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ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION
Alerts for November 1 - November 7, 2000




Letter to Gore                                 Hawaiian Islands Coral                       California Activist Network
from U'wa Girlfriend                       Reefs Need Protection                        Action Alert

DNC Uses U'wa for                          Sharks in Trouble                                Biopiracy or Bioprospecting?
Political Gain

ENS News Nov 1                             NRDC Legislative Watch                      Protect Chugach National Forest      
                                                       

Stellar Sea Lions                             Protect Arctic Wildlife                          Nader Statement on U'wa & Oxy
Still not in Clear                               Refuge

Sierra Club Action #268                   ENS News Nov 2                                   Bush Arrested 3X for theft,
                                                                                                                     Drunk Driving, Disorderly Conduct

Sierra Club Action #269                   LCV Vote Environment                         Sierra Club Action #270     
                                                        Update

DENlines Issue #27                           EarthNet Election Issue                         ENS News Nov 3

Protect the Gray Wolf                      Sierra Club Action #271                        Oxy Begins Drilling on U'wa Land

ENS News Nov 6                              Stop the Global Doomsday                   Urgent! Mexican Environmentalists
                                                        Machine                                                Lives in Danger

ENS News Nov 7




from Rainforest Action Network November 1, 2000

Abbey Reyes is the girlfriend of Terence Freitas who was kidnapped and
murdered from U'wa territory in March of 1999.  She has continued to
support the U'wa but wrote this letter as a concerned individual rather
than the representative of any organization.
- Patrick, RAN


October 31, 2000

The Honorable Al Gore
Vice President
Office of the Vice President, OEOB
Washington, DC 20501


Dear Vice President Gore:

Thank you for responding to my letter regarding the various roles you
personally play in the Colombian indigenous U. wa community. s struggle
against Occidental Petroleum. I appreciate your condolences on Terence. s
assassination for serving the U. wa in that struggle. I have passed on the
heartfelt sentiment to his family.

Please know that I was conflicted in writing this reply letter. To raise
this issue again may add a drop of encouragement and incentive for you to
take action on behalf of the U. wa. On the other hand, raising this issue
again, at this juncture, may contribute a drop, albeit small, to the growing
torrent of discontent whose sudden weight now threatens to tip the scales in
a way that could ultimately spell an even more bleak future for the U. wa and
most other marginalized communities at home and abroad. I choose to reply
now regardless.  I single you out as a focus for this solicitation not
solely because of your late father. s estate or your family. s 30 year
relationship with Occidental. I single you out because, contrary to the
seasoned analysis from most of my colleagues,  I continue to believe that a
leader with your expressed values and sensibility wants to do better by the
earth, and can. Please read this reply from that vantage.

I thought about your letter recently while listening to you stress your
commitment to protecting the . environmental treasures of our country. from
domestic oil production and your determination . to fight for all the people,
not just the few.. Your words caused my imagination to stretch from Alaska
to northeastern Colombia, where Colombian troops encircle a patch of
disputed land, keeping the unarmed indigenous people and farmers who own
that land outside, in order to protect the movements of a US oil company
within. In your letter, you convey that you are . deeply concerned about the
U. wa. and that the highest levels of leadership within the Colombian
government . understand our concerns.. I believe you are sincerely concerned.
However, juxtaposed with both your public silence and your administration. s
very loud contrary actions of military escalation in Colombia, I find your
words of concern on the U. wa issue difficult to accept at face value.

My concern is the social genocide taking place in the Colombian countryside,
against which the U. wa community. s struggle to protect their land from oil
exploitation has become a popular symbol of resistance. This social genocide
is being carried out under the banner of globalization, from economic
policies marginalizing poor farmers to the hoarding of land by Colombian
elites speculating on the promise of mega-project developments. Greatly
aiding this social genocide, which has also produced more than 2 million
internally displaced Colombians, is the legal and extra-legal armed
conflict. My concern is that the US version of Plan Colombia, under the
banner of the drug war, ties extensive military aid to Colombia. s
willingness to open it. s petroleum resources to foreign corporations. As
such, Plan Colombia amplifies that movement swiftly changing the face of the
agrarian landscape, providing perfect circumstances for an oil company, once
again, to use the chaos of war to settle in, as indigenous communities such
as the U. wa are wiped off the map in the process.

I understand that it may have been difficult to raise such concerns with the
Colombian government, given your administration. s role in tailoring Plan
Colombia and Occidental. s similar role as one of Plan Colombia. s most
aggressive private sector advocates. You have said that you . will be
watching this situation every step of the way.. I am afraid that perhaps,
contrary to your best intention, you may have missed some important markers
in the U. wa case. Throughout last spring and summer, while the legal status
of the oil project fluctuated in Colombian courts, the U. wa were joined by
thousands of students, clergy, farmers unions, national legislators, local
Occidental workers, and other natives of Colombia and Ecuador to
non-violently protest Occidental. s militarized construction activities and
the political milieu Plan Colombia set to condone such aggressions. At the
same time in Washington, 25 Members of Congress co-signed a letter to
President Pastrana calling for him . to halt construction of the well site
until [his] administration can guarantee that this project will violate
neither the U. wa peoples. fundamental human rights nor the environment upon
which their lives depend.. More recently, a delegation of European
parliamentarians went to the drill site itself to monitor the situation.

None of these actions, however, has succeeded in preventing the escalation
of armed violence in the zone and attempted legal manipulation of the
community. Last month, in a move to ease the requirements to begin drilling,
the Colombian government illegally changed the zoning of the U. wa land. A
few days later, U. wa leaders presented the government with archival evidence
of colonial titles for that land from 1661. These 14 . Royal Land Deeds,.
issued by the King of Spain, recognize the pre-existing rights of indigenous
people in Colombia, including claims to sub-surface resources . claims which
later Colombian laws uphold. When met with this documentation, the Colombian
national ministers sat in silence. They had no reply. Their reply came
implicitly two weeks later, when Colombia poured massive military resources
into protection of the final move of Occidental. s equipment into place for
drilling.

It is often said that, despite your concern about this issue, your hands are
tied. It. s your mother. s Occidental stock. You are not the trustee. I try
not to imagine what tied hands look like. Terence. s wrists were bound with
rope when they shot him. It sounds as though the corporate hold tying your
hands may have a similar texture to the weave. The difference is, of course,
that that which binds you is a figure of speech. To underscore my conviction
that freeing one. s self from that voluntary bondage is prerequisite to
working for peace, or for being the champion of anything as noble as
environmental treasures and all people, I offer you an image I have of
Terence during the week of the abduction.

I have an image of  Terence captive in the cloud forest being walked toward
the Venezuelan boarder. At a certain moment, he turned his energy inward to
himself, paying detailed attention to breathing in and breathing out. He was
walking himself through the process of balancing all accounts, living
forgiveness, and actively invoking compassion. I have an image of him coming
to face the bullets with that compassion intact, flowing freely into the
blood soaked earth.  I ask myself daily whether I am living in a way that is
worthy of my freedom, that which was taken abruptly from Terence and his
colleagues, and that which is being taken systematically from the U. wa and
other local peoples in Colombia in the name of oil poorly camouflaged under
the banner of economic globalization and the war on drugs.

I invite you to practice walking yourself through this self-examination.
Take inspiration from a source meaningful in your own life. The national
leader I am looking for exhibits the fruits of this contemplation through
acute awareness of the interconnectedness of all life, with political action
underpinned by and consistent with this principle. Environmental treasures
and all people. Alaska, a Colombian cloud forest. US consumers, South
American indigenous elders. Interconnected. Looking deeply in this way may
awaken your understanding that,  despite the contrary rules of the global
marketplace in which you maneuver, this age-old premise of interconnection
continues to fuel the political action of peoples. movements to defend
human, biological, and knowledge diversity at the base of this country and
around the globe. Models for that kind of ethical leadership exist. I want
to believe that you aspire to be that kind of leader. Taking action on
behalf of this obscure community in a country whose name most of us
northerners have trouble spelling might provide you good practice.

Your power to influence the outcome of the U. wa crisis extends beyond your
professed impotence regarding the Occidental stock your father put in trust
for your mother. Your father served that company for close to three decades.
You, in many ways, carry the legacy of your father. You have acted, perhaps,
with respect to this company in the way you remember your father having
acted. I am calling on you to do even better than your father did. Recognize
the things he did well in his career of public service. Honor those acts.
Also recognize the things he did not do so well. Acknowledge to yourself the
role he played, as a shareholder and corporate executive, in creating
suffering in the places aversely affected by that company and its
subsidiaries during his tenure, including Love Canal, including the U. wa
territory.  Commit yourself to doing better than your father did.

In the best circumstances, each generation builds on where the last
generation left off . both within a family and within a nation. You are in a
prime position, in your family and in your nation, to do better. Those of us
young people watching you move through this moment silent on the U. wa issue
are, in many ways, your continuation. We would rather build upon your good
acts than have to take up the mantle from where your father. s generation
left off. We do not want to inherit a model of environmental leadership
stuck in the last generation. I am calling on you to make different choices.
Use the crisis on U. wa land as an opportunity to do what you genuinely know
is right to do. I am calling on your daughters and wife to support you in
this effort. I am calling on the brothers and sisters of our nation to bear
witness and to support you should you choose to act on behalf of the U. wa
community.

I stand firmly rooted in compassion for the fear and stress you must endure
as a leader of this country. I stand firmly rooted as witness of that
unfathomable terror that strikes when one realizes the hands are tied. I
stand firmly rooted in the belief that liberation from those bonds is not
only possible, but necessary for the continuation of life. It. s a metaphor,
and it. s real. It is anything but a platitude. You have a duty. Please step
up to it.

Sincerely,

Abby Reyes

from Rainforest Action Network November 1, 2000

IN THIS POST :
1. Statement from the UDWG 10/31/00
2. Spencer Adler's second statement - retraction
3. Spencer Adler's original statement
(reprinted for educational purposes only)


DNC CIRCULATES LETTER FROM FAKE U'WA ATTORNEY!

DON'T BE FOOLED!

AL GORE STILL HASN'T TAKEN ACTION FOR THE U'WA!

Call/fax the Vice President's office in D.C.
phone 202-456-2326
fax 202-456-2685

Tell him to support the rights of the U'wa people NOW
by calling for an end to Oxy's drilling project.

If you see the erroneous op-ed (#3 below) printed in your
local paper please respond.  Write them a letter with the truth
about Al Gore's complicity with Oxy's plans to drill on U'wa land.
Urge the paper to print the U'wa letter to Al Gore
and let us know!
Contact organize@ran.org  415-398-4404/1-800-989-RAIN

To see the latest pictures from the drillsite check out
http://www.ran.org/ran_campaigns/beyond_oil/oxy/index.html
and click on "U'wa Photo Gallery"
To get a copy of the U'wa letter to Al Gore from Oct 6
www.amazonwatch.org

exciting actions are happening around the country!  5 activists
arrested after an 8 hour non-violent occupation of Gore SF HQ.
Demonstrations in MN, NH and WI.  More to come!
The U'wa need us to be their voice!
Keep up the pressure!

----------------------------------------------------------------------
#1

10/31/00
U'wa Defense Working Group

DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMITTEE USES U'WA FOR POLITICAL GAIN
-RESPONSE TO LETTER BY SPENCER ADLER-

The letter by Spencer Adler that has circulated today is false and
misleading.  As Mr. Adler has subsequently admitted, he has never
represented the U'wa, and certainly did not speak for them in his letter.
Of greater concern to us, however, is the misuse of the letter by the
Democratic National Committee, and the continued refusal of Al Gore to take
a stand to protect the U'wa.

The Democratic National Committee, by widely circulating this false and
misleading statement, has deliberately used the U'wa people for their own
political gain.  Members of the DNC were immediately contacted about the
misstatements in Mr. Adler's letter, but refused to retract the statement.

The UDWG is nonpartisan and does not endorse any political candidate.
Several member organizations have been conducting a campaign to bring the
urgent plight of the U'wa people to the attention of Vice President Al Gore
for the last 2 Ŋ years - and to demand action from him because of his
longstanding relationship with Occidental Petroleum, and his professed
concern for the environment.

The Vice President's responses to citizens on this issue have been
misleading.
Our organizations believe Al Gore has a specific responsibility to act on
this
issue because of his personal and political connections to Occidental
Petroleum.
His failure to respond in any substantive way is a direct threat to the
survival
of the U. wa people.

The Vice President's deep and complex relationship with Occidental Petroleum
is well documented and beyond question. Decades of payments from Oxy to Gore
for land never mined, current Oxy CEO Irani in the Lincoln bedroom, Gore
Sr.'s 28 years as an Occidental employee, the favors from former Oxy CEO
Armand Hammer, and the lingering questions regarding Gore's role in the sale
of federal lands to Oxy, all give credible weight to the Center for Public
Integrity's assertion that "there is probably no company in America today
that is as close personally and financially to the Vice President as
Occidental Petroleum." (See the Center for Public Integrity -
http://www.publicintegrity.org/>>)

Regarding the shares of Occidental in his father's estate Al Gore has been
completely disingenuous and deliberately evasive. Rather than respond to
citizen concerns on this issue, Al Gore has cynically attempted to evade
responsibility by appointing his brother in law Frank Hunger the trustee of
his the estate, just days after an ABC News piece on this issue.

The Vice President attempts to argue further that his direction to the
Secretary of State to raise this issue with Colombian President Pastrana
constitutes substantive action. There is no independent evidence of this
ever happening, and even if there was, the fact remains that not only did
the Clinton/Gore administration pass the Plan Colombia aid package, but that
it was approved by waving the human rights conditions of the law. To
President Pastrana, the concerns must be as clear as day.  In short, actions
speak louder than words.

We urgently call on the Vice President to address this issue in a
substantive manner by immediately demanding suspension of this controversial
project.

For More Information Contact:
Martin Wagner, Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund (who IS the U'wa's lawyer),
415-627-6700 x216;
Steve Kretzmann, Amazon Watch, 510-551-7953 (mobile);
Shannon Wright, Rainforest Action Network, 415-596-7246 (mobile)

The U. wa Defense Working Group is: Action Resource Center, Amazon Watch,
Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, U. wa Defense Project, Project Underground,
Rainforest Action Network


####

-------------------------------------------------------------
#2 APOLOGY AND RETRACTION FROM SPENCER ADLER

A Challenge:

This morning, entirely upon my own volition, and representing only myself as
an individual, I wrote an opinion piece for submission to the big college
papers in the swing states of Oregon, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

I do not represent the U'Wa tribe. In their own words, the U'Wa have penned
a
letter to Al Gore. Read it. The link is at www.amazonwatch.org.

I encourage you to send this email clarification to all of your lists, as it
contains important information that could help the tribe.

What do any of us do for them by inserting their struggle into the center of
the US presidential race? That's yet to be determined. But in Washington,
the
downtown FedEx office closes at 8:45. I'll be there by then to drop off a
five thousand dollar check for the U'Wa, and I challenge everyone who says
they care - Ralph Nader and Al Gore included - to do the same, commensurate
with their means. My check is being made payable to:

"Amazon Watch - U'Wa Fund"
115 South Topanga Canyon Blvd.
Suite E
Topanga, California 90290
(310)455-0617

My role in this case has been minor - drafting the shareholder resolution
and
backing it up. There are those who have given there lives - U'Wa lives, as
well as the three Americans who were kidnapped and murdered last year while
on a mission of peace and justice.

The primary lawyer for the U'Wa from the very beginning - well before I'd
even heard of this case - is Martin Wagner of EarthJustice, in San
Francisco.
The tribe couldn't possibly have a better guide through the labyrinth that
is
the Colombian and international systems of justice. When I phoned him this
evening to tell him of the uses and misuses to which my opinion piece had
been subjected, his greatest concern was "How can we use this to help the
U'Wa?"

Writing a check is the way.

-Spencer Adler, Esq.
Washington, DC

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-

note : We are reprinting this piece of misinformed electioneering for
educational
purposes only. It is riddled with incorrect information which is addressed
in UDWG
statement above and previous statements.   The member groups of the UDWG do
not
endorse any candidate or attempt to tell the public how to vote.

#3

Why I won't vote for Ralph Nader

(October 31, 2000) Three years ago, I heard the story of a tribe from the
cloudforest of Colombia - five thousand people threatening to leap off a
cliff in mass suicide if oil drilling took place on their land.

Their plight moved me, and I got involved. I was the original attorney who
took up their case against Occidental Petroleum, of Los Angeles. I wrote the
shareholder resolution against the company, and spoke at the annual
shareholder meetings on their behalf. Last year, I was horrified when three
Americans working on the case were kidnapped in Colombia, and murdered.

As it happens, Al Gore's family has long-standing ties to Occidental, for
which Ralph Nader has loudly criticized the vice president, pleading with
environmentalists to vote for himself, instead.

When his campaign began, Nader promised not to be the spoiler - not to pull
away from Gore the critical votes that might tip the balance in any swing
state. Unfortunately, that's exactly what he's doing - targeting the
undecided voters in the undecided states in one of the closest races in
history. Despite the fact that Nader himself owns Occidental stock through
his Fidelity investments, much of his anti-Gore rhetoric focuses on the vice
president's Occidental connection.

Nader's campaign now has every chance to lose the election for Al Gore. In
fact, the republicans recognize this vulnerability, and have hired a
Washington public relations firm to place Nader ads in crucial undecided
markets.

Once this election is behind us, most of the people who today are
impassioned
over the U'Wa cause will move on. Ralph Nader will move on. The voters will
move on. I, on the other hand, will lobby either the Gore team or the Bush
team, depending upon who wins. Gore in the past has directed Madeline
Albright to pressure the Colombian government for justice for the U'Wa, and
I'm convinced that if he wins the election, he will do more. His team is far
from perfect. But they'll return my calls and try to come up with a
solution.
Bush's team won't. Ralph Nader claims there is no difference between the
candidates. But from my perspective, this difference is as big as the
rainforest itself.

If you live in a state where the vote is a foregone conclusion, you may want
to vote for Nader to make a point. Or you may want to help the Green Party
get the five percent of the vote they'll need to get federal funding four
years from now. But if you live in a state where the race is close, don't
even think of voting for Nader to help the U'Wa tribe he so righteously
hides
behind. You won't be helping them. Instead, you'll be sacrificing the
tribe's
best interests for Ralph Nader's. And the U'Wa won't owe you their thanks.
You'll owe them your apology.

from Environment News Service November 1, 2000

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE (ENS)      http://ens-news.com

               "We Cover the Earth For You"
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Arctic Drilling Proposal Sparks Heated Debate

By Brian Hansen

WASHINGTON, DC, November 1, 2000 (ENS) - The debate over  opening the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge to oil development came  to the National Press Club
in Washington today, as a top Clinton  Administration official and a
powerful Republican Senator outlined two  very different views of the
contentious election year issue.

For Full Text and Graphics Visit:  http://ens.lycos.com

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Tanker Carrying Toxic Cargo Sinks in Channel

ALDERNEY, Channel Islands, United Kingdom, October 31, 2000
(ENS) - A tanker carrying 6,021 tonnes of toxic chemicals sunk this
morning in ferocious storms 18 kilometers (10 miles) northwest of the
Channel island of Alderney.

For Full Text and Graphics Visit:  http://ens.lycos.com

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New Setback in UK Plans to Market GM Corn

LONDON, United Kingdom, November 1, 2000 (ENS) - Plans to allow genetically
modified maize (corn) to be commercially grown and marketed in the United
Kingdom ran into trouble Tuesday when the government admitted that basic
test data does not meet minimum legal requirements.

For Full Text and Graphics Visit:  http://ens.lycos.com

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Zambian Authorities in Quarry Quandary

By Singy Hanyona

LUSAKA, Zambia, November 1, 2000 (ENS) - Illegal quarrying in Lusaka is
leaving the Zambian capital pitted with ditches that are increasingly
threatening people's health.

For Full Text and Graphics Visit:  http://ens.lycos.com

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U.S. County Payments Finally Divorced from Logging

WASHINGTON, DC, November 1, 2000 (ENS) - A new law nearly severs a long
standing link between logging on federal lands and funding for rural
schools. The Secure Rural Schools and Self-Determination Act, signed Monday
by President Bill Clinton, provides a steady stream of funds for rural
communities regardless of federal timber sales receipts.

For Full Text and Graphics Visit:  http://ens.lycos.com

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Southern Ocean's Toothfish Damned by Toothless Legislation

HOBART, Tasmania, Australia, November 1, 2000 (ENS) - Dead seabirds and two
tonnes of longline fishing gear greeted delegates to the annual meeting of
Antarctica's foremost conservation body, Tuesday.

For Full Text and Graphics Visit:  http://ens.lycos.com

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AMERISCAN

$300 Million Initiative Will Boost Biofuels

Bioenergy Center Coordinates Research, Development Efforts

World Bank Urged to Bar Fossil Fuels Projects

Dioxin Review Panel Includes Industry Supported Scientists

Proposals Sought for Depleted Uranium Processing Plants

EPA Honors Efforts Against Global Warming, Ozone Depletion

Park Service Recognizes Distinguished Service

Water System Operators Penalized for Abandoning Customers

Television Ad Challenges Bush to Support Clean Air

Grocers Ban Caviar from Endangered Wild Sturgeon


For Full Text and Graphics Visit:  http://ens.lycos.com

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2000 All Rights Reserved.

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          SEND NEWS STORY TIPS TO news@ens-news.com

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TO BUSINESS, ENVIRONMENTAL AND AUTO EDITORS:

                 U.S. EPA Awards Honda for Climate Protection

    WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 -/E-Wire/-- Honda Motor Company and the Honda
Insight, the first gas-electric hybrid vehicle sold in the U.S., received the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's "2000 Climate Protection Award for
Leadership and Technical Innovation" on Oct. 31, at a special ceremony in the
nation's capital. Honda was one of 15 recipients to be honored for
demonstrating environmental leadership.

    /CONTACT:  Michael Tebo of American Honda, Washington, DC, 202-554-1650/

For Full Text Visit:  http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Nov00/01Nov0004.html

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       E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE
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TO AUTO, BUSINESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:

                  Volkswagen Unveils Its First Fuel-Cell Car
         At the Grand Opening of the California Fuel Cell Partnership

    SACRAMENTO, Calif., Nov. 1 -/E-Wire/-- Volkswagen, a leader in the
development of environmentally friendly technologies in Europe and across the
globe, showed the world its first fuel-cell car during the opening of the
California Fuel Cell Partnership Headquarters in Sacramento, Calif.

    /CONTACT:  Tony Fouladpour of Volkswagen of America, Inc., 248-340-5964,
or cell, 248-797-1344/

For Full Text Visit:  http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Nov00/01Nov0003.html

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TO AUTO, BUSINESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:

DaimlerChrysler Initiates Fuel Cell Trials at a New Test Center in California

    SACRAMENTO, Calif., Nov. 1 -/E-Wire/-- In November, DaimlerChrysler
will be initiating a series of test drives in California for a new fuel cell
vehicle.  The new-generation NECAR (New Electric Car), based on the Mercedes-
Benz A-Class, was especially built for the "California Fuel Cell Partnership."
This cooperation between automotive manufacturers, government authorities and
energy suppliers has now opened a 50,000 square-foot base in Sacramento,
Calif. which serves as a development center, maintenance depot and filling
station.  The jointly organized fleet tests are being launched simultaneously.

    /CONTACT:  Annette Kleim, 49-711-17-93271, or Carol Honeycutt,
248-512-2678, both of DaimlerChrysler/         (DCX)

    /Web site:  http://www.media.daimlerchrysler.com/

For Full Text Visit:  http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Nov00/01Nov0002.html

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TO BUSINESS, AUTO AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:

             General Motors Demonstrates the Future of Fuel Cells
                  And Vehicles that Protect the Environment

    WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif., Nov. 1 -/E-Wire/-- General Motors (NYSE: GM)
displayed its commitment to developing cleaner, more environmentally sound
vehicles today by showcasing the latest advances coming from its world-class
fuel cell program.

    /CONTACT:  Jeff Kuhlman of GM Communications, 248-680-5999, email,
jeffrey.kuhlman@gm.com/        (GM)

    /Web site:  http://media.gm.com/

For Full Text Visit:  http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Nov00/01Nov0001.html

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  SEND YOUR PRESS RELEASE ON E-WIRE -- 1-888-764-NEWS
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from National Environmental Trust November 1, 2000

Steller Sea Lion Still not in the Clear!

Last week we asked you to write a free fax to President Clinton's office asking him to stand up for the endangered Steller sea lion and the Endangered Species Act (ESA). We had a great response to our call to action, but more needs to be done in order to ensure that these sea lions and the ESA are preserved.

Background

Senator Stevens from Alaska has added an amendment to one of Congress' budget bills that would bypass a court injunction and open critical Steller sea lion habitat up for trawl fishing. These sea lions are literally starving to death because their primary source of food, the pollock, is already overfished. Stevens' rider would only make the situation worse. In addition, it could cripple the ESA by setting a dangerous precedent. If the ESA is disregarded in this situation, how long will it be before politicians start to allow fishing in the habitats of other protected marine animals like the endangered manatee?

President Clinton has said that he will oppose anti-environmental riders on appropriations bills, but as budget negotiations on Capitol Hill become more heated, it becomes more and more likely that Clinton will decide to compromise with Stevens on this issue. In fact, several newspapers have already reported that Clinton's aides are working on a deal with the Senator.

You can help protect the Steller sea lion and ESA in just 2 simple steps!

1. Click on the link at the end of this e-mail or visit http://environet.policy.net/grassroots to write a FREE fax to President Clinton's office telling him not to make deals with Sen. Stevens on this issue.

2. Forward this message to all of your friends and family members who care about protecting the environment. On an issue like this, every voice counts!

Please, write your FREE fax to President Clinton TODAY! Thank you for your help.

from Sierra Club November 1, 2000

SC-ACTION Volume II, #268
DEFENDING THE ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA
October 27, 2000

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TAKE ACTION:  Help Stop Last Minute Flood Of Anti-Environmental Riders
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Final Appropriations Bills Offer Last Chance to Attach Harmful Riders

Hard to believe but true, Congress cannot seem to wrap up their business and
go home.  Republicans, Democrats and the White House are unable to reach
agreement on a handful of Appropriations bills to fund our federal
government's operations for the next fiscal year.

These remaining must-pass Appropriations bills represent the last chance for
lawmakers to slip in pet projects.  They are also prime targets for
anti-environmental riders which are cropping up by the dozens.  The Sierra
Club has been closely tracking two riders that Appropriations Chair Steven's
has been shopping around dealing with 1) Steller sea lions and 2) Snowmobile
use in our National Parks.  It was rumored that these harmful riders would
find a home in the Commerce State Justice Appropriations bill.  That bill
passed last night however, free of either provision.

The Stevens sea lion rider would stymie Endangered Species Act protections
for the endangered Steller sea lion.  Since the 1960s, the population of
Steller sea lions has declined by well over 80 percent (140,000 in 1960 to
16,259 in 1998).  The proposed rider would delay efforts to recover the
Steller sea lion for at least two more years, placing them that much closer
to extinction.

Yet another Steven's rider would subvert the National Park Service's ability
to protect our parks. The rider would proclaim snowmobiling "an established,
traditional and legitimate means of visitor uses and enjoyment" and
permanently force the noisy and polluting machines into pristine parks such
as Yellowstone (ID, MT, WY), Mt. Rainier and Olympic (WA), Zion (UT), and
Acadia (ME).  Sen. Daschle has a so-called compromise version of this rider
that would force the Park Service to accept snowmobiling in 28 parks for the
next year and allow it to continue in Yellowstone for the next three years.

These harmful riders are now part of an infamous list of 221 riders that may
ultimately be attached to the final spending bill left to be approved,
Labor-HHS Appropriations.  That list includes many issues that Sierra Club
activists have been working on for years including:

Animas La Plata Project "The Colorado Ute Settlement Act"
Emigrant Wilderness Preservation Act of 1999
Steller Sea Lions
San Rafael Swell NCA
Environmental Streamlining Act (S 3173)
TEA-21 eligibility for Alaska Native Corporations
Beverage Alcohol Exclusion (EPA)
West Mojave Desert CA Transfer Jurisdiction "Ft. Irwin Expansion"
Snowmobiles in National Parks
National Uniformity of Food Act
Dioxin Assessment
GE Contaminated Sediment Rider
Deep Draft Dredging Cost Share Change
Beach Renourishment Recreation Policy Change Flood Control Policy Change
Army Corps Expansion of Jurisdiction for Environmental Infrastructure Huna
Totem Corporation, S 426
Alaska Native Corporation Consultation in Forest Planning
University of Alaska Land Grab (S. 744, and H.R. 2958)
Alaska Native Cemetery and Historical Sites

The White House has been strong in expressing their opposition to any
environmental riders and has sent a strongly-worded letter to the Hill.
There are also sign-on letters from both Democrats and Republicans urging
Appropriators to reject this latest crop of riders. But you can add your
voice to the choir:

****TAKE ACTION****

1) Call the White House Comment line at (202)456-1414 and urge President
Clinton to continue to stand tall against backdoor attacks on our environment
and veto any bill that contains anti-environmental riders.

2) Call Your Representatives in Congress through the Congressional
switchboard (202)224-3121 and urge them to reject anti-environmental riders
and pass clean spending bills.

**********************
----------------------------------------------------------------

Sierra Club Legislative Hotline - 202-675-2394
Sierra Club National Headquarters - 415-977-5500
Sierra Club World Wide Web - http://www.sierraclub.org
Sierra Club Vote Watch Website -http://www.sierraclub.org/votewatch/

White House Comment Line - 202-456-1111
White House Fax Line - 202-456-2461
Clinton's e-mail - president@whitehouse.gov
Gore's e-mail - vice-president@whitehouse.gov
White House Address - 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, DC 20500

US Capitol Switchboard - 202-224-3121
To contact your senators - http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index.cfm
To contact your representative - http://www.house.gov/writerep/

from Sierra Club November 1, 2000

SC-ACTION Volume II, #269
     DEFENDING THE ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA
     October 30, 2000

     ---------------------- Quote of the Day ---------------------------------

     There is no quiet place in white man's cities.  No place to hear the
     unfurling of leaves in the Spring or the rustle of an insect's wings.
                                                -- Chief Seattle

     Go now to your quiet place of nature and remind yourself what you're
     fighting for.
                                                -- anonymous

     ---------------------- Table of Contents --------------------------------

     1) STOP SNOWMOBILE ANTI-ENVIRONMENTAL RIDER
     2) PROTECT THE GRAY WOLF
     3) STOP ANTI-ENVIRONMENTAL RIDERS
     4) HELP "CARA" BE FOR CONSERVATION, NOT FOR ANTI-ENVIRONMENTAL PORK
     5) SEND PRES. CLINTON AN E-POSTCARD ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING & ENERGY
     6) PROTECT HORSESHOE CRABS -- COMMENT DEADLINE TOMORROW - OCT 31st!

     ----------------------- Action Items ---------------------------------

     1) STOP SNOWMOBILE ANTI-ENVIRONMENTAL RIDER

     In the waning days of the 106th Congress, three Western senators are
     using stealth political tactics to try to accomplish what the
     snowmobile industry could not do during two years of public meetings
     and input: ensure the perpetual use of these noisy machines in
     Yellowstone and other national parks.

     Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), Sen. Craig Thomas (R-WY) and Sen. Tom Daschle
     (D-SD) are attempting to attach a rider to one of several end-of-term
     spending bills that would prevent the Park Service from reducing or
     eliminating use of these noisy and polluting machines in Sequoia and
     Kings Canyon, Rocky Mountain, Olympic and Crater Lake national parks.

     It's time for lovers of solitude, silence, and wildlife to stand up
     for the national parks. It's especially important that Senator Tom
     Daschle, senate minority leader, hear from those who believe in public
     land protection. One the major snowmobile manufacturers, Polaris, has
     a factory in Daschle's state, but there's more at stake here. More
     than 46,000 citizens in all 50 states commented on the use of
     snowmobiles in the parks, and that public process determined that
     phasing out snowmobiles is necessary to uphold laws, executive orders
     and regulations intended to protect our national parks.

     TAKE ACTION: please call these senators today.

     Sen. Tom Daschle  202-224-6441
     tom_daschle@daschle.senate.gov

     Sen. Craig Thomas 202-224-6441
     craig@thomas.senate.gov

     Sen. Ted Stevens  202-224-3004
     senator_stevens@stevens.senate.gov


     2) PROTECT THE GRAY WOLF!

     U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Proposing to End Wolf Protection!
     FWS plans to significantly weaken protections by first "downlisting"
     the wolf from threatened to endangered and then "delisting" by
     completely removing the wolf from the Endangered Species List, even in
     places where wolf populations have recently declined. Once the
     population of wolves throughout seven western states reaches a mere 30
     breeding pairs, delisting action would begin (the wolf would be
     completely delisted) and wolf management and future reintroduction
     efforts would be handed over to hostile western state governments. The
     proposal would also allow the FWS to enact special regulations that
     make it even easier for wolves to be legally killed by private
     individuals as well as by agency personnel.

     TAKE ACTION:  Please write and tell FWS it's WAY too soon to delist
     wolves! Comments must be received by November 13, 2000
     Your comments on the proposal can be sent by e-mail to:
     graywolfcomments@fws.gov SUBJECT LINE MUST SAY "WOLF COMMENTS" Or, by
     mail to:
     Content Analysis Enterprise Team
     Wolf Comments
     200 East Broadway
     PO Box 7669, Room 301
     Missoula, Montana 59807
     Or, by fax to: 406-329-3021
     To send your message electronically from the Sierra Club website,
     please go to:
     http://www.sierraclub.org/takeaction/wildlands/index3.asp


     3) Stop Last Minute Flood of Anti-Environmental Riders

     Final Appropriations Bills Offer Last Chance to Attach Harmful Riders

     Yes, the light above the Capitol is still lit which means Congress is
     still in town and unable to come to resolution over a handful of
     Appropriations bills. Negotiations at this hour are focused on the
     huge Labor-HHS appropriations bill.

     This must-pass appropriation bill could represent the last chance for
     lawmakers to slip in pet projects.  It is also a prime target for
     anti-environmental riders which are cropping up by the dozens.  The
     Sierra Club has been closely tracking two riders that Appropriations
     Chair Stevens has been shopping around dealing with 1) Steller sea
     lions and 2) Snowmobile use in our National Parks.  Also on the radar
     screen is a rider by Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) dealing with the
     expansion of a military base at Fort Irwin in southern California that
     could encroach on prime desert tortoise habitat.

     The Stevens sea lion rider would stymie Endangered Species Act
     protections for the endangered Steller sea lion.  Since the 1960s, the
     population of Steller sea lions has declined by well over 80 percent
     (140,000 in 1960 to 16,259 in 1998).  The proposed rider would delay
     efforts to recover the Steller sea lion for at least two more years,
     placing them that much closer to extinction.

     Yet another Stevens rider would subvert the National Park Service's
     ability to protect our parks. The rider would proclaim snowmobiling
     "an established, traditional and legitimate means of visitor uses and
     enjoyment" and permanently force the noisy and polluting machines into
     pristine parks such as Yellowstone (ID, MT, WY), Mt. Rainier and
     Olympic (WA), Zion (UT), and Acadia (ME).  Sen. Daschle has a
     so-called compromise version of this rider that would force the Park
     Service to accept snowmobiling in 28 parks for the next year and allow
     it to continue in Yellowstone for the next three years.

     The proposal by Rep. Lewis would expand the Army's National Training
     Center at Fort Irwin in southern California by 131,000 acres -
     directly into "critical habitat" for the desert tortoise and other
     species protected by the Endangered Species Act. The desert tortoise
     is already in bad shape, as many of the remaining Southern California
     populations have been ravaged by disease, and federal land managers
     have failed to adequately protect tortoise habitat. Further
     encroachment into desert tortoise habitat could take that species one
     step closer toward extinction.

     These harmful riders are now part of an infamous list of 221 riders
     that may ultimately be attached to the final spending bill left to be
     approved, Labor-HHS Appropriations.  That list includes many issues
     that Sierra Club activists have been working on for years, including:

     Animas La Plata Project "The Colorado Ute Settlement Act" Emigrant
     Wilderness Preservation Act of 1999
     Steller Sea Lions
     San Rafael Swell NCA
     Environmental Streamlining Act (S 3173)
     TEA-21 eligibility for Alaska Native Corporations Beverage Alcohol
     Exclusion (EPA)
     West Mojave Desert CA Transfer Jurisdiction "Ft. Irwin Expansion"
     Snowmobiles in National Parks
     National Uniformity of Food Act
     Dioxin Assessment
     GE Contaminated Sediment Rider
     Deep Draft Dredging Cost Share Change
     Beach Renourishment Recreation Policy Change Flood Control Policy
     Change Army Corps Expansion of Jurisdiction for Environmental
     Infrastructure Huna Totem Corporation, S 426
     Alaska Native Corporation Consultation in Forest Planning University
     of Alaska Land Grab (S. 744, and H.R. 2958) Alaska Native Cemetery and
     Historical Sites

     The White House has been strong in expressing their opposition to any
     environmental riders and has sent a strongly-worded letter to the
     Hill. There are also sign-on letters from both Democrats and
     Republicans urging Appropriators to reject this latest crop of riders.
     But you can add your voice to the choir:

     TAKE ACTION:

     -- Call the White House Comment line at (202)456-1414 and urge
     President Clinton to continue to stand tall against backdoor attacks
     on our environment and veto any bill that contains anti-environmental
     riders.

     -- Call Your Representatives in Congress through the Congressional
     switchboard (202)224-3121 and urge them to reject anti-environmental
     riders and pass clean spending bills.


     4) MORE "CARA" FUNDING WORKS ITS WAY INTO APPROPRIATIONS - HELP MAKE
     SURE IT'S FOR CONSERVATION, AND NOT FOR ANTI-ENVIRONMENTAL PORK

     The road toward dedicated "conservation" funding took another turn
     last week, unfortunately mostly in the wrong direction. As you may
     know, the Interior appropriations bill enacted earlier this fall
     provided enhanced funding levels for many important conservation
     programs (including at least $550 million/year for the popular Land
     and Water Conservation Fund) and included provisions that will
     encourage the Congress to consistently fund these programs for the
     next six years. This funding initiative was largely styled after the
     popular "Conservation and Reinvestment Act" ("CARA"), but fortunately
     dropped out dangerous provisions from CARA that would have threatened
     our fragile coasts with increased oil drilling and the construction of
     destructive infrastructure projects. While the Interior bill funding
     does fall far short of our goal of obtaining long-term full funding
     ($900 million/year) for the LWCF, the Sierra Club was pleased to see a
     significant increase in funding go through without the
     anti-environmental provisions of CARA.

     Unfortunately, some in Congress are pressing to have the worst parts
     of CARA tacked on to another appropriations bill.  As a result, the
     Commerce, Justice, State (CJS) appropriations bill recently passed by
     both the House and Senate includes an additional $420 million for
     various ocean and coastal "conservation" programs. While this
     proposal, also styled after CARA's coastal provisions, sounds good on
     paper, a large chunk of this money could actually be spent on
     infrastructure projects that would destroy fragile coastal wetlands
     and fish habitat, and would cause pollution in sensitive coastal
     waters.

     TAKE ACTION:
     Billed as "conservation funding," ocean and coastal funding in the CJS
     bill could add up to nothing but anti-environmental pork if not
     designed properly. President Clinton has promised to veto the CJS bill
     for other reasons. Please contact the White House and urge him to
     carry out this threat if the bill reaches his desk. More importantly,
     urge him to include concerns about ocean and coastal funding in his
     veto message. Specifically, the President should insist on a standard
     to ensure that coastal funding is used to restore and protect coastal
     environments, and not for projects that will do further damage to our
     valuable and threatened coastlines.

     Information for contacting the White House can be found at the end of
     this message.


     5) SEND PRES. CLINTON AN E-POSTCARD ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING & ENERGY

     A new report by the world's leading climate scientists paints a
     frightening picture of the Earth's climate unless we begin cutting
     global warming pollution now.  The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
     Change (IPCC) raised the estimated temperature increases and stated
     clearly that human-caused pollution has already begun warming the
     globe.  Climate experts now predict that the Earth's average
     temperature could increase by up to 11 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100!

     TAKE ACTION:  Concerned about global warming changing the world's
     climate, disrupting weather systems, causing drought, floods,
     spreading disease and threatening the survival of countless species?
     Use Climate Voice to send President Clinton an e-postcard urging him
     to use November's climate summit to reduce the pollution that causes
     global warming.  Climate Voice is a new cooperative campaign between
     environmentalists around the world to build pressure for more action
     against global warming at November's Climate Summit.

     This November, when climate negotiators gather in The Hague,
     Netherlands they will either strengthen or weaken the Kyoto Global
     Warming Treaty.  We need to use Climate Voice to send the world's
     leaders the message that we want them to honor the commitment made
     under the Kyoto Protocol to reduce emissions of global warming gases.

     You can send a Climate Voice E-postcard from the Sierra Club's global
     warming web site and clicking on the link "It's time to turn down the
     heat":  www.sierraclub.org/globalwarming
     Send President Clinton an e-postcard today!


     6) PROTECT HORSESHOE CRABS -- COMMENT DEADLINE TOMORROW - OCT 31st!

     Your help is urgently needed to ensure that horseshoe crabs (HSC) get
     their marine reserve off the mouth of the Delaware Bay. We need your
     help to get the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to declare
     this a Reserve immediately.  Although the Reserve is supported by the
     Governors of New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland and the Atlantic States
     Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) it is up to the NMFS's to
     establish the Reserve and they must hear from you by October 31.

     BACKGROUND AND TALKING POINTS:

     The HSC is a bottom dwelling arthropod that utilizes estuarine and
     continental shelf habitats. Its range in North America extends from
     the Gulf of Maine to the Yucatan Peninsula with the Delaware Bay
     hosting the worlds largest concentration of spawning HSC's.

     The HSC is estimated to be approximately 400 million years old and
     they play an important ecological role in the food web for migrating
     shorebirds, finfish, and the Atlantic loggerhead sea turtles, a
     federally listed (threatened) species.

     HSC's are also beneficial to humans in that they have been used in eye
     research, surgical sutures wound dressing development and detection of
     bacterial endotoxins  in drugs and intravenous devices.

     Since 1995 the conservation community started working to establish a
     fishery management plan (FMP) to try and establish sustainable harvest
     quotas and provide essential habitat protection for the HSC's. The
     reason for this was our fear of overexploitation of an unregulated
     fishery.

     Horseshoe crabs are harvested for bait in the American eel, whelk
     (conch),and catfish fisheries. In 1998 an FMP was established by the
     ASMFC. Although this FMP is a step in the right direction it still has
     a long way to go.

     During the period in their lifcycle when they are outside of the
     Delaware Bay and on the continental shelf commercial trawlers are
     taking many of them before they can reach sexual maturity to spawn.

     This is a major reason the Reserve is needed. In doing this it will
     help assure that the juveniles and virgin adults will stand a better
     chance of survival. To NMFS's credit it is important to note that they
      recognize that the scientific data is incomplete but that all signs
     point to a decline in the species and because of that are exercising
     the precautionary principle and erroring on the side of conservation.

     TAKE ACTION: Please fax a short letter to:

     Mr. Richard H. Schaefer, Chief,
     Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries
     National Marine Fisheries Service
     8484 Georgia Avenue  Suite 425
     Silver Spring, MD  20910
     301-427-2014 (T)
     301-427-2313 (F)

     __________________

     FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
     Mike D'Amico
     Sierra Club Wild Atlantic Project
     mike.damico@sierraclub.org (E)

     -----------------------------------------------------------------

     Sierra Club Legislative Hotline - 202-675-2394
     Sierra Club National Headquarters - 415-977-5500
     Sierra Club World Wide Web - http://www.sierraclub.org
     Sierra Club Vote Watch Website - http://www.sierraclub.org/votewatch/

     White House Comment Line - 202-456-1111
     White House Fax Line - 202-456-2461
     Clinton's e-mail - president@whitehouse.gov
     Gore's e-mail - vice-president@whitehouse.gov
     White House Address - 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, DC 20500

     US Capitol Switchboard - 202-224-3121
     To contact your senators - http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index.cfm
     To contact your representative - http://www.house.gov/writerep/

from Center for Marine Conservation November 1, 2000

 You can take action on this alert either by email or preferably on the web at:
http://actionnetwork.org/take-action.tcl?key=419220A12848B1101030136C255

Here's what this alert is about:

Monument Status Needed Now to Protect Hawaiian Coral Reefs
----------------------

Your help is needed right now to protect the outstanding
coral reefs and wildlife of the Northwestern Hawaiian
Islands. In order to guarantee strong and lasting protection
for this unique, underwater wilderness, President Clinton
needs to take historic action and designate the federal
waters surrounding the islands as a national monument
before their wild character is destroyed. Please make
your voice heard today!  

Background:

The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) are an extremely
valuable, yet fragile natural treasure. The endangered
green sea turtle, the endangered Hawaiian monk seal
and a myriad of bird species rely heavily on the islands
and surrounding waters for survival. The islands' surrounding
waters also serve as valuable nursery grounds for fish.
Protecting this region would help strengthen populations
of marine wildlife and fish in the main Hawaiian Islands.

There are serious dangers that this region is struggling
against. Resource extraction - lobster and finfish
fishing - is threatening the fragile island chain daily.
Other human posed threats such as disturbance from
vessels and visitors, shipwrecks, invading alien species,
and marine debris concentrated in the area all underscore
the vulnerability of this ecosystem.

At the end of May, President Clinton called on the
people of Hawaii and the nation to recommend management
strategies that would protect this string of exceptional
coral reefs. There was an outpouring of local, native
and national support for a strong management plan that
reflects the delicate nature of the ecosystem, and
the range of rare, threatened and endangered plants
and animals that depend on it. Over 432 people attended
federal hearings, and close to 1100 written comments
were received with one third of those specifically
mentioning their support for a management plan proposed
by the native Hawaiian group KAHEA.  

The plan would ban extractive activities and commercial
fishing in the sensitive, shallow waters of NWHI and
would prevent vessel groundings, bioprospecting, and
accidental killing of endangered turtle and bird species.
It recognizes the rights of Native Hawaiians to access
portions of the area for subsistence fishing but calls
for substantial "no-take" reserves around each of the
islands. National monument designation is the only
way to guarantee that this plan can be fully implemented.

The NWHI are one of the few remaining "wild" places
left. Help ensure that they remain that way by responding
to this alert, and sending your message of support
to the Administration. Please let them know that the
President has an opportunity to leave a visionary,
bold legacy for future generations by preserving this
magnificent area as a national monument.




----------------------

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/take-action.tcl?key=419220A12848B1101030136C255

INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPOND VIA EMAIL:
Just choose the "reply to sender" option on your email program, and edit
the letter below as you wish.  You must include the whole letter in your
response including "-YOU MAY EDIT THE LETTER BELOW-" and "-END OF
LETTER-".  Please do not add your name and address to your letter.
Action Network 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:
Mr. John Podesta


-------YOU MAY EDIT THE LETTER BELOW---------


I am writing to urge you to ensure the strongest possible
protection for the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and
their surrounding waters to a depth of at least 100
fathoms by designating the area a national monument.

The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are an extremely
valuable, yet fragile natural treasure. The endangered
green sea turtle, the endangered Hawaiian monk seal
and a myriad of bird species rely heavily on the islands
and surrounding waters for survival. The islands' surrounding
waters also include the nation's largest and most pristine
coral reefs and serve as valuable nursery grounds for
fish. Protecting this region would help strengthen
populations of marine wildlife and fish in the main
Hawaiian Islands.

The coral reefs, wildlife and fish of this area are
threatened by a number of human activities or causes
including fishing, disturbance by vessels, tourism,
invasive species and marine debris.

Only a national monument designation can ensure this
remarkable yet threatened area receives the protection
it needs. Any lesser type of designation will be a
tragic lost opportunity. Please act swiftly to protect
the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and their surrounding
waters as a national monument.


-------END OF LETTER-------------------------

Sincerely yours,

from World Wildlife November 1, 2000

Sharks in Trouble

Dear WWF Conservation Action Network Activist:

Your help is urgently needed to ensure that Congress bans shark
finning before adjourning for the year.  If legislation to ban shark
finning is not adopted within the next few days, tens of thousands of
sharks will needlessly die, and it may take years to rebuild the political
will to act.

Although sharks have dominated the oceans for more than 400 million
years and are among the oldest creatures on Earth, they are nonetheless
some of the most vulnerable animals on the planet.  In every corner of
our oceans, sharks are being taken from the sea in record numbers.  
Each year tens of thousands of sharks are killed just for their fins, the
primary ingredient in shark fin soup.  The number of sharks killed for
this purpose has increased by more than 2000 percent in one U.S.
fishery since 1991.  Unlike other fish that rapidly reproduce, sharks are
susceptible to overexploitation because they are long-lived and
produce few young.  

The Shark Finning Prohibition Act, which has been passed by the
House, would represent a giant step forward for shark conservation by
banning shark finning in all U.S. waters and committing the United
States to addressing the problem internationally.  Please go to
http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org/ to send free messages urging your
senators to pass the bill.  Thanks for helping to save our living planet.

from Global Response November 2, 2000

Dear Members of Global Response's "Quick Response Network:"

Early in 1999, Global Response collaborated with the Gwich'in people,
Alaskan environmental organizations and Greenpeace, to protest the
Northstar Project (BP Amoco's drilling in Alaska's Beaufort Sea, see Global
Response Action # 3/99 on our website: www.globalresponse.org).

Now the Gwich'in people are asking us to support them in their efforts to
gain National Monument status for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Please send a letter to president Clinton on their behalf (model letter
follows).  Thanks!


WRITE TO PRESIDENT CLINTON TO ASK NATIONAL MONUMENT STATUS FOR THE ARTIC
NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

President Clinton faces what is arguably the greatest conservation
opportunity of our time in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.  The
biological, cultural, historic and scientific attributes of the area are so
rich and uniquely entwined, and the ecological integrity of the area so
vulnerable to proposed oil development, that presidential action is fully
warranted.

The combination of sweeping landscapes and rich biological diversity found
in the Refuge, and especially its sensitive coastal plain, is unmatched
anywhere in the circumpolar North.  This extraordinary diversity stems in
part from the high mountains of the Brooks Range which swing north against
the Artic coast in northeast Alaska, compressing a full complement of Artic
and subarctic landscapes and ecosystems into one compact unit. It is home
to more than 180 species of birds, and numerous mammals including polar
bears, musk ox, wolves, wolverine, moose, Arctic and red foxes, black
bears, brown bears, and the white Dall sheep.

Most compelling, the narrow coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge is the
birthplace and nursery grounds of the Porcupine (River) caribou herd. The
pregnant cows travel hundreds of miles to this unique place to give birth,
then help their calves build strength before moving to wintering grounds in
the boreal forest to the south.  The great international migrations of the
Porcupine caribou herd evoke breathtaking comparisons to Africa's fabled
Serengeti, or to the now-lost thunder of buffalo across America's Great
Plains more than 100 years ago.

The Arctic Refuge was part of eastern Beringia, the ice-free plains of the
last Ice Age.  Its little known archeological and paleontological resources
tell stories of old caribou corrals and coastal hunting camps, and may hold
ancient clues to the days of the mammoth, giant beaver, and saber toothed
tigers, and to the earliest peopling of the Americas.

Above all else, it is the concurrence of so many globally significant
expressions of ecological processes, biological and cultural diversity, and
wild lands, on such a scale, and in one place, that sets the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge apart from even the greatest of our National
Parks.  It is the keystone, the "biological heart" of a larger region that
includes the Yukon Flats NWR and the adjacent national parks in Canada --
the largest assemblage of protected natural ecosystems in the world.

The Artic Refuge, established in 1960 by President Dwight Eisenhower, is
still an inhabited wilderness. Two indigenous people, the Neetsa'ii
Gwich'in of the mountains and boreal forest; and the Inupiat of the Artic
coast still hunt, fish, gather plants, roots and berries, travel and live
on these lands.  Providing the resource base for the subsistence activities
is an important purpose of the Refuge.

The Porcupine Caribou Herd, in particular, is central to the culture of the
Gwich'in, and to the economic and social fabric of their villages. Every
Porcupine Caribou gets its start in life on the narrow coastal plain of the
Arctic Refuge.  Further West, the oil fields have displaced the Central
Artic caribou herd from its traditional birthplace to alternate habitat
further South.  For the Porcupine caribou herd, there is nowhere else to
go.

In the face of intense oil industry pressure, Congress delayed a decision
on protecting the Artic Refuge coastal plain's 1002 area when they passed
the Alaska National Interests Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) in
1980.  Even with strong public support for protecting the Artic Refuge, and
200 cosponsors for Wilderness protection this year, Congressional deadlock
continues.  The Arctic Refuge remains the unfinished business of ANILCA.

The natural and cultural values of the artic Refuge are irreplaceable,
rare, and far outweigh the temporary benefits, if any, of oil drilling
there.  With leading oil companies themselves looking "beyond petroleum" to
improved auto technology and fossil fuel alternatives, and a growing
appreciation of how conservation and technology development can impact
energy efficiency, now is certainly the time to safeguard the highest and
best of these lands for all future generations.

For more information on this and the Gwich'in Peoples see the Gwich'in
Steering Committee's homepage at: http://www.alaska.net/~gwichin/index.html

SOURCE: Gwich'in Steering Committee, October 2000


WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Write letters today to President Clinton who alone has the authority to
ensure future protection of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.  The
President has made a historic gift to the nation in his legacy of national
monuments and conservation initiatives.  In the Arctic Wildlife National
Monument, he can protect the most complete and important assemblage of
Arctic and subarctic ecosystems in the world.  This priceless fragment of
America's North will be a gift not just to America, but to the world; a
legacy not just for our time, but for all time.

SAMPLE LETTER:

President William J. Clinton
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC  20500

Dear President Clinton,

We are writing you on behalf of the Gwich'in Nation to thank you for your
courageous leadership on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge issue.  We now
urge you to further demonstrate political leadership and courage on this
important issue by using your authority to designate the coastal plain of
the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge a National Monument.  An action to
defend and promote the inherent human rights of the Gwich'in to continue
their own way of life, as well as preserve the ecological balance of this
Arctic environment.

The Gwich'in culture and way of life is intrinsically connected to the
Porcupine Caribou Herd to meet all of their essential needs for
survival.  The Gwich'in are reliant upon the caribou for food, clothing,
shelter, medicines, spirituality and tools.  Beyond significance
culturally, moreover the Gwich'in rely on the herd socially as well.  Their
ancient traditions are passed from one generation to the next at the time
when the caribou is within the traditional homelands of the Gwich'in.

The coastal plain is truly the biological heart of the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge.  The Gwich'in call this are "The Sacred Place Where Life
Begins."  Besides being the important birthplace to the caribou it is the
denning area for Polar Bears, nesting area for 135 species of migratory
birds and year round home to musk oxen.

Designation of the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as
a National Monument is a legacy to all our future generations.  A gift
transcending time for all humankind.  The culture, spirituality and
birthright of the Gwich'in will be preserved for their future
generations.  There are few opportunities such as this, where human rights
are recognized and environmental balance is preserved despite economic
interests.  Please take the appropriate action in defense of life.

Sincerely,

(Your name and/or organizational affiliation if necessary)

from Environment News Service November 2, 2000

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE (ENS)      http://ens-news.com

               "We Cover the Earth For You"
************************************************************

Container Ship Hits Great Barrier Reef

CAIRNS, Queensland, Australia, November 2, 2000 (ENS) - A 21,000 tonne
container ship carrying fuel, oil and chemical based products has run
aground on the Great Barrier Reef, 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of
Cairns.

For Full Text and Graphics Visit:  http://ens.lycos.com

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Wetlands Protections Could Hinge on Supreme Court Decision

By Brian Hansen

WASHINGTON, DC, November 2, 2000 (ENS) - The U.S. Supreme Court this week
heard arguments in a case that could significantly impede the federal
government's abilities to protect wetlands under the Clean Water Act.

For Full Text and Graphics Visit:  http://ens.lycos.com

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Tanker Leak Leads to Criminal Indictments

WASHINGTON, DC, November 2, 2000 (ENS) - A ship captain, two shore based
supervisors and two corporations have been indicted for allegedly
concealing a hazardous leak in the hull of an oil tanker. The tanker
operators are also charged with falsifying records to cover up the illegal
dumping of oil and other wastes into the sea.

For Full Text and Graphics Visit:  http://ens.lycos.com

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Ex-EPA Official says Gore Broke Incinerator Promise

By Brian Hansen

WASHINGTON, DC, November 2, 2000 (ENS) - Vice President Al Gore, the self
styled environmental candidate in this year's U.S. presidential race,
reneged on his well documented 1992 campaign promise to shut down a
controversial hazardous waste incinerator in Ohio, according to sworn
testimony given to a federal investigator.

For Full Text and Graphics Visit:  http://ens.lycos.com

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Ballast Water Brings Diseases From Far Off Ports

By Cat Lazaroff

WASHINGTON, DC, November 2, 2000 (ENS) - Ballast water carried by ocean
going ships are carrying diseases around the world, a new study reveals.
The microbes carried in ballast water can infect plants, wildlife and even
humans.

For Full Text and Graphics Visit:  http://ens.lycos.com

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Malawi Plans Crocodile Management Programme

By Brian Ligomeka

BLANTYRE, Malawi, November 2, 2000 (ENS) - Crocodiles dwelling in Malawian
lakes and rivers have become a bone of contention between the government
and indigenous people who live near these water bodies. Both the people and
their livestock regularly fall victim to crocodiles, but the government
insists that it is determined to protect the crocodiles.

For Full Text and Graphics Visit:  http://ens.lycos.com

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Wetlands Protections Could Hinge on Supreme Court Decision

By Brian Hansen

WASHINGTON, DC, November 2, 2000 (ENS) - The U.S. Supreme Court this week
heard arguments in a case that could significantly impede the federal
government's abilities to protect wetlands under the Clean Water Act.

For Full Text and Graphics Visit:  http://ens.lycos.com

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Irish Put Celtic Tiger on a Greener Diet

DUBLIN, Ireland, November 2, 2000 (ENS) - Already overseeing one of
Europe's fastest growing economies, the Irish government today released a
climate change strategy that it hopes will curb the country's insatiable
appetite for high emission fossil fuels.

For Full Text and Graphics Visit:  http://ens.lycos.com

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UK Group to Focus on Soaring Number of GM Animal Experiments

LONDON, United Kingdom, November 2, 2000 (ENS) - A new government body has
announced one of its first tasks will be to investigate the soaring number
of animals used for experiments involving genetic modification.

For Full Text and Graphics Visit:  http://ens.lycos.com

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AMERISCAN

Woodland Caribou Will Stay on Endangered List

West Nile Virus Prompts New Jersey State of Emergency

More Carbon Dioxide Could Mean More Fires

70 Clean Energy Projects Funded at Parks

BLM Director Tom Fry Resigns

Deep Divers Find Undersea Treasures

New York Landfill Gases Harnessed for Energy

Drought in Alabama Drops Reservoirs to Record Lows

$4 Million Purchase Protects Maine Section of Appalachian Trail

Would You Pay More for Cleaner Air?


For Full Text and Graphics Visit:  http://ens.lycos.com

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2000 All Rights Reserved.

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          SEND NEWS STORY TIPS TO news@ens-news.com

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Kodak Proud Partner of Americašs National Parks
Kodak harnesses the power of pictures to build stronger connections between
Americans and their National Parks.

     ROCHESTER, N.Y. and WASHINGTON, D.C. , Nov. 2 -/E- Wire/-- Eastman Kodak
Company today announced its participation as one of the National Park
Foundationšs four corporate Proud Partners, pledging to raise public
awareness of the breadth and depth of our nationšs 381 National Parks while
enriching Americansš National Park experiences.

Media Contacts:
Marilyn Ridings                         Valerie Pope
Eastman Kodak Company                   Shandwick
770-522-6817 (voice)                    202/585-2091 (voice)
770-522-2888 (fax)                      202/383-0079 (fax)
marilyn.ridings@kodak.com (e-mail)      vpope@shandwick.com (e-mail)

     /Web site:  http://www.kodak.com

For Full Text Visit:  http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Nov00/02Nov0004.html

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

                  Kodak Proud Partner of Americašs National Parks
Kodak harnesses the power of pictures to build stronger connections between
                      Americans and their National Parks.

                     EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY
             Proud Partner of Americašs National Parks

The Proud Partner Campaign

     Kodak invites all Americans to join them in becoming Proud Partners of
Americašs National Parks. This creative public-private partnership will
utilize the resources of our nationšs leading companies to help Americans
learn about, experience and connect to Americašs National Parks.  Kodakšs
involvement in the Proud Partner campaign is a result of a strong
relationship with National Parks.

Media Contacts:
Marilyn Ridings                         
Eastman Kodak Company                   

Valerie Pope
Shandwick
770-522-6817 (voice)                    202/585-2091 (voice)
770-522-2888 (fax)                      202/383-0079 (fax)
marilyn.ridings@kodak.com (e-mail)      vpope@shandwick.com (e-mail)

     /Web site:  http://www.kodak.com

For Full Text Visit:  http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Nov00/02Nov0005.html

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TO BUSINESS, ENVIRONMENTAL AND TECHNOLOGY EDITORS:

                Startech Environmental Moves Forward in Egypt

    WILTON, Conn., Nov. 2 -/E-Wire/-- Startech Environmental Corp.
(Nasdaq: STHK), a world leader in plasma waste destruction and recycling
technology, announced today as a result of the joint efforts of Startech and
Amandla Environmental in Egypt, that negotiations for a program consisting of
two five-hundred ton per day Plasma Waste Converter Resource Recovery Centers
and as many as six ten-ton per day Plasma Waste Converter (PWC)(TM) systems
have reached the highest levels in the Government.  Amandla has estimated the
size of the Program to be about $300 (US) million.  Amandla has received the
enthusiastic support of senior Government officials including the Ministers of
Environment, Trade and Industry, the Governors of the major Egyptian cities,
as well as from local authorities.  Final approvals are expected in the first
quarter of calendar year 2001.

    /CONTACT:  Robert L. DeRochie, VP of Investor Relations, Chief Financial
Officer of Startech Environmental Corp., 203-762-2499, Fax - 203-761-0839, or
starmail@startech.net/            (STHK)

    /Web site:  http://www.startech.net/

For Full Text Visit:  http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Nov00/02Nov0003.html

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    E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TO BUSINESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:

            Adventure Minerals Inc. Appoints New President

     BLAINE, Wash., Nov. 2, 2000 -/E-Wire/ --  Adventure Minerals Inc. (the
``Company'')(OTCBB:AVML - news) is pleased to announce the appointment of
Mr. Rowland Wallenius, as its new President.

     /CONTACT:  Adventure Minerals Inc., Kevin Skett, 360/332-1350

For Full Text Visit:  http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Nov00/02Nov0002.html

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TO BUSINESS, ENVIRONMENTAL AND TECHNOLOGY EDITORS:

  Startech Environmental Appoints Brendan Kennedy and Raymond Clark to Board

    WILTON, Conn., Nov. 2 -/E-Wire-- Startech Environmental Corp.
(Nasdaq: STHK), a world leader in plasma waste remediation and recycling
technology, announced today the appointment of Brendan J. Kennedy, a
government relations and public affairs specialist and Raymond J. Clark,
firmwide partner, at Skidmore Owings Merrill, a world class architectural and
engineering firm, to its Board of Directors.

    /CONTACT:  Robert L. DeRochie, VP of Investor Relations and Chief
Financial Officer of Startech Environmental Corp., 203-762-2499,
Fax - 203-761-0839, starmail@startech.net/

    /Web site:  http://www.startech.net/
    (STHK)

For Full Text Visit:  http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Nov00/02Nov0001.html

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  SEND YOUR PRESS RELEASE ON E-WIRE -- 1-888-764-NEWS
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from League of Conservation Voters November 2, 2000

The 4th Edition of E-News from the
League of Conservation Voters Education Fund
Email: Ed_Fund@lcv.org Web: http://www.VoteEnvironment.org  

In this Newsletter:

1. Vote Environment!
2. The Brookings Institute Ballot Initiative Study
3. Important Environmental Ballot Initiatives
4. Additional Environmental Ballot Initiatives
5. Remember to Vote on November 7th


1. Vote Environment!
The Future of our water, land and air is in your hands. Sound like a big
responsibility? It is. But you can do one simple thing to protect clean
water, land and air . now and in the future. Vote Environment on November
7th.
Your vote is your voice, and from City Hall to the halls of Congress, we
need leaders who will protect our forests, rivers and wildlife and make
corporate polluters clean up their act.
Find out where your candidates stand on protecting our environment and
vote November 7th.
For our children today and their children tomorrow . it. s all in your
hands.
On November 7th . Vote Clean Water. Vote Clean Air. Vote Environment.

2. The Brookings Institute Ballot Initiative Study
The Brookings Institute (www.brookings.edu/urban) has done a massive study
focusing on several kinds of growth-related ballot initiatives, including
measures on transportation investment and economic development. A
preliminary survey of statewide ballot initiatives and key local
initiatives reveals that:

§ A majority of Americans will be able to vote on growth-related ballot
measures in the 2000 election.
§ The ballot measures cover a broad range of issues - growth management,
transportation, economic development, and open space - reflecting the
complexity of the growth debate.
§ Although growth has not been a significant issue in the national
campaign, these measures show that growth is a major citizen concern.


3. Important Environmental Ballot Initiatives
Here is some helpful information about some of the major environmental
ballot initiatives that you might be able to vote on. We have included
additional websites, which can help you make an informed decision about
these initiatives, and you can contact Carrie Giddins at the League of
Conservation Voters Education Fund at: ed_fund@lcv.org for more
information.


Alaska: Ballot Measure #1:
Vote No!
This ballot measure would change the Alaska Constitution so that voters
could not use the initiative process to make laws that permit, regulate,
or prohibit taking or transporting wildlife, or prescribe seasons or
methods for taking wildlife. Should this constitutional amendment be
adopted?

For more information please go to:
http://www.gov.state.ak.us/ltgov/elections/oep2000/bm00.htm


Alaska: Ballot Measure #6:
Vote Yes!
Voters are asked to either approve or reject a law allowing hunters to use
airplanes to land and shoot wolves on the same day they fly. The law
allows any person with a hunting or trapping license to land and shoot in
areas established by the Board of Game. No additional permit may be
required. The law also allows the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to
use agents, as well as employees, to engage in same day airborne shooting
of wolves. A yes vote rejects the law. A no vote approves the law. Should
this law be rejected?

For more information please go to:
http://www.gov.state.ak.us/ltgov/elections/oep2000/bm00.htm


Arizona: Proposition 202, The Citizens' Growth Management Initiative:
Vote YES!
This measure, placed on the ballot by over 100,000 citizen signatures,
would require all jurisdictions with 2,500 or more persons to adopt growth
management plans and develop urban growth boundaries to accommodate
ten-year growth projections. Land outside of these boundaries could not be
rezoned for residential or business development unless justified by
official population projections and approved by voters. Proposition 202
would further require counties and cities to levy impact fees on
developers to meet the full costs of public services and give counties
more authority to regulate subdivisions in unincorporated areas.
Management of the state's 9.3 million acre legacy of trust lands would
have to conform to local plans and give priority to maintaining these
lands in their natural state. In probably its most contentious provision,
any person, regardless of where he or she lives, could sue private
individuals and public officials for violating Proposition 202.

For more information please go to: www.prop202yes.org


Arizona: Proposition 102:
Vote No!
Proposition 102 would amend the Arizona State Constitution to require 67%
of citizen votes for approval of any citizen. s initiative affecting
wildlife, eroding the rights of Arizona citizens to speak out when they
think government is not doing the right thing. If passed, this deceptively
worded proposition would take away the ability of Arizona. s citizens to
protect and preserve Arizona. s wildlife.

For more information please go to:
www.sosaz.com/election/2000/info/pubpamphlet/english/prop102.htm


California: Proposition 37:
Vote No!
Redefines as taxes any compulsory fees enacted by state or local
government after July 1, 1999 to monitor, study or mitigate societal or
economic effects of activity where such fees impose no regulatory
obligation on the payer. Requires two-thirds vote of Legislature to
approve such state fees; majority or two-thirds vote of local electorate
for local fees. Excludes certain real property related fees and
assessments, regulatory fees not exceeding cost of regulation, monies
recoverable as damages, remedial expenses, penalties, and increases due to
inflation or increased workload as specified. Summary of estimate by
Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and
local governments: Unknown, but potentially significant, reduction in
future state and local fee revenues as a result of classifying more
governmental revenues as taxes.

For more information please go to: www.polluterprotection.com


Colorado: Amendment 24, Voter Approval of Growth:
Vote Yes!
This initiative would amend the state constitution and require counties
with more than 10,000 persons, and cities and towns within these counties
with more than 1,000 persons, to delineate voter-approved growth areas for
future development. Counties with fewer than 25,000 residents may vote for
exemption, as may cities and towns within these counties. The measure
permits local governments to approve development, unless exempted, within
these growth areas. Local governments may change growth areas once a year,
with voter consent, at regular elections. Proposed development is held in
abeyance until this election. One-sixth of the boundaries of the growth
areas must be contiguous with areas already committed to development.
Growth areas must be served with roads, central water and sewer within a
ten-year period. Officials are required to provide information on how
their plans fit or conflict with the plans of adjacent governments.

For more information please go to: www.voteyes24.com


Missouri . Proposition C:
Vote Yes!
The purpose of this initiative is to help communities improve water
quality, increase park safety, provide community trails, improve, restore
and expand local parks, provide disabled and expanded public access, and
preserve critical wildlife habitat. We need to protect lands that
naturally filter pollutants that would otherwise foul our community. s
water; families and children need safe local parks to play and recreate
in; and, we need community trails for better access to schools, playing
fields, community centers, and our rivers. The Clean Water, Safe Parks &
Community Trails Initiative will help communities find cost-effective
strategies to preserve our natural resources and improve the quality of
life for all people in the St. Louis area.

For more information please go to: www.gatewayparks.org


Montana: Initiative 143:
Vote Yes!
This initiative would amend state law to prohibit all new alternative
livestock ranches, also known as game farms. Existing game farms would be
allowed to continue, but would be prohibited from transferring their
license to anybody else. They also would be prohibited from allowing the
shooting of any of their animals for a fee.

For more information please go to:
www.state.mt.us/sos/assets/elections/2000VIPa.pdf


Oregon: Measure 7:
Vote No!
Ballot Measure 7 would amend the Oregon Constitution to require the state
government and all local governments to compensate private property owners
when a state or local government regulation restricts the use of real
property and reduces its value. It specifically refers to regulations that
force the owner to protect, provide, or preserve environmental,
historical, cultural, and low-income housing. Its stated coverage is broad
enough to cover every regulation, with certain exceptions, that decreases
the value of a real property by restricting its use. The state estimates
that enactment of this measure could cost state and local governments
about $5.4 billion a year with most of the costs - $3.8 billion - at the
local level.

For more information please go to: www.noon2and7.com


Washington: Measure 745 - Transportation Funding:
Vote No!
This measure requires 90 percent of state and local transportation funds,
including local transit taxes but excluding ferry and transit fares, to be
spent on road construction, rehabilitation, operations and maintenance.
Road construction would be formally considered the primary way to address
the state's transportation problems. Construction materials and labor used
in the construction and maintenance of roads would be exempt from sales
taxes. Transportation agencies (including transit agencies) would be
subject to performance reviews and local transportation plans would be
updated to adhere to such a statewide transportation policy.

For more information please go to:
www.secstate.wa.gov/vote2000/measures/i745fa.htm


4. Additional Environmental Ballot Initiatives

Arizona: Proposition 100, Conservation Reserve:
This proposition, placed on the ballot by the state legislature and backed
by the Governor, would set aside 70,120 acres of state trust land in a
Conservation Reserve Program. Proposition 100 also sets up a framework for
designating another 200,000 acres, or a total of 3 percent of the state's
9+ million acres of trust land holdings, for conservation.

For more information please go to: www.growingsmarteryes.com


Florida: Transportation Initiative:
This constitutional amendment provides for the development of a high speed
monorail, fixed guideway or magnetic levitation system linking Florida's
five largest urban areas (areas to be determined later by the legislature)
and provide access to existing air and ground transportation facilities
and services. The amendment directs the state and/or state authorized
private entity to implement the financing, acquisition of right-of-way,
design, construction and operation of the system, with construction
beginning by November 1, 2003. For more information please go to:
http://www.ballotwatch.org/asp/full_description.asp?id=73

Maine: Question #2:
This initiated bill sets limits on timber harvesting on land subject to
the Maine Tree Growth Tax Law and requires that a landowner obtain a
permit from the Maine Forest Service prior to undertaking harvesting
activities that will result in a clear-cut. Total cutting activities and
cutting activities for each species group may not exceed sustainable
cutting levels for any rolling 10-year average. The yearly allowable cut
levels may not be greater than the average annual growth during the past
10 years. Prior to issuing a permit for a clear-cut, the Maine Forest
Service must determine that the clear-cut is silviculturally justified,
that there are no reasonable alternatives to the proposed clear-cut and
that no undue adverse ecological damage will result from the clear-cut or
the clear-cutting activities.

For more information please go to:  www.state.me.us/sos/cec/refguide.htm


Missouri: Proposition A:
This citizen initiative freezes the construction of new billboards on
interstate and primary highways, but does not force existing billboards to
come down. The proposition repeals a current law allowing billboard
companies to cut down trees to improve visibility and affirms local
governments' abilities to regulate billboard design and size. In the U.S.
four states--- Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, and Vermont-have removed or
prohibited all billboards. For more information please go to:
www.scenicmissouri.org New Jersey: Public Question No. 1:This is a
constitutional amendment dedicating gas and sales tax revenues for
construction, rehabilitation and maintenance of the state highway system.
The proposed amendment would raise no new taxes, but would dedicate a
portion of the existing gross receipts tax on petroleum products and a
portion of the sales tax to a Transportation Trust Fund. The minimum
dedication of funds must provide at least $400 million dollars ($200
million from the petroleum products tax and $200 million from the sales
tax). This will be phased in over 4 years. This funding would be closely
tied to the state's "fix-it-first" policy that focuses on the
rehabilitation of existing transportation facilities with new highway
construction to come only after explicit approval of the legislature.

For more information please go to:
www.state.nj.us/lps/elections/elec2000/pubques_2000.html


New York: The Transportation Infrastructure Bond Act of 2000:
This measure is for $3.8 billion in state bonds to be used for
transportation spending for all modes. Funding is included for planning,
design, construction and augmentation of new infrastructure, as well as
rehabilitation and preservation of existing infrastructure. All modes of
transportation are included: transit, highways, pedestrian, bicycle, and
freight. In addition, all facilities are included: transit systems, roads,
bridges, seaports, airports, border crossings, canals, pathways and the
purchase of related land. The funding is broken down as follows: $1.9
billion (50 percent) mainly for state highway and bridge projects, $1.6
billion (42 percent) for the New York City rail and bus system and $300
million (8 percent) for other state transit projects as well as seaports,
canals and airports.

For more information please go to: www.elections.state.ny.us/y2kprop1.htm


Ohio: Issue #1:
This measure authorizes $200 million in general obligation bonds for
environmental conservation and natural areas, open space, farmlands, and
other lands dedicated to agriculture and $200 million in revenue bonds to
remediate urban brownfields to promote economic development. It reflects
the efforts in a growing number of states -- such as New Jersey, Michigan,
and Pennsylvania - to devote additional resources to the preservation of
land threatened by metropolitan sprawl as well as the redevelopment of
underutilized urban land.

For more information please go to:
www.state.oh.us/sos/argument_for_issue_1.htm


Rhode Island: Question #3 - Transportation Bonds:
This measure is to approve $62.5 million in general obligation bonds to
match federal funds and finance improvements to the state's highways,
roads and bridges and to purchase buses for the Rhode Island Public
Transit Authority's fleet. The bonds will leverage about $360 million in
federal funds, with about $23 million of the state bond money slated for
use in relocat