|
|
Take action to support Senator Leahy and Reid's Farm
Bill proposal, which will boost federal funds to help
farmers help the environment.
You can take action on this alert either via email
(please see directions below) or via the web at:
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/farm_reform_senate2/wk8bxn2o78xbi5
Spread the word about helping
farmers help the environment.
Visit the web address
below and tell your friends to
take action on this
important campaign!
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/farm_reform_senate2/forward/wk8bxn2o78xbi5
We encourage you to take action
by December 7, 2001
Helping
Farmers Help the Environment! ONTO THE SENATE
----------------------
Take action to support Senator Leahy and Reid's Farm
Bill proposal, which will boost federal funds to help
farmers help the environment.
----------------------
INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPOND VIA THE WEB:
If you have access to a web browser, you can take action
on this alert by going to the following URL:
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/farm_reform_senate2/wk8bxn2o78xbi5
INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPOND VIA
EMAIL:
Just choose the "reply to sender" option on your
email
program, and edit the letter below as you wish. Do
not delete "-YOU MAY EDIT THE LETTER BELOW-" and "-END
OF LETTER-". Please do not add your name and address
to your letter. Our system automatically does this
for you.
We STRONGLY encourage you to make edits directly to
our sample letter below, and put the alert talking
points into your own words. An individualized letter
is worth ten computer generated letters. Of course,
hundreds of unedited letters will still create a large
impact, so please reply even if you don't have time
to personalize the letter.
Your letter will be addressed and sent to:
Senator Hillary Clinton
-------YOU MAY EDIT THE LETTER
BELOW---------
Please co-sponsor
Senators Leahy and Reid's Farm Bill
proposal. Their
proposal would make conservation and
environmental
protection central to the Farm Bill,
would ensure more
states and farmers get their fair
share of federal
agriculture help, and would avoid
violating important
world trade agreements.
There is growing national support for major reform
of federal agricultural programs from President Bush,
200 members of the House of Representatives, and others.
Refocusing farm subsidies on conservation would provide
benefits to many more farmers across the nation, not
just the largest corporate farms, and would make better
use of taxpayer dollars. This effort was closely defeated
in the House, so your leadership to ensure a
conservation-oriented,
regionally equitable Senate Farm
Bill is critical.
Today, most
farmers, ranchers and private forest landowners
seeking
federal help to clean up water, combat sprawl
or help
wildlife are rejected due to inadequate funding.
For
example, three in four farmers and ranchers seeking
financial assistance to clean water are rejected.
The Leahy-Reid Farm Bill would
provide new funds to
protect farmland and open space
from sprawl, restore
wildlife habitat, encourage organic
farming, restore
wetlands, and more. Unless we reward
farmers when they
meet our environmental challenges, one
third of rivers
and lakes will remain polluted, hundreds
of species
will creep closer to extinction, and millions
of acre
of open space will be lost.
Please co-sponsor the Leahy-Reid
Farm Bill to ensure
that the next Farm Bill helps
protect our natural resources,
public health, and
agricultural communities.
-------END OF
LETTER-------------------------
*************************UCS ACTION
ALERT*************************
Contact your Senators TODAY and urge them to sign the
Renewable
Energy Letter being circulated by
Senators Reid (D-NV) and Cantwell (D-WA).
ISSUE:
Senate Majority Leader Tom
Daschle (D-SD) recently directed committee chairs to forward recommendations to
him for a comprehensive national energy bill to be ready to introduce on the
Senate floor this year.
The
"Dear Colleague" letter that Senators Reid and Cantwell are circulating urges
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) to include a Renewable Portfolio
Standard (RPS) and a Production Tax Credit (PTC) in the comprehensive energy
package. The RPS requires that a minimum percentage of electricity come from
renewable energy sources like wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass. The PTC
would provide renewable energy developers with the economic support they need to
become competitive with other, dirtier and heavily subsidized forms of energy
such as coal, oil and nuclear.
ACTION:
Call or email your Senators
and urge them to sign on to the letter TODAY. The deadline for sign ons is noon
tomorrow - Friday, Nov. 9, 2001.
To contact your Senators:
- By
telephone, call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121
- Obtain e-mail and fax information by visiting the Senate
web site (www.senate.gov)
MESSAGE:
Tell your Senators that
increasing production of renewable energy - such as wind, solar, geothermal, and
biomass - is important to provide safe, clean, and affordable power for
Americans. Senators Reid and Cantwell are circulating a letter asking
Senator Daschle to include a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) and a Production
Tax Credit (PTC) for renewable energy into the comprehensive energy
package. An RPS would require that utilities provide some percentage
of their electricity from renewable power sources by a certain year. Analysis by
the Union of Concerned Scientists (Clean Energy Blueprint available at
www.ucsusa.org/energy/blueprint.html) shows that a 20 percent RPS by 2020, when
combined with the PTC and additional policies to improve energy efficiency, can
save consumers money, improve our environment, and over time reduce risks to
national security.
The sign on
letter does not endorse any particular percentage or year for the RPS, nor does
it ask Senators to endorse any particular number or year. A PTC would provide
renewable energy with the economic support they need to become competitive with
other, dirtier and heavily subsidized forms of energy such as coal, oil and
nuclear.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Please contact
Jeff Deyette (jdeyette@ucsusa.org) or visit the UCS Clean Energy Program web
site at www.ucsusa.org/energy
EarthNet News
..a project of the
Center for Environmental Citizenship
November 8, 2001
-------------------------------------------------------
This week in EarthNet, help the Quechan protect their
sacred lands from mining interests and cheer for an
environmental whistleblower's success.
--Susie Gorden, EarthNet Editor
mailto:earthnet@envirocitizen.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Shadow Congress: Is Nothing Sacred?
2. Quote of the Week
3. Letter to
the Editor
4. Glimmer of Hope
5. Eco-Exposure
6. Jobs, Conferences
and Gatherings
7. Activist Phone Book & EarthNet
News Info
SHADOW CONGRESS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Quechan people have been practicing religious
ceremonies
on Indian Pass in the California desert for
thousands
of years. Now Glamis Imperial Corporation
wants to
dig open gold pits and set up roads on land
that the
Quechan people believe is sacred.
Buckling under the pressure of a
lawsuit, Interior
Secretary Gale Norton is rolling back
provisions to
prohibit mining on protected lands -- a
move that sounds
the death knell for lands that
previously enjoyed protection.
Issued last Thursday, the
Interior Department's weakened
mining regulations have
cleared the way for Glamis
International to set up a
cyanide heap leach gold mine
on Indian Pass in southern
California. This was prevented
from happening under the
Clinton administration, which
recognized the importance
of keeping Indian Pass out
of the hands of mining
companies and protecting cultural
resources. The
about-turn will have serious impacts
on the Quechan
people who have used and revered this
land for thousands
of years and have already fought
-- and theoretically
won -- the battle to defend the
Pass. Tell the Interior
Department to respect our environment
and the religious
freedom of all Americans.
TAKE
ACTION NOW: Use the EarthNet Action Center to
urge the
Interior Department to reconsider weakening
mining
regulations as they continue their review at
http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet
FOR MORE INFO: http://www.sacredland.org/indian_pass.html;
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53812-2001Oct25.html;
http://earthrunner.com/4winds/glamis2.html;
http://www.blm.gov/nhp/news/releases/pages/2001/pr011025_3809.htm
http://www.cs.org/publications/CSQ/251.htm
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The good Lord didn't see fit to
put oil and gas only
where there are democratic regimes
friendly to the
United States.
-- Current US vice president Dick Cheney, in speaking
to the Cato Institute three years ago
LETTER(s) TO THE EDITOR
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
In response to last week's Corporate Corner action
alert:
Instead of urging Bayer to stop using Baytril, an
antibiotic,
in poultry farming, a more effective and
safer approach
would be to stop eating
chicken.
People who
choose to eat chicken are facing several
dangers in
regards to their health and the much more
sensible move
would be to exclude chicken from their
diet. Today, this
is not such an extreme move since
there are plenty of
alternatives to meat and poultry
products. So, let's
join together and really send Bayer
a message by not
purchasing any chicken!
--Marissa Amoni, Tucson,
AZ
Got something to
say? Send your letters to mailto:earthnet@envirocitizen.org
We reserve the right to edit for length, clarity, and
purpose.
GLIMMER OF HOPE
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
An environmental whistleblower in Colorado received
one of the largest settlements since the law protecting
such activities went on the books three decades ago.
In a September ruling, the judge assigned to the case
ruled that activist Adrienne Anderson is entitled to
$425,000 in compensatory and punitive damages. As
a Denver representative on the board of the Metro Wastewater
Reclamation District, she filed a complaint with the
U.S. Department of Labor claiming her employer had
retaliated against her for engaging in protected activities,
such as her work in alerting the public to dangers
from a local landfill. To read more about the case,
go to http://www.westword.com/issues/2001-11-01/news2.html/1/index.html
ECO-EXPOSURE
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you contributed substantially to your campus
community?
If so, you might be eligible for a $10,000
grant to
further your or your organization's goals.
Check out
http://www.doublemint.com/applygrant.asp for more info.
Campus organizations, as well as individuals enrolled
at a two- or four-year college, are
eligible.
JOBS AND
INTERNSHIPS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
These are a sampling of the over 200 environmental
and activist jobs and internships listed at
www.envirocitizen.org/enet/jobs/index.asp
The National Wildlife Federation is hiring a Managing
Editor for their website KidZone in Reston, VA. Find
the job description at http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/jobs/detail.asp?id=3619
Pew Wilderness Center is
looking for a Research Assistant
Intern in Seattle, WA.
Find the job description at
http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/jobs/detail.asp?id=3616
Public Interest Research
Groups (PIRGs) seek a Safe
Foods Corporate Advocate in
Los Angeles, CA. Find the
job description at http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/jobs/detail.asp?id=3599
CONFERENCES, GATHERINGS AND
VIEWINGS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lots more events listed at http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/events/index.asp
WHAT: National Forest Protection
Alliance Conference
WHERE: Cedar Mountain, NC
WHEN: November11-14, 2001
FOR MORE
INFO: http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/events/detail.asp?id=902
WHAT: 2001 Session of the
Chicagoland Peoples Assembly
WHERE: Chicago, IL
WHEN: November 10, 2001
FOR MORE
INFO: http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/events/detail.asp?id=974
WHAT: Wild Arts Festival
WHERE: Portland, OR
WHEN: November
23-25, 2001
FOR MORE INFO: http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/events/detail.asp?id=939
ACTIVIST PHONE BOOK
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
U.S. Capitol Switchboard: 202.224.3121
White House Comment Line: 202.456.1111
EarthNet Action Center: http://congress.nw.dc.us/cec
White House Address: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington,
DC 20500
Senate Address: US Senate,
Washington, DC 20510
House Address: US House of
Representatives, Washington,
DC 20515
**Look up e-mail addresses in a comprehensive congressional
directory at
http://congress.nw.dc.us/cec/congdir.html or http://www.vote-smart.org/ce
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Write your own short articles for submission to
EarthNet.
We are particularly interested in articles
about student
activism on your campus. The email
accounts for EarthNet
News are:
For general comments: mailto:earthnet@envirocitizen.org
Submit Jobs/Internships/Volunteer listings at http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/jobs/add.asp .
Submit Events at http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/events/add.asp.
The Senate version of H.R. 2506, the FY 2002 Foreign
Operations Appropriations Bill includes higher levels of funding for
reproductive health and family planning services than the House version of the
bill. Additionally, the Senate version includes Senator Boxer's (D-CA) provision
to remove the global gag rule. The President has issued a veto threat for the
Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill if Senator Boxer's language trying to
negate the global gag rule remains in the bill.
Next week, the House-Senate Foreign Operation Appropriations
Conference Committee will meet to work out all the differences between the two
bills and come out with one bill which will be sent to the President.
YOUR HELP IS NEEDED NOW!
Although your Senators or
Representative are not on the conference committee you can contact them and urge
them to tell their colleagues on the committee to support the senate version of
the bill.
Tell them that:
· International family planning saves people's lives and
protects the planet.
· Please
support the Senate version of H.R. 2506, the 2002 Foreign Operations
Appropriations bill which includes: higher funding levels - the
senate version includes $450 million for USAID and $40 million for UNFPA and
protective language - the senate version includes language which would remove
the global gag rule and allow foreign governments and NGO's the discretion to
use their non-U.S. money in the best interest of their people in accordance with
their own laws.
· One way to
help keep Americans safe and America strong is to fund positive international
assistance programs that improve the social and economic well-being of the
world's most vulnerable. International family planning funding is a critical
component of that assistance and helps to save the lives of women and children
around the world and works to move us toward a more sustainable future.
Please keep in mind that Congress is
dealing with many problems right now and it is somewhat complicated to contact
them and their responses may not be as timely as usual due to these
difficulties. I recommend contacting your representative and senators through
email, fax, or phone. You can reach them by calling the U.S. Capitol switchboard
at 202-224-3121. You may also direct your comments to their district office.
Additionally, feel free to use this time to also thank them for their leadership
during this difficult time.
For
more information please contact us at population@nwf.org or 202-797-6800.
Following is the list of members on
the Conference Committee.
House
Representative Roger F. Wicker (R-MS-1)
Representative Jesse L. Jackson (D-IL-2)
Representative John E. Sununu (R-NH-1)
Representative Jack Kingston (R-GA-1)
Representative Steven R. Rothman (D-NJ-9)
Representative Carolyn C. Kilpatrick (D-MI-15)
Representative Jerry Lewis (R-CA-40)
Representative Jim Kolbe (R-AZ-5)
Representative David R. Obey (D-WI-7)
Representative Nita M. Lowey (D-NY-18)
Representative Joe Knollenber (R-MI-11)
Representative Sonny Callahan (R-AL-1)
Representative C. W. Young (R-FL-10)
Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-8)
Representative Henry Bonilla (R-TX-23)
Senate
Senator Richard J. Durbin (D-IL)
Senator Robert F. Bennett (R-UT)
Senator Richard C. Shelby (R-AL)
Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-WV)
Senator John F. Reed (D-RI)
Senator
Tim P. Johnson (D-SD)
Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK)
Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD)
Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA)
Senator
Daniel K. Inouye (D-HI)
Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA)
Senator Christopher Bond (R-MO)
Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO)
Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH)
Senator
Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT)
Natural Resources Defense Council's
LEGISLATIVE WATCH
November 8, 2001
******************************
Please do not reply to this message. See the instructions
below for
how to unsubscribe or contact NRDC with
questions or comments.
******************************
Contents:
1) Legislative Watch
2) About Our Bulletins/How to Subscribe & Unsubscribe
3) About NRDC/How to Contact Us
The information in this bulletin is
also available on our website at
http://www.nrdc.org/legislation/legwatch.asp. The web
version links to
the text of bills and congressional web
pages. To take action on these
and other environmental
issues, visit NRDC's Earth Action Center at
http://www.nrdc.org/action, where you can use our online
activism
tools or subscribe to Earth Action, our
biweekly activist bulletin.
1)
LEGISLATIVE WATCH
This is a
status report on congressional action on the environment. To
make new or updated sections easy to find, we've highlighted
them
with:
= N O T E ! =
11/8/01
With unfinished appropriations bills stalling over spending
and
ideological differences (only eight of 16
appropriations bills have
been approved so far) and the
economic stimulus and airline security
bills still on
this year's legislative agenda, members of Congress are
beginning to talk about returning to Washington after
Thanksgiving.
Meanwhile, some Senate Republicans may try
to attach legislation that
would allow oil drilling in
the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to the
economic
stimulus bill.
...
Budget/Appropriations
= N O T E ! =
On 11/8, the Senate Finance Committee will meet to consider
an
economic recovery package to counter the House $212
billion economic
stimulus bill, which passed 216-214,
generally along party lines.
Support is mounting for
Democratic proposals for infrastructure
spending in a
stimulus package and as part of the Defense Department's
$20 billion emergency supplemental bill. Environmental
groups, among
others, are pushing for a major boost in
funding for projects that
would create jobs and help
protect the environment, such as water
infrastructure
projects that would ensure cleaner water, mass transit
projects such as high-speed rail, energy-efficiency
projects, and
improvements to national parks.
= N O T E ! =
On 11/6, members of the conference committee working on the
EPA
funding bill agreed to provide $7.9 billion for next
year, almost $600
million more than the Bush
administration requested. Conferees
restored $15 million
in federal enforcement funds, increased resources
for
water quality projects for cleaner beaches and improvements to
sewage and drinking water facilities, and embraced a new
lower
standard limiting arsenic in drinking water. The
conferees did include
language, however, that could
delay implementing this arsenic standard
in smaller
communities.
= N O T E ! =
On 11/5, President Bush signed the Interior funding bill,
H.R. 2217.
The bill includes a ban on oil and gas
development in national
monuments, and also would deny
funds for studying oil and gas
development in sensitive
coastal waters where offshore oil drilling is
currently
off-limits. The bill retains language, however, that would
increase the number of cruise ships entering Glacier Bay
National
Park, allow the weakening of hardrock mining
protections, and
undermine environmental safeguards for
national forests. Language
restricting oil and gas
leasing in the eastern Gulf of Mexico was
dropped,
allowing the Bush administration to move forward with
drilling in a new area that could adversely impact Florida
beaches.
= N O T E ! =
On 11/1, both the House and Senate approved a $24.6 billion
energy and
water funding bill that would trim funds from
the Army Corps of
Engineers while increasing Energy
Department, National Nuclear
Security Administration and
Bureau of Reclamation funding. Renewable
energy research
and development would receive $396 million next year
--
$21 million more than this year. The final bill includes Sen.
Stabenow's (D-MI) and Rep. Bonior's (D-MI) two-year ban on
oil and gas
drilling in the Great Lakes, and contains a
Senate compromise that
would allow water from the
Missouri River to be released in the spring
in an effort
to save three endangered species by restoring a more
natural flow to the river. The bill also provides $30
million in
federal funding for an important
federal-state partnership to allocate
scarce California
water.
On 10/31, the House
directed its transportation appropriations
conferees not
to agree to the Senate's funding levels during
conference negotiations. The Senate's $60 billion
transportation
funding bill (S. 1178) includes an
objectionable rider that would give
away a large parcel
of environmentally sensitive land in Alaska's
Tongass
National Forest for possible development. For the first time
in six years, the House transportation funding bill (H.R.
2299) does
not include language blocking the federal
government from considering
whether vehicle fuel economy
standards should be increased.
On 10/24, the Senate approved the Foreign Operations funding
bill
(H.R. 2506), which President Bush has threatened to
veto because of
language that overturns his executive
order banning federal funds for
international family
planning organizations that promote or perform
abortions. The Senate bill also contains an additional $295
million in
funding for a new international program to
promote cleaner energy and
energy conservation. Funding
for the Global Environment Facility,
which provides
grants for projects that combat global warming and
promote sustainable development worldwide, has been
increased only
slightly above last year's levels in the
Senate bill. The
House-approved Foreign Operations
funding bill includes a $25 million
cut in funds for the
Global Environment Facility.
On
9/13, the Senate approved S. 1215, its bill for next year's funding
for the Commerce, Justice, and State departments. Although
the Senate
included just over $3 billion for the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (which
manages ocean, coastal and fisheries programs),
it cut
funds for addressing polluted coastal runoff. The Senate,
however, improved language in the bill that could have
hindered
federal efforts to develop a system of
protected marine areas. The
House approved its version
of the funding bill (H.R. 2500) on 7/18.
Both the House
and the Senate have appointed conferees to resolve
their
differences on this bill.
For a
step-by-step guide to our annual odyssey through resolutions,
reconciliations and appropriations, see NRDC's budget
process fact
sheet (http://www.nrdc.org/legislation/fbudg.asp).
...
Clean Air and Energy
= N O T E ! =
On 11/1, the Senate
Environment and Public Works Committee held the
first of
two hearings on S. 556, a bill co-authored by committee chair
Sen. Jeffords (I-VT) and Sen. Lieberman (D-CT). The bill
seeks to
reduce four types of power plant emissions by
imposing mandatory cuts
in carbon dioxide, sulfur
dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and mercury
emissions. At the
hearing, Bush administration representatives opposed
regulating CO2 emissions, arguing that the costs on the
economy would
be too high. The administration is
expected to release a proposal that
would only regulate
three of the four worst power plant pollutants,
reversing a Bush campaign promise to regulate carbon
dioxide, a key
greenhouse gas that contributes to global
warming. No action has been
taken on the House companion
bill (H.R. 1256), which was introduced on
3/27 by Rep.
Waxman (D-CA) and Rep. Boehlert (R-NY).
= N O T E ! =
On 11/1, the House
Science Subcommittee on Energy heard from a panel
representing auto manufacturers, the electric vehicles
industry, the
Energy Department and environmentalists on
ways to decrease the
country's dependence on oil for
transportation.
= N O T E ! =
Sen. Bingaman (D-NM), chair of the Energy and Natural
Resources
Committee, is close to completing a proposal
developed in consultation
with the leaders of other key
committees for energy legislation that
could be enacted
this year. Sen. Bingaman is expected to include
energy
infrastructure security provisions as part of the legislation.
Senate Republican leaders plan to offer their own version of
an energy
bill, which will likely call for oil drilling
in the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge, and provide
insurance and immunity for nuclear power
plants.
On 10/17, the House passed its
version of the Defense Authorization
bill (H.R. 2586);
the Senate passed its version (S. 1438) on 10/2. The
bill is currently in conference committee to resolve
differences
between the two bills. (See discussion under
Public Lands below.)
Prior to
9/11, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Committee began consideration of higher vehicle fuel economy
standards. On 8/2, Sen. Kerry (D-MA) held a hearing on
the recent
National Academy of Sciences report on the
importance of raising fuel
economy standards. The
committee is expected to consider a bill (S.
804)
introduced by Senators Feinstein (D-CA), Snowe (R-ME), Schumer
(D-NY), and Collins (R-ME), which seeks to tighten corporate
fuel
economy standards for sport utility vehicles and
light trucks. The
bill would require that SUVs and other
light trucks increase fuel
economy to 27.5 mpg by model
year 2007, expand the current fuel
economy standards to
trucks weighing between 8,500-10,000 pounds by
2007, and
raise the fuel economy of the federal government's fleet by
6 mpg. SUVs and light trucks currently use 43 percent more
gasoline
per mile than the average car. H.R. 1815 is the
House companion bill.
On 8/2,
the House approved its version of an energy bill (H.R. 4) by a
vote of 240-189. The House passed four separate energy bills
out of
four different committees, and combined them into
one bill of more
than 500 pages that does little to
create a sound, balanced energy
policy. Rather, the bill
would provide tens of billions of dollars in
subsidies
to the coal, oil, gas and nuclear industries, open the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other sensitive areas to
oil and
gas drilling, weaken environmental protections
for other public lands,
do little to improve fuel
economy standards, and starve renewable
energy and
energy efficiency programs of needed funding.
NRDC's report, A Responsible Energy Policy for the 21st
Century
(http://www.nrdc.org/air/energy/rep/repinx.asp), outlines
the
components of an alternative energy policy -- one
that can meet the
nation's energy needs without
destroying wilderness or rolling back
environmental
safeguards.
...
Clean Water
= N O T E ! =
The Senate Agriculture Committee will be considering
Chairman Harkin's
(D-IA) farm bill for at least the next
two weeks. The energy section
of the bill provides more
than $500 million for clean energy programs
that support
wind power, biomass energy, fuel cells, and energy
efficiency improvements on farms. The bill contains
language, however,
that would encourage logging on
public lands. The conservation
provisions will be
considered next week, and environmentalists are
hoping
to ensure increased conservation program funding and
protections against subsidies to large factory farms.
= N O T E ! =
On 11/7, the House Resources Committee approved, generally
along party
lines, H.R. 3208 (originally H.R. 1985),
Rep. Calvert's (R-CA)
multi-billion dollar bill to
reauthorize a federal and state
partnership in
California that provides water for urban and
agricultural users, as well as for wildlife and habitat
restoration.
Environmentalists oppose the bill because
it would upset the balance
of this critical partnership,
and could jeopardize the environmental
restoration that
was expected to result. The bill would allow the
construction of new dams in California without appropriate
review, and
could give agricultural water users priority
over the environment. A
similar bill introduced by Sen.
Feinstein (D-CA), with many of the
same problems as the
Calvert bill, has been markedly improved through
negotiations with Sen. Boxer (D-CA). In the House, Rep.
Miller (D-CA)
has introduced a bill, H.R. 2404, which
would reauthorize the program
without harmful
anti-environment provisions. Environmentalists support
the Miller bill.
On 10/5, the House approved a $70 billion farm bill (H.R.
2646) by a
vote of 291-120, after rejecting an amendment
by Rep. Kind (D-WI) and
Rep. Boehlert (R-NY), supported
by the environmental community, that
would have
transferred $1.9 billion per year from commodity subsidies
to farm conservation, wetlands restoration, and wildlife
habitat
programs, without weakening environmental
standards for factory farms.
An amendment by Rep. D.
Miller (R-FL) and Rep. G. Miller (D-CA) to
decrease
sugar subsidies and apply the savings to Everglades
restoration also failed. The Bush administration criticized
the House
bill because of its high price tag, large
subsidies, and failure to
help the small farmer.
...
International Environmental Protections
On 10/16, the House Ways and Means
Committee approved H.R. 3005, a
trade promotion bill
introduced by the chair of the committee, Rep.
Thomas
(R-CA). The bill grants "fast track," or expedited, authority
to the president to negotiate new trade agreements. House
Speaker
Hastert (R-IL) announced that he intends to try
to bring this bill to
the House floor for a vote
shortly. Environmental, consumer, social
justice, and
labor groups oppose this bill because it fails to ensure
adequate environmental and labor standards and could
undermine current
protections. The bill, which is
supported by the Bush administration,
is similar to fast
track legislation that was rejected by Congress in
1997
and 1998, except that it provides even fewer positive labor and
environmental provisions, while offering more restrictions
on public
safety and environmental protection. On 10/3,
the ranking minority
members of the committee, Rep.
Rangel (D-NY), and Rep. Levin (D-MI),
introduced their
own trade bill (H.R. 3019), which has stronger
congressional oversight and environmental standards.
...
Marine Mammals
On 10/11, the House Resources Fisheries Conservation
subcommittee held
a hearing on marine mammal issues,
including the use of low frequency
active sonar by the
Navy, which could harm whales and other marine
life. The
Navy wants to deploy this sonar worldwide, but needs a
permit from the National Marine Fisheries Service. Numerous
scientists, as well as environmental and animal rights
groups, have
joined forces to oppose the use of this
sonar, both because of the
grave risks it presents to
marine mammals and the inadequate
information that the
Navy currently has about its impacts on marine
life.
...
Nuclear
On 10/31, the House Energy and
Commerce Committee approved a bill
(H.R. 2983) to
reauthorize the Price-Anderson Act until 2017. This
act,
which provides federal insurance for nuclear power plants in case
of an accident, is a huge subsidy to the nuclear industry.
Environmental groups oppose reauthorization because it
would encourage
more nuclear power plant construction
without addressing nuclear waste
contamination. It would
also shift responsibility for the full cost of
nuclear
power plant use from the nuclear industry to taxpayers.
...
Public Health
On 10/3, the House Science committee approved Rep. Ehlers'
(R-MI) bill
(H.R. 64), which creates the position of
deputy for science and
technology at the Environmental
Protection Agency. Environmental
groups are concerned
that this position could be used in a political
manner
to undercut the science conducted at the agency and the
policies adopted as the result of it. Environmentalists have
also
expressed disappointment that the bill fails to
address major
scientific shortcomings at EPA, including
significant reliance on
industry studies and external
review by advisory committees that are
often dominated
by industry representatives and researchers.
...
Public
Lands
On 10/2 the Senate passed
the Defense Authorization bill (S. 1438).
The House
version (H.R. 2586) which passed on 9/25, includes
provisions that would allow the expansion of Fort Irwin in
the
California desert, but would imperil the survival
and recovery of
federally protected endangered species,
such as the California desert
tortoise and Lane Mountain
milkvetch. The House bill would end the
conservation of
36,000 acres of wildlands in the California Desert
that
Congress has identified as meriting wilderness protection.
Environmentalists are pushing to provide for additional
funding to
protect the tortoise and for the designation
of new protected areas so
that the desert can be
protected while supporting military readiness.
This bill
is currently in conference to resolve differences between
the House and Senate bills.
...
For
information on the environmental voting records of members of
Congress, see the League of Conservation Voter's National
Environmental Scorecards at http://www.lcv.org/scorecards/index.htm
...........
2) About Our Bulletins/How to
Subscribe & Unsubscribe
NRDC
distributes three bulletins by email. To subscribe to any or all
of them or to join our activist networks, go to
http://www.join.nrdcaction.org/subscribe.asp. If you
already subscribe
and want to change your subscriptions
or update your email address or
other information, go to
http://www.join.nrdcaction.org/profileeditor
(or see the unsubscribe information below).
EARTH ACTION is sent biweekly and
calls out urgent environmental
issues requiring
immediate action. To unsubscribe from Earth Action,
send
an email message to earthaction@nrdcaction.org with REMOVE in the
subject line.
LEGISLATIVE WATCH is sent biweekly when Congress is in
session and
tracks environmental bills moving through
the federal legislature. To
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Watch, send an email message to
legwatch@nrdcaction.org
with REMOVE in the subject line.
The CALIFORNIA ACTIVIST NETWORK ACTION ALERT is distributed
monthly to
members of NRDC's California Activist Network
and provides action
tools to Californians and others
concerned with protecting the state's
natural resources
and the health of its citizens. To unsubscribe, send
an
email message to wildcalifornia@nrdcaction.org with REMOVE in the
subject line.
...........
3) About NRDC/How to Contact Us
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a nonprofit
environmental
organization with over 500,000 members
nationwide and a staff of
scientists, attorneys and
environmental experts. Our mission is to
protect the
planet's wildlife and wild places and ensure a safe and
healthy environment for all living things.
For more information about NRDC or
how to become a member of NRDC,
please contact us at:
Natural Resources Defense
Council
40 West 20th Street
NY,
NY 10011
212-727-4511 (voice) / 212-727-1773 (fax)
General information: nrdcinfo@nrdc.org
Email subscription questions: nrdcaction@nrdc.org
http://www.nrdc.org
Also visit:
BioGems -- Saving
Endangered Wild Places
A project of the Natural
Resources Defense Council
http://www.savebiogems.org
...........
Dear Members of Global Response's "Quick Response Network:"
This is wonderful
news: Thanks to persistent efforts of environmental and
human rights activists and organizations around the world,
Rodolfo Montiel
Flores and Teodoro Cabrera Garcia were
released today after more than 2
years in
prison. In a press conference announcing their release, President
Fox noted the efforts of national and international human
rights and
environmental groups in the
case. The men were released based on Article 75
of Mexican penal code relating to health reasons.
While we await the details of the
mens' release, we think this is a great
day for
environmental defenders around the world. Please do pause for a
moment to appreciate and congratulate one another for every
letter you wrote
on behalf of Montiel and Cabrera,
leaders in grassroots efforts to stop
destructive
industrial logging in Guerrero state.
This victory proves once again that conscientious citizens
can make justice
prevail.
********************************
Paula Palmer, Executive Director
Global Response
PO Box 7490
Boulder CO 80306
Tel. 303-444-0306
Fax. 303-449-9794
Website:
www.globalresponse.org
Mission: Global Response empowers people of all
ages, cultures, and
nationalities to protect the
environment by creating partnerships for
effective
citizen action. At the request of indigenous peoples and
grassroots organizations, Global Response organizes
international
letter-writing campaigns to help
communities prevent environmental
destruction. Global Response involves young
people as well as adults in
these campaigns, to develop
in them the values and skills for global citizen
cooperation and earth stewardship.
NEW! Now you can make
donations online at: http://www.globalresponse.org
Take action to support Senator Leahy and Reid's Farm
Bill proposal, which will boost federal funds to help
farmers help the environment.
You can take action on this alert either via email
(please see directions below) or via the web at:
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/farm_reform_senate4/wk8bxn4z78xbii
Visit the web address below and
tell your friends to
take action on this important
campaign!
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/farm_reform_senate4/forward/wk8bxn4z78xbii
We encourage you to take action
by December 8, 2001
Helping
Farmers Help the Environment! ONTO THE SENATE
----------------------
***************************
Action Network from Environmental Defense.
Finding the ways that work.
***************************
This week, Senators Patrick Leahy of
Vermont and Harry
Reid of Nevada will introduce their
Farm Bill proposal,
which will boost federal funds to
preserve farm, ranch
and forest lands, improve water
quality, protect food
and drinking water supplies,
restore habitat for wildlife,
and more.
URGENT ACTION NEEDED:
Since last year, over 46,000 Action Network activists
have taken action to help farmers help the environment.
However, the House of Representatives narrowly defeated
an effort to shift $1.9 billion a year from commodity
crop programs into critical conservation programs and
approved an anti-environmental Farm Bill that favors
the very largest farmers. Therefore, it is even more
important that the Senate approves a Farm Bill that
will protect natural resources and public health, and
be fair to all states and all kinds of farmers.
Take action today! Urge your Senator
to co-sponsor
the Leahy-Reid Farm Bill proposal to help
reward farmers,
ranchers and private forest landowners
when they help
meet our environmental challenges.
In addition to sending a fax, please
call your Senator
as well. For phone numbers, visit http://www.congressmerge.com
or
contact sfriedman@environmentaldefense.org.
To see an overview of the Leahy-Reid proposal, visit
http://www.environmentaldefense.org/programs/AgriReform/LeahyAlert.html
For more information about
Environmental Defense's
efforts to reform agricultural
practices, visit: http://www.environmentaldefense.org/programs/Ecosystems/AgriReform/
Questions? Contact Suzy
Friedman, Agriculture Policy
Analyst and Organizer, at
sfriedman@environmentaldefense.org
----------------------
INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPOND VIA THE WEB:
If you have access to a web browser, you can take action
on this alert by going to the following URL:
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/farm_reform_senate4/wk8bxn4z78xbii
INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPOND VIA
EMAIL:
Just choose the "reply to sender" option on your
email
program, and edit the letter below as you wish. Do
not delete "-YOU MAY EDIT THE LETTER BELOW-" and "-END
OF LETTER-". Please do not add your name and address
to your letter. Our system automatically does this
for you.
We STRONGLY encourage you to make edits directly to
our sample letter below, and put the alert talking
points into your own words. An individualized letter
is worth ten computer generated letters. Of course,
hundreds of unedited letters will still create a large
impact, so please reply even if you don't have time
to personalize the letter.
Your letter will be addressed and sent to:
Senator Charles Schumer
-------YOU MAY EDIT THE LETTER
BELOW---------
Please co-sponsor
Senators Leahy and Reid's Farm Bill
proposal. Their
proposal would make conservation and
environmental
protection central to the Farm Bill,
would ensure more
states and farmers get their fair
share of federal
agriculture help, and would avoid
violating important
world trade agreements.
There is growing national support for major reform
of federal agricultural programs from President Bush,
200 members of the House of Representatives, and others.
Refocusing farm subsidies on conservation would provide
benefits to many more farmers across the nation, not
just the largest corporate farms, and would make better
use of taxpayer dollars. This effort was closely defeated
in the House, so your leadership to ensure a
conservation-oriented,
regionally equitable Senate Farm
Bill is critical.
Today, most
farmers, ranchers and private forest landowners
seeking
federal help to clean up water, combat sprawl
or help
wildlife are rejected due to inadequate funding.
For
example, three in four farmers and ranchers seeking
financial assistance to clean water are rejected.
The Leahy-Reid Farm Bill would
provide new funds to
protect farmland and open space
from sprawl, restore
wildlife habitat, encourage organic
farming, restore
wetlands, and more. Unless we reward
farmers when they
meet our environmental challenges, one
third of rivers
and lakes will remain polluted, hundreds
of species
will creep closer to extinction, and millions
of acre
of open space will be lost.
Please co-sponsor the Leahy-Reid
Farm Bill to ensure
that the next Farm Bill helps
protect our natural resources,
public health, and
agricultural communities.
-------END OF LETTER-------------------------
YOUR ACTION: Care2's alerts newsletter features important
steps YOU can quickly take to help make the world
greener and
safer.
Dear Friend:
I'm worried about antibiotics. Recent threats of
bioterrorism have
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it turns out that Bayer Corporation
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Bayer -
the maker of Cipro - is refusing to comply with a ban
proposed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the
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FDA recommended a ban on Baytril(R)
after their scientists found
that using Baytril(R) in
chicken farming contributes to the
development of
bacterial infections, such as food poisoning, in
humans
that are resistant to antibiotic treatment.
Baytril is very closely related to a drug used in human
medicine,
known as Cipro, and both are members of a
class of antibiotics
known as fluoroquinolones. Though
Cipro is currently making
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Bayer has refused to
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Because of antibiotic overuse, infectious bacterial diseases are
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Just click here to take action:
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It only takes a minute to help. And
if you forward this message to
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Hi, Global Response members. Here are a couple
articles about the release
of Rodolfo Montiel and
Teodoro Cabrera in Mexico.
See
the Environmental News Service article at:
http://www.ens-news.com/ens/nov2001/2001L-11-08-03.html.
A Reuters article is copied
below, followed by an unofficial translation of
the
statement issued by Mexican president Vicente Fox.
UPDATE
- Mexico frees two jailed environmentalists
Mail this story to a friend | Printer friendly version
MEXICO:
November 9, 2001
MEXICO
CITY - Mexican President Vicente Fox freed
two
prominent environmentalists from prison
yesterday
amid widespread allegations that they had
been
tortured into signing false confessions on bogus
charges.
Rodolfo
Montiel and Teodoro Cabrera had led protests
against
illegal logging activities in the southern state of
Guerrero
before they were jailed in May 1999 on weapons
and
drugs offenses.
Both
men say they only confessed after being tortured for
several
days and claim they were being punished for their
attempts
to defend the forests of the Sierra Madre mountain
range
from rapacious logging.
They
were backed by international human rights groups and
have
been awarded a number of prestigious human rights
and
environmental awards.
Fox
had been under intense pressure from rights groups to
take
action in their case, and his move yesterday
immediately
freed the two from prison in Iguala, Guerrero.
Fox
said he had taken into account requests for their
freedom,
their medical condition and a report from a U.N.
working
group on arbitrary arrests.
"With
these actions we demonstrate through deeds my
government's
commitment to the promotion and observance
of
human rights in our country," Fox said at a news
conference,
adding that their release was in line with
international
conventions on human rights and torture.
The
case returned to the national spotlight last month when
one
of Mexico's most prominent human rights lawyers,
Digna
Ochoa, was shot dead in her office.
Ochoa
had represented Montiel and Cabrera, and officials
believe
her murder was linked to the ongoing disputes
between
environmentalists and logging interests in
Guerrero.
"The
lines of inquiry are pointing toward the state of
Guerrero,
toward the conflicts of the peasant farmers with
logging
groups," Mexico City Prosecutor Bernardo Batiz
said
earlier this week.
Mexico's
state news agency Notimex quoted Mariclaire
Acosta,
the government's top human rights official, as
saying
Montiel and Cabrera were released on humanitarian
grounds
because they both suffered from poor health.
Montiel
was imprisoned for seven years on charges that he
cultivated
marijuana and was in possession of weapons,
while
Cabrera received a 10-year sentence on gun charges.
The
sentences were upheld earlier this year by a state
appeals
court, but rights groups alleged corruption in
Guerrero's
courts and members of Fox's Cabinet were
openly
skeptical of the charges against Montiel and
Cabrera.
Story
by Kieran Murray
REUTERS
NEWS SERVICE
UNOFFICIAL TRANSLATION
Statement made by President
Vicente Fox regarding the release of
Rodolfo Montiel Flores and
Teodoro Cabrera García
Mexico City, November 8, 2001
Statement made this afternoon by President
Vicente Fox Quesada, in the
Venustiano Carranza Room of the Mexican Presidential
Residence at Los
Pinos.
Today, exercising the
legal powers that the Mexican legal system invest to
the President of Mexico, I ordered that the
necessary measures be taken to
free Rodolfo Montiel Flores and
Teodoro Cabrera García, who were arrested
on May 2,
1999, in Pizotla, Guerrero.
Rodolfo Montiel Flores and Teodoro Cabrera García at
this moment are
already free.
Since December 1, 2000, satisfying numerous requests by
national and
international human rights
organizations, my Administration took interest
in this
matter.
Therefore, the Mexican Government commissioned a
group of attorneys to
provide legal support and advice
to the council of both convicts.
Taken into consideration the requests by several non-governmental
organizations, such as the
Ecological Organization of Sierra de Petatlán
and Coyuca de Catalán and the
"Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez" Human Rights
Center; the opinion issued by the Working Group
on Arbitrary Detentions of
the United Nations; the health of
both convicts, and Article 75 of the
Federal Penal Code, today I ordered
the release of Rodolfo Montiel Flores
and Teodoro
Cabrera Garcia.
This determination is in line with the
Universal Declaration on Human
Rights, the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights and the
Convention against Torture, all of which were signed
and ratified by
Mexico.
With this actions, the Mexican
Government shows its commitment to human
rights in
Mexico.
Thank you very much.
********************************
Paula Palmer, Executive Director
Global Response
PO Box 7490
Boulder CO 80306
Tel. 303-444-0306
Fax. 303-449-9794
Website:
www.globalresponse.org
Mission: Global Response empowers people of all
ages, cultures, and
nationalities to protect the
environment by creating partnerships for
effective
citizen action. At the request of indigenous peoples and
grassroots organizations, Global Response organizes
international
letter-writing campaigns to help
communities prevent environmental
destruction. Global Response involves young
people as well as adults in
these campaigns, to develop
in them the values and skills for global citizen
cooperation and earth stewardship.
from American Lands November 9, 2001
*************************UCS ACTION ALERT
UPDATE******************
The
purpose of this email is to provide an update on the action alert circulated on
Thursday, November 8th, calling for you to contact your Senators and urge them
to sign the Renewable Energy Letter being circulated by Senators Reid
(D-NV) and Cantwell (D-WA).
Because the Daschle-Bingaman timetable has slipped a little
for assembling a comprehensive energy bill, the DEADLINE FOR TAKING ACTION HAS
BEEN EXTENDED TO NOON ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 13th.
As many Senators have headed to their homes for the holiday,
this may present opportunities for contacting them in their district offices
this weekend. The original action alert including key messages and links to
contact information is included below for your reference.
Thank you to all those who have
already taken action. As of 2:00 PM today, 17 Senators have signed on
to the dear colleague letter, including
Sen. Boxer (D-CA)
Sen. Cantwell
(D-WA)
Sen. Dayton (D-MN)
Sen.
Dorgan (D-ND)
Sen. Feingold (D-WI)
Sen. Feinstein (D-CA)
Sen. Lieberman
(D-CT)
Sen. Jeffords (I-VT)
Sen.
Leahy (D-VT)
Sen. Mikulski (D-MD)
Sen. Kennedy (D-MA)
Sen. Kerry
(D-MA)
Sen. Harkin (D-IA)
Sen.
Reed (D-RI)
Sen. Reid (D-NV)
Sen. Schumer (D-NY)
Sen. Wellstone
(D-MN)
November 8, 2001
*************************UCS ACTION
ALERT*************************
Contact your Senators TODAY and urge them to sign the
Renewable
Energy Letter being circulated by
Senators Reid (D-NV) and Cantwell (D-WA).
ISSUE:
Senate Majority Leader Tom
Daschle (D-SD) recently directed committee chairs to forward recommendations to
him for a comprehensive national energy bill to be ready to introduce on the
Senate floor this year.
The
"Dear Colleague" letter that Senators Reid and Cantwell are circulating urges
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) to include a Renewable Portfolio
Standard (RPS) and a Production Tax Credit (PTC) in the comprehensive energy
package. The RPS requires that a minimum percentage of electricity come from
renewable energy sources like wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass. The PTC
would provide renewable energy developers with the economic support they need to
become competitive with other, dirtier and heavily subsidized forms of energy
such as coal, oil and nuclear.
ACTION:
Call or email your Senators
and urge them to sign on to the letter TODAY. The deadline for sign ons is noon
tomorrow - Friday, Nov. 9, 2001.
To contact your Senators:
- By
telephone, call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121
- Obtain e-mail and fax information by visiting the Senate
web site (www.senate.gov)
MESSAGE:
Tell your Senators that
increasing production of renewable energy - such as wind, solar, geothermal, and
biomass - is important to provide safe, clean, and affordable power for
Americans. Senators Reid and Cantwell are circulating a letter asking
Senator Daschle to include a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) and a Production
Tax Credit (PTC) for renewable energy into the comprehensive energy
package. An RPS would require that utilities provide some percentage
of their electricity from renewable power sources by a certain year. Analysis by
the Union of Concerned Scientists (Clean Energy Blueprint available at
www.ucsusa.org/energy/blueprint.html) shows that a 20 percent RPS by 2020, when
combined with the PTC and additional policies to improve energy efficiency, can
save consumers money, improve our environment, and over time reduce risks to
national security.
The sign on
letter does not endorse any particular percentage or year for the RPS, nor does
it ask Senators to endorse any particular number or year. A PTC would provide
renewable energy with the economic support they need to become competitive with
other, dirtier and heavily subsidized forms of energy such as coal, oil and
nuclear.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Please contact
Jeff Deyette (jdeyette@ucsusa.org) or visit the UCS Clean Energy Program web
site at www.ucsusa.org/energy
Precedence: list
X-Bulkmail: 2.05
Positive Energy
November 5 - 11
v1.20
Greenpeace's Clean Energy Now
Campaign Weekly
Good News update - "Positive Energy"
*** SAN FRANCISCO VOTES YES ON
SOLAR!!!!
On November 6, 2001,
San Franciscans voted in favor of two
solar power
initiatives that will make the city a national
leader in
solar energy use. Propositions B and H will fund
up to
50 megawatts of solar power, far more than the
8
megawatts of solar in nearby Sacramento, the country's
largest current installation. Greenpeace's Solar Yes!
campaign was an integral part of the success of the solar
ballot measures. The vote sends a strong, clear message
to
politicians in Sacramento that fossil fuels are
dirty,
expensive, and insecure and they cause global
warming.
Not only will the
success in the San Francisco be a major
boost for the
solar industry by creating a large increase
in domestic
demand, it will also spur others to take
similar steps.
To read more about the solar
victory and
the Clean Energy Now! campaign, go to:
http://www.cleanenergynow.org/features/sfsolarvictory.html
Check out this excellent online
article at MSNBC website:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/654034.asp#BODY
*** ANOTHER
SOLAR VICTORY!!!
Greenpeace's
Clean Energy Now! campaign scored a major
victory on
Friday, November 2nd when the Board of the
California Power Authority (CPA) approved a request for
proposals for installing 160 Megawatts (MW) of photovoltaic
systems.
The Greenpeace campaign has been hounding the CPA to make
major investments in solar power to reduce California's
reliance on natural gas and be a vanguard in
the Clean Energy Revolution.
The CPA initially planned 60 MW of solar panels, but after
hearing the arguments of Greenpeace and others, the CPA
decided to more than double their original request.
160 MW of PV installations will
require 50% of the
photovoltaic panels currently
manufactured in the
United States each year.
If used on residential buildings
these systems would
provide power to 13,000 California
homes, at 3 KW per
home. Over a 25-year lifetime these
panels will produce
over 7000 Gig Watt-hours of
electricity and will
displace 1.66 million tons of
carbon dioxide emissions.
Thanks
for your help on this...
To
learn more about the CPA and the
Clean Energy Now
Campaign, go to:
http://www.cleanenergynow.org/california/cpa.html
*** Greening The Universities: A
Focus On Buildings
Join
students, educators, and environmentalists from around
California on Saturday, November 10th from 8:30am - 4:00 pm
at Stanford University (Science & Engineering Quad,
Teaching Center, Rm 200) for an inspiring symposium on
sustainability and green building. Amory
Lovins, renowned
author of the book "Natural
Capitalism," will close the s
ymposium with a keynote
address.
For a full agenda and
more information on the symposium
send e-mail to
kaguy@stanford.edu
or call (650) 723-4270.
PS Last Monday we said Senator Boxer
was up for re-election
in 2002 - she is not. But we are
still going to organize
the Californian constituency she
represents to press her
to become Congress' climate
champion.
The "Positive Energy"
newsletter and the web site,
http://www.cleanenergynow.org, will give you good news
about
ways to achieve clean air, climate justice and
renewable
energy solutions to our current energy crisis.
Want to do more? Become a
Greenpeace member today!
http://www.greenpeaceusa.org/join2/cen.htm
ETC group News Release:
9 November
2001
www.etcgroup.org
US Government's $2.5 Million
Biopiracy Project in Mexico Cancelled
Victory for Indigenous Peoples in
Chiapas
After two years of
intense local opposition from indigenous peoples'
organizations in Chiapas, Mexico, the US government-funded
ICBG-Maya
project aimed at the bioprospecting of Mayan
medicinal plants and
traditional knowledge has been
"definitively cancelled" by the
Project's Chiapas-based
partner, ECOSUR - El Colegio de la Frontera
Sur. The US
government confirmed today that the ICBG-Maya Project has
been terminated.
"The definitive cancellation of the ICBG-Maya project is
important
for all indigenous peoples in Mexico.
Indigenous communities are
asking for a moratorium on
all biopiracy projects in Mexico, so that
we can
discuss, understand and propose our own alternative approaches
to using our resources and knowledge. We want to insure that
no one
can patent these resources and that the benefits
are shared by all."
- Antonio Perez Mendez, indigenous
doctor and secretary of the
Council of Traditional
Indigenous Doctors and Midwives from Chiapas
(Consejo de
Médicos y Parteras Indígenas Tradicionales de Chiapas -
COMPITCH).
"We see the cancellation of the ICBG-Maya as a victory, but
we also
realize that we must develop capacity to respond
with our own
economic alternatives. If not, we will
continue to see foreign
projects which seek to privatize
our resources and knowledge." -
Rafael Alarcón, advisor
to COMPITCH
ECOSUR's decision to
withdraw its support for ICBG-Maya is the final
blow for
the ill-conceived biopiracy project - which not only faced
widespread opposition from indigenous peoples organizations
in
Chiapas, but also last year failed to get regulatory
approval from
the Mexican government (that is,
permission to conduct bio-assays on
collected plant
materials).
The $2.5 million
dollar ICBG-Maya project, entitled "Drug Discovery
and
Biodiversity among the Maya in Mexico," was funded by the US
government in September 1998, and included the University of
Georgia-Athens (UGA), USA, the Colegio de la Frontera
Sur (ECOSUR),
Mexico, and Molecular Nature Limited
(MNL), a Welsh biotechnology
company. The International
Collaborative Biodiversity Group (ICBG),
is a US
government initiative involving the National Institutes of
Health, the National Science Foundation and the US
Department of
Agriculture (USDA).
No Means No! "Despite all
the talk about 'prior informed consent'
and the 'right
to say no,' it took two years for the indigenous
peoples
of Chiapas to convince the ICBG-Maya that no means no. The
Project was unacceptable to many indigenous communities in
Chiapas
that oppose commercial exploitation of their
genetic resources and
traditional knowledge," explains
Silvia Ribeiro of ETC group. "ECOSUR
has made a
responsible decision and now seeks to re-build community
support for its public research programs," adds Ribeiro.
Slow to Go: The ICBG Maya Project
was staunchly defended by its
director, anthropologist
Brent Berlin of the University of Georgia.
Failing to
win consensus at the local level, and facing increasing
criticism internationally, Berlin sought to redesign the
project and
salvage it. In August 2001 Berlin proposed
to ECOSUR that a
re-designed project would seek to
define the risks and benefits of
bioprospecting, train
indigenous leaders on ethical norms related to
prior
informed consent, and develop an informational campaign on the
risks and benefits of bioprospecting for indigenous
communities.
Although ICBG approved the new project, to
be financed by a
re-direction of funds from the first
ICBG Maya proposal, the advisory
board of ECOSUR
rejected it. On 7 October 2001, perhaps in a
last-ditch
effort to win approval for the project, a representative
from the US Embassy in Mexico travelled to Chiapas to meet
with
representatives from COMPITCH, the indigenous group
in Chiapas most
active in protesting the project. Again,
the local communities said no.
Lessons Learned? The decisive rejection of the
ICBG-Maya, and the
continuing struggles of indigenous
peoples in Chiapas to defend their
collective rights
over biodiversity and traditional knowledge, offers
valuable lessons for bioprospectors worldwide, including the
US-government's remaining ICBG projects in Latin
America, Asia and
Africa.
Ultimately, neither well-meaning anthropologists nor civil
society
organizations can make decisions for indigenous
peoples; nor can
outsiders appoint organizations to
determine who will legitimately
represent the interests
of indigenous communities. The collective
rights of
indigenous peoples must be respected, as well as the
fundamental right of local communities to veto projects that
target
their resources and knowledge.
In a world where biological products
and processes are being
privatized and patented, and
where Farmers' Rights are being trampled
by intellectual
property and trade agreements, it is not surprising
that
proprietary rights are confounding negotiations at the local,
national and international levels. Equity-based
bioprospecting is a
myth in the absence of regulatory
mechanisms that safeguard the
rights and interests of
farmers, indigenous peoples and local
communities.
Unanswered Questions: What will
happen to plant materials collected
in Chiapas prior to
the termination of the Project? While it is
understood
that bio-assays were not conducted on these plants, how
will the University of Georgia and ECOSUR insure that any
plant
collections are repatriated to the local
communities?
For more
information, contact: Silvia Ribeiro, ETC group:
silvia@etcgroup.org tel: 52-5563-2664
Hope Shand, ETC group:
hope@etcgroup.org tel: (919) 960-5223
In Chiapas: Consejo de Médicos y
Parteras Indígenas Tradicionales de
Chiapas - COMPITCH
Antonio Perez Mendez, Rafael Alarcon (52) 967 85438 :
compitch@hotmail.com
The Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration,
formerly
RAFI, is an international civil society
organization headquartered in
Canada. The ETC group
(pronounced Etcetera group) is dedicated to the
advancement of cultural and ecological diversity and human
rights.
The Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior is anchored near the
World Trade Organisation meeting in Doha, Qatar. Here is the first update from
the meeting.
***
Friday, 9 November 2001
First of a series of daily updates
from Jo Dufay in Doha, Qatar, on the World Trade Organisation
meeting.
Highlights: Day One
· WTO meeting officially opens
· US,
EU pressure developing nations on 'New Round'
· Canada
chairing key committee on environment = bad news
· 'Deep
differences remain' says Mike Moore
· NGOs protest at
opening session
· 'Radio No New Round' starts web and
pirate FM broadcast from Rainbow Warrior, Doha Harbour
'We have learned lessons in Seattle'
said WTO Director General Mike Moore at the opening session of the 4th
Ministerial conference, in Doha Qatar, last night. 'Some of our
critics are correct' he added. What lessons, precisely, were
learned, remains to be seen.
Among a flurry of security, NGO representatives made their
protest over the absence of civil society voices within the
WTO. Holding signs that said 'No voice in the WTO', people from about
thirty public interest groups stood at the beginning of the opening
session. They were quickly surrounded by a mix of white-robed and
grey-suited security people. The protest ended
peacefully. Although the Qatari hosts of this meeting have been
courteous, the message from the WTO is clear -- there is a narrow
tolerance for protest.
The opening ceremonies marked the end of a day of tension,
where nothing happened on the surface but tensions and suspicion ran deep. One
of the lessons learned from Seattle is that developed countries and industries
need ed to be better organised, and they are. Recently,
the US invited trade ministers from African countries to Washington, DC where
they were wined and dined and told that the US was ready to consider ways level
the econom ic playing field to help their exports. However there was
also pressure for the African countries to drop some of their WTO
objections.
Corporate interests, too, are better
organised. There are at least as many industry-side 'NGOs' here as
public interest NGOs, and most are moving smoothly behind the scenes to persuade
delegations that trade liberalisati on is the way forward, and all other
concerns are secondary.
Six working groups have been formed to try to resolve some
of the controversial areas facing this meeting. They will cover
things like drug patents, agriculture and investment. One of the
committees will deal with the e nvironment. The core issue is: which
gets protected first - trade or the environment? Disappointingly,
this committee is chaired by Canada - a country with an extremist position on
favouring trade over the environment. The Canadian delegation is 40 strong, not
one official from the environment ministry.
The Greenpeace flagship 'Rainbow
Warrior' has been allowed to moor in Doha Harbour. From the deck you
can see the modern white pyramid that is the Sheraton Hotel, primary site of the
WTO conference. Although armed patro l boats cruise by the ship at
regular intervals, from the ship the city is visible only as sugar-cube
architecture and modern sky-rises.
Across the water you don't see the military security zone
that has clamped down on large areas of the city. Many roads are
closed, and a security cordon with several layers of defence has been thrown
around the Sheraton. The military consists of mercenary soldiers in camouflage
fatigues - interestingly for a desert state these are in blue tones, rather than
khaki or green! Transportation is very limited, and
moving between the ship a nd any of several conference sites is time consuming
and difficult.
Despite the security situation, the atmosphere is not one of
fear except when the US delegation sweeps by, walking through the Sheraton
huddled together, with a phalanx of security guards surrounding
them.
The
narrow tolerance for protest here has caused many comments. Without a doubt, the
Qatari cultural reality works to the advantage of those who would like to meet
without having to deal with the concerns of civil society . However,
the lack of transparency and inclusivity by the WTO goes far beyond the right to
protest. There is simply no place for our voice in the meetings, and we have to
claw around the edges to find a place there. Much of our work is in
acting as a conduit for information, between and among delegations, and as
'translators' to explain the real meaning and implications of events and
texts. .
Just after 11AM Saturday morning No New Round Radio began
its FM radio transmissions (89.6 FM) and web broadcasts from, onboard the
Rainbow Warrior in Doha harbour. You can find it on
(www.greenpeace.org/politics/wto/Doha/index.html) or (www.indymedia.org). The FM
signal is loud and clear. Local and international coverage of the Rainbow
Warrior has been fantastic.
In Seattle, protests on the streets highlighted differences
within the meeting. Here, street protests are not possible but as
Mike Moore said yesterday 'deep differences remain'.
VISIT THE CYBERCENTRE
Please don't forget to visit the
Greenpeace Cyberactivist Community at:
http://act.greenpeace.org
Greenpeace WTO Update Number 2
Saturday, 10 November 2001
Highlights
Differences emerge over drug patents; dumping
Is a deal going down?
Allegationsof
coercion and arm twisting – NGOs protest
Canada pulled
as chair of environment committee
'Radio No New Round'
goes to VHF
Headof UNCTAD visits Rainbow Warrior
The bidding
has begun on the Trade-deal trade-off, here in Doha. Qatar, on the first full
day of WTO talks. Countries laid out their opening positions
and hinted at negotiating stances, but it is clear that most of the deals will
go down far from the eyes of the world, and even further from the voices and
hearts of ordinary people.
It was in many ways, a day to accentuate
differences. The strongest positions were staked on the
issues of drug patents, anti-dumping measures and market access for least
developed countries.
There were also blunt allegations that developed countries
have been coercing developing nations through aid offered or withheld and
promises of market access that may never be fulfilled. Developing
countries spoke passionately about these pressures from rich nations, but such
is the power dynamic that they were reluctant to name names for the
media. Based on off-the record briefings, however, NGO
representatives lined up outside the exit point for the US delegation, and
chanted ‘No Arm Twisting: No intimidation’. Security
personnel moved in, and the protest ended peacefully after about 20
minutes.
Although
many brave countries are prepared to take principled positions, there is a smell
of a deal going down. The rich nations desperately want to call the
next set of trade liberalisation talks “The Development Round” – a bogus public
relations name for a process with few benefits for developing
countries.
Deals will likely be cut with limited concessions on drug
patents and some tariff reductions (textiles is particularly senstitive) as a
nod to developing countries. However, the more profound economic
agenda will continue, meaning an increase in corporate control and a
loss of democratic control over social and economic destinies. Since Seattle,
the US and Europe seem to have agreed to not let their differences get in the
way of a deal. The US is not pushing on biotechnology, meaning there
will be some corresponding trade-off expected from Europe.
The good news of the day was that
Chile has replaced Canada as chair of the committee working on environmental
issues. Chilean head of delegation Heraldo Munoz is much more likely
to really consider environmental protection than was his Canadian
counterpart. Canada is now chairing discussions on investment
and other issues, which also have important social and environmental
implications. Behind the scenes, we are given to understand that it was pressure
from Greenpeace that led to Canada being pulled from the environmental
portfolio. The committees dealing with controversial issues meet briefly in
closed sessions. Most of their real work is done in smaller
one-on-one meetings that are totally secret.
Among many other visitors, Rubens
Ricupero, head of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development visited the
ship to express his support for environmental isues. Mr Ricupero was
in Doha for only about 12 hours and managed to visit the RW on his way back to
the airport.
Radio
No New Round added to its web broadcasts by starting to broadcast on FM radio.
This can be heard by anyone in the area with an ordinary radio set on
89.6 FM. While not exactly legal, this situation has so far been
tolerated by the Qatari authorities – although they have re-attached the machine
guns to their mounts on the patrol boats cruising by! Remember you
can hear us on the web worldwide at www.greenpeace.org or
www.indymedia.org Sunday at 3pm local time, we'll be broadcasting
live to FM (and later to web radio) from the bridge of the RW, as Pascal Lamy
and many NGOs come aboard the ship.
VISIT THE CYBERCENTRE
Please don't forget to visit the Greenpeace Cyberactivist
Community at:
http://act.greenpeace.org
In this Post :
1. An exciting Week :
60 demos and a Big Victory!
2. RAN News Analysis :
Historic Precedent Set by Dutch Banks
3. Focus on
Finance News Story : Dutch Banks Commit to Forest Conservation
4. Action around the Country!
* * * * * * *
#1
This was an exciting week in the
campaign to transform the investments of
mega-banks like
Citigroup away from destructive activities that threaten the
environment and human rights. On Nov 7th in over
60 communities and
campuses across the country people
took action to confront Citigroup's role
in financing
global warming, forest destruction and a host of other human
rights violations. With actions ranging from
credit card cut ups, to
consciousness raising tables, to
demonstrations and symbolic deliveries
Citigroup got the
message across the country that we will no longer tolerate
them funding destruction.
For a run
down of the actions high lights from around the country check out
section #4 below.
Meanwhile on the other side of the Atlantic our allies
scored a major
victory that will send ripples through
the world of finance. ABN AMRO, the
largest Dutch bank and a lead investor in fossil fuels and
logging
operations, made an historic commitment to cease
funding extractive
industries in primary and high
conservation value forest ecosystems. This
pledge comes
at the end of a campaign spearheaded by Milleudefense,
Greenpeace Netherlands, and Sawit Watch, a coalition of
Indonesian NGOs. The
campaign targeted funding of
projects that threaten Indonesia's primary
forests and
also succeeded in getting two other Dutch banks, Rabobank and
Fortis bank to adopt a narrower set of policies to address
the crisis in
Indonesia's forests. The ABN-AMRO's policy
goes far beyond just Indonesia to
affect all extractive
industries operating in forests around the planet.
Citigroup has claimed that they cannot adopt social and
environmental
standards. Citigroup has
claimed they can't afford to divest from global
warming
and forest destruction but the actions of these Dutch banks sets a
historical precedent that make it obvious how self-serving
and myopic Citi
is acting. Below is
RAN's response to the announcement (#2) and an article
giving more details of the agreement (#3). This agreement is
the first of
its kind and brings us one step closer to
Citigroup eventual acceptance of
our movement's demands
that they stop funding destruction. As a top ABN
AMRO exec remarked "Companies that manage their environment
poorly will
suffer financially. Clients and shareholders
walk away, employees will seek
another boss”. To
Citigroup CEO Sandy Weill we say : "pay attention, your
next!"
* * *
* * * *
#2
RAINFOREST ACTION NETWORK NEWS ANALYSIS: HISTORIC PRECEDENT
SET BY DUTCH
BANK
GROUPS CALL UPON AMERICAN BANKS TO FOLLOW SUIT
11/09/01…In a major step toward
shifting the world’s financial sector to
ecological
sustainability, Dutch Bank ABM AMRO has announced it will stop or
substantially restrict the financing of extractive
industries in primary
forests. Two other Dutch Banks,
Fortis Bank and Rabobank, have instituted
more narrow
policies in response to growing concerns about the destructive
effects of the development of palm oil plantations. The
policy addresses all
industries that destroy tropical
rainforests, increase the risk of
large-scale forest
fires and devastate local communities. This victory sets
a new standard that makes it unacceptable to do business
with corporations
that destroy forests or threaten their
traditional inhabitants. This is part
of a growing trend
among consumers who are demanding that companies address
the social and environmental impacts of their business
practices. A recent
Los Angeles Times poll shows that 9
out of 10 American’s support
preservation of remaining
wilderness and consumer pressure has recently
forced
hundreds of major companies around the world, including the UK’s B&Q,
the Netherlands’ Intergamma, and U.S. home improvement
retailer Home Depot,
to commit to phase out the sale of
wood coming from endangered forests.
Current campaigns in the United States call upon American
financial
institutions to institute similar policies.
Because of the leading role
these institutions play in
the global economy, such commitments are
necessary to
address the alarming rate of destruction of the world’s
forests. As North America’s largest financial institution,
Citigroup has a
unique responsibility to lead the U.S.
financial sector toward socially and
environmentally
beneficial economics. Citigroup, whose Citibank and Salomon
Smith Barney units operate in 102 countries, is among the
biggest financial
backers of destructive industries.
According to Bloomberg analytics,
Citigroup was the No.
1 financier of oil pipelines and the coal industry in
2000, as measured by loans and corporate bond underwriting,
and was No. 2 in
mining, forest and paper products.
Citigroup has also financed the
conversion of millions
of acres of primary rainforest into palm oil
plantations.
Instituting policies similar to those adopted by the Dutch
Banks would halt
Citigroup’s key destructive projects,
including the Camisea Gas Project in
Peru, the OCP
Pipeline in Ecuador and the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline in Central
Africa, all of which are currently destroying pristine
ecosystems and
displacing thousands of indigenous
peoples.
"This exciting victory
shows that the financial sector can and must take
responsibility for the role it plays in the crisis occurring
in the world’s
forests," said Ilyse Hogue, Global
Finance Campaigner with Rainforest Action
Network.
"Citigroup is in the position to set acceptable environmental
standards for U.S. financial institutions. Capital
investment is the fuel
that enables destructive
activities to continue unabated and Citigroup
customers
are speaking out to tell Citi, ‘Not with my money.’"
Rainforests cover less than 5 percent of the earth’s
surface, yet they are
home to nearly half the world’s
species. Rainforests store extensive amounts
of carbon
and are therefore critical to moderating the effects of climate
change. Rainforests are home to more than 200 million
indigenous people
worldwide. Less than 20% of the
world’s old growth forests remain intact.
* * * * * * *
#3
Focus on Finance News
Special issue, November 2001
DUTCH BANKS COMMIT TO FOREST CONSERVATION
Three of the Dutch top-four banks -
ABN AMRO Bank, Rabobank and Fortis
Bank - have decided
to stop or substantially restrict the financing of the
development of oil palm plantations for which purposely
tropical rainforest
is destroyed. This is the result of
a joint campaign by Sawit Watch
Indonesia,
Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands) and Greenpeace
Netherlands.
The 1997/98, 10 million hectares of forestland were burned
in Indonesia. The
haze that covered the continent for
several months affected the health of
some 70 million
people in Southeast Asia. Rather than calling for greater
fire fighting capacity in Indonesia, environmental NGOs
sought a fundamental
solution to combat the fires. The
NGOs went after the financial backers of
the oil palm
plantation industry in Indonesia, the sector that was widely
held accountable for causing the forest fires.
All major Dutch banks have financial
ties with several of the main
plantation company groups
in Indonesia and these banks are frequently in a
solid
position to influence the environmental policies of their clients. In
a series of meetings and actions that started last January,
Greenpeace
Netherlands and Friends of the Earth
Netherlands demanded that the banks
adopt sustainability
criteria for investments in the oil palm sector.
Last October 31, ABN-Amro Bank, Rabobank and Fortis Bank
declared that they
subscribe to the investment criteria
as put forward by the NGOs. Oil palm
plantation
companies submitting investment proposals to these banks should:
1. Not be involved in burning
forestland
2. Not be clearing tropical rainforest
3. Respect the rights and wishes of local communities
4. Respect Indonesia's law and relevant international
conventions.
The decision of the
banks is a landmark break-through in NGO efforts to
engage business in forest conservation and management. It is
comparable to
the decision of the major Do-It-Yourself
chains such as B&Q (UK), Intergamma
(Netherlands)
and Home Depot (USA) to phase out the sales of non-certified
lumber. The decision of the banks is also timely, as many
experts believe
that the drought of El Niño and
subsequent forest fires will hit Indonesia
again in
2002.
Sawit Watch, the
Indonesian NGO-network that is campaigning against
large-scale expansion of oil palm plantations, called upon
all banks in the
world, including Indonesian banks, to
follow the steps taken by the Dutch
banks. Sawit Watch’
policy researcher Joko Waluyo stated: "the investment
criteria not only guarantee the safety of bank credits, even
more important
is the conservation of Indonesia's
forests."
The campaign is
already beginning to spread to other European countries,
where environmental and conservation groups approach
investors and importers
to justify their involvement in
plantation companies. Indonesia's pulp and
paper
companies such as Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) and Riau Andalan Pulp and
Paper (PT RAPP) are already high on the agendas of NGOs in
Switzerland and
the United Kingdom.
Of the Dutch banks that have
committed to new investment policies, ABN Amro
Bank
developed the most far-reaching policy. Its policy applies to all
sectors that might affect forests, including logging, pulp
and paper, mining
and oil & gas development. Mr.
Herman Mulder, head of ABN Amro’s Risk
Management
division believes that the new credit practise will be widely
adopted quickly. “Companies that manage their environment
poorly will suffer
financially. Clients and shareholders
walk away, employees will seek another
boss” he was
quoted as saying in the Volkskrant.
ABN Amro will “no longer finance projects or operations,
which will result
in resource extraction from, or the
clearing of, either primary or High
Conservation Value
forests”. The bank will consider exceptions only “where
extraction is part of a carefully planned, responsible
national forest
management program or where the company
is FSC certified for operations in
that forest.”
To avoid that plantation companies
clear forests first and then apply for
credits, ABN Amro
Bank will not invest in plantation projects in forestlands
that have been cleared less than 5 years ago. Rabobank
maintains a 3-year
limit.
One of Rabobank’s key criteria is that “no financial
assistance is given for
the development or operation of
oil palm plantations if the related party is
directly or
indirectly (within the context of a larger group) involved in
illegal logging and/or commercial logging of primary or High
Conservation
Value forests in the area designated for
the plantation”. Rabobank will “not
work with clients
who do not meet its investment criteria. If a client
violates the criteria, the bank will discuss the situation
and if
improvements are not made, the relationship will
be reviewed (‘review’ =
possibly terminate).”
The NGOs have not yet come to an
agreement with ING Bank. This bank is not
prepared to go
beyond local government regulations. In the Belgian newspaper
De Morgen an ING representative was quoted today as saying:
“Illegal logging
is not possible, but if forest clearing
is government approved, we are still
prepared to
finance.”
For further
information see:
http://www.focusonfinance.org/Dutchbanks2.htm
* * * * * *
*
#4
A
Few Action Reports from Around the Country
Send us in accounts of your action and definitely send us
any press clips or
video coverage you
received. RAN will insure that Citigroup doesn't miss a
single news article about the campaign. It is
essential that we document
all the actions going on
around the country so please send in your clips and
brief reports to organize@ran.org.
Des Moines,
Iowa
The heartland of the Hot n'
Bothered Climate campaign rallied about 30
students from
four Iowa schools, Grinnell, Iowa
State, Drake Simpson
and Kirkwood Colleges to visit a Citifinancial.
Radical
cheerleaders educated the public, a giant citi credit card was
snipped in half and the public was educated about Citi's
role in funding
global warming. They had such
a good time at the first citi, that they
decided to
visit another on the other side of town. The action received
favorable coverage from local TV news, radio and
print. Iowa once again
shows how much they
rock!
New Haven, CT
Over 2 dozen students from Yale and folks from the local
community gathered
on campus to rally against
Citigroup. Students symbolically cut up their
Citibank credit cards in a spirited demo and
educated the community about
the dangers of doing
business with the world's most destructive bank.
Organizers received a tremendous response through e-mail
about the
day of action due to postering around campus
the night before.
Delaware, Ohio
Students from Wesleyan
University organized a fantastic and lively demo
where
30 students and community members threw a “party” to congratulate
Citi in their role as the most destructive bank and biggest
global warmer.
Posters with slogans
like (Citibank locally=destruction globally) engulfed
the branch as protest participants made their way into the
lobby.
Streamers, a specially composed congratulatory
song and a birthday cake were
presented to the
Citifinancial branch manager. The local paper, the
Delaware gazette was on hand to record the festivities as
300 credit card
applications were
dumped. Congratulations Dave Tessier for all your
hard work and amazing
organizing!
Philadelphia, PA
Students at Swarthmore College in
Philadelphia collected over 200 signatures
on
anti-Citigroup petitions and educated folks on campus about Citi’s
practices.
New York City,
Casey Sullivan and crew from Earthmatters and PEEL (People
for Environmental
and Economic Liberation) organized a
kick butt demo/interactive canvass
outside a Citibank
branch in Manhattan.. Activists handed out 600 flyers AND
convinced 3 people to change banks and 2 people
to cut up their credit
cards on the
spot! WOW! The protest then moved to corporate
headquarters
which was enlightened by a dancing
Orangutan in front of their offices.
Documentary
filmakers were on hand to record the demonstration.
Salem State College in Massachusetts
It only takes 1 person to make an impact! Korey Payne
did his own action and
interviewed people to say a few
words about Citigroup. In all, about 15
people voiced their opinions and concerns about Citi’s
appalling business
practices. He then walked
inside to give the tape but the branch refused
the tape.
But this organizer doesn’t take no for an answer. Korey returned
later after hours and put the video in their drop box!
SF, CA
About
25 people gathered to present Citigroup with a giant "#1 Global
Warmer" award. Dancing suns and banners waived
outside the brand new
downtown Citibank location as
hundreds of flyers were handed out and rowdy
bullhorn
bellowing educated the masses about Citi's involvement in
destructive projects around the world. Speakers
talked about Citi's Camisea
project in Peru which will
threaten pristine rainforests and several
indigenous
groups who live in voluntary isolation. Additionally first hand
accounts of the resistance to the Citi funded OCP pipeline
in Ecuador were
given as local activists pledged their
commitment to support front line
struggles against oil
development around the world. Best of all the world
famous U-G-L-Y chant was successfully performed in a rousing
if slightly
arrhythmic way. In a sure sign
that Citigroup was feeling the heat right up
to the
highest levels the courtyard to their downtown office tower was
sealed off with instructions informing patrons of how to
enter the building
through a security check at the side
entrance.
College of Charleston
in South Carolina
Liz Thompson also wins the individual
action award for a solo presentation
at a Soloman Smith
Barney. Liz, an art major presented the glorious award
to an initially smiling staff. As Liz went into
her speech about Citigroup
being the world’s worst
global warmer, the staff’s grins turned slightly
down.
Hopefully the sun’s winking face and 14 rays, with "positive energy"
inscribed will turn those frowns upside down!
Connecticut College,
Some dedicated tablers spread the word about the campaign
and got 120
students to sign the no business with
Citigroup pledges. With all that
education
going on its just the beginning of great things. Stay tuned.
Ithaca, NY
Students at Cornell convinced their University president to
deliver a letter
of protest and supporting materials to
Cornell alumni and Citigroup CEO
Sandy
Weill. Wow! As a follow up on the day of action they
visited the
local Solomon Smith Barney office and
presented the manager with a giant
windmill to represent
the potential for investments in renewable energy. the
activists flyered outside and made a great connection with
the manager who
promised to take the letter and petition
down to central office.
University of Chicago,
Students
organizing to cancel
