinical.com
WEBSITE
If you go to http://www.paystostayinbed.com you can sign up for one
of their
human drug trials. Wouldn’t it be a shame if
people kept wasting Charter
Houses’ time by signing up
to these and then deciding that they do not want to
work for a company who deals with animal killers?!
Remember that it is up to you
whether Charter House pulls out of HLS or not.
**********************************************************************
For More Information:
http://www.adl-online.com
http://www.shacusa.net
http://www.stephenskills.com
**********************************************************************
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****************************
*
WILD ALERT
* Monday, October 1, 2001
****************************
Dear WildAlert Subscriber,
Rare unity shown by members of Congress in the aftermath of
the
September 11th attacks is beginning to unravel, due
to efforts by
Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) to attach an
Arctic Refuge oil drilling
provision to an unrelated,
but critically urgent Defense Authorization
bill. Please contact your Senators today and
tell them that you
are proud of the unity Congress has
shown, and that the Senate should
resist attempts to
add unrelated measures to bills that need to move
quickly following the terrorist attacks.
You can send a message from
http://www.wilderness.org/takeaction/?step=2&item=653
but please
personalize your message -- it's the best
way to be heard.
RARE UNITY
In the weeks following the devastating terrorist
attacks, Congress has
shown remarkable strength and
unity by focusing on legislation
considered vital to
meeting America's needs following this crisis.
Members of all parties have made significant compromises,
withdrawing
or refraining from controversial amendments
to these "must-pass"
bills. The sense on
Capitol Hill is that long-term and controversial
legislation should be postponed until Congress has the time
to fully
debate and consider bills that aren't
immediately needed.
"...IN
POOR TASTE"
One of those contentious issues is energy,
specifically oil drilling
in the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge. On September 19th, Sen. Frank
Murkowski (R-AK), the chief proponent in the Senate of
Arctic Refuge
oil drilling, announced that he would not
add an Arctic oil drilling
provision to the Defense
Authorization bill, saying, "It would be
inappropriate
and in poor taste."
But two
days later, Sen. Inhofe did just that, submitting two separate
amendments to the Defense bill, including provisions to
open
the Arctic Refuge to oil drilling.
Despite pleas from leaders and
other members of his own party -- "I
don't
think [the Arctic Refuge] should be a part of this equation,"
said Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) -- Sen. Inhofe refuses to back
down.
Fearing that this brewing battle
would fracture the Senate, the
Defense bill was
withdrawn last week. It is scheduled to be taken up
again this week, with a key vote coming as soon as
tomorrow.
Late last week, Sen.
Murkowski reversed himself and issued a bold
threat to
"hold up normal legislative business to get an energy bill
to the floor," matching Sen. Inhofe's threat to attach an
energy bill
to "every single piece of legislation that
comes through the Senate"
this year, contrary to the
country's needs and the desires of the
American people.
ARGUMENTS REMAIN
The terrorist attacks have not changed the critical reasons
why oil
drilling in the Arctic is unwarranted and
inappropriate:
- Arctic oil will do
little or nothing to ensure America's energy
security
-- it only constitutes 0.3% of the world oil supply.
- Oil from the Arctic will not reach
market for 10 years.
- Arctic oil
will not affect world oil prices, nor gas prices at
the
pump. With oil prices plummeting in the last week, ironically,
Arctic oil becomes less and less attractive, as it is far
more
expensive to extract than oil elsewhere.
- Arctic oil will not reduce our
dependence on imported oil, more
of which comes from
countries in North and South America than from the
Persian Gulf.
As the Los Angeles Times editorialized on Sept. 28th,
"Drilling in the
Arctic refuge was a bad idea before
Sept. 11 and is just as bad today.
... Would we harness Old Faithful for its geothermal
energy? Put a
hydroelectric plant at Yosemite Falls?
You could not measure the
potential cost to the
environment in Yellowstone or Yosemite, nor can
you in
the Arctic."
TAKE ACTION
Supporters of Arctic oil drilling have made it clear that,
tragedy or
not, they intend to push forward their
narrow agenda immediately,
ignoring pleas from their
colleagues, the public, and the media to
hold off until
a more appropriate time.
Please contact your Senators with this message:
- Thank them for the remarkable unity
they have shown in the
aftermath of the terrible
terrorist attacks.
- Ask them to
resist attempts to add *any* unrelated measures onto
must-pass legislation -- it's inappropriate and shamefully
opportunistic.
Send a fax from http://www.wilderness.org/takeaction/?step=2&item=653
but please personalize the letter for maximum effect.
Or send a message from your
Senators' web sites: http://www.senate.gov
***************************************************************
For a full list of Action Items, visit
http://www.wilderness.org/whatcan/takeaction.htm
***************************************************************
An archive of past Wildalerts can be found at
http://www.wilderness.org/wildalert/wildalerts.htm
***************************************************************
WildAlert is an email action alert system brought to
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the list, visit
http://www.wilderness.org/forms/subscribe.htm or send a
message to
wildalert@tws.org with 'SUBSCRIBE' in the
subject line.
Founded in 1935,
The Wilderness Society works to protect America's
wilderness and to develop a nation-wide network of wild
lands through
public education, scientific analysis and
advocacy. Our goal is to
ensure that future
generations will enjoy the clean air and water,
wildlife, beauty and opportunities for recreation and
renewal that
pristine forests, rivers, deserts and
mountains provide. To take
action on behalf of
wildlands today, visit our website at
http://www.wilderness.org
Dear WWF Conservation Action Network Activist:
The thoughts and prayers of all of
us at World Wildlife Fund go out
to the rescue workers,
families, friends, and loved ones affected by
the
tragic events of September 11. As we come together to offer
support, assistance, and compassion to one another, let us
also
further our resolve to leave our children a better
world and a
healthier planet--one filled with
consideration, unity,
understanding, and respect.
- Kathryn Fuller, President, World Wildlife
Fund
While it is difficult to think of anything else in this
time of
sadness and unease, WWF urges all of our
activists in the United
States to take action today to
oppose oil drilling in the Arctic
National Wildlife
Refuge, the crown jewel of our national wildlife
refuge
system. Some senators are arguing that we should allow
drilling in the refuge as part of a national response to
the terrible
events of September 11. Please
follow the simple steps below to send
free messages
urging your senators to block any such misguided
effort. Now is the time for unity in our
country, not the divisive
pursuit of narrow ends.
Drilling in the Arctic Refuge will
not increase our safety and would
result in unnecessary
environmental damage. As a nation, we hold
only 3 percent of the world's reserves of oil, yet we
consume almost
25 percent of the world's daily
production. As long as this is the
case, we
will remain dependent on world oil markets, and we will pay
the world price for oil, whether it is produced
domestically or
abroad. The safest and
fastest way to increase our energy security
is to
improve the energy efficiency of our cars, trucks, homes,
factories, and offices, and to increase the role of
renewable non-
petroleum sources of energy in our
economy.
********************TAKE ACTION NOW!*************
We have made some changes to the
Conservation Action Network
(http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org/) to make it easier
for you to
take action and make your voice
heard. If you have any questions or
problems
with taking action, contact us at
actionquestions@takeaction.worldwildlife.org for help.
THE EASIEST WAY TO TAKE ACTION
Now it's easier to take action if
you are short on time. To send the
message
at the bottom of this letter as it is to your senators,
hit "reply" to this email and then "send" and we will
automatically
send it for you. However, we
urge you to greatly increase your
impact by adding your
own thoughts to your message. Personalizing
your message only takes a minute; see below for details.
TO ADD YOUR OWN THOUGHTS TO
YOUR MESSAGE AND INCREASE YOUR IMPACT
Go to your Personal Action Center (log in at
http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org/login.asp)
(IMPORTANT NOTE: your
log-in information has changed;
see below).
There, you can now
add your own thoughts to your letter. As before,
we will automatically send your message to your senators by
email or
fax at no charge. Or, if you wish,
we now make it easy for you to
print out and mail the
letter to your senators.
We strongly encourage you to edit your message because
personalized
messages carry greater weight with
decision makers. To have the
greatest impact
of all, print out your personalized message, add a
short handwritten note, and mail it to your senators.
In order to edit and/or print out
the message, you will need to log
in to your Personal
Action Center with NEW log-in information.
NEW LOG-IN INFORMATION
Your method of logging in to your
Personal Action Center has changed.
Before, you were
asked to enter a username and a password to get into
this area. Your OLD username and password were:
Now, to log in to your
Personal Action Center, you will need to enter
your
email address and a password. Your password will remain the
same as the one you had before.
You may change your password and
any of your contact information by
visiting your
Personal Action Center and clicking on "edit your
profile." If you have recently edited your
profile, please
double-check that our system has made
those changes.
Thank you for participating in the Conservation Action
Network. We
hope you make frequent use of
its opportunities to help protect
endangered spaces,
save endangered species, and address global
threats to
the environment. Please encourage your friends and family
to take part as well and to join the urgent campaign to
protect the
Arctic Refuge.
********************LETTER TEXT******************
Dear Senator ...,
I urge you to work to block any effort to use the tragedy
of
September 11 as a pretext to pass drilling
provisions for the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge or
other environmentally damaging energy
legislation.
The terrorist attacks should not
be used to prematurely cut off
debate on the many
difficult policy issues raised by energy
legislation
that has not yet been considered by the appropriate
committees of the Senate. Drilling in the Arctic
Refuge will not
increase our national safety and will
result in unnecessary
environmental damage to our
nation.
As a nation, we hold
only 3 percent of the world's reserves of oil,
yet we
consume almost 25 percent of the world's daily production. As
long as this is the case, we will remain dependent on world
oil
markets, and we will pay the world price for oil,
whether it is
produced domestically or
abroad. The safest and fastest way to
increase our energy security is to improve the energy
efficiency of
our cars, trucks, homes, factories, and
offices, and to increase the
role of renewable
non-petroleum sources of energy in our economy.
I urge you to consider carefully the long-term implications
of these
energy policy issues as part of an orderly
process of the
consideration of energy matters, rather
than in the midst of the
present crisis.
Your name and address
will be inserted here
*****************END OF LETTER
TEXT*****************
To: All Activists
From: Dave Willis, Soda Mountain Wilderness Council
Date: Oct. 2, 2001
URGENT: Send a Cascade-Siskiyou Nat'l Monument E-Message to
Sec. Norton
PLEASE DISTRIBUTE
WIDELY
The Bush Administration
is considering rollingback protection for the
Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument in Southern
Oregon. We must keep the
pro-monument
messages going into the Department of Interior. Here's an
easy way. Even if you've already used this method once, you
can now do
it again. The Bush administration
needs to be reminded that you're
still watching them
closely.
WWF has changed their
alert system. You can now send another -- or your
first
-- Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument pre-written or personally
edited message to Interior Secretary Gale Norton
via http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org. Please go to this
website and
select "National Monument At Risk."
While you're at it, you can also
send a pre-written or personally edited
message to your
senators by selecting "Urgent! Senate to Vote On the
Arctic" to save Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
from drilling
and desecration.
Thanks,
Dave Willis
Soda Mountain
Wilderness Council
Steve Holmer
Campaign Coordinator
American
Lands
726 7th Street SE
Washington, D.C. 20003
202/547-9105
202/547-9213 fax
mailto:wafcdc@americanlands.org
http://www.americanlands.org/A>
Alaska needs your help.....
### VOTE NOW! VOTE " NO" and PROTECT THE ARTIC
REFUGE! ###
Please vote now to
protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and
counter
Senator Inhofe's (R-OK) pro-drilling rider.
Vote NOW at: http://www.vote.com/vote/36279946/index.phtml?cat=6834308
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Should the Alaskan Refuge drilling be attached to the
Defense Bill?
VOTE NO!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Senator Inhofe, a
proponent of a pro-drilling amendment to any number
of
"must-pass" bills, has claimed wide public support for his position
based upon the results of an open ballot at vote.com.
VOTE NOW TO COUNTER THIS
CLAIM! And vote to show wide public support of
protecting the Refuge from oil drilling.
Today, the US Senate will have a
cloture vote that could potentially
stop Inhofe from
adding his rider to the Defense Authorization bill.
To help stop the pro-drilling Inhofe rider VOTE NOW.
Steve Holmer
Campaign Coordinator
American Lands
726 7th Street
SE
Washington, D.C. 20003
202/547-9105
202/547-9213 fax
mailto:wafcdc@americanlands.org
http://www.americanlands.org
Dear Members of Global Response's "Quick Response Network:"
Thanks to all who contacted
U.S. senators and convinced them to keep energy
provisions out of the defense authorization
bill. Here's an update from the
Indigenous
Environmental Network, who circulated the Action Alert on behalf
of the Gwich'in Nation, which opposes drilling in the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
From Indigenous Environmental Network:
The Senate voted unanimously to
keep the energy provisions out of the
defense
authorization bill.
You can
cease generating calls to the Senators for now, but we must always
remain on high alert. A person never knows when
riders and attachments are
put into U.S. bills.
Much thanks for ALL your help.
Dated
material (September 29, 2001), but it provides some updates between
the first IEN communiqué and the message listed above.
NEWS
AMERICA'S ORDEAL / Senate GOP Pushes for Arctic Drilling
Ellen Yan. WASHINGTON BUREAU
09/29/2001
Newsday
QUEENS
A20
(Copyright Newsday Inc., 2001)
Washington - Senate
Republicans have revived their drive to open the
pristine arctic tundra to oil drilling and are using as
leverage a defense
bill that would fortify the military
in its battle against global terrorism.
The proposed drilling would boost national security by
making the country
less dependent on foreign oil,
supporters said. But congressional opponents
and
environmentalists argue that it would take a decade to tap even a drop
of up to 16 billion barrels of oil in the Arctic Wildlife
National Refuge.
Opponents also criticized pro-
drilling lawmakers for effectively delaying
action this
week on the defense authorization bill as the nation girds for a
battle against terrorism.
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) had wanted to
complete action on
the defense bill this week, saying
that there was no "more urgent" bill. But
Daschle,
opposed to drilling in the arctic, was forced to shelve the bill
until next week when he could not reach an agreement over
the energy issue
with Minority Leader Trent Lott (R-
Miss.)
"I think a majority of
the Senate is all of a sudden faced with a new
reality:
that we are highly dependent on Middle East oil and that any glitch
in that system would find us all in a very desperate
situation with our
economy and our people," Sen. Larry
Craig (R- Idaho) said Thursday,
predicting that the
Senate will soon pass an energy bill.
The stalemate threatens to poison the bipartisan spirit
springing from the
terrorist attacks on U.S. soil on
Sept. 11. Daschle has said he's eager to
keep a united
front.
But as Congress became
mired in aviation security and airline workers relief
bills this week, lawmakers in both parties warned against
using the crisis
to score political points by pressing
issues with no direct connection to
the
counterterrorism priority.
"I'm troubled by cynical efforts to divide us under the
guise of national
security," said Sen. John Kerry
(D-Mass.), one of the most vocal opponents
of drilling
in the arctic refuge. "Rather than be diverted by red herring
proposals like drilling in ANWR, we should instead focus on
bipartisan,
responsible approaches to a national energy
policy which will in fact help
us in the fight against
terrorism."
Some lawmakers
argued it was unseemly to focus on the controversial drilling
proposal. Even lawmakers pushing for drilling acknowledge
that they're not
likely to succeed using the defense
bill as a vehicle, but are pressing
ahead in an effort
to win a commitment from Daschle that the Senate will
consider a broader energy bill. There are at least three
energy bills
pending in the Senate, where some think
the energy issue has been lost in
the shuffle.
"I strongly believe we need to
address energy," Daschle said this week. "I
just don't
know, given these circumstances . . . when we can say we will
address it. But it is our intention to bring up energy, to
address the
myriad of issues that the energy policy
debate will bring about."
Last
Friday, Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) lost a bid to get the Senate to add
the House-passed energy bill, which contains arctic
drilling, to the defense
bill amid opposition from
senators from both parties.
Now, Republicans have put forth a streamlined energy bill
that still
includes the drilling provision. All 11
Republicans on the Senate energy
panel signed a letter
Monday to Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D- N.M.), the committee
chairman, urging him to move forward on this energy
legislation.
"Fighter
aircraft, helicopter gunships and destroyers don't run on natural
gas, much less solar power or hot air," Sen. Frank
Murkowski (R-Alaska) said
on the floor Wednesday.
Some Republicans contend that
Daschle pulled the defense bill because he
lacked the
votes to stop arctic drilling.
**************************
Indigenous Environmental Network
PO Box 485
Bemidji, MN 56619 USA
Tel: + 1 218 751 4967
Fax: + 1 218 751 0561
Email: ien@igc.org
Web: www.ienearth.org
********************************
Paula Palmer, Executive Director
Global Response
PO Box 7490
Boulder CO 80306
Tel. 303-444-0306
Fax. 303-449-9794
Website: www.globalresponse.org
Mission: Global Response empowers people of all
ages, cultures, and
nationalities to protect the
environment by creating partnerships for
effective
citizen action. At the request of indigenous peoples and
grassroots organizations, Global Response organizes
international
letter-writing campaigns to help
communities prevent environmental
destruction. Global Response involves young
people as well as adults in
these campaigns, to develop
in them the values and skills for global citizen
cooperation and earth stewardship.
NEW! Now you can make
donations online at: www.globalresponse.org .
Final House of Representatives Vote on Farming and
the Environment!
Take action and
help fundamentally reform federal agriculture
policies.
You can take action on this
alert either via email
(please see directions below) or
via the web at:
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/farm_reformII/wk8bxn2l78xb6d
Spread the word about this
urgent vote on farming and
the environment. Visit the
web address below and tell
your friends to take action
on this important campaign!
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/farm_reformII/forward/wk8bxn2l78xb6d
We encourage you to take
action by October 6, 2001
Help
Farmers Help the Environment
----------------------
***************************
Action Network from Environmental Defense.
Finding the ways that work.
***************************
This week, the House of Representatives will vote on
a ten-year, $170 billion Farm Bill that could severely
hurt the environment. The Farm Bill (H.R. 2646) would:
* Virtually repeal laws designed to protect wetlands;
* Subsidize polluting technologies by huge factory
farms;
* Eliminate the most basic
technical assistance to
farmers to help the
environment; and
* Continue to deny funding and aid to
most farmers
seeking federal help to protect the
environment.
But
Representatives Sherwood Boehlert of New York,
Ron Kind
of Wisconsin, Wayne Gilchrest of Maryland,
and John
Dingell of Michigan will offer a bipartisan
amendment
to delete the bill's anti-environmental provisions
and
boost federal funds to preserve farm, ranch, and
forest
lands; improve water quality; protect food and
drinking
water supplies; and restore habitat for wildlife.
This
amendment represents a fundamental, progressive
shift
in environmental policy, and we need your support
to
make it happen. Frankly, in light of the ongoing
national effort to deal with terrorism, we would prefer
not to have other national debates right now. But since
some in the Congress insist on forcing this issue under
the radar, we need your help now.
Take action! Urge your
Representative to help farmers
help the environment by
voting for the Boehlert-Kind-Gilchrest-Dingell
Conservation Amendment to the Farm Bill this week.
In addition to sending an email,
PLEASE CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE!
Phone calls are
especially important and effective.
To get your
Representative's phone number, visit http://www.congressmerge.com .
For talking points, visit http://www.environmentaldefense.org/programs/Ecosystems/AgriReform/repaction.html
For more information about the
Boehlert-Kind-Gilchrest-Dingell
Conservation Amendment
and Environmental Defense's
efforts to reform
agricultural practices, visit: http://www.environmentaldefense.org/programs/Ecosystems/AgriReform/
Questions? Contact Suzy
Friedman, Agriculture Policy
Analyst and Organizer, at
sfriedman@environmentaldefense.org
----------------------
INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPOND VIA THE
WEB:
If you have access to a web browser, you can take
action
on this alert by going to the following URL:
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/farm_reformII/wk8bxn2l78xb6d
INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPOND VIA
EMAIL:
Just choose the "reply to sender" option on your
email
program, and edit the letter below as you wish.
Do
not delete "-YOU MAY EDIT THE LETTER BELOW-" and
"-END
OF LETTER-". Please do not add your name and
address
to your letter. Our system automatically does
this
for you.
We STRONGLY encourage you to make edits directly to
our sample letter below, and put the alert talking
points into your own words. An individualized letter
is worth ten computer generated letters. Of course,
hundreds of unedited letters will still create a large
impact, so please reply even if you don't have time
to personalize the letter.
-------YOU MAY EDIT THE LETTER BELOW---------
I urge you to reward farmers,
ranchers, and forest
landowners who want to help meet
our environmental
challenges by voting for the
Boehlert-Kind-Gilchrest-Dingell
Conservation Amendment
to the Farm Bill this week.
The Farm Bill proposed by
Representative Combest (H.R.
2646) would continue to
provide huge subsidies to the
nation's largest factory
farms in a handful of states
and will weaken many of
our basic environmental protections.
By shifting
funding from these subsidies into USDA
conservation
programs, the Boehlert-Kind-Gilchrest-Dingell
Conservation Amendment will offer assistance to many
more farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners in all
regions of the country, and will help them provide
clean water, wildlife habitat, and open spaces.
Today, two out of three
farmers seeking USDA conservation
assistance are
rejected due to inadequate funding.
Boosting annual
funding for voluntary incentive-based
conservation
programs not only helps protect the environment,
but
also contributes to farm and ranch income, helps
ease
regulatory burdens, and reduces water treatment
costs.
These reforms will ensure that all farmers,
including
dairy farmers, livestock operators, and fruit
and
vegetable producers, are eligible for federal assistance.
The Boehlert-Kind-Gilchrest-Dingell Amendment will
also help ensure that agricultural subsidies do not
violate our trade agreements.
Unless we reward farmers when they meet our nation's
environmental challenges, one-third of our rivers and
lakes will remain polluted, hundreds of species will
creep closer to extinction, and millions of acres of
open space will be lost forever.
I urge you to vote for the
Boehlert-Kind-Gilchrest-Dingell
conservation amendment
to the Farm Bill this week.
-------END OF
LETTER-------------------------
========================================
NRDC's EARTH ACTION:
The Bulletin
for Environmental Activists
October 3, 2001
Note: While NRDC was deeply saddened by the
tragic events of
September 11th and continues to offer
its deepest sympathies to all
those affected, the need
for our work, and our commitment to
protecting the
health and well-being of our planet and its
inhabitants, remain strong. We are resuming our regular
publication of
Earth Action with this issue, and
include our sincerest wishes that
our readers and their
loved ones are all safe and well.
========================================
In This Issue:
--Action alerts--
1. ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE: Tell your senators to
protect the
Arctic Refuge from opportunistic political
attacks
2. WATER/HABITAT
PRESERVATION: Urgent -- House vote today! Tell your
representative to vote YES on an important farm bill
amendment
3.
BUDGET/APPROPRIATIONS: Tell Congress to increase, not reduce,
funding for environmental protection in the new budget
4. WATER QUALITY PROTECTION: Speak
out to protect the waters in our
nation's capital and
the Chesapeake Bay from raw sewage discharges
======================================================
You will also find these alerts in NRDC'S Earth Action
Center, which
includes tools for taking action easily
online, at
http://www.nrdc.org/action
(Please do not reply to this message; see the instructions
below for
how to unsubscribe or contact NRDC with
questions or comments.)
=============
Action alerts
=============
1. ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
Tell your senators to protect the Arctic Refuge from
opportunistic
political attacks
While most members of Congress are
working in a unified and bipartisan
manner to enact
defense and recovery legislation in the wake of the
September 11th terrorist attacks, a few are instead using
the tragedy
as an opportunity to try to push forward
narrow and divisive
interests. Until yesterday, when
the Senate voted to cut off debate,
Sen. Inhofe (R-OK)
held up a vote on the emergency Defense
Authorization
bill by filing unrelated amendments that would authorize
$38 billion in new spending to benefit the oil, coal,
nuclear and auto
industries, as well as open the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge to oil
drilling. And after
initially stating that using the nation's
tragedies as
an opportunity to gain passage of controversial energy
legislation would be "in poor taste," Sen. Murkowski (R-AK)
is now
threatening to stall Senate action if an energy
bill isn't brought to
the floor imminently.
These senators claim that drilling
in the Arctic Refuge is necessary
to reduce U.S.
dependence on oil imports (the U.S. imports more than
50 percent of its oil). But America cannot drill its way to
energy
independence. In fact, the government's own
estimates show the Arctic
Refuge holds just a 6-month
supply of oil, which would take 10 years
to reach
consumers. By contrast, raising automobile fuel efficiency by
three miles per gallon would save more oil in a decade than
could ever
be recovered from the refuge.
== What to do ==
Contact your senators and urge them to oppose any efforts
to enact
harmful energy legislation and to instead
focus on protecting the
nation's safety.
== Contact information ==
You can email or fax your senators directly from NRDC's
Earth Action
Center at http://www.nrdc.org/action. If you prefer to call your
senator, the Capitol Switchboard number is
202-224-3121.
2. WATER/HABITAT
PRESERVATION
Urgent: House vote today! Tell
your representative to vote YES on an
important farm
bill amendment
This week the
House of Representatives is considering H.R. 2646, the
Farm Security Act of 2001. During the floor debate (which
is scheduled
to occur *today*), Reps. Boehlert (R-NY),
Kind (D-WI), Gilchrest
(R-MD) and Dingell (D-MI) will
offer an amendment that would help
farmers protect
water quality, conserve our nation's critical natural
resources, and conserve prime farmland as well as wetlands,
forests,
grasslands and other wildlife habitat.
== What to do ==
Call your representative **today** (the Capitol Switchboard
number is
202-224-3121) and urge him or her to vote
"Yes" on the
Boehlert/Kind/Gilchrest/Dingell amendment
to H.R. 2646 when it is
offered on the floor. If you
wish to offer specific points in support
of your
position, tell the person taking your call that the amendment
makes both economic and environmental sense because it
would:
** use conservation and
technical assistance to reduce long-term water
treatment and dredging costs, protect wildlife, preserve
farmland and
open space, enhance urban forests and
greenspace, enhance public
health, and protect and
enhance privately owned forests;
** continue excluding
large livestock farms from receiving funding to
construct massive waste lagoons that harm water quality and
threaten
human health (the committee-passed bill would
require taxpayers to
subsidize the construction of new
cesspools); and
** help communities curb suburban
sprawl by protecting threatened
farmland by
compensating farm owners to continue farming instead of
selling their property to developers.
== Contact information ==
You can reach your representative's office by calling the
Capitol
Switchboard at 202-224-3121.
3. BUDGET/APPROPRIATIONS
Tell Congress to increase, not reduce, funding for
environmental
protection in the new budget
Congress and the Bush
administration right now are deciding how much
money to
spend on environmental protection next year. Although costs
related to the September 11th terrorist attacks have
already been paid
for with emergency funding, some
members of Congress want to shift
more resources away
from environmental needs such as conserving our
land
and water, saving endangered species, increasing energy security,
and enforcing pollution laws. Still others are attempting,
behind
closed doors, to slip special exemptions for
polluters into budget
bills.
== What to do ==
Contact your senators and representative and urge them to
provide the
money the nation needs to clean its air and
water, and to save its
open space and
wildlife.
==
Contact information ==
You can email or fax your
senators and representative directly from
NRDC's Earth
Action Center at http://www.nrdc.org/action. If you
prefer to call, the Capitol Switchboard number is
202-224-3121.
4. WATER QUALITY
PROTECTION
Speak out to protect the waters in our
nation's capital and the
Chesapeake Bay from raw sewage
discharges
Combined sewer
overflows are discharges of raw sewage that foul waters
with trash, fecal matter, toxins, oil, grease and a host of
other
pollutants that make the water unsafe for human
contact and unfit for
wildlife habitat. Washington,
DC's hundred-year-old sewer system has
been plagued by
generations of neglect; as a result, sewer overflows
occur in DC every time over half an inch of rain falls
there.
Earlier
this year, DC's Water and Sewer Authority released its draft
long-term plan for controlling combined sewer overflows.
But the
proposed plan would continue to dump raw sewage
in DC's waters,
allowing more than a quarter of a
billion gallons of sewage to be
discharged each year.
The plan also would roll back clean water
standards
that protect the public from becoming ill from swimming in
DC waters, and relies too heavily on outdated and
ineffective
treatment and storage facilities instead of
newer, greener options
that would not only clean the
wastewater, but also clear the air,
reduce flooding and
beautify the city.
The Water
and Sewer Authority is accepting official comments on the
proposed plan through November 22nd.
== What to do ==
Send an official comment before the November 22nd comment
deadline,
insisting that the proposed plan be
strengthened, and that existing DC
water quality
standards not be compromised.
If you live in the DC area and want to do more, come to a
public
hearing and speak out for a stronger plan:
Monday, October 22
6:00pm
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Library
901 G Street, NW
Washington, DC
For more information about the plan or the hearing, you may
call
NRDC's Jim Woodworth at 202-289-2429 or visit the
DC Water and Sewer
Authority's webpage at http://www.dcwasa.com/css/
== Contact information ==
You can
send an official comment directly from NRDC's Earth Action
Center at http://www.nrdc.org/action. Or use the contact
information
and sample letter below to send your own
message, and please include
your own reasons why
preserving DC's water quality and solving the
city's
sewer overflow problem is important to you.
Dr. Mohsin Siddique, Project Manager
D.C. Water and Sewer Authority
5000 Overlook Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20032
Fax: 202-787-2453
Email: Mohsin_Siddique@dcwasa.com
== Sample letter ==
Subject: Draft
Long-Term Control Plan for combined sewer overflows
Dear Dr. Siddique,
I am concerned about the DC Water and Sewer Authority's
Long-Term
Control Plan for combined sewer overflows.
While I am pleased your
agency is beginning to address
the health and environmental risks
posed by combined
sewer overflows, the proposed plan does not go far
enough to adequately protect the future water quality of
the Anacostia
and Potomac Rivers, Rock Creek and the
Chesapeake Bay.
The District's
rivers are important regional waterways that contribute
to the environmental quality of the Chesapeake Bay. I
therefore
strongly oppose any weakening or rollback of
DC's existing water
quality standards or a combined
sewer overflow plan that would allow
the continued,
repeated overflow of raw sewage into DC waters.
Instead, WASA must uphold existing water quality standards,
and
advocate for strong, comprehensive, regional
solutions to controlling
combined sewer overflows and
improving water quality in the Chesapeake
Bay. These
solutions should include water conservation, water reuse,
pollution prevention measures and the use of green
infrastructure such
as "low impact development."
Strengthen the proposed plan to
protect our waters, not allow their
continued
degradation.
Sincerely,
[Your name and address]
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House Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) have announced "compromise" anti-terrorism legislation that contains many provisions that go far beyond the powers necessary to fight terrorism on American soil.
Specifically, the compromise bill -- the "Provide Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act (PATRIOT)" (H.R. 2975)-- contains troubling provisions that would permit indefinite detention of a non-citizen ordered deported to a country that would not accept him or her, minimize judicial supervision of electronic surveillance by law enforcement authorities and allow intelligence agencies to spy on U.S. citizens by providing them enhanced access to sensitive information about them.
Terror, by its very nature, is intended not only to destroy, but also to intimidate a people, forcing them to take actions that are not in their best interest. We must not be intimidated. Congress must not let terrorism win by weakening essential checks and balances on the authority of federal law enforcement.
The Attorney General
must not be permitted to indefinitely detain people who the government has been
unable to deport.
Incarceration of individuals is one
of the most serious deprivations of liberty possible. When such a substantial
liberty interest is at stake, the Constitution demands that adequate protection
-- due process -- is provided to ensure that decisions are correct and fair.
While the PATRIOT Act would not permit indefinite detention of all non-citizens
the Attorney General has certified are a risk to national security, it would
permit indefinite incarceration of non-citizens who have been ordered deported,
but who the government has failed to remove. The Supreme Court recently ruled
that such indefinite detention raises serious constitutional concerns.
The government must
not be given expanded wiretap authority without close judicial oversight.
The wiretapping proposals in the PATRIOT Act sound a common
theme: they minimize the role of a judge in ensuring that law enforcement
wiretapping is conducted legally and with proper justification. Law enforcement
authorities -- even when they are required to obtain court orders -- have great
leeway under current law to investigate suspects in terrorist attacks. Security
and civil liberties do not have to be at odds so long as the checks and balances
that have made our democracy strong remain in place.
Intelligence agencies
must not be given broad access to sensitive information about U.S. citizens and
residents.
While sharing of sensitive or confidential
information may be appropriate in the case of international terrorism
investigations, it should only be done with strict safeguards. The PATRIOT act
would allow intelligence agencies, such as the CIA, to obtain information about
U.S. citizens and residents without imposing meaningful limits on the future use
or dissemination of that information. Without such limitations, these agencies
would be put back in the business of spying on Americans for "intelligence"
purposes, as was done during the Vietnam War.
TAKE ACTION!
REMINDER -
Give Citi a call today!
Be polite and speak from your heart.
Urge them to stop investments in fossil projects that
accelerates global
warming and instead invest in clean
renewable energies!
* * * * * *
* * * *
#1
TAKE ACTION - CALL CITIGROUP AND TELL THEM TO STOP FUNDING
GLOBAL WARMING!
OCTOBER 3 NATIONAL PHONE ZAP
As we speak, the earth is
heating up.
Thousands of
people all over the world are becoming climate refugees as
floods, hurricanes and other extreme weather events
increase in frequency.
Tropical diseases are migrating north and will soon be
coming soon to a city
near you.
Eco-systems are disappearing.
The driving force behind global
warming-related destruction is the fossil
fuel
industry, an industry reliant on huge loans in order to finance its
devastating business of fossil fuel exploration. And who is
willing to
finance these dirty energy projects?
Citigroup.
Citigroup, the
world’s largest financial institution, finances dirty energy
projects far more generously than clean energy. In fact,
Citigroup has no
system of accounting for global
warming, species extinction, and a whole
host of other
problems that result from its investments.
In the face of this blatant disregard, it's time for
students from across
the country to take the matter
into their own hands. We need to start
fighting for the
solutions to this impending climate catastrophe. We must
organize to stop Citigroup from underwriting the
destruction of our future
with more fossil fuels and
start investing in solar and other renewable
energies.
Wednesday, October 3 is the
national call-in day of action against
Citigroup. Join
students across the country calling on Citigroup to:
·
Stop financing fossil fuel projects
· Start providing
loans for renewable energy that can make solar and wind
competitive against dirty fossil fuels
Call Investor Relations toll-free
at:
1-888-250-3985 and dial 0 to reach a human
operator.
Below are some
sample talking points for the call as well as a general
instruction sheet on how to organize a call-in day of
action.
THE TIME HAS COME TO
TELL CITI TO CLEAN UP ITS ACT!
If you are interested in taking part in this day of action,
or working with
us to build the CLIMATE COMPONENT of
the Citigroup coalition please email
us at :
hot_an_bothered@hotmail.com
The Hot n Bothered Climate Campaign is a student run and
developed campaign
working to end our society's deadly
addiction to fossil fuels within one
generation by
promoting renewable energy alternatives. HBCC works with
student and national groups to reach this goal.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* *
#2
SPEAK YOUR MIND
STRAIGHT TO CITI! - SAMPLE TALKING POINTS
Watch
out Sandy we have phones in our hands and we’re not afraid to use ‘em!
Caller: Hello, this is XXXX XXXXX
calling from XXXXX (your community or
campus) I was
would like to speak with Sandy Weill.
Receiver: I am sorry you can’t speak with him right now.
How can I help you?
Caller:
Yes, I would like it if you could rely a message for me. I am
calling because I’m deeply concerned about Citigroup’s role
in funding
global warming. I’m upset that Citigroup
continues to invest in
destructive fossil fuel projects
while discriminating against renewable,
clean energy
sources. It is time that CitiGroup offers mortgages and
long-term loans to make renewable energy sources
competitive in the energy
marketplace. It has been
shown that this is a $4 billion market and
CitiGroup
can lead the way, and help us address global warming before its
too late.
Until Citi takes action to stop destructive investments I
will not be doing
business with your corporation and I
will be urging all my friends and
neighbors to take
similar action.
Please pass my
message along the Sandy and the Board of Directors. It would
be greatly appreciated. Thanks and have a great day.
OTHER TALKING POINTS :
Citi is one of the largest funders
of the oil, mining and gas industry
around the planet.
These projects not only accelerate global warming but
many of them are also threaten fragile ecosystems and
indigenous peoples.
Why isn’t Citi phasing out
investments in fossil fuels?
Fossil fuels are the next tobacco of the investment
community. The moral,
social and environmental cost of
investing in fossil fuels is too high.
Citi should be
sending a strong message to the oil industry by investing in
the transition to clean renewable energy sources rather
than funding further
fossil fuel development.
Some of the destructive fossil
fuel projects Citi is currently involved in
include :
1) Underwriting over half of all coal production on the
planet
2) The OCP pipeline in Ecuador which will cut
through the Mindo cloudforest
reserve and other
pristine areas and expand oil drilling across the
Ecudorian Amazon.
3) Funding a
pipeline across Venezuela’s Orinoco river delta through the
homelands of the Warao people.
4)
Investing in the Camisea natural gas project in Peru which will bring
drilling to pristine rainforests that are home to
uncontacted peoples.
Please post and distribute.
************
ACTION ALERT
************
URGENT REQUEST:
Please send letters immediately to Peruvian government
officials requesting that they halt illegal logging
operations in Tahuamanu,
Madre de Dios, and provide all
necessary protection for the uncontacted
indigenous
tribes in the region.
September 25, 2001
Dear Friends:
The uncontacted indigenous tribes of northern Madre de
Dios, Peru need your
critical support at this moment.
The Mashco Piro, Yora, Amahuaca, and
Yaminahua peoples
are again being threatened by the illegal operations of
large scale logging companies in their lands. These tribes
have chosen to
remain in isolation from Peruvian
society because of past tragic encounters
with
colonizers. The uncontacted peoples' way of life, as well as their
health and the natural resources upon which they depend are
severely
threatened by these logging operations.
The Native Federation of Madre de
Dios River and Tributaries (FENAMAD), has
endeavored to
protect the lands of the uncontacted peoples for many years
and has achieved notable victories, despite unending
pressure from loggers
and miners. FENAMAD
has recently joined in an alliance with the local
affected communities and small scale loggers in the region
to pressure the
government to:
1) stop the large scale logging
companies from continuing the illegal,
uncontrolled and
indiscriminate exploitation of forests in the province of
Tahuamanu,
2) verify information
presented in a study prepared by FENAMAD that
delineates the territory of the uncontacted indigenous
peoples, and
3) establish zones for sustainable logging
for the local small scale loggers
in areas OUTSIDE of
the lands inhabited by the uncontacted indigenous
peoples, that will permit them to sustain their families
and support the
local economy.
Elected leaders from FENAMAD,
along with representatives of the local
alliance, met
with Peruvian authorities in Lima this week to
present
their requests and lobby the government to take immediate action.
They were able to make significant progress and need your
support to pressure authorities to follow through with their promises. Please
show your support for protection of the uncontacted indigenous peoples and their
lands by faxing a letter to officials now.
There is a real opportunity for this Administration to once
and for all
establish permanent legal protection for
the uncontacted indigenous tribes
and the biodiverse
forests in which live.
Following you will find a model letter in Spanish and
English and fax
numbers for Peruvian authorities, as
well as an open letter signed by
FENAMAD and other
members of the local alliance describing the situation and
their demands. Please copy any letters you send to FENAMAD
at
<marinke@terra.com.pe or
011-51-84-572-499. For more information, contact
the Alliance coordinating office or Racimos de Ungurahui at
ungurahui@amauta.rcp.net.pe.
Thank you for your active support.
Betsy Boatner
Amazon Alliance
********************************************************
FAX NUMBERS FOR PERUVIAN AUTHORITIES
(If faxing from the United States,
dial 011 prior to the number.)
Dr. Alejandro Toledo Manrique, Presidente de la Republica
del Peru,
511-426-6770
Dr. Carlos Ferrero, Presidente del Congreso, 511-427-0195
Mr. Alvaro Quijandria,
Ministro de Agricultura, 511-431-0109
Dra. Doris Sanchez, Ministra del Ministerio de la Mujer y
del Desarrollo
Humano, 511-428-7478
Dr. Fernando Rospgliosi, Ministro
del Interior, 511-475-6770
Dra. Elianne Karp de Toledo, Primera Dama de la Nacion,
511-426-9933
Dr. Walter Alban
Peralta, Defensor del Pueblo, 511-426-7889
Dr. Fernando Olivera, Ministro de Justicia, 511-4223577,
511-4282829
Dr . Diego
Garcia-Sayan, Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores, 511-311-2406
Ing. Matias Prieto Celi, Jefe del
Instituto Nacional de Recursos Naturales,
INRENA,
511-224-3218
********************************************************
MODEL LETTER
September 25, 2001
Dr. Alejandro Toledo Manrique,
President of the Republic of Peru
Dr. Carlos Ferrero,
President of the Congress
Mr. Alvaro Quijandria,
Minister of Agriculture
Dr. Doris Sanchez, Minister of
the Ministry of Women and Human Development
Dr.
Fernando Rospgliosi, Minister of the Interior
Dra.
Elianne Karp de Toledo, First Lady of Peru
Dr. Walter
Alban Peralta, Public Defender
Dr. Fernando Olivera,
Minister of Justice
Dr . Diego Garcia-Sayan, Minister
of Foreign Relations
Mr. Matias Prieto, Celi, Director
of the National Institute of Natural
Resources, INRENA
Dear Sirs and Madam:
We are deeply concerned that the
activities of large scale logging companies
in the
Department of Madre de Dios are once again threatening the lives of
uncontacted indigenous peoples in the region and degrading
the biodiverse
forest ecosystems. We
understand that these large scale logging companies
are
illegally felling and extracting truckloads of mahagony day and night in
the province of Tahuamanu in an uncontrolled and
indiscriminate manner,
while operating under the guise
of a legal permit authorizing recuperation
of timber
felled prior to a government injunction in 1999. We are aware
that these companies are not only operating in the area to
recuperate felled
timber, but that they are cutting new
and extensive areas of forest and have
obtained permit
extensions in order to continue these illicit activities.
These destructive activities
threaten the physical and cultural survival of
the
uncontacted peoples by increasing their risk of exposure to outsiders
and germs and by degrading the natural resources upon which
their lives
depend. These activities also
threaten the incredible biological diversity
of the
forests in the region and undermine the ability of the local
communities to sustain themselves and pursue sustainable
economic
development.
In recognition of these enormous costs, we support the
requests of FENAMAD
in an alliance with the local
affected population and small scale loggers of
Iberia,
Inapari, Tambopata and Tahuamanu, that the Peruvian government
immediately stop the extensive exploitation of forests by
large scale
logging companies in Tahuamanu. In
addition, we request that the Peruvian
authorities
initiate studies to verify the data presented in the "Study of
Territorial Demarcation of the Isolated Indigenous Peoples"
by FENAMAD and
provide the isolated indigenous peoples
with all necessary protection.
President Toledo, we are convinced that your Administration
will not let
this opportunity pass to act with justice
and establish now a permanent
legal protection for the
territory of the isolated indigenous peoples. We
urge
you to embrace this opportunity to create a legacy of cultural and
environmental preservation for your presidency.
Sincerely,
XXXXX
Cc:
Antonio Iviche Quique, Presidente de la Federacion Nativa
del rio Madre de
Dios y Afluentes, FENAMAD
Gil Inoach Shawit, Presidente de la Asociacion
Interetnica de Desarrollo de
la Selva Peruana, AIDESEP
Celso Robles Guitierrez, Presidente de Comite de Lucha
en Defensa de los
Recursos Naturales de la Provincia de
Tahuamanu
**********************************************
CARTA MODELA
25 de Septiembre del 2001
Dr. Alejandro Toledo Manrique,
Presidente de la Republica del Peru
Dr. Carlos Ferrero,
Presidente del Congreso
Sr. Alvaro Quijandria, Ministro
de Agricultura
Dra. Doris Sanchez, Ministra del
Ministerio de la Mujer y del Desarrollo
Humano
Dr. Fernando Rospgliosi, Ministro del Interior
Dra. Elianne Karp de Toledo, Primera Dama de la Nacion
Dr. Walter Alban Peralta, Defensor del Pueblo
Dr. Fernando Olivera, Ministro de Justicia
Dr. Diego Garcia-Sayan, Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores
Ing. Matias Prieto Celi, Jefe del Instituto Nacional de
Recursos Naturales
INRENA
Estimados Senores y Senoras:
Estamos profundamente preocupados
porque las empresas madereras
industriales, que operan
en el departamento de Madre de Dios, de nuevo estan
amenazando la vida de las poblaciones indigenas en estado
de aislamiento
voluntario y depredando la biodiversidad
y los ecosistemas presentes en la
region. Entendemos
que estas empresas de extraccion forestal, de manera
indiscriminada, ilegalmente y sin control, estan talando
intensamente caoba
y transportando en camiones dia y
noche desde la provincia de Tahuamanu. El
ingreso y la nueva tala ilegal, esta ocurriendo bajo la
excusa de portar un
permiso legal que autorizo en
febrero del 2001, a recuperar la madera dejada
en el
bosque antes de la paralizacion ordenada por el Gobierno en 1999.
Estamos informados, que los madereros no solo ingresan a la
zona a recoger
la madera ya talada, sino que estan
talando nuevas y extensas areas y para
ello han
obtenido la prorroga de este permiso que utilizan para estos
ilegales fines.
Estas actividades amenazan la supervivencia fisica y
cultural de los pueblos
no contactados, aumentando el
riesgo de exposicion a enfermedades foraneas a
las que
son muy vulnerables, y depredando los recursos naturales de las que
sus vidas dependen. Estas actividades tambien amenazan la
diversidad
biologica de importancia mundial de los
bosques de la region y excluye la
posibilidad de las
comunidades locales para sostenerse y seguir el
desarrollo economico sustentable.
Reconociendo estos enormes costos,
nosotros respaldamos las demandas de
FENAMAD en alianza
con la poblacion local afectada y los pequenos
extractores de madera de Iberia, Inapari, Tambopata y
Tahuamanu, y
solicitamos que el Gobierno peruano
detenga la explotacion incontrolada del
bosque de
Tahuamanu, que vienen realizando principalmente las empresas
madereras. Ademas solicitamos a las autoridades peruanas
que ordenen el
inicio de los estudios para verificar
los datos del Estudio de Demarcacion
Territorial de los
Pueblos Indigenas en Aislamiento", presentado por
FENAMAD, y que se brinde la proteccion necesaria que estos
pueblos indigenas
en aislamiento requieren.
Presidente Toledo, nosotros
estamos convencidos que su Gobierno no dejara
pasar la
oportunidad de actuar decididamente con justicia al establecer
ahora una proteccion legal y permanente para el territorio
de los pueblos
indigenas en aislamiento y aprovechar la
oportunidad para dejar un legado
historico a la
preservacion cultural y medioambiental de su pais.
Atentamente,
XXXXXXXXXX
Cc:
Antonio Iviche Quique, Presidente de la Federacion Nativa
del rio Madre de
Dios y Afluentes, FENAMAD
Gil Inoach Shawit, Presidente de la Asociacion
Interetnica de Desarrollo de
la Selva Peruana, AIDESEP
Celso Robles Guitierrez, Presidente de Comite de Lucha
en Defensa de los
Recursos Naturales de la Provincia de
Tahuamanu
************************************************
OPEN LETTER - HISTORIC ACCORD FOR
THE UNITY OF SMALL LOGGERS, AND
SUSTAINABLE FOREST
DEVELOPMENT IN THE DEPARTMENT OF MADRE DE DIOS, PERU
CARTA
ABIERTA
ACUERDO HISTORICO POR
LA UNIDAD DE LOS PEQUENOS EXTRACTORES MADEREROS, Y EL
DESARROLLO FORESTAL SOSTENIBLE EN EL DEPARTAMENTO DE MADRE
DE DIOS-PERU
Al Presidente de
la Republica, Dr. Alejandro Toledo Manrique
Al
Presidente del Congreso, Dr. Carlos Ferrero
Al Ministro
de Agricultura, Ing. Alvaro Quijandria
A la Ministra de
la Mujer y Desarrollo Humano, Sra.Doris Sanchez.
Al
Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores, Dr. Diego Garcia-Sayan
Al Ministro de Justicia, Dr. Fernando Olivera
Al Ministro del Interior, Dr. Fernando Rospgliosi.
A la Primera Dama de la Nacion, Dra. Elianne Karp de Toledo
Al Defensor de Pueblo, Dr. Walther Alban
Al Jefe del INRENA, Ing. Matias Prieto Celi
Al Vicario Apostolico de Madre de Dios, Monsenor Luis
Larraneta,
A nuestras autoridades departamentales, a la
opinion publica nacional e
internacional, y a nuestros
queridos compatriotas Madrediocenses:
La Asociacion de Pequenos Extractores Forestales de
Tambopata, (APEFOT)
La Asociacion de Pequenos
Extractores de Madera de Inapari, (APEMI)
La Asociacion
de Pequenos Extractores de Madera de Iberia, (APEMIB), y
La Asociacion de Pequenos Extractores de Madera de la
Provincia del
Tahuamanu, (APEMAP-T)
Como organizaciones sociales de
base del departamento de Madre de Dios,
dedicados a la
actividad de extraccion maderera, cumplimos con informarles
lo siguiente:
El sector social dedicado a la actividad forestal en Madre
de Dios, esta
constituido por: pequenos extractores
madereros, conformados por familias
que habitamos en
los distritos de Iberia, Inapari, Tahuamanu, Tambopata,
Inamabari, Las Piedras y otros, y por otro lado, no mas de
cinco empresas de
extraccion forestal, constituidas por
familias migrantes radicadas en Puerto
Maldonado,
algunas de ellas asociadas con empresas extranjeras.
De todos los bosques primarios de
la Amazonia peruana, los de Madre de Dios,
y en
particular, el bosque de la provincia del Tahuamanu, constituye una de
las areas de mayor concentracion de especies como el cedro
y la caoba, y por
ello muy codiciado por su alto valor
en el mercado.
Es por esta
razon, que en 1998, durante el Gobierno de Fujimori, autoridades
del Ministerio de Agricultura de este departamento,
otorgaron ilegal
licencia en el Tahuamanu,- que en ese
entonces era una zona no autorizada
para la extraccion
forestal- a algunas empresas locales y a la transnacional
Newman Lumbre Co. y empresas representantes del grupo
Bosovich.
La ambicion y la
impune ilegalidad de esta situacion, generaron un desorden
social incontrolable en la provincia: las empresas pugnaban
entre si por
extraer la caoba lo mas rapido posible
derivando en enfrentamientos
violentos entre grupos
armados de estas empresas, la empresa Industrial
Maderera Tahuamanu, asociada con la empresa norteamericana
Newman Lumber Co.
construyeron una carretera ilegal de
180 kilometros para el transporte de la
madera
extraida, cientos de pequenos madereros ingresaban a los bosques para
la extraccion forestal por su cuenta o como habilitados de
las empresas,
mientras la poblacion local demandaba
impotente que se restablezca el orden
social y se
paralice el saqueo de sus bosques.
Las insistentes denuncias publicas lograron que en el mes
de julio del 2000,
el Estado, se viera obligado a
atender esta situacion, y como resultado se
obtuvo que:
- El orden social, quedo restablecido con la
declaracion temporal del Estado
de Emergencia en la
provincia del Tahumanu.
- La mas importante area de
bosque virgen de Madre de Dios, quedo depredado
en mas
de trescientos mil hectareas.
- Las empresas,
comercializaron 4 millones de pies cubicos de caoba y cedro
ilegalmente extraida, con una ganancia de muchos millones
de dolares.
- Las autoridades responsables, siguen
siendo investigados por la
Contraloria, desde hace 3
anos sin resultados concretos.
- El Estado peruano, se
encuentra defendiendose en varios procesos
judiciales
iniciados al INRENA por la empresa Newman Lumber Co.
-
Las familias de pequenos extractores madereros del departamento, fuimos
castigadas con la prohibicion de extraccion forestal, y con
ello se impidio
el desarrollo de nuestro unico medio de
subsistencia.
Las demandas
sociales por esta ultima medida, impulsadas durante los ultimos
meses del Gobierno de Fujimori por las asociaciones de
pequenos madereros,
alentadas tambien por las empresas
de extraccion forestal, paralizaron a
todo el
departamento, situacion que al heredar el Gobierno de Transicion del
Dr. Paniagua, se empezo a resolver, devolviendo la madera
decomisada a los
pequenos extractores y tambien a las
empresas, y otorgando un plazo de dos
meses para
recoger la madera que fuera talada y dejada en el bosque, durante
la mencionada orden de paralizacion en 1999.
Pero el problema de fondo aun
continua, pues la actividad forestal en Madre
de Dios
se encuentra legalmente aun imposibilitada de acceder formalmente a
la explotacion ordenada de los bosques, porque aun no se
han definido las
areas de produccion forestal
permanente como manda la nueva Ley Forestal y
mientras
sigue pasando el tiempo, algunos pequenos extractores ante el
apremio de las necesidades de sustento familiar, y las
empresas madereras
cada vez mas intensamente, estan
ingresando a realizar nuevas talas ilegales
aprovechando los dispositivos de ampliacion de los plazos
para recuperacion,
y con ello se esta descremando
nuestros bosques.
Las
asociaciones que suscribimos el presente comunicado, no queremos que
esto siga sucediendo, en defensa del sustento de nuestras
familias y el
desarrollo sostenible de nuestro
departamento.
Por ello,
superando algunas diferencias, hemos suscrito Actas de reuniones
en Lima, el dia 29 de agosto, en la oficina del Congresista
Eduardo
Salhuana, y el mismo dia ante las autoridades y
en el local de INRENA en la
misma ciudad capital,
ratificando los acuerdos de:
1. Que el Estado establezca de manera inmediata los bosques
de producción
forestal permanente para el
aprovechamiento de los recursos forestales en el
area
desde la coordenada 343,000 E. hacia el este exceptuando las areas de
dominio privado y publico.
2. Que el Estado inicie las gestiones conducentes a la
ejecucion del Estudio
de Contrastacion de la
informacion correspondiente al "Estudio de
Delimitacion
Territorial de las Poblaciones Indigenas Aisladas" presentado
por la Federacion Nativa del rio Madre de Dios y Afluentes,
FENAMAD, al
Estado, en la zona que va desde la
coordenada 343,000 E. hacia el oeste,
hasta alcanzar
los limites con la Zona Reservada Alto Purus, con
participacion de FENAMAD y las organizaciones forestales
del departamento, y
aplicando una metodologia apropiada
considerando la condicion de aislamiento
y
vulnerabilidad de estas poblaciones.
Posteriormente, en Puerto Maldonado, los dias 12 y 13 de
setiembre, con el
mejor espirtu positivo y reafirmado
la unidad de los Pequenos Extractores
Madereros, hemos
suscrito nuevas Actas de acuerdos, ratificandonos en
nuestra decision en Lima, y avanzando en la armonizacion de
nuestras
solicitudes de areas de produccion forestal de
nuestras representadas, sin
ninguna sobreposicion y
respetando el area en Estudio de contrastacion de
los
indigenas en situacion de aislamiento, asi como hacia el fortalecimiento
de la unidad de nuestro gremio y el avance de nuestras
concepciones de cara
a la responsabilidad que nos toca,
en el desarrollo de nuestro querido Madre
de Dios.
Sin embargo, queremos informar,
que por otro lado el gremio de las empresas
madereras
vienen tratando de bloquear estos esfuerzos para establecer las
areas de produccion forestal permanente, a pesar de haber
suscrito el Acta
antes indicada en la ciudad de Lima,
pues su estrategia es la de continuar
con los plazos
ampliatorios para supuesta recuperacion de la madera talada
en 1999, con la finalidad de continuar con la extraccion de
la caoba, y
mantener una extraccion ilegal e
incontrolada en su afan de no permitir el
manejo
forestal sostenible.
Por todo
lo dicho senores autoridades nacionales, departamentales, y
conciudadanos, creemos que la situacion amerita la atencion
definitiva que
se requiere para empezar a resolver los
problemas de los pequenos madereros:
el establecimiento
inmedito de las areas de produccion forestal permanente a
las asociaciones de pequenos madereros, en las areas
mutuamente concertadas,
y solicitamos a las autoridades
departamentales y nacionales el apoyo y
respaldo a
nuestra unidad y la ejecucion de los acuerdos para impulsar el
manejo y desarrollo forestal sostenible, y con ello
contribuir
significativamente a mejorar la calidad de
vida de una gran mayoria de
familias del departamento
de Madre de Dios.
Puerto
Maldonado, 14 de setiembre del 2001.
Sr. Fernando Quesada Echevarria
Sr. Ignacio Cardenas Rojas
DNI 05064243 DNI 05063375
Presidente- APEMIB Presidente- APEMAP-T
Sr. Wilson Miranda Pacheco Sr.
Alfonso Cardoso Mouzolli
DNI 04816632 DNI 05060162
Presidente- APEFOT Presidente- APEMI
Como Veedores:
Antonio Iviche Quique Celso Curi
Paucarmaita
DNI 04963291 DNI 05060872
Presidente-FENAMAD Presidente- CINDAMAD
Victor Zambrano
DNI 04826210
Coord. Grl. FADEMAD
************************************************************
Distribuido
por: Distributed by:
'AMAZON ALLIANCE' FOR INDIGENOUS AND
TRADITIONAL PEOPLES OF THE AMAZON BASIN
1367 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20036-1860
tel
(202)785-3334
fax (202)785-3335
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Disclaimer: All copyrights belong
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pertenecen al autor originario. La Alianza
Amazonica no
ha verificado la veracidad de este mensaje. Enviar este
mensaje no necesariamente significa que la Alianza
Amazonica este de acuerdo
con el contenido.
La Alianza Amazonica para los
Pueblos Indigenas y Tradicionales de la Cuenca
Amazonica es una iniciativa nacida de la alianza entre los
pueblos indigenas
y tradicionales de la Amazonia y
grupos e individuos que comparten sus
preocupaciones
por el futuro de la Amazonía y sus pueblos. Las ochenta
organizaciones del norte y del sur activas en la Alianza
Amazonica creen que
el futuro de la Amazonia depende de
sus pueblos y el estado de su medio
ambiente.
The Amazon Alliance for Indigenous
and Traditional Peoples of the Amazon
Basin is an
initiative born out of the partnership between indigenous and
traditional peoples of the Amazon and groups and
individuals who share their
concerns for the future of
the Amazon and its peoples. The eighty
non-governmental
organizations from the North and South active in the
Alliance believe that the future of the Amazon depends on
its peoples and
the state of their
environment
OIL OPPORTUNISM: Special interests try to
exploit national crisis
WOLF AWARENESS WEEK: Speak up for the comeback
canids
PROTECTING DOLPHINS: Panel looks at fishing
practices
EVOLUTION OF WHALES: They once could crawl
from the sea
CONSERVING WILDLIFE HABITAT: House debates
agricultural bill
NEW FINANCIAL BENEFIT FOR DEFENDERS'
SUPPORTERS - DEPOSIT ACCOUNTS
REMEMBER CHESSIE? Headline-grabbing manatee
swimming north again
DO ANIMALS THINK? Check
out the latest edition of Defenders
magazine
| 1.
OIL OPPORTUNISM: Special interests try to exploit national crisis
Threatening the national political unity that has prevailed since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, some senators closely aligned with the oil industry are trying to enact a harmful energy bill that calls for opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma tried to tack the controversial proposal onto a $345 billion anti-terrorism defense bill. That delayed passage of that important measure for a week until the Senate voted to block his amendment. Sen. Frank Murkowski of Alaska is threatening to "hold up normal legislative business to get an energy bill to the floor." Inhofe is vowing to attach an energy bill to "every single piece of legislation that comes through the Senate." Newspapers across the country are rebuking these senators in editorials for trying to exploit the national crisis. The Boston Globe called it "oil opportunism," and the Orlando Sentinel said it was "brazen politics." The Honolulu Star-Bulletin wrote, "Now in this time of national emergency, Congress must move wisely and quickly to implement measures that can’t wait ... High on the list of actions that must not be rushed is approval of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge." Other senators, Democrats and Republicans alike, are pointing out that there’s only enough oil in the refuge to satisfy our national demand for six months and that it would take 10 years to bring any oil to market. They say that what our country needs instead are more alternative fuels and energy efficiency. The energy bill would not only allow drilling in the Arctic refuge but also hand Big Oil $30 billion in tax subsidies and open vast, new stretches of public land to for-profit exploitation. "I’m troubled by cynical efforts to divide us under the guise of national security," Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts said. As the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Drilling in the Arctic refuge was a bad idea before Sept. 11 and is just as bad today." Go to http://www.savearcticrefuge.org to urge your senators to save America’s greatest wildlife sanctuary for future generations.2. WOLF AWARENESS WEEK: Speak up for the comeback canids National
Wolf Awareness Week is approaching -- a time to dispel misconceptions
about wolves and to educate the public This year’s events come as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is trying to strip federal protections from many wolves. Just as wolves are roaming free again over some of their historic range, the FWS is pushing prematurely to remove the comeback canids from the endangered species list in the Northern Rocky Mountains. Wolves are just now struggling for survival again in the wild, and they need protection to continue their fragile recovery. Here’s how you can help: Go to www.savewolves.org to sign our petition urging Interior Secretary Gale Norton to support strong protections for wolves. 3. PROTECTING DOLPHINS: Panel looks at fishing practices Fishermen, environmentalists and scientists are searching for ways to save bottlenose dolphins along the Atlantic coast. The National Marine Fisheries Service, which enforces the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act, has created a 44-member panel to look at fishing practices and gear used from Maine to Florida. The panel is focusing on gill nets that kill hundreds of dolphins every year in North Carolina alone, according to the Charlotte Observer. Anchored at the bottom, gill nets enmesh dolphins and drown them. "The point of this exercise is to assure that marine mammals remain functioning components of their ecosystem," said Aleta Hohn, a biologist advising the new panel. For more information, go to www.savedolphins.org. 4. EVOLUTION OF WHALES: They once could crawl from the sea Two new studies suggest that whales are closely related to a group of hoofed animals that include pigs, sheep goats, cows and hippos. Scientists unearthed fossilized bones of two whales that lived on Earth 47 million years ago. The anklebones show that early whales still had hoofs on their front feet. They probably used the hoofs to crawl onto shore. "If you saw these animals in a zoo today, they’d look like a cross between a pig and a dog," one of the scientists, Hans Thewissen, told USA Today. For more information on whales, go to www.saveourwhales.org. 5. CONSERVING WILDLIFE HABITAT: House debates agricultural bill The House of Representatives is debating a farm subsidy bill that benefits big agribusiness at the expense of both family farmers and conservation. But there’s a bipartisan amendment being offered to give farmers more financial help to improve the quality of our air and water, stem the march of urban sprawl and protect enough wildlife habitat to cover 22 Yellowstone National Parks. More than 40 percent of our nation's threatened and endangered species are on private land. So farm conservation programs are crucial to protecting biodiversity. For more information, go to www.familyfarmer.org. 6. NEW FINANCIAL BENEFIT FOR DEFENDERS' SUPPORTERS - DEPOSIT ACCOUNTS Defenders has arranged to offer consumer deposit accounts with special rates through MBNA America Bank, N.A. for Certificates of Deposit Accounts, Individual Retirement Accounts, and Money Market Deposit Accounts. All have the full protection of FDIC insurance up to $100,000 per depositor. MBNA will also make a contribution to Defenders at no additional cost to you. For more information go to www.mbna.com/goldportfolio/rates/defenders or call MBNA toll free at 1-800-900-6653. If you call, please mention priority code JA03P so that they know you are a Defenders supporter entitled to the special rates. 7. REMEMBER CHESSIE? Headline-grabbing manatee swimming north again Chessie, the north-loving Florida manatee who has made headlines by swimming all the way to the Statue of Liberty and beyond, is at it again. U.S. Geological Survey scientists have confirmed that a manatee spotted last month at Great Bridge, Va., was Chessie. Florida manatees frequently swim north to the Carolinas in the summer to feast on marsh grasses. But they rarely go into the colder water farther north. Chessie first became famous in 1994 when he made it into the Chesapeake Bay. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service captured him when it got cold in October and returned him to Florida on a Coast Guard plane. He was radio tagged, and in 1995, researchers tracked him as he swam north to the Chesapeake Bay, the Delaware Bay, into salt marshes near Atlantic City, N.J., past the Statue of Liberty, and through Long Island Sound. He made it all the way to Point Judith, R.I., in mid-August 1995. That time, he went home on his own. 8. DO ANIMALS THINK?
* FORWARD
THIS ISSUE TO A FRIEND.
DENlines is a bi-weekly publication of Defenders of
Wildlife, a leading national conservation organization recognized as one
of the nation's most progressive advocates for wildlife and its habitat.
It is known for its effective leadership on endangered species issues,
particularly predators such as brown bears and gray wolves. Defenders also
advocates new approaches to wildlife conservation that protect species
before they become endangered. Founded in 1947, Defenders is a nonprofit
501(c)(3) organization with more than 400,000 members and supporters. To
unsubscribe, send an e-mail to denlines@defenders.org
and put the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line. Defenders of Wildlife Copyright Defenders of Wildlife 2001 |
To: All Activists
From:
Steve Holmer
Date: October 3, 2001
Help Protect National Forests -
Call Your Representative Today to Stop
Stupak Amendment
to the Farm Bill
Rep. Bart
Stupak (D-MI) is offering an amendment to the Farm Bill that
would force the US Forest Service to offer more timber
sales on
each National Forest regardless of
environmental or market conditions.
Each National
Forest has an "allowable sale quantity" of timber
that
they can offer each year. This level is set as a high limit but in
years past the Forest Service has used the allowable
quantity as a
target of timber they should sell off our
National Forests. This results
in an unsustainable
amount of damaging logging in old-growth
stands,
roadless areas and other sensitive forest areas. The Stupak
Amendment would require the Forest Service to plan more
timber
sales in order meet this artificial logging
level.
The planning of any
timber sale should be based on ecological conditions
and scientific information, not on a directive by Congress
to produce a
specific amount of timber. The US Forest
Service should be restoring
damaged forest areas, not
spending more resources on
taxpayer-subsidized
commercial logging.
CALL YOUR
REPRESENTATIVE TODAY, OCT. 3 and THE REST OF THE WEEK!
Call your Congressional Representative and urge him/her to
vote against
the Stupak Amendment to the Farm Bill.
You can reach your Representative by calling the Capitol
switchboard at
(202) 224-3121.
Keep your calls going through the
week, and thanks for doing something
today for our
National Forests!
Steve Holmer
Campaign Coordinator
American
Lands
726 7th Street SE
Washington, D.C. 20003
202/547-9105
202/547-9213 fax
mailto:wafcdc@americanlands.org
http://www.americanlands.org
Care2's alerts newsletter features important steps YOU
can quickly take to help make the world greener and safer.
Today
we offer you a special look at some great
petitions
available at ThePetitionSite.com
I. KEY HUMANITARIAN PETITIONS:
Following the tragic
events of September 11, several
individuals have
prepared petitions representing
different perspectives on the crisis.
Here are some
summaries:
A) Beyond
Retaliation: A Call for Nonviolence
"In the aftermath
of the recent World Trade Center Towers
and U.S.
Pentagon disaster, we, the undersigned, offer
our
sincere and heartfelt condolences to all those whose
lives that have been touched by this unprecedented tragedy.
We also affirm our deeply held conviction that
retaliation and revenge can never resolve conflict, and
will only perpetuate continuing cycles of violence and
terrorism..."
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/401599763
B) Don't Bomb Afghanistan, Bread
not Bullets
"The suffering and oppressed people of
Afghanistan are
not our enemies. They struggle daily to
achieve the
basic necessities of food, water and
medicine. We must
give these desperately poor Arabic
nations a sample of
American generosity? Instead of
bombing them with
bullets, could we shower them with
bread and medicine
instead? Without popular support,
terrorists will have
a hard time pursuing their
goals..."
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/655455774
C) Stop Retaliation Against Muslim
and Arab Americans:
"Please sign the following petition
which directly
requests that President Bush publicly
condemn the
blind retaliatory acts of hatred and
violence against
Arab and Muslim Americans. We believe
that it is
imperative that President Bush make a public
statement
condemning hate-crimes against the American
Muslim and
Arab-American communities in the U.S., and
re-enforcing
the understanding that the terrorist acts
perpetrated
on September 11th were the work of an
extremist group
(or groups) whatever their religious
affiliations or
national origins."
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/496741796
II. CRITICAL ENVIRONMENTAL
PETITIONS: The time to act
is now to save our planet
for future generations. Here
are some key petitions on
pressing environmental issues.
A) Save the Missouri River!
"Did
you know that one of our nation's most famous
rivers,
the Missouri River, is in trouble? Missouri
River fish
and game are imperiled; several native
species face
extinction; and dams on the Missouri
River are
preventing the natural rise and fall of water
levels in
order to support a miniscule amount of barge
traffic.
To save the Missouri River, the Army Corps
must change
dam operations to allow more natural river
flows. Tell
the Army Corps of Engineers and the Bush
administration
to restore the Mighty Mo's heartbeat
and save the
river's fish and wildlife."
Deadline October 31, 2001
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/586252659
B) Revoke Exxon-Mobil's Permission
to Kill Polar Bears!
"Just last week the Fish and
Wildlife service gave
Exxon-Mobil the right to kill
polar bears as part of
their drilling/oil exploration
in Alaska! Not only will
drilling disturb polar bear
habitat and scare polar
bear mothers into abandoning
their cubs, but now, the
oil giant has been given
permission to KILL them
OUTRIGHT. In this time of death
and destruction,
please let us protect ALL lives, not
take more."
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/990644527
C) Support Clean Air in America's
Parks!
"Summertime visibility in Shenandoah National
Park has
been reduced from 80-90 miles to just 12
miles!
Visitors to the Grand Canyon at times cannot see
the
opposite canyon walls due to haze, a by-product of
fossil fuel combustion. High elevation spruce trees in
the Great Smokey Mountains have been damaged by acid
rain, also a by-product of fossil fuel combustion.
We need your help to support a strong, final rule by the
EPA requiring industrial polluters to reduce emissions
that contribute to haze and unhealthy air in our
national parks. Please submit your public comment by
October 5, 2001 to make your voice heard!"
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/788331111
III. ACTIVIST TIPS
* Don't bother with "paper or plastic" at the grocery
store.
Bring your own shopping bag to the grocery store
and
eliminate waste to begin with!
* Compost your food waste. You'll
decrease your total
garbage and the landfill space you
take up while creating
nutrients for your favorite
plants.
IV. INSPIRATIONAL
QUOTE
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
committed
citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's
the only
thing that ever does." - Margaret
Mead
Positive Energy
September 30th -
October 6th
v1.15
As long as the sun keeps shining the "Positive Energy"
keeps flowing...
Time for the
highlight of your week - Greenpeace's
Clean Energy Now
Weekly Update.
>> Slow Down, CPA!!!
Join Greenpeace on Friday, October
5 at 10am at the
San Francisco Public Utilities
Commission building
(Auditorium 1st Floor, 505 Van Ness
Avenue), to demand
that the California Power Authority
invest $2 billion in
clean energy now!
In a hurry to complete its
"Integrated Resource Plan,"
the Authority has publicly
announced their intentions to
purchase 2000 MW of gas
fired peaker plants, while throwing
peanuts at
renewables.
Time for the
Authority to SLOW DOWN or else the Board
might make the
same mistake of locking California into
expensive dirty
fossil fuel future that Governor Davis
has by signing
his "long-term gas contracts".
To get involved, please call us at 415-255-9221 ext.321 or
e-mail kristin.casper@sfo.greenpeace.org
>>
Solar Home Tour Offers A Glimpse Of The Energy Revolution
Witness the coming of age of
renewable energy at the annual
Solar Home Tours of
Northern California sponsored by
EcoEnergies, Silicon
Valley Power, Schott Applied Power,
and Light Energy
Systems. On Saturday, October 13 at there
will be tours
throughout the Bay Area and additionally in
Truckee,
Nevada City, Santa Cruz, Davis and Sonoma.
Last year, over 300 people visited 26 buildings and homes
in the greater Bay Area. Over 15,000 people visited
solar
homes nationwide on this fun day in the sun.
To find out more, visit NCSEA's
website at
http://www.norcalsolar.org/sht.htm or
contact us at
info@norcalsolar.org
or (510) 869 2759.
Tours in the rest of California
and across the U.S. are
listed on the Solar Energy
Society's website
http://www.ases.org/hometr/index.php
>> What Will California's Energy Future Look Like?
On October 9th at 6pm,
Renewable Energy Policy
Project (REPP) and Renewable
and Appropriate Energy
Lab (RAEL) are co-sponsoring a
lively discussion about
California and its energy
future at the University of
California, Berkeley Haas
Business School at the
Andersen Auditorium Room F-295.
The purpose of this
forum is to facilitate a discussion
about the role
renewable energy can play in
California's energy future.
Speakers will include: Carl Weinberg former director of
R&D for PG&E, Dan Kammen, UC Professor and Director
of
Renewable and Appropriate Energy Lab, Virinder Singh
Research Director at REPP, Matt Jones principal in Nth
Power Corporation and others.
To attend, send an RSVP email to
Jennifer Edwards: jedwards@socrates.berkeley.edu
and please RESPOND WITH the words "renewables forum"
IN THE SUBJECT LINE.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
The "Positive Energy" newsletter and the web site,
http://www.cleanenergynow.org, gives you good news about
ways
to achieve clean air, climate justice and
renewable
energy solutions to our current energy crisis.
Want to do more? Become a Greenpeace member today!
http://www.greenpeaceusa.org/join2/cen.htm
Urge SAVE OUR ENVIRONMENT ACTION CENTER UPDATE: Oct. 4,
2001
http://www.saveourenvironment.org
***************************************************
To send a fax to your senators urging them to put aside
divisive
interests and focus on protecting the nation's
safety, simply reply
to this email. Or call the Capitol
Switchboard at 202-224-3121 to
reach your senator's
office.
***************************************************
While most members of Congress are
working in a bipartisan manner,
some senators are
threatening national unity by pushing the Senate to
immediately enact harmful energy legislation, which
includes opening
the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to
oil drilling.
On Tuesday,
October 2, the Senate defeated an attempt by Senator
James Inhofe (R-OK) to attach highly controversial energy
amendments
to the Defense Authorization bill,
recognizing that it was an
inappropriate distraction
from dealing with our nation's immediate
needs.
However, after initially stating that using the nation's
tragedies as an opportunity to gain passage of
controversial energy
legislation would be "in poor
taste," Senator Frank Murkowski (R-AK)
is now
threatening to stall Senate action if an energy bill isn't
brought to the floor imminently.
These senators and other
supporters of drilling in the Arctic Refuge
continually
express concern about U.S. dependence on imports for more
than 50 percent of oil consumption. But our government's
own
estimates predict the Arctic Refuge will hold less
than a 6-month
supply of oil and that it would take at
least ten years to reach
consumers. By
contrast, raising automobile fuel efficiency by three
miles per gallon would save more oil in a decade than could
ever be
recovered from the refuge.
*********TAKE ACTION TODAY!***********
Write and/or call your senators
today urging them to oppose these
efforts and focus on
protecting the nation's safety. When the issue
comes to
the Senate floor, your senators' votes are critical in
deciding the outcome. It's vital that they hear directly
from
concerned constituents.
Tell your senators to put aside
narrow and divisive issues and do
their part in helping
to unite us and focus on the important work
ahead.
**************************************************
We've made it easy for you to take action. Simply reply to
this email
and we'll automatically fax the message
below to your senator. Thank
you!
**************************************************
Dear Senator,
I urge you to oppose all efforts
to enact harmful energy legislation,
which would
include opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to
oil drilling. Forcing consideration of this controversial
legislation
is an inappropriate distraction from
dealing with America's immediate
needs. Energy
legislation is important and requires thoughtful
consideration; now is not the time to rush through
controversial
proposals that would do nothing to
protect the safety and welfare of
Americans.
Giving away billions of tax
dollars to energy companies and
sacrificing our
nation's greatest wildlife refuge are not the
solutions
to our energy problems - now or in the future. Not only
would opening the Arctic Refuge to oil drilling fail to
significantly
reduce our dependence on imports, but oil
from the refuge would last
only 6 months and take 10
years to reach consumers. Investing in
energy
efficiency, renewable energy sources, and alternative fuels is
a quicker, cheaper, and cleaner way to achieve America's
long-term
energy security.
I urge you to reject the political opportunism of those who
are
attempting to force the Senate to consider
environmentally-damaging
energy legislation this
fall. Again, protect the Arctic Refuge and
take the time to develop and debate a balanced energy
policy.
Sincerely,
************************************************
Thanks for using the
SaveOurEnvironment.org Action Center
http://www.saveourenvironment.org and working together
with the
nation's most influential environmental groups
in the crucial battles
to protect our air and water;
our lands, forests, and oceans; our
wildlife; our
children's future; and our planet's climate.
To: All Activists
From: Anne Martin, American Lands
Date: October 4, 2001
Fall 2001 Tree Free Campus Kick Off - October 25th
STUDENTS CAN HELP END THE DESTRUCTION OF ENDANGERED
FORESTS!!
Thousands of acres
of endangered ancient forests are falling every day,
converted into paper, pulp, and
plywood. Students across the country
are
often unaware that corporations like Boise Cascade, the largest
logger of old growth forests on public lands in the United
States, are
sacrificing thousand-year-old trees to
produce paper for their school.
Boise Cascade is the largest supplier of paper to college
campuses.
They import wood and paper from
old growth forests of Brazil, Chile,
Russia, and
Canada, while continually seeking new sources of pristine
old growth forest products. In the endless
search for higher profits,
multi-national corporations
like Boise Cascade continue to feast on the
world's
last remaining old growth and endangered forests.
Last year the Tree Free Campus Campaign was launched to
drive Boise
Cascade, and other old growth predators,
off our nation's campuses, and
students and school
administrators are beginning to respond!
We have had some recent successes. Students at
the University of North
Carolina succeeded in switching
their school to a 100% post-consumer
recycled paper
supplier. In the spring of 2001 Maine's College of the
Atlantic became the first institution in the country to
adopt a
comprehensive plan that requires not only 100%
post-consumer recycled
paper but instituted an
environmentally sound wood procurement policy.
Indiana University announced a new policy in May that
prohibits the
purchase of products derived from old
growth forests.
Rainforest
Action Network, American Lands Alliance, Free the Planet,
Sierra Student Coalition, Student environment action
Coalition,
ReThink Paper, National Forest Protection
Alliance, and Forest Ethics
have joined forces to aid
students across America to help end the
destruction of
our old growth forests by:
KICKING BOISE CASCADE AND
ALL OTHER FOREST DESTROYERS OFF YOUR CAMPUS!
Students are demanding that their universities and colleges
phase out
wood products from: old growth and endangered
forests around the world,
public lands, wild forests
converted to plantations, and genetically
engineered
trees.
THIS FALL, JOIN
STUDENTS FROM ACROSS AMERICA FOR THE 2001 TREE FREE
CAMPUS CAMPAIGN KICK-OFF ON OCTOBER 25.
While our thoughts are with those
who suffered losses this month, and
while we encourage
response of justice rather than vengeance, we need to
remember that the corporations who destroy endangered
forests haven't
slowed down. It's time to
get back to creating a socially and
environmentally
just world.
The 2001 Tree Free
Campus Campaign Kick Off, is a great opportunity to
help jump start your campaign for the school
year. If you have not yet
launched your
campaign, this is a great day to get started. Students
are encouraged to: table on campus and recruit students for
your next
planning meeting; have a petition drive;
create an informative skit and
pass out information
about the campaign and Boise Cascade; organize a
meeting with the paper procurement officer; host a talk on
campus on how
Boise Cascade and other corporations are
destroying forests and what
action students can take;
and publish an opinion piece on the campaign
in your
school newspaper (a sample op-ed will be available soon).
If you are planning a campaign
kick-off event please contact Jennifer
Krill at
Rainforest Action Network (see contact info. below) so that we
can provide support for the great work you are doing on
your campus!
To sign up for
the Tree Free Campus list serve to communicate with other
students involved in this campaign, send a message
to:
mailto:treefreecampussubscribe@topica.com
For a downloadable Tree Free
Campus Campaign action packet and
factsheets on Boise
Cascade, go to RAN's web site at http://www.ran.org.
Hard
copies of the Student Action Packet are available from Free the
Planet - Contact Michelle Sprague -
mailto:michelle@freetheplanet.org,
(202) 547-3656 or
from Dave Westman of the Sierra Student Coalition(SSC)
mailto:dave.westman@sierraclub.org, (888)
Join-SSC. Also contact SSC
for copies of the
Sierra Club video - "This Land is Your Land" - which
talks about why we need to end commercial logging on public
lands. It is
a great tool to use to recruit and
invigorate new group members.
For Stop Boise Cascade stickers or other campaign
information contact:
Jennifer Krill, Rainforest Action
Network, mailto:jkrill@ran.org, (415)
398-4404 x307 or
Anne Martin, American Lands Alliance,
mailto:annem@americanlands.org, (775)
786-1658.
EarthNet News
...a project of the
Center for Environmental Citizenship
October 4, 2001
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
This week in EarthNet, take action against a Peruvian
gold mine. In response
to recent events,
there's a slight departure from the usual EarthNet, with a
section examining the environmental impacts of war and
another offering
alternative news sources.
Also, win eco-groovy prizes when
you support your friends here at CEC. Check
out http://www.envirocitizen.org/drawing/index.html
--Susie Gorden, EarthNet Editor
mailto:earthnet@envirocitizen.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Corporate Corner: Mt. Quilish is Hellish
2. Quote of the Week
3. Glimmer of
Hope
4. Environmental Impacts of War: Afghanistan
5. Alternate News Sources: When CNN's Just Not Cutting It
6. Jobs, Conferences and Gatherings
7. Activist Phone Book & EarthNet News Info
CORPORATE
CORNER
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Cajamarca villagers are feeling more than the Midas
touch from the nearby
Yanacoacha Mine in Northern
Peru. Contamination caused by the gold mine has
already resulted in three major fish kills in area rivers
and trout farms.
Meanwhile, mercury poisoning has
affected hundreds of Cajamarca villagers and
highways. Continued mining and mine expansion
using the highly toxic
technology will only further
expose nearby citizens to cyanide poisoning.
The International Finance Corporation -- the lending arm of
the World Bank --
has helped finance the project, along
with the Newmont Mining Corp. The IFC's
own
report concluded that, "… the current situation in Cajamarca is
unsustainable from a social, economic, and environmental
perspective.” Join
the villagers in demanding they stop
mining on Mount Quilish -- the water
supply for the
people and the surrounding agricultural areas.
TAKE ACTION NOW: Tell
the IFC and the Newmont Mining Corp. to honor the
Cajamarca villagers' requests to stop all operations on
Mount Quilish with the
EarthNet Action Center at http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet.
FOR MORE INFO: http://www.moles.org/ProjectUnderground/drillbits/5_11/1.html;
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jun2000/2000L-06-16-01.html;
http://www.globalresponse.org/gra/current.html
QUOTE OF
THE WEEK
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Defenseless under the night
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet,
dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages:
May I,
composed like them
Of Eros and of dust,
Beleaguered by the same
Negation
and despair,
Show an affirming flame.
-- W.H. Auden, "1st September l939"
Got something to
say? Send your letters to mailto:earthnet@envirocitizen.org
We reserve the right to edit for length, clarity, and
purpose.
GLIMMER OF HOPE
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alaska's National Wildlife Refuge is safe from drilling
for another day and
enviros breathe a sigh of
relief. The Senate voted unanimously to keep energy
provisions out of the defense authorization bill -- thanks
for writing letters
from our Action Center to help with
this victory! It's a big one. We'll need
to keep vigilant, though. Senator Murkowski
(R-AK) has threatened to attach
similar energy
amendments to upcoming legislation. I'll keep you updated.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF WAR
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The war on terrorism resulting from the fateful events
of September 11th is
likely to also be a war on the
environment. War's devastating effects on the
landscape
can be seen across the world. From the burning oil wells of the Gulf
War to the land mines in Vietnam, the environment is often
a hidden and
neglected casualty. These visible "scars"
on the earth show how conflicts -- in
addition to
crippling our economy and creating great personal loss and tragedy
-- also destroy our very life-support systems. For the next
few weeks, we will
give you a small glimpse of what war
looks like around the world.
Afghanistan:
An outsider seeing
Afghanistan for the first time may describe it as a no man's
land. Decades of war have left mines and unexploded shells
all over the
landscape -- hidden and silent weapons.
Accounting for hundreds of thousands
deaths in the late
1990s, landmines are only a small part of the legacy left by
ten years of civil unrest. Blankets of brilliant red
poppies contrast with the
colorless, arid landscape.
They provide a glimpse into the country's thriving
opium industry: a profit-making scheme that feeds
Afghanistan's warlords, while
contributing to a drought
that has created a severe humanitarian crisis. And an
exodus of Afghanis in search of clean water and arable land
are a result of
chemical weapons -- used during the
Soviet war -- that destroyed untold acres
of
farmland. As an Afghani expatriate wrote, "Bomb Afghanistan back to
the
Stone Age … Trouble is, that's been done."
FOR MORE INFORMATION: http://www.afghan-web.com/geography/environment.html;
http://www.afghan-info.com; http://www.sabawoon.com/afghanpedia/default.shtm
-- Special thanks to CEC interns,
Leigh-Anne Havemann and Joycelyn Lee, who
contributed
to this report
ALTERNATIVE NEWS SOURCES
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I've received letters and read lots of postings from
people dissatisfied with
mainstream media's coverage of
recent events. As the saying goes, "The first
casualty of war is truth." In response, here are
some alternative sources for
news. In
acknowledgement of the emails I'll receive for the sites I've missed,
I'm sorry already. And the usual disclaimers
apply -- EarthNet does not
necessarily endorse all of
the material you might find at these links.
Sites that look at media coverage of the September 11
events:
Poynter Institute, http://63.208.24.134/Terrorism/index.htm
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting,
http://www.fair.org/issues-news/terrorism.html
Media Channel, http://www.mediachannel.org/atissue/conflict/
Independent Media Center, http://www.indymedia.org/
Content sites that cover or comment on the September 11
events:
Alternet, http://www.alternet.org/issues/index.html?IssueAreaID=25
Salon, http://www.salon.com/news/terrorism/index.html
In These Times, http://www.inthesetimes.com/
Common Dreams, http://www.commondreams.org
Mother Jones,
http://www.motherjones.com/web_exclusives/features/news/blast1.html
My fave:
Examines "urban legends" associated with September 11,
http://www.snopes2.com/rumors/rumors.htm
JOBS AND
INTERNSHIPS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
These are a sampling of the over 200 environmental and
activist jobs and
internships listed at
www.envirocitizen.org/enet/jobs/index.asp!
The Marcus Whitman Central School ECO Program seeks a
Classroom Teacher in
Naples, NY. Find the
job description at
http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/jobs/detail.asp?id=3475
The Mo-Ranch Environmental
Leadership Program is looking for a Field Instructor
Intern near San Antonio, TX. Find the job
description at
http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/jobs/detail.asp?id=3478
Rainforest Action Network
is hiring a Finance Campaigner/Organizer in Oakland,
CA. Find the job description at
http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/jobs/detail.asp?id=3465
CONFERENCES, GATHERINGS AND VIEWINGS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lots more events listed at http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/events/index.asp
WHAT: ECOnference 2001
WHERE: Washington, DC
WHEN: October 19-21, 2001
FOR MORE INFO: http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/events/detail.asp?id=883
WHAT: Strategy
Training, second in SOS Training Series
WHERE: Boston,
MA
WHEN: October 27, 2001
FOR MORE INFO: http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/events/detail.asp?id=915
WHAT: Bioneers 2001
Conference
WHERE: San Rafael, CA
WHEN: October 19-21, 2001
FOR MORE INFO: http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/events/detail.asp?id=846
ACTIVIST PHONE BOOK
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
U.S. Capitol Switchboard: 202.224.3121
White House Comment Line: 202.456.1111
EarthNet Action Center: http://congress.nw.dc.us/cec
White House Address: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, DC
20500
Senate Address: US Senate, Washington, DC 20510
House Address: US House of Representatives, Washington,
DC 20515
**Look up e-mail addresses in a comprehensive
congressional directory at
http://congress.nw.dc.us/cec/congdir.html or http://www.vote-smart.org/ce
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Write your own short articles for submission to
EarthNet. We are particularly
interested in articles
about student activism on your campus. The email
accounts for EarthNet News are:
For general comments: mailto:earthnet@envirocitizen.org
For article submissions or ideas:
mailto:submissions@envirocitizen.org
Submit
Jobs/Internships/Volunteer listings at
http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/jobs/add.asp.
Submit Events at http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/events/add.asp.
LANDSCOPE: News and Views from American Lands --
October 5, 2001
Court Issues
Permanent Injunction
Because
of the Forest Service's failure to consider alternatives to
logging in the Jefferson National Forest, a Federal Judge
issued a
permanent injunction against two timber
sales. The original lawsuit was
filed by the
Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project (SABP). Judge
Marvin Shoob ordered the Forest Service to consider a
reasonable range
of alternatives in preparing new
Environmental Assessments (EA) for the
Cuba and Taylor
Branch timber sales on the New Castle Ranger District.
These sales proposed cutting 120 acres and constructing 1.3
miles of
road. Since 1999, when these two
branch sales were declared Null and
Void following an
earlier lawsuit, the Forest Service issued
Environmental Assessments for each sale, rubber stamping
the prior
approval of the sales. This,
"injected bias into the entire EAs amount
to a post hoc
rationalization of defendant's preference for moving
forward with the sales," says the Court in Atlanta.
…"Analyzing alternatives to this
timber sale would be a simple
exercise," says Tracy
Davids, Executive Director of SABP.
"Unfortunately, the Forest Service has shown again and
again that timber
sales are more important than
complying with environmental laws that
protect values
we all hold dear: clean water, healthy forests and
solitude. Therefore, we continue to call on the
Forest Service to end
their commercial timber sales
program." For more information, contact
Marty Bergoffen (828)258-2667 or mailto:marty@sabp.net.
Protests Against Bark Camp Timber
Sales: There is strong opposition to
the Forest
Services' proposed 700-acre timber sale near the Bark Camp
Lake Recreation Area in Virginia. The Clinch
Coalition and Earth First
say the logging will lead to
devastation of wildlife and natural
woodlands in Wise
and Scott County. Ironically, the Forest Service
announced that after several years of research, the logging
is needed to
protect the forest, vegetation and animal
life on a long-term basis.
The 700-acres of
logging is planned over an area of 5,200 acres in and
around High Knob and Bark Camp Lake. "This is
really going to be an
awful timber sale, and it will
really have a very bad impact on local
wildlife,
special old-growth areas and water quality," says John Johnson
of Earth First. Members of the Clinch Coalition
may initiate litigation
against the Forest Service to
stop the timber sale. For more
information
see http://www.virginiaforestwatch.org, or
mailto:vafw@mounet.com.
10 Most Endangered National Forest Report: The National
Forest
Protection Alliance has compiled and written a
report of the Nation's 10
Most Endangered
Forests. The information was accumulated from over 40
grassroots forest activist organizations. The
report highlights several
key issues, including the
federal timber sale program, the Roadless
Initiative,
fire suppression and salvage logging, USFS land exchanges,
and the immediate threats posed to ten particularly
endangered National
Forests. The report is
designed to provide Congress, the media and the
American public with an accurate, on-the-ground depiction
of the present
state of our national forest
system. For additional information call
(406) 542-7565 or
mailto:nfpa@forestadvocate.org. Or, the report can be
viewed on http://www.forestadvocate.org .
Reproductive health issues will take center stage when
the House Appropriations Committee considers the fiscal
year 2002 Labor-Health and Human Services Appropriations
- now scheduled for Tuesday, October 9. Foes of family
planning and comprehensive sex education plan to offer
at least two amendments that would undermine reproductive
health care across the country. We must put a stop
to this assault today!
You can take action on this alert either via email
(please see directions below) or via the web at:
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/Vitter_Istook_Action_Alert/ee3bx2l78xbw3
Visit the web address below and tell your friends to
take action on this important campaign!
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/Vitter_Istook_Action_Alert/forward/ee3bx2l78xbw3
We encourage you to take action by October 10, 2001
Vitter-Istook Action Alert
----------------------
Here is a brief summary of the proposed amendments:
--Rep. David Vitter (R-LA) has expressed his intention
to offer an amendment to bar Title X domestic family
planning funds to any agency that provides abortion
services to its clients---with their own, non-federal
funds. This restriction is similar to those placed
on the international family planning program by President
Bush earlier this year. Nearly 600 hospitals and hundreds
of established family planning clinics that currently
participate in the Title X program stand to lose critical
dollars that allow them to provide services to low-income
American women. The Title X program has a long history
of success in providing low-cost reproductive health
care to millions of women. Since 1980, the program
has helped women prevent 20 million unintended pregnancies.
The Vitter amendment threatens to undermine the long-established
success of this critical federal program.
---Rep. Ernest Istook (R-OK) is expected to offer an
amendment that would double the funding for abstinence-only
sex education. His amendment would dramatically increase
funding for programs that spread misinformation and
does nothing to address the problem of adolescent sexual
activity. The funding is restricted to programs that
teach "abstinence before marriage is the expected standard"
and "that sexual activity outside of marriage may have
harmful psychological and physical effects." Any mention
of contraceptives is strictly prohibited. Such programs
ignore the needs of young people who may already be
sexually active. Furthermore, several studies have
found no evidence that these programs are effective
in reducing or delaying adolescent sex. Comprehensive
sex education programs that stress abstinence but also
provide medically accurate information about contraceptives
have been shown to both delay the start of sexual activity
and increase the use of contraception to prevent pregnancy
and the spread of disease.
Please take 30 seconds to reply to this e-mail and
tell your Representative - who serves on the Appropriations
Committee -- that you oppose these
amendments.
----------------------
INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPOND VIA THE WEB:
If you have access to a web browser, you can take action
on this alert by going to the following URL:
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/Vitter_Istook_Action_Alert/ee3bx2l78xbw3
YOU MAY EDIT THE LETTER BELOW-" and "-END
OF LETTER-". Please do not add your name and address
to your letter. Our system automatically does this
for you.
We STRONGLY encourage you to make edits directly to
our sample letter below, and put the alert talking
points into your own words. An individualized letter
is worth ten computer generated letters. Of course,
hundreds of unedited letters will still create a large
impact, so please reply even if you don't have time
to personalize the letter.
Your letter will be addressed and sent to:
Representative Maurice Hinchey
-------YOU MAY EDIT THE LETTER BELOW---------
I am writing to urge you to protect America's women
and teens by opposing the Istook and Vitter amendments
to the 2002 Labor-HHS-Education bill. These two amendments
would increase the incidences of sexually transmitted
diseases, unintended pregnancies and abortions throughout
the nation. Something we both can agree we do not want
to see.
I strongly urge you to REJECT the Vitter amendment
because it threatens the reproductive health of low-income
American women. The amendment would prohibit hospitals
and established family planning providers that provide
abortions -- with their own private funds -- from receiving
Title X funds. More than 1 million women a year could
lose vital family planning services if this policy
becomes law. It would leave low-income women with nowhere
else to go for the family planning services they need
to avoid an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy. It would
prove particularly devastating for women who live in
rural areas or far away from another health center.
Enactment of this policy could increase the number
of unintended pregnancies and abortions--the very thing
Title X is meant to prevent.
I also ask that you vote NO on the Istook amendment.
This amendment will dramatically increase funding for
abstinence-only education -- a program that has never
been shown to be effective in reducing adolescent sexual
activity. Programs that even mention contraceptives
will be barred from receiving any of these funds. Such
a restriction ignores the needs of young people who
are already sexually active and want to prevent pregnancy
or the spread of sexually transmitted disease. Experience
shows that the most effective way to address these
problems is through comprehensive sexuality education
programs that stress abstinence but also offer a complete
discussion of contraception. These programs have been
proven to delay the start of sexual activity and to
promote safer sex practices especially among those
teenagers who are already sexually active.
Please let's work to keep America's women and teens
healthy and informed. I urge you to vote NO on the
Vitter and Istook amendments.
-------END OF LETTER-------------------------
Special Issue # 3 - Pax Americana--the Fourth
Reich? Bad Idea.
News and analysis of the NYC-DC disasters and
the global context not found
in mainstream US media
Send comments to
Paul, webmaster@globalcircle.net
05 Oct 2001 Special Issue of
GlobalCircle NetNews now online at
http://globalcircle.net/1gnn1005yg.htm
Real news from the global Internet - Offering balance to the media
monopoly with a broad range of links to the large and growing body of
alternative news and analysis, to promote rational discussion and
responsible reaction based on a wider range of sources of information
outside mainstream media. *Noncommercial, *independent,
*nonpartisan.
If you're not a subscriber, subscribe free to email summary
each week at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GlobalCircleNetNews
Previous issue: It's About Oil-Not Terrorism, at
http://globalcircle.net/1gnn0926oil.htm
Here's some of what's in this issue, with links to complete stories
and
websites on our page at http://globalcircle.net/1gnn1005yg.htm
. The
sources offer alternative explanations and information to
questions that
don't even get asked.
-- The media distorts or ignores
peace protests
-- John Pilger, Robert Fisk, Stephen Shalom, and others on
the US-NATO
provocations toward the Middle East
-- George Monbiot and
others warn of immediate famine for six million
Afghans (a few more than
died in the World Trade Center)
-- US and Bin Laden collaboration in the
NATO war on the Balkans
-- "Anti-terrorism" bills in Congress, blank checks
for endless wiretaps,
Internet snooping, federal snooping in college
students' private financial
records, "fast-track" pushing through while the
public is still in shock
over WTC attacks, and "Wartime Opportunists" by
Russell Mokhiber and
Robert Weissman
-- Joint Resolution of
107th Congress authorizing "the use of United
States Armed Forces against
those responsible for the recent attacks
launched against the United
States." and other source documents from
Cornell site
-- The War on the
Bill of Rights, Nat Hentoff in The Village Voice
-- Good history article,
Fake Terror - The Road to Dictatorship, from
Crassus to Hitler to ???
--
More suspiciously relevant history, Connections - CIA drug runners,
death
squads, subversion, Nazis and Allen Dulles
-- The Association for
Responsible Dissent estimates that by 1987, 6
million people had died as a
result of CIA covert operations. (2) Former
State Department official
William Blum correctly calls this an "American
Holocaust." Link to article.
-- George W.'s daddy's daily intelligence briefings: Who is really running
things? --Senior White House and CIA officials have confirmed
that former
President George Herbert Walker "Poppy" Bush remains intimately
involved
with the American foreign policy agenda. Although he
publicly maintains
that his *idiot son* is in control and in charge, the
elder Bush continues
to be briefed by the CIA when he comes to Washington,
as well as in his
office in Houston. All former presidents are granted this
"privilege."
However, George H.W. Bush requests these briefings far more
frequently than
other ex-presidents. The elder Bush has also initiated
foreign policy
decisions, repeatedly intervening on his son's behalf.
There's a wealth of credible sources for further research and citation,
well known activists, and scholars all linked in this issue. Each
item has
clickable links for full articles and more from the original source
on the
Internet Save for future reference.
If you're not subscribed
to this regular email notice, you can subscribe
at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GlobalCircleNetNews
and get this summary
no more than once a week.
GlobalCircle is not
funded by or connected to any organization or agency,
as we remain
noncommercial and independent, not peddling any books, tapes,
or t-shirts.
If you agree that alternative information like this needs
wider
distribution, please forward to anyone interested in these issues.
--paul, webmaster http://globalcircle.net
networking for
ecology, justice, and all our
relations
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"There is a danger in separating, or even
ignoring, issues
that are fundamentally related... There is a tendency for
campaigning groups to over-specialise, or to address the
symptoms,
rather than the underlying causes, of societal and
environmental breakdown.
This tendency, if left unaddressed,
could scupper attempts to oppose and
supplant the current
system of economic globalisation."
-- John Pilger, U.K. in Private Planet
about the importance of these magnificent animals in
maintaining healthy ecosystems. Defenders is sponsoring educational events
across the country the week of Oct. 14-20 and urging governors in all 50
states to proclaim Wolf Awareness Week. "The history of the wolf in the
United States has been one of misunderstanding and persecution, long
shrouded by myth and superstition. This week provides an important
opportunity to set the record straight," Defenders of Wildlife President
Rodger Schlickeisen said.