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Global Warming Threatens Polar Bears Responsible stewardship of the Earth is a value shared by most Americans. Unfortunately, our global warming policies fall far short of this ideal. A recent report on global warming's impact in the Arctic projects that, if we don't act to reduce our emissions of heat-trapping gases, global sea level could rise and Arctic-dependent species such as polar bears and migratory birds could become extinct. Please contact your senators and representative and urge them to act responsibly on global warming by supporting the Climate Stewardship Act to reduce emissions of heat-trapping gases. TAKE ACTION: To automatically send the letter below to your senators and representative, hit "Reply" and then "Send" in your email program. To customize your letter, learn more about the issue, or if this message was forwarded to you, visit http://www.ucsaction.org/ctt.asp?u=44389&l=66947 Dear Member of Congress, I was disturbed by the findings of the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment report. This comprehensive study by nearly 300 independent scientists clearly demonstrates that global warming is changing our planet and that these changes--such as sea-level rise--will affect all of us. The time for debate is over; it is time to reduce our emissions of the heat-trapping gases contributing to global warming. In the absence of federal action, U.S. emissions have risen 12 percent since 1990. It is time for Congress to act. To this end, I urge you to support the Climate Stewardship Act (CSA), which was introduced in Congress by Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), and Representatives Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD) and John Olver (D-MA). The CSA takes a modest first step toward limiting carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases from major industrial sources. Global warming poses a serious threat to our economy and way of life. The CSA's market-based approach offers a flexible, affordable way to curb the costly environmental, public health, and economic impacts of global warming by setting mandatory limits on emissions from relevant sectors of the economy and encouraging an increase in energy efficiency and renewable electricity generation. By encouraging investment in clean energy solutions, the bill would also ensure that American technology remains competitive as other countries move to reduce their own emissions. Please plan responsibly for our children and grandchildren's future by supporting the Climate Stewardship Act. I look forward to hearing your position on this issue. Sincerely, [your name and address will be inserted here] If you have general questions, comments, or concerns about this action, send email to action@ucsusa.org -- replying to this action will send the letter.
Post-election attempts to gut the Endangered Species Act have
already begun. California developers are pressuring members of Congress to
stealthily and immediately amend the Endangered Species Act to allow
critical habitat areas to be destroyed and to require continuation of development
plans that are proven to threaten endangered species.
This gutting of the ESA would be rushed through with little or
no
debate by
attaching it
as a
rider to an
unrelated appropriations bill
next week.
You can take action on this alert via the web at:
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/d_feinstein/8gxg5d44jenxk6
Visit the web address below to tell your friends about this.
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/d_feinstein/forward/8gxg5d44jenxk6
We encourage you to take action by November 17, 2004
Save the ESA! Post-election rider targets habitat
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/d_feinstein/8gxg5d44jenxk6
Your letter will be addressed and sent to:
Your Congressperson
Your Senators
----THIS LETTER WILL BE SENT IN YOUR NAME----
Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here],
California developers are pressuring members of Congress to
place a rider on the upcoming Omnibus Appropriations Bill to
fundamentally weaken the Endangered Species Act. The amendments
would be the most significant changes to the ESA since 1982.
Massive public policy changes should not be done through stealth
riders. They should be subject to rigorous public review and
debate. Please do not allow the rider to be attached or to be
voted through on the Omnibus coattails.
RIDER 1. For almost 20 years, federal agencies have used a
controversial Reagan-era regulation that undermines the recovery
of endangered species by allowing the destruction and
degradation of their critical habitats. In the past four years,
three different federal appeals courts have ruled that the
regulation is illegal. The most recent decision states: "This
can not be right. If the [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service]
follows its own regulation, then it is obligated to be
indifferent to, if not to ignore, the recovery goal of critical
habitat." The victory should issue in a new conservation era
that focuses on recovery of endangered species, not merely
keeping them alive in a continuous endangered state. Developers
want to override the Endangered Species Act and the courts to
undermine recovery, allowing critical habitats to be destroyed
and wildlife populations to continue their slow spiral toward
extinction.
RIDER 2. The rider also seeks to shield logging, development,
mining and other large-scale plans from scientific review and
reform -even when the plans are proven by scientists to be
pushing imperiled plants and animals to extinction. The rider
would thus amend the ESA to include the controversial "no
surprises" policy created in the mid-1990s. Like the
anti-critical habitat regulation, this plan was also struck down
by the courts. Developers want the outdated policy made a
permanent part of the ESA even though it has been thoroughly
opposed by scientists and is currently being rewritten to
include greater public review and to remove its most glaring
flaws. The developers don't want to wait for public review; they
don't want the flaws removed; they want the plan enshrined in
its worst, most damaging form.
Please oppose these riders to the Omnibus Appropriations Bill.
Riders take the public out of public policy. They shield
controversial, damaging proposals from debate and examination.
In this case, they would weaken the fundamental underpinnings of
the Endangered Species Act: recovery, habitat protection, and
good science. We need more recovery of endangered species not
less. We need more protection of essential habitat areas, not
less. And we need to change management plans in response to new
scientific research, not blindly lock plans into place.
----END OF LETTER TO BE SENT----
Every day, millions of people across America are eating too much of a dangerous poison: mercury. We're eating it in tuna sandwiches, swordfish, shark, mackerel and other seafood. And right now there's no indication at the seafood counter of which products are high in mercury and which aren't. We need your help to change that. At Oceana, we believe consumers have a right to know this essential information. Join us in telling the Food and Drug Administration to provide it in our supermarkets: * Tell the FDA to inform consumers which seafoods have unsafe amounts of mercury: http://takeaction.oceana.org/campaign/mercury_fda/3378bg2lj836n7 The EPA has said that one in six pregnant women has enough mercury in her blood to pose risks such as brain damage to her developing baby. This means that 630,000 newborns could be handicapped by mercury from the very beginning of their lives. As the father of two teenage daughters, I find these facts alarming. What is even more disturbing is how few people know about this problem. Even our local grocery stores are selling us this poison contained in our favorite fish, a food that should be ranked among the healthiest. And they don't label their products, so we don't know what, when, or how much we are putting into our systems. People throughout America and the world are being slowly poisoned every day, and neither our government nor our supermarkets are doing enough to stop it. But Oceana will. In early 2005, Oceana will kick off an international campaign to protect the public as well as marine life from mercury poisoning. We will use any and all avenues at our disposal to reduce the threat of mercury, using sound science to identify and promote common-sense solutions. Seafood contamination affects us all: if not directly, then through those we love. So I hope you will stand by us and help us win this campaign. With your support, we'll make sure this issue gets the attention it deserves, and that we get the attention of the polluters. For the oceans, Andy Sharpless CEO Oceana You can take action on this alert either via email (please see directions below) or via the web at: http://takeaction.oceana.org/campaign/mercury_fda/3378bg2lj836n7 Visit the Web address below to tell your friends about mercury contamination, and what they can do about it! http://takeaction.oceana.org/campaign/mercury_fda/forward/3378bg2lj836n7 We encourage you to take action by December 31, 2004 Demand Better Guidance About Seafood Safety 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://takeaction.oceana.org/campaign/mercury_fda/3378bg2lj836n7 INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPOND VIA EMAIL: Just choose the "reply to sender" option on your email program. Your letter will be addressed and sent to: Dr. Lester Crawford ----THIS LETTER WILL BE SENT IN YOUR NAME---- Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here], As a seafood consumer, I am very concerned about potentially dangerous levels of mercury in the seafood my family and I eat. The joint Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) consumer advisory about methylmercury in fish and shellfish is confusing, inadequate and poorly publicized. The FDA should clarify its warnings and require signs in stores to enable consumers to make informed choices about seafood purchases. The current advisory is inadequate and confusing because rather than articulating a precautionary approach, the advisory encourages sensitive groups to eat up to two meals (12 ounces) of a variety of fish weekly, and then says they should limit eating albacore tuna to one meal (6 ounces) a week. It is not clear from this message how much of other fish a woman or child who eats tuna can safely eat. The advisory also suggests that young children should be served smaller portions, but provides no useful specifics about portion sizes. Furthermore, what does this advisory mean for the rest of the population? More troubling, some experts believe that this advisory may not be protective enough. Eating up to two meals of fish weekly, as FDA advises, increases the risk that future generations will suffer risks such as brain damage from dangerous levels of mercury exposure. The important advice telling women who may become pregnant, pregnant women, nursing mothers, and young children to avoid four fish (shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish) and to limit eating other fish to two meals a week has not been effectively shared with the American public. Unless one has been to FDA's web page, studied and memorized the list, and kept notes on their families weekly diet they have no way of knowing which fish to avoid at the seafood counter. To address these problems, the FDA should at least: 1) Clarify its warnings about mercury contamination in seafood by issuing a revised consumer advisory; 2) Require stores to post signs at seafood counters and on shelves where tuna is sold clearly stating which fish women and children should avoid and providing useful advice about the safest options, and 3) Begin a systematic seafood monitoring program to improve our scientific understanding of the seafood contamination problem. ----END OF LETTER TO BE SENT----
The Race Is On: Post-election Riders Threaten Wildlife & Habitat Dear Friend of Wildlife: Post-election attempts to weaken protections for our nation's wildlife and wild places have already begun. Behind closed doors -- with no public debate or scrutiny -- members of Congress are considering a proposal to undermine protections for the wildlife and wild places that American cherish. In question are a series of legislative riders that may be tacked onto the must-pass Omnibus Appropriations bill due to be voted on any day now. Legislative riders are backdoor attempts to pass legislation that would likely not withstand votes on their own. Included on this list of threats are provisions that would approve a 200,000 acre land swap in an Alaskan Wildlife Refuge to promote oil and gas development, waive environmental reviews for cattle grazing on our public lands and prevent citizens from challenging timber sales in our nation's largest National Forest. Another possible rider would literally gut the Endangered Species Act -- our nation's bedrock wildlife protection law. In this specific case, the rider would amend the Endangered Species Act to allow critical habitat areas to be destroyed and to require continuation of development plans that are proven to threaten endangered species. If passed, this legislation would be the most major rewrite of the Endangered Species Act since 1982! ACTION: Help stop these attacks on wildlife by calling your representative and two senators. Be sure to make the following two points: 1) Tell them to oppose any riders that would undermine protections for America's endangered species and special places like our national forests, wildlife refuges and other public lands. 2) Urge them not to let these devastating riders be attached or voted through on the Omnibus coattails. Let them know that massive public policy changes should not be done through stealth riders. Rather, they should be subject to rigorous public review and debate. To reach your senators, call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. To find your members of Congress, go to: http://action.nwf.org/nwf/leg-lookup/search.tcl, We need more recovery of endangered species and more protection of essential habitat areas, not less. Thank you in advance for taking the time to speak out on behalf of our nation's wildlife and wild places! NWF's Wildlife Team P.S. Called your members of Congress and want to do more? Tell your friends and family to call their members of Congress, by forwarding this alert along to them. Let us know you took action by sending an email with your name and address to alerts@nwf.org. Please include "Appropriations" in the subject line. ************************************************** * We look forward to receiving your feedback. Please email us at info@nwf.org or call us at 1-800-822-9919. * Stay informed about NWF's conservation efforts and latest calls to action. Click here to receive NWF's free EnviroAction newsletter. http://www.nwf.org/enews'/leadsheet.cfm?product=Action_Alerts * To unsubscribe to NWF's Action Alerts, click here. http://www.nwf.org/enews/subscription.cfm?product=Action_Alerts * Click here to support NWF conservation efforts. http://www.nwf.org/support (c) National Wildlife Federation. All rights reserved. Read more about NWF and Your PRIVACY http://www.nwf.org/privacy.html
****OCEAN ALERT****
from The Ocean Conservancy's OCEAN ACTION NETWORK
Please Help Stop Ships from Killing Endangered Right Whales
Please act today and urge the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
to protect critically endangered Northern Atlantic right whales from
being struck and killed by large ships.
There are only 300 of these animals left, and the death of even one
contributes to their risk of extinction. Shipping collisions are the
largest threat to this species and until now have gone largely
unregulated.
NMFS has begun developing regulations to address the problem.
The deadline for initial public comments is next Monday, November
15th. So please act right now to urge NMFS to move quickly to
protect right whales.
Take Action!
http://www.oceanconservancy.org/site/R?i=cgQu0Ae7CLfaP6Dya-c2BA..
For more information on the problems ship strikes pose to the survival
of right whales go to our alert on The Ocean Conservancy's Website
http://www.oceanconservancy.org/site/R?i=FUbcKpwtTDDaP6Dya-c2BA..
If you received this message from a friend, you can sign up to
receive e-mails from The Ocean Conservancy.
http://www.oceanconservancy.org/site/R?i=sk4r8ewD8G3aP6Dya-c2BA
http://www.oceanconservancy.org/site/R?i=iHRrak7ezTnaP6Dya-c2BA..
ETC Group Hosts Workshops on Nanotechnology and Corporate Monopoly at European Social Forum, London World Food Day, 16 October 2004 The ETC Group will host two workshops at the European Social Forum in London on Saturday, 16 October. Details about these and other World Food Day events appear below. Beyond GM: Nanotechnology (Workshop 778) Saturday 11.30am-1.30pm, 16 October 2004 Venue: University of London Union - Room 3D - Bloomsbury. Description: Nanotechnology, the manipulation of matter at the scale of atoms and molecules, is converging with biotech, infotech and neurosciences to create the world's most powerful technological platform. No government has developed a regulatory regime that addresses the nano-scale or the societal impacts of the invisibly small. With nanotech products already on the market and the promise of a trillion dollar industry by 2011, civil society and governments alike have been slow to address the seismic shifts and disruptions that nanoscale technologies will bring - and especially the consequences for the poor, the disabled, human health, the environment, trade, and the very meaning of what it is to be human. Hot on the heels of the GM food controversy, nanotech has profound implications for farmers and for food sovereignty worldwide. Nano-scale technologies are enabling industry to reshape our agricultural and food systems with atomically modified seeds, new pesticide delivery vehicles, surveillance technologies, and nanoscale food additives. Speakers: Caroline Lucas (Green MEP), Andrew Scott (Intermediate Technology Development Group), Doug Parr (Greenpeace), Tom Wakeford (PEALS), Mike Reinsborough (PGA), Olaf Bayer (Corporate Watch), Alex Vlanda (Scientists For Global Responsibility), Rob Doubleday (Cambridge Nanoscience Lab), Will Holloway (Poet), Kathy Jo Wetter and Jim Thomas (ETC Group) Resisting corporate monopolies and new enclosures (Workshop 1098) Saturday, 2 - 4 pm, 16 October 2004 Venue: University of London Union - Malet Room - Bloomsbury Description: While corporations are using exclusive monopoly patents to gain increasing control over life and over the fundamental building bocks of nature, they are also applying a series of new legal and technological strategies to enforce their monopolies, enclose common knowledge and deny access. This workshop will look at the range of legal and technological devices being used to create corporate monopolies and attempts to resist and build alternatives. Speakers: James Wildon (Demos), Laurence Vandewalle (European Greens), Birgit Muller (ATTAC), Ricarda Steinbrecher (Econexus), MJ Ray (Association for Free Software), Claire Fauset (Corporate Watch), Kathy Jo Wetter and Jim Thomas (ETC Group). Registration is required to attend the European Social Forum. For information on registration, go to: http://www.fse-esf.org/ For a schedule of World Food Day events at the ESF go to: http://www.ukabc.org/wfd-esf2004.htm Also on World Food Day, October 16, 2004, in Italy: Silvia Ribeiro and Pat Mooney of ETC Group will speak at the 1st International Congress: "Science and Society, the border of invisibility - biomedicine, nanotechnology, nutriceuticals, and nanobiotechnology," hosted by the Genetic Rights Council (Consiglio dei Diritti Genetici), in collaboration with the Region of Tuscany and the Municipality of Lastra a Signa, in Florence, Italy. Silvia Ribeiro - "Controlling Consumers: Nutriceuticals, Genomics and Nano-Food" Pat Mooney - "Technological Tsunami: Nanotechnology and Beyond"
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Dear Members of Global Response's "Quick Response Network:" We are forwarding this
important message from the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal, India. Please use
the resources listed below to learn about efforts to finally bring justice to the victims
