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Environment Action
Alerts for
October 16 - December 31, 2002
from World Wildlife October 15, 2002
Action deadline: October 22, 2002
Atlantic white marlin and bluefin tuna--two of the most beautiful and
powerful creatures in the Atlantic--are seriously threatened by
overfishing by European fishers. The European Union has repeatedly
allowed irresponsible and illegal fishing practices that injure these
fisheries.
Keystone species in the Atlantic ocean ecosystem, these creatures are
also highly migratory and need international protection. Atlantic
bluefin tuna can weigh up to 900 pounds and reach speeds of up to 50
miles per hour. Their migrations rival those of the grey whale.
Sadly, it is the bluefin's sky-high economic value that is doing it
in. Individual fish have sold in Tokyo for $30,000, where fresh
bluefin is highly sought after for sashimi.
The once plentiful white marlin is equally threatened. Its
population has been severely depleted as a result of incidental catch
in international commercial longline fisheries. A premier big game
fish, white marlin is highly sought after by elite anglers from
around the world. Angling for white marlin and other billfish
contributes billions to the U.S. economy alone.
The European Union needs to meet its international obligations.
Please follow the simple steps below to send free messages urging the
U.S. Trade Representative and the Secretary of Commerce to recommend
that trade sanctions be imposed on the European Union if it does not
comply immediately with international fisheries conservation regimes.
Please forward this alert to your friends and colleagues.
**************************TAKE ACTION NOW!*********************
If you received this email from World Wildlife Fund's Conservation
Action Network, follow the steps below for taking action. If a
friend forwarded this email to you, go to
http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org/ctt.asp?u=26681&l=608 to
take action.
TO TAKE ACTION QUICKLY -- To send the message below, as is, to the
decision makers, hit "reply" to this email and then "send." We will
automatically send the message for you.
BETTER YET, ADD YOUR OWN THOUGHTS AND GREATLY INCREASE YOUR IMPACT --
Log in to your Personal Action Center --
http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org/ctt.asp?u=26681&l=609 --
with your email address (alerts@earthhopenetwork.net) and your password.
Once you are in your Personal Action Center, click on "Protect
Keystone Ocean Species" and follow the instructions for adding your
own thoughts to your message.
If you have any questions or problems with taking action, contact us
at actionquestions@takeaction.worldwildlife.org for help.
***************************LETTER TEXT**************************
Dear (U.S. Trade Representative and Secretary of Commerce's names
will be inserted here):
I write to express my concern about the European Union's continued
failure to comply with international agreements designed to protect
Atlantic white marlin and bluefin tuna, both species critically
important to the health of the Atlantic Ocean ecosystem.
The European Union (EU) is exceeding catch limits for both species,
and has refused to take steps to protect juvenile fish. In addition,
the EU has provided illegal subsidies to its fishing industry that
violate international trade agreements.
This ongoing and serious problem needs to be addressed immediately.
I therefore urge you to do all you can to ensure that the EU begins
to comply and, if they refuse, to recommend the imposition of trade
sanctions.
Sincerely,
Your name and address
will be inserted here
**************************END OF LETTER TEXT*************************
______________________________________________________________________
Direct any questions about the WWF Conservation Action Network to
actionquestions@takeaction.worldwildlife.org
______________________________________________________________________
The Conservation Action Network is sponsored by World Wildlife Fund-
US. Known worldwide by its panda logo, WWF is dedicated to
protecting the world's wildlife and the rich biological diversity
that we all need to survive. The leading privately supported
international conservation organization in the world, WWF has
sponsored more than 2,000 projects in 116 countries and has more than
1 million members in the United States. WWF calls on everyone --
government, industry, and individuals -- to take responsibility by
taking action to save our living planet.
World Wildlife Fund
1250 Twenty-fourth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037
http://www.worldwildlife.org
http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org
from Act For Change October 8, 2002
|
ACTFORCHANGE
ACTIVISM UPDATE: October 8, 2002
IN
THIS BULLETIN:
Maintain
an Independent Judiciary
The Bush
Administration is continuing its aggressive efforts to remake the Federal
appeals courts by nominating ideologically driven candidates. While much
of the public’s attention is distracted by the drumbeat of war, Mr.
Bush and his conservative allies are trying to push through candidates
who will tilt critical appeals courts and remake the laws. If approved,
these nominees receive lifetime appointments and are often considered
for the Supreme Court. Take
action!
There are
several nominees in the final stages of consideration that deserve a no
vote by thoughtful senators:
- Professor
Michael McConnell to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals
- Mr. Miguel
Estrada to the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals
- Judge
Dennis Shedd to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals
Urge your
senators to vote against judicial nominees who are hostile to values of
freedom, reproductive choice, privacy and justice. Take
action!
 Please
forward this newsletter to your friends and help spread the word about
this important campaign!
Protect
Arctic Refuge
Key senators
are negotiating to resurrect a Bush energy plan that includes drilling
for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Any energy plan that can
pass this Congress will be destructive to our nation’s energy security,
air quality and natural areas. At this point, it would be better for Congress
to go home than pass a flawed energy plan.
Urge your
senators to oppose the energy legislation currently under consideration.
Click
here to take action now!
Please
forward this newsletter to your friends and help spread the word about
this important campaign!
Time
Is Running Out to Register to Vote
The upcoming
November elections will have a serious impact on the balance of power
in Washington as well as on local and state issues in your community.
Time is running out to register
to vote, and in some states the deadline has already passed. If you’ve
recently moved or are not currently registered to vote and the deadline
has not yet passed in your state, please register immediately. Our future
depends upon it.
Please review
the WorkingForChange Get Out
and Vote resource center (on the left hand side of the page) to review
the deadline for your state or to apply
for an absentee ballot if you aren’t going to be available to
vote in person on November 5.
$130,000
Matching Grant to Stop the Impending War With Iraq
The Iraq
Peace Fund (IPF) has been established by the Tides Foundation to make
strategic grants over the next three months focused on preventing war
in Iraq by elevating the voice of peace and justice in this nation.
Grants have
already been made to the Anti-War Room (a resource center for journalists
covering the Iraq conflict to educate the mainstream media about the potential
consequences of a U.S.-led preemptive strike on Iraq), MoveOn.org (an
Internet-based outreach and organizing network) and The Friends Committee
on National Legislation (an affiliate of the American Friends Service
Committee working on education and advocacy efforts).
Right now,
thanks to three anonymous donors, your donation to the Iraq Peace Fund
via GiveForChange will be matched, doubling the impact of your donation
at a time when it is needed the most. This matching grant will run until
December 31, 2002 or until $130,000 is reached, whichever comes first.
The need is especially great at this time, so please give generously if
possible, and please pass this along to your friends and other like-minded
contacts so funds can be generated as quickly as possible. Thank you for
your support.
Click
here to donate now!
Thank you
for taking action and helping to build a better world.
Jennifer
Willis
Director
ActForChange.com
|
from National Wildlife October 8, 2002
TO: FAN Members
FROM: Caron Whitaker, Policy Analyst
DATE: October 8, 2002
RE: Treaty for the Rights of Women
TAKE ACTION
The Treaty for the Rights of Women (CEDAW) has passed out of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee and will soon be on the Senate floor for a
VOTE! The treaty promotes equal protection for women under the law and
access to services such as education and health care. Access to these
services empowers women to choose the number and spacing of their
children. When women are given this choice, they often have smaller
healthier families, which in turn helps reduce pressure on the world's
natural resources.
President Carter signed the treaty in 1979, but the Senate has failed
to ratify it since that time. However, this year it passed the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee and will go to the Senate floor for a vote.
A treaty needs a 2/3 vote in the Senate to pass, so the vote will be
close. Please help by contacting your Senators and the White House and
tell them you support this treaty.
SUMMARY
The Treaty for the Rights of Women, also known as the Convention for
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women requires UN
member nations to reduce barriers against women in legal rights,
education, employment, health care and finance. It establishes equal
rights to work, pay, benefits and worker safety. Using CEDAW, women in
Tanzania won the right to inherit land, Japanese women sued their
employers for wage promotion discrimination, and the lawmakers in
Colombia enshrined protections against domestic abuse in the 1991
drafting of their constitution.
Ratification of the treaty does not require changes in any US laws;
however, the lack of U.S. ratification hinders our diplomatic efforts to
help stop the denial of health care and education. 170 nations have
signed this treaty that the Bush Administration listed as 'desirable'.
The United States is the only industrialized nation that has not signed
on to the treaty, putting the US on a short list with countries such as
Somalia, Afghanistan and Iran.
The protection of health care, education and employment opportunities
is critical for the delivery of reproductive services that NWF advocates
for in supporting funding for international family planning.
Health care and educational services help prevent thousands of
maternal, infant and child deaths each years. They also provide women
with reproductive health services they need to choose the number and
spacing of their children. When women are given this choice, they often
have smaller healthier families, which in turn helps reduce pressure on
the world's natural resources.
TAKE ACTION
Please do the following today!
1. Call your Senator expressing your support for the Treaty for the
Rights of Women, CEDAW.
Capitol switchboard 202-224-3121
2. Call the White House expressing your support for the Treaty for the
Rights of Women, CEDAW.
White House Comment Line 202-456-1111
3. Visit the following websites for more information:
- CEDAW Working Group: www.womenstreaty.org
- UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM):
www.unifem.undp.org/cedaw/indexen.htm
Population & Environment Program
National Wildlife Federation
1400 16th St NW
Washington, DC 20036
phone: (202) 797-6800
fax: (202) 797-5486
email:
website: www.nwf.org/population/
from Gallon Environment Letter October 8, 2002
THE GALLON ENVIRONMENT
LETTER
506 Victoria
Ave., Montreal, Quebec H3Y
2R5
Ph. (514) 369-0230, Fax (514)
369-3282
Email cibe@web.net
Vol. 6, No. 23, October 8, 2002
**********************************************************
This is the FIRST of a two-part series on Canadian tar sands.
300 BILLION BARRELS OF EXTRACTABLE
CANADIAN TAR SANDS UNDERLIE 77,000 SQUARE KILOMETRES OF
ALBERTA
Canada signing Kyoto will hardly affect the sales of conventional
oil and natural gas from Alberta. In fact, the demand for Alberta's natural gas
will increase - it will be used as a transition fuel for reducing greenhouse gas
emissions as it replaces coal and heavy oil sources. Unfortunately, in
Alberta's rush to sell conventional oil, it is running out. Now Alberta has
to turn to the low-quality, low-BTU, tar from its tar sands and
attempt to upgrade it to synthetic oil with the same or less pollution. The
problem is that it takes 5 to 10 times the energy, area and water, to mine,
process and upgrade the tar sands oil, than it does to
process conventional oil.
Alberta has huge deposits of oil sands that underlie about 77,000
square kilometres (30,000 sq. miles ) of the province. The tar
(oil) sands contain about 1.7 trillion barrels of oil in place, of which
approximately 300 billion barrels are ultimately recoverable. The Government of
Alberta has played a major role in encouraging and promoting the development of
the tar sands through technology and research programs. The two most common
methods of extracting bitumen from the oil sands are surface mining and in situ
("in place") extraction. The reserves that are economically mineable from the
surface lie under less than 75 meters of overburden. Overburden is a layer of
sand, gravel, and shale between the surface and the underlying oil sand. This
layer must be removed before oil sands can be mined by surface extraction
methods. Most of the remaining reserves lie below 200 meters, and the recovery
of bitumen at this depth is typically economical only by using in situ
extraction technologies. In situ recovery refers to methods to extract the
bitumen from the deposit without removing the overburden or the sand itself.
Bitumen is normally too viscous to be transported by pipeline in its natural
state. To decrease its viscosity before shipment, a diluent such as natural gas
condensate can be added, or the extracted bitumen can be upgraded into synthetic
crude oil on the project site. About 1,800 kilograms (nearly 2 tonnes) of oil
sands must be mined to produce one barrel of light, sweet synthetic crude oil.
Alberta currently has two commercial surface mining, extraction and upgrading
projects: Syncrude Canada Ltd. and Suncor Inc. Total production from the oil
sands by 1996 reached approximately 445,000 bbls/day, made up of 279,000
bbls/day of synthetic crude oil (SCO), and 166,000 bbls/day of bitumen. In 1996,
Alberta's oil sands provided close to 25% of Canada's liquid petroleum
production.
"The mining operation involves stripping off the overburden;
separating the bitumen with steam, hot water and caustic soda, and then diluting
it with naphtha. After centrifuging, liquid bitumen at 80?C is produced, which
is then upgraded in a coking process and subjected to other treatments,
eventually yielding a light gravity, low sulphur, synthetic oil." (The Coming
Oil Crisis, Campbell, 1997) Source, http://csf.colorado.edu/mail/itcp/1999/msg00101.html
.
Production from Alberta's oil sands commenced in 1967 with the
startup of the Suncor plant (then known as Great Canadian Oil Sands). Syncrude,
the world's largest producer of crude oil from the oil sands began production in
1978. In the mid-1980's, the startup of a number in situ projects resulted in a
significant increase in bitumen production. The majority of this incremental oil
sands production was from Imperial Oil's Cold Lake Project. Over the period
between 1980 and 1988 production grew at an annual rate of 11.5%. Between 1988
and 1994, oil sands production maintained a slow, but steady increase of 2.7%
per year as existing projects expanded and some new developments occurred. These
new in situ projects that came on stream included BP Canada/Petro-Canada Wolf
Lake, Amoco Elk Point, Dome Lindbergh, Murphy Lindbergh, and Shell Peace River.
Source, http://www.eub.gov.ab.ca/com/Sands/Royalty+Info/Royalty+Related+Info/Alberta's+New+Oil+Sands+Royalty+System+Paper.htm
.
****************************************************************
19% OF CANADA'S OIL SUPPLY IN 1999
CAME FROM TAR SANDS
Canada produces a significant amount -- about 474,000 bbl/d -- of
synthetic oil from bitumen. To date, over 1 billion barrels of synthetic crude
oil has been recovered from western Canadian oil tar sands (out of potentially
up to 300 billion barrels in economically recoverable reserves). Production from
tar sands now accounts for about 19% of Canada's crude oil supply, and
investment in 1996 was over $3 billion. Over the next 25 years, Western Canada's
oil industry hopes to increase synthetic crude oil production sharply, to 1.2
million bbl/d (at a cost of up to $20 billion). The industry is currently
concentrated in the Fort McMurray areas of northern Alberta, where Syncrude
Canada and Suncor, the country's two big oil sands producers, are located. Large
amounts (about 185,000 bbl/d) of synthetic crude also is produced by bitumen
miners -- led by Imperial Oil (70% owned by Exxon) -- from Alberta's oil sands.
There are more than 60 projects on the drawing board or under development in the
Alberta tar sands area which covers approximately 77,000 square kilometres in
the northern part of Alberta. Companies extracting oil from the tar sands are
Syncrude Canada Ltd., Suncor Energy Inc., and Shell Canada. Source, http://www.workopolis.com/servlet/Content/fasttrack/20020904/RENER?section=Energy
.
Source, http://www.converger.com/eiacab/canada.htm
.
***************************************************************
TAR SANDS A MAJOR ECONOMIC AND
ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEM
The problem is that it takes almost as much energy to produce tar
sands as it generates. It takes so much energy to extract the sticky low-grade
oil off of a grain of sand, that it almost isn't worth it. If one were to do a
net energy analysis, they would find that would it almost takes as much energy
to mine, process, refine, and upgrade the bitumen oil out of tar sands as the
oil-energy that would be produced from the tar sands. There is a small net
energy gain. Thus, in the process you generate much more carbon dioxide
emissions getting the tar sands oil out than you would from extracting and
processing conventional oil. There are estimates that 5 to 10 times the amount
of greenhouse gas emissions come from processing tar sands as it does processing
conventional oil. The price of tar sands are energy-sensitive. If the price of
energy goes up then the price of producing tar sands goes up. So when the oil
industry says tar sands will be economical when the price of oil goes up - they
are wrong. It is a vicious circle. When I were working on Great Canadian Oil
Sands (GCOS) issues in 1972, the oil sands economists said that the price of
conventional oil was too low. Conventional oil was trading at $3.00 per barrel
at the time, just before the 1973Arab-Israeli War. Following the OPEC worldwide
boycott, the price of oil quadrupled to $12.00 per barrel. The tar sands
producers were elated. They said, now they could make a profit. But it wasn't to
be. Because the energy costs to the tar sands producers would also quadrupled.
At this point, research went into how the tar sands could be extracted using
cheaper energy methods, such as nuclear power.
Much of the energy used to extract tar sands oil is from using
natural gas. Natural gas is closely tied to the price of conventional oil, on a
BTU basis. So when the price of oil zooms up, the price of natural gas raises
accordingly. In fact, today, it is possible that the price of natural gas could
increase more than conventional oil due to its environmental benefits over
burning coal for generating electricity. This would leave tar sands production
in an even worse economic situation. It appears that in order for tar sands
producers to even make a profit, they need tax breaks and other subsidies from
the provincial and federal governments. Here are the economic and environmental
down sides to tar sands:
o uneconomical: tar sands oil is hard to
unstick from the trillions of grains of sand and
costs too much in money and energy to do so.
o Huge energy requirements: tar sands
extraction is much more energy-intensive that the
extraction of conventional reserves of oil
and natural gas, thus it never escapes the
oil-energy cost cycle, and it generates many times more greenhouse gas emissions
than conventional oil and gas.
o large greenhouse gas emissions: the greenhouse gas
emissions from uncovering,
extracting, refining,
upgrading and transporting tar sands oil is many times more
than
that associated with extracting refining and
processing either conventional oil & gas,
and
even coal.
o tar sands strip mine: tar sands is a
stripmining operation; it requires of the stripping
of hundreds of thousands of acres of fertile
ground to get at the bitumen 40 feet under
the surface; forests, wildlife habitat; and water sources are ruined. Some
operations are
using underground, in-situ
extraction methods that don't require stripmining, however
they pose their own set of groundwater
contamination problems
o severe water pollution: tar sands
extraction and processing requires massive amounts
of water for steam-stripping and sand
washing; groundwater and surface water
(quantity)
takings are enormous; resulting oil and phenol contamination are serious for
large areas outside just the area of the tar sands
stripmine.
o severe air pollution: direct discharges from the
processing and refinery upgrade
facilities, and
fugitive emissions, generate major amounts of toxic and carcinogenic
(cancer-causing) contaminants which spread for
miles over human and animal populations.
************************************************************************
145 KILOGRAMS OF CARBON DIOXIDE
EMITTED FOR EVERY BARREL OF TAR SANDS OIL EXTRACTED AND
PROCESSED
The National Energy Board estimates that approximately 125
kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalents are released for every barrel of
synthetic crude oil that is produced from tar sands. The Athabasca oil sands is
the world's largest deposit, covering an area the size of New Brunswick.
Canada's province of Alberta contains four major oil sand deposits. They are
located at Fort McMurray (Athabasca), Cold Lake, Peace River, and Wabasca. There
is enough heavy oil in the deposits of Northern Alberta to pave a four lane
super highway the entire 250,000 miles (400,000 km) to the moon, with ample to
spare for approaches and exit ramps. Two tons of oil sand are needed to produce
one barrel of oil. The Athabasca tar sands deposit covers an area of 16,350
square miles and contains about 114 billion cubic metres of bitumen (the mix of
oil and sand). This equals 862 billion barrels of bitumen, of which 33billion
barrels are recoverable by surface mining. The deposit is covered by a thickness
of overburden consisting of muskeg, glacial tills, sandstones and shales. The
oil sands is mineable if the overburden thickness is less than 250 feet (75
metres). See Alberta's Oil Sands Conservation Act at the website http://www.eub.gov.ab.ca/bbs/requirements/actsregs/osc_act.pdf
.
*************************************************************************
CANADA'S TOTAL GHG EMISSIONS IN 1999
WAS 150.9 MILLION METRIC TONNES
In 1999, Canada was one of the world's leading carbon emitting
countries, emitting 150.9 million metric tons (mmt) of energy related carbon
emissions (2.5% of the world total). In 1998, the industrial sector accounted
for 40.3% of this, releasing 59.5 million metric tons of the greenhouse gas,
carbon dioxide (CO2). Within the industrial sector, the six energy-intensive
industries (chemicals, petroleum refining, iron and steel, smelting and
refining, pulp and paper and cement) accounted for over 80% of carbon dioxide
emissions. Emissions from the transportation sector in 1998 totalled 48.8
million metric tons (mmt). While on-road vehicles are currently the primary
consumer of fuel, off-road vehicles' (including activities associated with oil
sands mining), contributions to carbon dioxide emissions are projected to grow
appreciably in the future. The residential sector carbon emissions measured 20.6
mmt in 1998, while commercial sector carbon emissions were 18.8 mmt. In 1999,
Canada's energy intensity (the amount of energy consumed per dollar of GDP) was
17,401 Btu per $1990. Canada's energy intensity has been relatively close to
Mexican levels (17,766 Btu/$1990) over the past ten years. Canada's 1999 energy
intensity was considerably higher than other industrialized nations such as the
United States (12,638 Btu/$1990), the United Kingdom (8,366 Btu/$1990), Germany
(7,281 Btu/$1990), and France (7,324 Btu/$1990). Canada's carbon intensity, 0.21
metric tons of carbon per thousand $1990, ranks second to Mexico (0.29 metric
tons/$1990) among North American countries.
As part of a $690 million commitment to lowering greenhouse gasses
(GHG), the Canadian government, in 2001 announced a $266 million plan to cut
emissions of GHGs, its goal being to cut GHG emissions in Canada by more than
23.7 megatonnes by 2010. However, it is not clear how Canada will achieve the
required cuts in its own greenhouse gas emissions. Canada relies heavily on
energy intensive industries. Canada's lower carbon intensity in comparison to
other OECD countries partially reflects the country's relatively low reliance on
carbon-intensive coal and greater dependence on hydroelectricity and nuclear
power (which do not emit carbon) and natural gas (which emits relatively little
carbon). Source, http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/canenv2.html
.
**********************************************************************
CANADA'S GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
WILL INCREASE FROM 8.2 MILLION TONNES IN 2000 TO 31.7 MILLION TONNES BY 2015:
NEB
Emissions of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in Canada in 2000 are
21.2 (million) mega-tonnes (Mt) from tar sands bitumen extraction (8 million
tonnes) and from synthetic crude oil production from tar sands (13.2 million
tonnes). By 2015, total GHG emissions from tar sands operations will be 48.9
million tonnes, with 17.2 million tonnes from bitumen extraction and 31.7
million tonnes from synthetic crude oil processing from the tar sands. These
estimates are similar to those found in the report Canada's Emissions Outlook:
An Updates. In that report, emissions of GHG in 2000 were estimated to be 13.6
Mt from synthetic crude oil production and 8.1 Mt for bitumen. By 2015,
emissions of GHG were estimated to be 30.5 Mt for synthetic crude oil and 18.8
Mt for bitumen. See Canada's Oil Sands: A Supply and Market Outlook to 2015 by
the National Energy Board of Canada http://www.neb.gc.ca/energy/emaoils_e.pdf
.
******************************************************************
CANADIAN'S CONSUME 410.7 MILLION
BTU'S OF ENERGY PER PERSON
When calculated on a per-person basis, energy consumption of
Canadian is shown to be very high. Canada's 1999 per capita energy consumption,
410.7 million Btu per person, was the highest in North America, above the U.S.
level of 355.9 million Btu per person. Relative to other OECD countries,
Canada's per capita energy consumption is considerably higher than the United
Kingdom (167.8 million Btu per person), France (173.6), Japan (171.6), Germany
(170.4), and Italy (139.7). Canada's 1999 per capita carbon emissions of 4.9
metric tons (mt) were below the U.S. level of 5.6 mt/person, but high relative
to France (1.8), Germany (2.8), the United Kingdom (2.6), Italy (2.1) and Japan
(2.4). Per capita carbon emissions, while decreasing slightly from their 1980
level of 5.2 metric tons of carbon per person, have remained fairly steady over
the past 15 years. Source, http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/canenv.html
.
**************************************************************
474,000 BARRELS OF SYNTHETIC OIL
FROM CANADA'S OIL SANDS
Nearly two-thirds (65%) of Canada's energy was produced by Alberta
province, with British Columbia (13%), Saskatchewan (8%), Quebec (5%), and
Ontario (4%) following far behind. Energy production contributed 7.6% of
Canada's GDP in 1996, while energy exports made up 10% of total merchandise
exports. The United States is Canada's major trade market for energy products,
accounting for 91% of all Canadian energy exports (including nearly all of
Canada's oil, natural gas, and electricity exports). Coal is exported mainly to
the Far East. Canada produces a significant amount -- about 474,000 bbl/d -- of
synthetic oil from bitumen. To date, over 1 billion barrels of synthetic crude
oil has been recovered from western Canadian oil tar sands (out of potentially
up to 300 billion barrels in economically recoverable reserves). Production from
tar sands now accounts for about 19% of Canada's crude oil supply, and
investment in 1996 was over $3 billion. Over the next 25 years, Western Canada's
oil industry hopes to increase synthetic crude oil production sharply, to 1.2
million bbl/d (at a cost of up to $20 billion). The industry is currently
concentrated in the Fort McMurray areas of northern Alberta, where Syncrude
Canada and Suncor, the country's two big oil sands producers, are located. Large
amounts (about 185,000 bbl/d) of synthetic crude also is produced by bitumen
miners -- led by Imperial Oil (70% owned by Exxon) -- from Alberta's oil
sands.
Plant modifications and improved technology have combined to lower
operating costs at the Suncor oil sands plant in Alberta. The company hopes to
get its cost-per-barrel down from its current average of $14 to $12 by the year
2000. Currently, Suncor's output stands at about 85,000 barrels per day. Suncor
aims to increase this -- through investments of $1.5 billion in "Project
Millennium" -- to 105,000 bbl/d by the year 1999, and 210,000 bbl/d by 2002.
Suncor also is involved in oil sands projects at Burnt Lake in Alberta, as well
as the Stuart Oil Shale project in Australia. Meanwhile, Syncrude announced in
October 1997 plans for a $1.05 billion mine project at Aurora, near Fort
McMurray.
In addition to Syncrude and Suncor, several other companies are
involved in developing Canada's oil sands. Mobil Oil Canada and Shell Canada
each have $1 billion plans to open two, 100,000 bbl/d tar sands mines in 2002-3
near Fort McMurray. In December 1995, New Mexico-based Solv-Ex Corp. received
approval from the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board to proceed with a $100
million oilsands plant near Fort McMurray. Bitumount, one of the sites which
Solv-Ex plans to develop, is expected to produce 14,000 bbl/d of oil. Bitumount
is part of the Athabasca tar sands, which contains total in-place oil resources
of 1.7 trillion barrels, including more than 100 billion barrels estimated as
recoverable through surface mining. Visit the website http://www.converger.com/eiacab/canada.htm
.
***************************************************************
LETTER TO THE EDITOR REGARDING WIND
POWER
Dear Editor:
It is interesting that windmills are deemed unaesthetic. My parents
are dutch and I still feel cultural links to their old country. Is this why I do
not have any problems with windmills? As windmills were replaced in Holland with
contemporary industrial mills and pumps, the old windmills were destroyed by the
hundreds, perhaps thousands. Then people realised they LIKED them and
fortunately were able to save the remaining ones. The problem is not with the
windmills, especially the current designs which are comparable in clean lines
and aesthetics to fine contemporary architecture, but with our resistance to the
unfamiliar. We have two windmills on a hill here in Whitehorse. I love seeing
them, they tell me if the wind is blowing up there, they offer a similar delight
as the pin wheels we held in the wind as children, they are an industrial
presence in the landscape which aesthetically arefor once is relatively benign.
And best of all, I know they producing energy indefinitely without any
emissions. Yes they are a beauty to behold. How can we enclose ourselves in
metal glass and plastic and see the world through this bubble, and call such
bubbles which are finely designed as beautiful? Our acceptance of the car is
because it is an extension of ourselves, our mobility, our desires. We have only
to look at windmills with as the same actualization of our neccessities and
desires to realise they are attractive as well. And there is no disputing the
fact that the aesthetic blight of non renewable energy sources, far outweighs,
is much deeper long lasting and frightening in its impact on every aspect of our
environment, than the steadily rotating blades of a mill in the summer breeze.
Sincerely, Marten Berkman, RR#1 Box 10289, Whitehorse, Yukon Y1A 7A1, tel 867
393 3233
email martjen@internorth.com
************************************************************
SUBSIDIES TO THE TAR SANDS
INDUSTRY
Greenpeace report that in 1997 Canada and Alberta provides a
billion dollar subsidy to the oil industry as a first step in reducing Canada's
greenhouse gas emissions. In 1995, the latest year for which figures are
available, Ottawa handed out $336.6 million to the fossil fuel industry in the
form of direct grants and equity and $259.3 million in the form of various
supportive programs. Despite his concern with deficit cutting, Finance Minister
Paul Martin also allowed the oil industry $362 million in tax breaks. The tax
give-away to the Alberta tar sands projects involves a change in rules allowing
all tar sands projects to rapidly write off capital costs for expansion. This
$422 million bonus to the oil companies which own Northern Alberta's tar sands
projects compares to $10 million allocated for research and development in
renewable energy. Source, http://www.wcel.org/4976/20/20_01.html
. Source, http://archive.greenpeace.org/pressreleases/climate/1997nov4.html
***************************************************************
$820 MILLION FEDERAL SUBSIDY TO THE
TAR SANDS INDUSTRY
"The oil sands are a strategic Canadian resource. For over two
decades the federal and provincial governments have provided incentives to
develop and exploit this resource. Total tax expenditures associated with this
investment in the oil sands are projected to total $820 million for the period
from 1986 to 2030." The same story is true on the Hibernia project in
Newfoundland. In January of this year, the director of the Canadian Center for
Policy Alternatives - Nova Scotia wrote, "Hibernia was to be constructed and
operated without government money. In the end, the project relied heavily on
governmental grants, loan guarantees, and tax exemptions." In l988, for example,
"when low oil prices put the project in jeopardy, the Canadian government came
up with a $1.04 billion grant and a $1.66 billion loan guarantee." Similarly,
the Hibernia Management Development Corporation is allowed to use expenditure on
petroleum projects to reduce its tax obligations. Source, http://www.oilandgasreporter.com/stories/070102/nat_energy_talk.shtml
.
*****************************************************************
CANADIAN OIL SANDS TASK FORCE
REPORT
In spring, 1995, the Oil Sands Task Force released The New Energy
Vision for Canada asking for government royalty and tax breaks to support a
25-year expansion bringing "oil sands-based bitumen and upgraded crude oil
production to between 800,000 and 1.2 million barrels per day" - a tripling of
current production. The Alberta government, quickly agreed to Oil Sands Task
Force requests for adjustments to the royalty regime from individually
negotiated agreements to a generic arrangement setting the total marginal rate
at 58 per cent for all projects (previous rates for Cold Lake and Syncrude
ranged from 63 to 68 per cent). The result is lost direct tax revenue to the
year 2002, as compared to the base case. The government revenue stream is
slightly positive after 2002, and approaches $1 billion by 2010 - but is always
below what would have been the base case revenue stream to 2030.3. From the
federal government, the The Oil Sands Task Force sought adjustments to Class 41A
capital costs tax treatment, including:
o No minimum capacity addition requirement
o No project "ring fencing" (in other words
deductions can apply to all corporate income)
o No
"available for use" restriction rules.
o Immediate
capital deduction should remain a part of oil sands royalty terms.
The 1996 federal budget did not remove the ring fence for
accelerated capital cost purposes, but did adjust the 25 per cent expansion
requirement to also include expansions exceeding 5 per cent of company revenue.
The result is that Oil Sands expansions of either 25per cent of capacity or 5
per cent of company revenue qualify for accelerated capital cost allowance - but
deductions can be applied only against income from the project, not against
income for the whole company as requested. Cost according to budget documents:
$5 million a year - but only calculated for the next three years. Costs could
skyrocket in future years as the Oil Sands expansion proceeds. See the website
http://www.sierraclub.ca/national/rio/1996/rio_al.html
.
*******************************************************************
HOW TAR SANDS ARE UPGRADED TO REAL
OIL
During the upgrading process the bitumen is converted from a
viscous, tar-like oil that is deficient in hydrogen and high in sulphur and
heavy metals, to a high quality "synthetic" or "upgraded" crude oil that has
density and viscosity characteristics similar to conventional light sweet crude
oil, but with a very low sulphur content (0.1- 0.2 percent). This upgrading is
achieved through a process of coking, desulphurization and hydrogen addition.
The first step in upgrading is recovery of naphtha, which is removed and
recycled back to the extraction plant. The bitumen is then heated in furnaces
and sent to a vacuum unit where some of the product is removed. The remaining
bitumen is forwarded to cokers where high temperatures in the coker's reactors
cause the long bitumen molecules to thermally crack. Most of the bitumen
vapourizes into gases, but the heavy bottom carbon-rich material forms coke.
Suncor uses a delayed coking technology while Syncrude uses a somewhat different
process called fluid-coking. Coke is used as a fuel source for the coker burners
as well as for other heat requirements.
The excess coke is stockpiled or sold for use in ammonia plants or
other industrial applications. The remaining hydrocarbon vapours are sent to
fractionators where they are separated into naphtha, kerosene and gas oil.
Within the hydrotreater units the hydrocarbon vapours react with hydrogen at
high pressure and high temperatures in the presence of a catalyst. This process
is used to stabilize the 25 product stream as well as to remove sulphur and
nitrogen. The product streams of naphtha and gas oils from the hydrotreaters are
blended to make a high grade crude oil. The sulphur is converted to elemental
sulphur and stored on site or shipped to market, while the nitrogen is removed
as ammonia and generally used as a fuel in the utilities plant. Fuel gas,
produced as a by-product of the refining process, is sweetened and then sent to
amine units for hydrogen sulphide removal. The resulting sweet gas is used
throughout the plant as an energy source. Major new innovations in upgrading
include: • the LC-Finer hydroprocessor, which breaks down bitumen through
hydrogen addition over an ebullated catalyst bed to produce a cracked light gas
oil; and, • the installation of a vacuum distillation unit (VDU) to remove
volatile material from the bitumen before it enters the cokers, thus eliminating
the cokers as a process bottleneck. Source, National Energy Board, http://www.neb.gc.ca/newsroom/releases/nr2000/nr0030_e.htm
.
************************************************************
UP TO HALF OF MACKENZIE VALLEY
NATURAL DIVERTED TO ALBERTA'S TAR SANDS?
The spectre of a four-foot diameter pipeline carrying trillions of
cubic feet of natural gas through the Mackenzie Valley from the Arctic to
southern Canada and the United States has been re-awakened. Ironically, up to
half of the Arctic natural gas may be diverted to heat the tar off of Alberta's
tar sands. It will result in the transfer of BTU energy from high-end clean
natural gas to a low-end synthetic oil from the tar sands. The question is, why
waste good natural gas on an energy transfer, when it could be used directly as
a heat and energy source in the rest of Canada and the United States? Another
question: Will Canada require that the natural gas sold to the tar sands
companies be subsidized? In other words, sold at a fixed lower price than the
commercial going rate?
The cost of the proposed Mackenzie Valley pipeline is estimated at
$7.6 billion, based on the pipeline carrying 5.5 billion cubic feet of natural
gas per day. About 4.0 billion cubic feet would come from Alaska and 1.5 billion
cubic feet would come from Canada's Beaufort Sea. The Mackenzie Valley pipeline
route is said to be the cheapest to build, as it would transport natural gas
from the Mackenzie Delta with some 800 miles of pipeline that would hook up to
existing pipeline infrastructure in northern Alberta. Both the Mackenzie Delta
Producer's Group, the consortium of Imperial Oil, Conoco Canada Ltd., Shell
Canada Ltd., and Exxon Mobile Canada, and the Arctigas have been lobbying hard
to win Canadian approval to build the pipeline and to escape a full
environmental assessment under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA).
The Canadian route through the Mackenzie River delta became a
distinct possibility when on May 14, 2002, the energy giants BP, Exxon Mobil and
Phillips Petroleum all with significant gas reserves in Alaska reported that it
would cost nearly $20 billion U.S. to build an Alaskan pipeline and a
supertanker system out of the port of Valdez, Alaska to transport the natural
gas. The Producer's Group announced earlier this year that they will spend about
$250 million to prepare the applications for the pipeline estimated to cost $4
billion. The Mackenzie Delta Producers Group awarded the conceptual and
preliminary engineering for the Mackenzie Gas Project to COLTKBR. Headquartered
in Calgary, COLTKBR is a long-term joint venture of Colt Engineering Corporation
(Colt) and Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR). Source, http://www.firstnationsdrum.com/Aug02/BizValley.htm
.
*******************************************************************************
INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY (IEA)
REPORT ON TAR SANDS
Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel production, mainly
natural gas and oil sands production, are expected to account for nearly 12% of
total emissions in 2000. The International Energy Agency (IEA) reports that the
oil sands segment of Canada's fossil fuel industry continues to provide the
impetus for increases in production. To December 1999, there have been
announcements of investments totalling about C$ 24 billion to develop projects
producing up to 1.2 million barrels per day (mbd). Natural Resources Canada
expects these projects to come on stream over a 10-year period. The term
"conventional" highlights the difference between regular crude that is
relatively easily accessed and the other which is either: (1) frontier crude oil
that is located in less accessible locations (for example offshore continental
shelfs); or, (2) "synthetic" crude that is produced by upgrading tar sands or
shale oil. Upgrading is accomplished by either removing carbon (for example by
coking) or adding hydrogen (for example hydro treating or hydro cracking).
Synthetic crude has some special characteristics. It has virtually no impurities
and bottoms content compared with regular crude that contains a full spectrum of
molecules. Bitumen, in the Canadian context, is extra heavy crude (i.e., 12
API); it does not flow under normal conditions. Bitumen is either mined or
produced in situ (steam- assisted gravity drainage or cycle steam stimulation)
from oil sands, also referred to as tar sands, and is blended to make it
transportable, or coked or upgraded to produce "synthetic" crude. See the full
report at http://www.iea.org/books/countries/2000/canada2000.pdf
. Source, http://www.iea.org/new/releases/2000/canada2.htm
. From the Energy Policies of IEA Countries – Canada – 2000 Review from the IEA
Public Information Office in Paris. Telephone (+33 1) 40.57.65.51; Telefax (+33
1) 40.57.65.59; e-mail info@iea.org .
**************************************************************
OIL SANDS RECLAMATION NETWORK
(OSRRN)
The Mission of the Oil Sands Reclamation Research Network (OSRRN)
is to foster and facilitate research in Oil Sands, linking researchers from
across Canada and industry, and extension of research results. The Oil Sands
Reclamation Research Network is an initiative aimed at integrating and enhancing
reclamation research and development activities. It is hosted at the University
of Alberta by the Department of Renewable Resources, and sponsored by grants
from the Oil Sands Industry with matching funds from government. One of the
objectives of this network is to coordinate and prioritize reclamation research
programs for the oil sands projects. A major goal of this research will be to
enhance the ability to predict both ecosystem succession following reclamation,
and the long-term sustainability of reclaimed sites. The OSRRN is involved with
the reclamation practices for lands disturbed by tar sands operations. They will
determine if certain programs will be technically and financially feasible, and
yield healthy, viable and self sustaining ecosystems. OSRRN is a member of The
Canadian Oilsand Network for Research and Development (CONRAD) has recognized
that an increasingly multidisciplinary and integrated R&D program is
required to meet these objectives. Establishment of the Oil Sands Reclamation
Research Network, is seen as one step towards doing so. CONRAD is a network of
companies, universities and government agencies organized to facilitate
collaboritive research in science and technology for Alberta Oil Sands.Go to the
CONRAD website at http://www.conrad.ab.ca/
. For more information about OSRRN contact D.S. Chanasyk, PhD, PAg,
PEng, Coordinator, Oil Sands Reclamation Research Network, Rm 751 GSB,
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2H1, Phone 780-492-6538,
fax 780-492-4323, email david.chanasyk@ualberta.ca . Go to
their website at http://www.rr.ualberta.ca/oilsands/index2.html
.
************************************************************
COST OF CLIMATE CHANGE DAMAGE
ESTIMATED AT US $150 BILLION PER YEAR
More frequent
and more devastating storms caused by climate change could cost $150 billion a
year within the next ten years, possibly bankrupting financial services firms, a
United Nations-backed report warned. Worldwide economic losses from natural
disasters appear to be doubling every ten years, the report said, "The
increasing frequency of severe climatic events... has the potential to stress
insurers, reinsurers and banks to the point of impaired viability or even
insolvency," the report said. The report said a political framework for action
on climate stability is essential, but said the Kyoto Protocol, under which many
industrial nations except the United States committed to curb greenhouse gas
emissions by 2012 does not go far enough. Written on behalf of the UN
Environment Programme's (UNEP) finance initiative, the report said financial
institutions could deliver market solutions to climate change, through carbon
emissions trading and lower insurance premiums for cleaner companies. "A
pro-active stance by financial institutions will help to reduce the threats they
face from climate change while also providing opportunities," the report
said.
The report said that while climate change is widely recognised as
being a threat by insurers and reinsurers, their strategies towards it have been
mixed. Very few insurers, for example, factor in climate change-related risks
into their insurance premiums, the report said. In the commercial banking
industry it said there appeared to be little awareness of the issue among senior
executives, though some companies have seized the opportunity to take the lead
in greenhouse gas credit trading and energy efficient loans. Fund managers do
not currently regard climate change as an investment risk, though socially-
responsible fund managers consider climate change when choosing their
investments. The report was written by Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, a
U.S.-based investment research firm specialising in environmental and social
issues, on behalf of the UN Environment Programme's Finance Initiatives' Climate
Change Working Group. Story by Simon Challis, European Insurance Correspondent,
for Reuters News Service, October 8, 2002. See the full story at
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/18087/story.htm
.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Copyright (c) 2002
Canadian Institute for Business and the
Environment, Montreal & Toronto
All rights reserved.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
from The Green Party of New York State October 9, 2002
Green Party of New York State E-News Vol. 2, No. 11, October
2002
Greetings from E-News.
Green Party E-News is a web-based newsletter that can be viewed in full
(including archives) at
http://www.gpnys.org/enews/
Send your news, events, alerts and letters to the editor for
the next issue to Ann Link at
mailto:eastst@hotmail.com.
Deadline for submissions to next issue: October 22, 2002. Comments and
suggestions on enews content and format are welcome, as are volunteers to
help with writing, editing, photography, etc.
We still need Green reporters, especially from upstate, to help make
E-News even better. Contact Masada Disenhouse at 718-855-2263 or
masada@akula.com
*******************************************************************************************Before
we get into this issue (see featured stories below), a few brief, but
crucial announcements, and the Indy Media story on the Stanley Aronowtiz
Rally/Fundraiser in NYC this past weekend.
1. THE ELECTION IS ONLY 4 WEEKS AWAY. WE NEED TO GET 50,000 VOTES FOR
OUR CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR, STANLEY ARONOWITZ. IF YOU ARE NOT YET WORKING
ON THE CAMPAIGN, NOW IS THE TIME!! CALL 212-673-1323 OR VISIT
http://www.stanleyaronowitz.org/
TO GET INVOLVED TODAY. THANKS!
2. IN NYC, Join Green Party candidates TOMORROW (Wednesday, Oct 9) at
5 PM to call upon Senator Hillary Clinton to demonstrate genuine
leadership rather than support the Bush administration's war. Green Party
gubernatorial candidate Stanley Aronowitz, Green candidate for Congress
Elizabeth Shanklin and Green candidate for Assembly William
Gerena-Rochet, and other anti-war activists will hold a rally at
Clinton's office, 780 Third Avenue (at 48th Street), at 5PM. Contact
Elizabeth Shanklin at
mailto:elizs@earthlink.net
for more info.
3. TUNE IN Sunday morning to see Stanley Aronowitz debate the other 6 Gubernatorial candidates. It will air on WABC-TV on Sunday, October 13, at 11AM. It is definitely showing on channel 7 in NYC, but not on all WABC affiliates around the State. SO, CALL YOUR LOCAL affiliate today and find out if they plan to air it. If they are, enjoy, if not, tell them to air it and get all your friends to do the same. HOW COULD THEY NOT AIR THE GUBERNATORIAL DEBATE? This is your chance to see Stanley take on George, Carl and Tom....
4. JOIN THE ONTARIO COUNTY GREEN PARTY on OCTOBER 14 AT 12 NOON at the Geneva Lakefront Gazebo located on Route 5&20 (near the Chamber of Commerce) for a campaign rally. The rally will feature public the Green Party's candidates Stanley Aronowitz for governor, Jennifer Daniels for lieutenant governor, Howie Hawkins for Comptroller, and Rachel Treichler for the 29th Congressional District seat. There will also be activities and music. The ONTARIO GREENS will also be participating in a MARCH FOR PEACE AT 10 A.M. IN GENEVA ON THIS DATE! MARCH WILL END WHERE THE GREEN PARTY RALLY BEGINS! Contact Chris at cnill@eznet.net for more info.
4. Below is a story on our successful fundraiser for Stanley this past Friday. We had over 700 people and raised over $17,000 (gross). I want to thank all the terrific volunteers who made it successful. If I left someone out, which isn't all that unlikey as I was fired Friday night, please speak up (write masada@akula.com) so I can thank you too! Here goes. Thank you to...
Kelli Anderson, Carl Arnold, Deborah Baker, Matthew Borenstein, Avi Bornstein, John Bredin, Deeadra Brown, Dave Bruno, Brian Butkier, Susan Chenelle, J Cohen, Randee Cohen, Paul Corell, Michele A. Danels, Gary R. Davidson, Doug Davoren, Matt Dominianni, Mark Dunlea, Michael Emperor, Tahira Faune Alford, Deborah Feuerman, Merry Fortune, Joseph Friendly, William Gerena-Rochet, Paul Gilman, Raeanne Giovanni Inoue, Justin Green, Steve Greenfield, Matthew Grimm, Rebecca Heinegg, Beth Holm, Chelsea Horenstein, Rachel Jacobson, Jerry Kann, John Keenan, Debra Klaber, James Lane, Ted M. Lewis, Daniella Liebling, Nadine Lubka, Erika Luchterhand, Jim Maceda, Tzvi Mackson, George McGuire, Kay Merrik, Jura Mohen, Siobhan O'Leary, Cathy Sadell, Rik Sansone, Daniel Schaffer, Joel Schlosberg, Robert Schwab, Kaliym Shabazz, Elizabeth Shanklin, Robyn Sklar, Daniel Starling, Anya Szykitka, George Tatevosyan, Elizabeth Thomas, Behrouz Vafa, Rich VanHeertum, MJ VanLoon, Bridgette Vidunas, Dorothy Watson, Bob Weyersberg, Julia Willebrand, Fred Yaeger, and Dan Zuger.
Here's the story from Indy Media:
Greens, Nader, Aronowitz, Benjamin, McKinney Say No to War with Iraq
From Indy Media: http://nyc.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=33628
More tha 700 Green Party supporters jammed into the Ethical Culture Society in NYC on Friday night (Oct. 4) to raise funds for Stanley Aronowitz's campaign for Governor and to speak out against Bush's proposed ground war against Iraq. More tha 700 Green Party supporters jammed into the Ethical Culture Society in NYC on Friday night (Oct. 4) to raise funds for Stanley Aronowitz's campaign for Governor and to speak out against Bush's proposed ground war against Iraq.
While the headliner for the evening was former Green Party Presidential candidate and consumer advocate, Ralph Nader who spoke on the issues of corporate crime, the economy, and the daily beating of the drums of war, it was Global Exchange activist Medea Benjamin who had the crowd raising the rafters with her impassioned speech for peace. Benjamin had just been released from jail in DC for protesting the war against Iraq.
The crowd also heard from long time peace activists Leslie Cagan and Dave McReynolds, Cong. Cynthia McKinney, and green statewide candidates Jennifer Daniels (Lt. Gov.), Howie Hawkins (Comptroller) and Mary Jo Long (Attorney General). Daniels and Hawkins will participate in the rally against War in Iraq this Monday at noon in front of Troy City Hall.
Nader, Benjamin, and Aronowitz had spoken to a crowd of more than 3,000 people earlier in the day outside of the New York Stock Exchange in calling for a crackdown on corporate crime.
"The current corporate crime wave shows every sign of worsening, as more major corporations scramble to admit massive deception of investors, looting of pension funds, self-enrichment of top executives, restatement of earnings and giant farewell compensation packages to departing bosses who wrecked their companies to further their own mega-greed," said Nader.
"The daily beating of the drums of war are destabilizing the economy, depressing the markets, and shattering the public confidence of investors -- draining the attention of our government from domestic matters and necessities at a time of growing recession, deficits, unemployment and poverty."
"We are organizing the 'Crackdown on Corporate Crime Rally' to focus attention on the vast array of corporate misdeeds and to propose sound remedies that will help shareholders, taxpayers, workers, and consumers tame the reckless and out-of control corporate bosses. This rally will unify the plights of workers, shareholders, and pensioners in a common cause for both law and order against corporate crime and basic corporate reform," Nader added.
Cynthia McKinney, a five term Democratic Congresswoman (Georgia), speaking on the impending war with Iraq has been a consistent advocate for peace. "We must wage peace instead of war and once again make America a force for good in the world," states McKinney, a member of the House Armed Services Committee as well the International Relations Committee.
McKinney, known for her forthright honesty, earlier this year, called for an investigation into the events around 9/11. "We deserve to know hat went wrong on September 11 and why. Why then does the Administration remain steadfast in its opposition to an investigation into the biggest terrorism attack upon our nation?" Although subsequent events have proved her demand to be appropriate and timely, it resulted in vicious political backlash from both Republicans and Democrats that has yet to be retracted.
McKinney, who has won in the past as a party outsider, observes, "My ability to get elected as a progressive has always relied on bringing nontraditional supporters, such as Green Party voters, into the process. I especially understand the frustration of young people who feel alienated from a Democratic Party that looks like a Republican Party, and which feeds at the same trough."
Nader, who has been publicly supportive of McKinney, said recently, "Representative McKinney has the courage to stand up against corporate and other special interests on legislation that really counts for low, moderate and middle income people."
Gubernatorial Green Party Candidate Stanley Aronowitz, is the only candidate willing to talk against the war, about ending the death penalty and the Rockefeller drug laws, about really spending money to protect the environment and to guarantee an education, health care, child care, and other services to all New Yorkers, as well as opening up and cleaning up the electoral system so that it's fair, accessible and participatory.
Aronowitz stated, "Congress must halt Bush's drive to launch a ground war against Iraq. The proposed U.S. invasion of Iraq is illegal and ill-considered. There has been no attack on the US, no Iraqi threat of war, no Iraqi connection to September 11. This would violate the US's historic policy against using force preemptively. Iraq does not pose a clear and present danger. There is no evidence that Iraq is still developing nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. It will just be another war for oil. And until we stop Bush's war and the hundreds of billions of tax dollars that we wasted. we won't have funds in New York for critical programs like environmental protection, schools, affordable housing, and human services."
Global Exchange Director, Medea Benjamin (and former Green Party candidate for US Senate in California) who has led several high profile protests in Congress against the War in Iraq in recent weeks, cited the need for voters to support Stanley Aronowitz and the Greens as an alternative to the war agenda of the Democratic and Republican parties.
Benjamin notes that Aronowitz had been one of the leaders on the movement against the Vietnam War. "George Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld want to drag our nation into a disastrous military venture against a country that has not attacked us. They want to wage a war that could lead to the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis and many U.S. troops, a war that would alienate people all over the world and make us more vulnerable to attacks here at home, a war that makes a mockery of international law, a war that would cost approximately $100 billion at a time when our schools, human service and environmental programs are starved for funds," said Benjamin.
Nader called for voters to support Aronowitz and the Greens as part of the movement to force lawmakers to get tough on corporate crime. "We need to break the cycle where each new wave of corporate crime and scandal is greeted with a slap on the wrist, with the major parties returning to business as usual as soon as the issue is no longer in the headlines. The current corporate fraud and crime wave has cost millions of Americans trillions of dollars. We need real reforms. We need to ensure that the corporations are democratically accountable to their stakeholders - from investors to workers to consumers to communities. We need a strong Governor who will ban corporate criminals from receiving government contracts and subsidies and who will push to revoke the charters of large companies that seriously and routinely break the law," added Nader
******************************************************************************************
FINALLY, HERE'S WHAT'S IN THIS ISSUE!!!
NEW YORK NEEDS A BIGGER, BETTER BOTTLE BILL
http://www.gpnys.org/enews/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=64&mode=&order=
Bills have been introduced in the State Legislature to improve the Bottle Bill in several important ways. These bills would make the state law bigger, better and more effective. Please attend the public hearing on Oct. 8 in NYC to support the bottle bill (hearing details below). For more information, visit http://www.nybottlebill.org/ or call 518-436-0876
Ontario County NY Will March for Peace and Rally for the Green Party
http://www.gpnys.org/enews/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=63&mode=&order=
October 2, 2002 --- The Green Party of Ontario County announced today that it will participate along with a wide spectrum of local organizations in a solemn "March for Peace" culminating in a major Green Party political campaign rally in Geneva on Monday, October 14th.
Aronowitz Stumps Against the War in Iraq in Western New York
http://www.gpnys.org/enews/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=62&mode=&order=
See video of Stanley and other antiwar activists at http://www.snowshoefilms.com
"The Green Party is the only national party that says no war in Iraq." As governor of New York, Aronowitz notes that he could accept austerity if there was a credible threat to the nation's security.
Aronowitz Issues Labor Day Statement
http://www.gpnys.org/enews/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=61&mode=&order=
Workers at Risk: Labor Day 2002 finds New York State workers facing growing insecurity, deteriorating public goods and renewed attacks on their living standards. Despite brave words from public officials, the media and corporate leaders that prosperity is just around the corner, the state's economy remains in the doldrums.
Aronowitz Says He will Join Gubernatorial Debates - Whether Invited or Not
http://www.gpnys.org/enews/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=60&mode=&order=
Green Party gubernatorial candidate Stanley Aronowitz said today that it was time to reclaim democracy from the two major parties and announced that he will participate in all Gubernatorial debates during the general election - whether invited or not.
Hawkins Slams McCall on Labor, Human Rights
http://www.gpnys.org/enews/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=59&mode=&order=
Hawkins Slams McCall for Failure to Support Corporate Resolutions on Environment, Human Rights, Labor; Renews Calls for Democratic Control on the State Pension Plan
Opposed to War in the Gulf? Don't Pay For It!
http://www.gpnys.org/enews/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=58&mode=&order=
The National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee (www.nwtrcc.org) is requesting people and organizations supporting peace to sign on to the following letter by adding your name and forwarding it to nwtrcc@lightlink.com.
Greens Speak Out at State Energy Plan Hearings
http://www.gpnys.org/enews/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=57&mode=&order=
This summer, numerous Greens and city, county and state Green Parties testified on the New York State Energy Plan at hearings around the state. Following is a selection of their comments. The Energy Plan, testimony and responses by the New York State Energy Planning Board are at http://www.nyserda.org/sep.html.
Global Warming -- Part IV: Alternatives to Fossil Fuels
http://www.gpnys.org/enews/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=56&mode=&order=
The Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming: the Science, the Politics, and the Alternatives. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently sent a report ("U.S. Climate Action Report 2002,") to the United Nations, as required by the U.N.’s Framework Convention on Climate Change a treaty signed by the first President Bush. The EPA report links global warming to the burning of fossil fuels, (that is, coal, oil, and natural gas), and also to cattle farming and industrial processes.
Great Lakes Cancer Rates Exceedingly High
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Concerned that far too many of the members of her community were being diagnosed with various cancers, one of the residents of Clayton, New York, a Village on the St. Lawrence River, in northern Jefferson County, requested that the New York State Department of Health (NYS DOH) assess the cancer rates of that area.
Force-Feeding the World
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Zambia has been told by the USA to use $50 million to buy America's GM maize through the World Food Programme or face starvation. When the US tried to force GM food aid on India, Catherine Bertini, then Executive director of the World Food Program, declared: "Food is power. We use it to change behavior. Some may call that bribery. We do not apologize", whilst an unnamed USAID spokesman told the media "beggars can't be choosers".
Green Party is the Only Growing Political Party
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New statistics compiled by the non-partisan Ballot Access News show that in the last two years the Green Party is the only national political party in the U.S. to gain registered members.
Greens Branch Out
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The Green Party may be way behind on the voter registration rolls and the election polls, but it had an advantage over major-party politicians stumping at the New York State Fair. "We had a table in the labor tent {courtesy of the Syracuse Labor Council} and talked to voters one-on-one," recalled Howie Hawkins, the party's candidate for state comptroller.
Greens' Candidate: ALL 8 SHOULD DEBATE
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Albany - The Green Party candidate for governor said Monday any debate among the gubernatorial candidates should include all eight of them.
Greens Speak Out; Dems, GOP Bicker
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9/25/02, Press Republican (NY). Plattsburgh Ordnance from the gubernatorial battle reached the North Country Tuesday as soldiers launched attacks on several fronts. At Plattsburgh State, Green Party candidate for governor Stanley Aronowitz said the Republicans and Democrats, who constantly criticize each other, "are both right."
New Jersey Governor Candidate Arrested for Entering Debate
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Associated Press. Green Party candidate Ted Glick, 52, was arrested when he tried to enter the studio to join the debate and charged with disorderly conduct.
Action Alert! Stop Irradiated Meat in NY!
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Wegmans Food Markets has become the poster child for the irradiated industry this summer by heavily marketing their irradiated “fresh” ground beef. Now, D’Agostino Markets is close on their heels, having recently announced that they too are carrying “fresh” irradiated ground beef. We need to tell these supermarket chains that they cannot subject their customers to this questionable technology just to let meat producers use a quick-fix to cover up their sloppy practices.
Green Party Chair's Letter to Times Union on Rockefeller Drug Laws
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8/19/02 -- The Times Union (Albany). The Aug. 9 editorial on Andrew Cuomo's stance on the Rockefeller Drug Laws asks, "Why not repeal such mandatory minimum sentencing entirely? Why not take an entirely new approach to drug crimes?"
Westchester Legislature Calls for Indian Point Shutdown
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9/9/02 -- Associated Press. White Plains The Westchester County Legislature unanimously approved a resolution Monday night calling for the closing of the Indian Point nuclear power plants, adding to a suburban groundswell that began with the terrorist attacks on New York a year ago.
Third-Party Candidates Struggle for Attention
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9/15 -- Associated Press. Trenton, N.J. -- Running as an alternative to the well-established two party system in New Jersey isn't easy, but that hasn't stopped candidates from trying.
Green Party Calls for a New Democratic Direction on 9/11 Anniversary
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Greens urge steps to promote peace, justice, and adherence to the U.S. Constitution and international law. The Green Party of the United States marked the anniversary of the September 11 attacks with a call for a new democratic direction in U.S. policy.
A Broken Election System
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9/9/01 Gotham Gazette. Before any Election Day, Richard Wagner likes to say, election workers all say the same prayer: "Please let it be a landslide." That is because Wagner, the head of the union representing election workers, knows that in a lopsided victory, nobody looks too closely at the voting process.
US Hijacks Johannesburg Summit
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The Ecologist. The US and its corrupt corporate agenda is paralysing the summit. The future of the world is being entrusted to companies who can't even look after their own books.
Green Party Website Challenges Americans for Democratic Action
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The Green Party of the United States today launched a website http://www.therealdifference.com in response to "Damned Big Difference," a site hosted by Americans for Democratic Action (ADA).
Green Hopefuls Visit Fair
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Syracuse Post Standard -- 9/3/02. New York state should increase taxes for people who make more than $80,000 a year, collect a percentage of gross assets from companies doing business with the New York Stock Exchange, eliminate sales taxes and stop using property taxes to pay for education, the Green Party candidate for governor said Monday.
New York Teen Goes Green
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Daily Messenger (Canandaiga) -- 9/10/02. Fourteen-year-old Nick Miller of Clifton Springs has taken an interest in the newly formed Green Party of Ontario County. He supports the party's stands on health care and cleaning up the environment.
Greens at Earth Summit Challenge International Trade Authority
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Citing Disastrous Environmental and Economic Policies. Eight demands addressing global ecology and economy to be presented at Johannesburg Summit; Greens will also introduce a petition for statehood for the District of Columbia.
Candidate LaBruna's Letter to Buffalo News on Global Warming
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The Buffalo News -- 8/16/02. Too often, when dealing with a gradual worldwide trend, it is easy to forget how drastically we will be impacted locally.
The Greens' Man for Governor
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NY Press. Fortunately, there is now an alternative candidate whose presence on the November ballot gives a choice to intelligent voters fed up with the petty squabbling of brain-dead politics-as-usual: Stanley Aronowitz.
Beware of GATS -- Greed without Limits
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By Ralph Nader from Counterpunch. The ultimate downfall of the corporate globalizers may be that they know no limits. Not satisfied with imposing pull-down agreements on the trade in goods, Big Business is looking to do the same thing for services through the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).
