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U'WA LEADERS COME TO DC TO JOIN MOBILIZATION FOR PEACE IN
COLOMBIA
COME TO DC AND
SUPPORT THEM! APRIL 19th - 22nd
DON'T LET THE U'WA BECOME
COLLATORAL DAMAGE IN BUSH'S "WAR ON TERROR"
For more information about supporting the U'wa in DC please
contact :
Patrick Reinsborough
415-722-1846 (NOTE new cell phone number)
***PLEASE NOTE -
Patrick (moderator and founder of this list) is no
longer with the Rainforest Action Network but is continuing
his work to
support the U'wa and organize for a
democratic, just and ecologically
sane global
economy. Patrick’s new contact information is
patrickr@riseup.net 415-722-1846. You can no
longer reach Patrick at
organize@ran.org.
In this
Post :
1. Why You Should Come to DC April 19-22and
2. U'wa itinerary highlights - Join Us!
3. Newsweek International April 8th "Pipeline Brigade"
4. Congressional Quarterly March 9th "Occidental Petroleum
Lobbies For
Benefits From Both" Parties"
* * * * *
#1
THE U'WA NEED YOUR HELP! COME TO DC APRIL 19th-22nd
Many of you who are receiving this
update have been supporting the U'wa
for several years
in their life or death struggle to stop oil
exploitation on their sacred ancestral homelands in
Northeastern
Colombia.
There have been many points of
crisis, numerous tragedies and some great
victories. Since last July when OXY announced
their failure to find oil
at the Gibraltar 1 drill site
and temporarily removed all their
equipment from U'wa
territory there has been a uneasy calm among U'wa
supporters. But its has become increasingly
clear that it was the calm
before one of the biggest
storms the U'wa have ever faced.
The U'wa struggle is in danger of being swallowed by the
global reach of
George Bush's global military offensive
against "terrorism". The Bush
proposal to
expand US military aid to Colombia's repressive military and
specifically to give $98 million to defend OXY's Cano Limon
pipeline
will only escalate the level of violence
facing the U'wa and other
communities. The proposed aid would go to
the notorious 18th brigade,
which is already being
investigated for its links to the growing number
of
paramilitary killings in the Arauca province.
The U'wa and people from across
Colombia have spoken out loudly and
clearly. No more military
aid! Colombia needs peace not oil
development! Oil development fuels violence and
terror. Oil provides
revenue for all the
armed factions since as companies like OXY have made
clear they pay off the guerillas and the government alike.
This aid package is corporate
welfare for a morally bankrupt
corporation. The $98 million amounts to US
taxpayers giving OXY a $3
subsidy per barrel while the
U'wa and other communities get saddled with
human
rights abuses, violence, displacement and lasting ecological
destruction. OXY helped create the current
violent situation in
Colombia so why should taxpayers
subsidize the continuation of an
unviable oil project
that shouldn't be there in the first place? In
2001 the pipeline was bombed so frequently that it was shut
down for 266
days of the year. Since its
construction in 1986 the Cano Limon
pipeline has been
bombed over 1000 times spilling over 2.5 million
barrels of oil into the surrounding ecosystems, roughly
equivalent to 11
times the amount of oil spilt in the
Exxon Valdez disaster.
So come to DC to support the U'wa as they take their case
directly to
the American Congress and people!
The U'wa are asking that their
rights to their land and way of life be
respected. The U'wa are asking all of us, as
United States citizens, to
lobby our government to stop
funding the violence in Colombia. They need
your
help! So join us April 19th-22 in DC at the various mobilizations
for peace in Colombia, the abolition of the World Bank and
IMF and an
end to Bush's war-mongering and attacks on
civil liberties.
For a partial listing of U'wa events and appearances in the
D.C. area
check out #2 below. The U'wa need your
support. We will be scheduling a
work party
on Saturday evening to help make visuals and props for
Sunday's major demonstration at OXY's
offices. If you are interested
in
helping out or you have a space to volunteer please call Patrick at
415-722-1846.
In addition to the U'wa there are
a plethora of amazing events to come
participate
in. There will be teach-ins, marches, rallies, vigils,
direct actions, cultural and religious events and much more
happening
throughout the weekend as people from across
the country converge to
rally for peace, justice,
democracy and the globalization of principles
rather
than corporate profits.
For information about the various mobilizations happening
on the weekend
of April 20th check out :
Stop US Military aid to Colombia!
www.colombiamobilization.org
Stop Bush's War on Terrorism and
Demand Justice at Home!
www.unitedwemarch.org
Resist the World Bank/IMF and
corporate globalization!
www.globalizethis.org
* * * * *
#2 MAJOR U'WA EVENTS AND ACTIONS
U'WA DEFENSE WORKING GROUP
CONTACTS: Patrick Reinsborough -
UDWG (415) 722-1846
Kevin
Koenig - Amazon Watch (310) 420-8245
Colombia
Mobilization - (202) 299-9072
NEWS ADVISORY
For Immediate
Release: April 15, 2002
U'wa
Indigenous Leaders Arrive in Washington DC To Rally Against Plan
Colombia and Military Aid For Oxy's Pipeline
WHO: Roberto Perez and
Armando Tegria Rincunada, leaders of the U'wa
People of
Colombia
WHAT: Visit
Washington DC this week to speak out against Plan olombia
and military aid to OXY's Colombia operations.
WHEN & WHERE:
Wed. 4/17 at 1:30 pm
Press Conference, Colombia Mobilization at the National
Press Club
Fri 4/19, 2-4 pm
Colombia Mobilization Congressional Briefing sponsored
by Rep. George
Miller
Sat 4/20, 10-4 pm
Colombia
Mobilization Teach-In, at First Congregational Church, 925 G St
NW
Sun
4/21 - time 11am
Mobilization for Global Justice March
to OXY's DC Office (call for
details-PHOTO OP- Puppets
& Pipelines street theater)
Sun 4/21, 12:45 pm
Colombia
Mobilization Rally, Sylvan Theatre, National Mall
WHY: Leaders of the 5,000 member U'wa indigenous community
from Colombia
arrive in Washington DC tomorrow to
denounce the Bush Administration's
proposed $98 million
supplemental aid package to protect US-based
Occidental
Petroleum's pipeline project in the war torn region of
Arauca. OXY's controversial operations in the
province have been a
magnet for violence and a root
cause of conflict in the country's bloody
40-year civil
war.
In their week long stay,
the U'wa will meet with Congressional
representatives
and join dozens of Colombian delegates as part of the
Colombia Mobilization-events organized by a grassroots
network of
rights,labor, faith, and environmental
organizations gathering to call
for an end to US
military aid to Colombia and a negotiated peaceful
resolution to the conflict. They will also share
their struggle with
activists gathered for the
Mobilization for Global Justice, and other
peace
rallies throughout the weekend.
Preventing oil exploitation on their ancestral homelands
and stopping
U.S. military aid is a matter of life and
death for the U'wa tribe and
all the people of
Colombia. The pipeline aid proposal calls for US
training and equipment for the notorious 18th Brigade of
the Colombian
military. Human Rights experts
agree that militarization of the region
will only
aggravate the already violent atmosphere and risks making the
U'wa the next collateral damage in the country's conflict.
The U'wa have made headlines
around the world for their peaceful
resistance of OXY's
exploratory drilling in the Siriri block which falls
entirely on their sacred homelands. The U'wa
have long warned that
OXY's project will bring
Colombia's bloody four decade long war to their
homeland-a prediction that is rapidly becoming a reality.
Occidental lobbied
aggressively for increased military aid to protect
their war zone operations since they formed the Colombia
Business
Partnership in 1996. Critics of the
plan say that it will not only
exacerbate conflict in
the region, but amounts to a massive corporate
subsidy
to protect a morally bankrupt oil company and their bad business
decisions.
###
* * * * *
#3
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
EDITOR'S NOTE - In this Newsweek article below a "Washington
military
source" says that Colombia oil "matters zilch"
to U.S. energy security
because it is only the 7th
largest exporter of oil to the U.S. Don't
believe it! The key point that is not mentioned here is the
fact that
whereas most other major oil suppliers to the
U.S. have been fully
explored only 20% of Colombia's
potentially oil bearing regions have
been explored due
to the civil war. Colombia is considered by both the
oil industry and the US military to be an essential oil
frontier to be
tapped.
Likewise when the article says "Bush
officials... concede that
Occidental lobbied for
protection, but not strongly, and that it made no
difference." any semi-conscious observer of the corporate
buy out of
American politics will see right through this
simplistic lie. In
addition to spending over
$9 million lobbying for increased military aid
to
Colombia, OXY also donated $1.5 million to federal campaigns between
1995 and 2000. For a complete run down of OXY's
political influence
peddling see article #4 below.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Pipeline Brigade
President Bush is arming troops to
protect Occidental Petroleum in
Colombia. What next?
By John Barry NEWSWEEK INTERNATIONAL
April 8 Edition
April 8 issue -
Is George W. Bush using war as an extension of his oil
policy? It looked that way in February, when Washington
announced a $700
million aid package for the Andean
region, largely to fight the twin
threats of guerrilla
war and drugrunning that threaten the area. As is
usual,
half the money will go to Colombia, but with a new twist: $98
million for training and equipping a Colombian brigade of
around 2,000
soldiers to protect the 772-kilometer Cano
Limon pipeline. Used to
transport crude oil to the
Caribbean coast from a field pumped by
Occidental
Petroleum of California in partnership with the Colombian
state oil company, the pipeline is a favorite target of
rebel saboteurs.
THIS WOULD HARDLY be the first time a nation defended its
interest in
smoothly flowing oil supplies by force of
arms. Iraq's 1990 invasion of
Kuwait and the gulf war
that followed are only the latest conflicts over
control
of fossil fuel. Bush's critics have argued since September 11
that his "war on terror" is really about oil, and their
suspicions have
been heightened by the Pentagon's clear
intent to keep access to bases
in the oil-rich Caspian
Sea region after the war in Afghanistan winds
down. But
in Colombia the oil connection is not conjecture: it was
spelled out in a budget request that specifically names the
pipeline and
Occidental, and appeared to set a dangerous
precedent.
If the United States
would defend Occidental's supplies, why not those
of any
number of American oil companies in potential war zones? At a
time when the Bush administration has built its energy
policy around
reducing U.S. dependence on Mideast oil,
and is working overtime to fill
the Strategic Petroleum
Reserve, it can't ignore disruption of other
sources. In
March, Bush aides were planning to push through $15 million
to $30 million in emergency spending to "jump-start" the
pipeline
defense effort, rather than wait for the 2003
budget process to grind
itself out. Senior Bush
officials
insist the Cano Limon brigade has its origins
not in U.S. oil interests
but in parliamentary
maneuvering back home. Conventional wisdom in
Washington
is that Colombia will lose the war against the rebels without
more U.S. help.
Bush officials, like their predecessors, express frustration
at laws
that limit U.S. military aid to Colombia to the
war on its notorious
drug traffickers. Before leaving on
his trip to South America in March,
Bush vowed to do
everything possible to expand U.S. aid beyond drugs to
help in Colombia's other war, the decades-old fight against
Marxist
guerrilla armies. That's where the Cano Limon
brigade comes in. "The
pipeline got in there because the
White House figured it was the only
thing they could do
within the existing guidelines," says a senior
Pentagon
source.
In the wake of 9-11, it
may work. The congressional distinction between
fighting
drug runners and insurgents in Colombia has never made much
sense, because the guerrillas make their money running
drugs. By now the
rebel armies control about half the
country, and the larger one, the
Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (FARC), makes an estimated $300
million a year in the drug trade. It is also waging a
campaign of
economic sabotage. Last year rebel bombings
put Camo Limon out of
commission for 266 days, costing
Colombia $500 million in lost export
revenue. In January
and February, guerrillas widened the attacks to
electricity pylons, bridges and waterworks around the
country.
As Washington describes
it, the new Cano Limon brigade is a way of
defending the
economic lifeline of a nation on the verge of becoming
what one Pentagon planner calls "a failed state." To the
extent that
this is about oil, it's about Colombian oil,
Bush officials insist. They
concede that Occidental
lobbied for protection, but not strongly, and
that it
made no difference. Colombia is the seventh largest supplier of
oil to the United States, exporting 332,000 barrels per day
in 2000. At
that rate Colombia "matters zilch" to U.S.
energy security, says a
Washington military source.
However, oil matters hugely to
Colombia. It is the chief source of
export income, which
will be critical to the future health of the
economy and
Colombia's ability to hold off FARC. The State Department
has long listed FARC as "terrorists" rather than guerrillas.
In the wake
of September 11, money for the pipeline
brigade can be sold to Congress
as funding for the war
on terror. The plan will likely pass the House,
but
faces tougher scrutiny in the Senate.
© 2002 Newsweek, Inc.
* * * * *
#4
CQ WEEKLY
March 9, 2002 Page 660 Occidental Petroleum Lobbies For
Benefits From Both Parties
By Alan
K. <Ota>, CQ Staff
Vice President Dick Cheney cast a critical spotlight on
Occidental
Petroleum Corp's clout when he told former
Vice President Al Gore during
the 2000 presidential
campaign to abstain from energy policy decisions
because
of a Gore family stake in the company.
Now, Democrats - and a smattering of Republican budget hawks
- are
wondering if the Bush administration is tailoring
its policy with
Colombia to help the same company, a
contributor to both parties.
For
decades, Occidental Petroleum has been a powerful player in
Washington, advocating policies that aid its quest for
domestic oil
reserves and for expansion of foreign
operations stretching from
Pakistan to Latin America.
Armand Hammer, the company's founder who died
in 1990,
sought increased trade with the former Soviet Union.
Occidental is angling for congressional support for Bush«s
request to
increase military aid for Colombia to help
fight leftist guerrillas who
attack one of the country«s
main income sources: oil pipelines.
Lawrence P. Meriage, an Occidental vice president, argues
that the
Colombia government has effectively lost one of
it chief assets because
guerrillas have been able to
shut it down. He said they had attacked the
pipeline 170
times in 2001, and 15 times so far this year.
"This isn't about Oxy," Meriage said. "This is about the
Colombian
government being in trouble."
Critics argue Occidental would be
the prime beneficiary of the $98
million sought by the
Bush administration to pay for arming and training
a
brigade of Colombian troops to guard a 483-mile pipeline that runs
from the Cano Limon oil field to the Caribbean Sea.
Occidental owns a 35
percent stake in the oil that flows
in the pipeline.
Rep. Gene
Taylor, D-Miss., for example, questioned the need for
taxpayers to help defend a pipeline for a "company that had
record
profits last year," when other Colombian
pipelines are guarded by
private militias.
Foreign Concessions
In coming weeks, the question of
protecting the pipeline is expected to
revive a
longstanding debate in American foreign policy on when it is
appropriate to send military forces to defend American
companies.
"Defending corporate
interests became a dirty word after President
Woodrow
Wilson. He argued we should do things for unselfish reasons,"
said John Hulsman, a foreign policy analyst for the Heritage
Foundation.
"Now, we have a vibrant debate since the
Bushies came in. It«s okay do
to things for strategic
corporate and commercial interests."
Robert Ebel, director of energy and national security at the
Center for
Strategic and International Studies, says
that the defense of corporate
interest is politically
difficult to defend and is an important, but
unstated
part of foreign policy decisions. "It hints at favoritism. And
it raises questions about who gave the most campaign
donations," he
said. "But if we can defend our citizens
overseas, why not
corporations?"
Steve Kretzmann, a spokesman for the
Institute for Policy Studies, a
liberal think tank, says
Occidental has kept a low profile in
Washington, but
began to attract scrutiny of environmental and taxpayer
groups during the 2000 presidential election.
"Occidental has been very ambitious
in lobbying behind the scenes,«« he
said. "But the
public never knew much about it. . . . Now, with
questions about Colombia, there will be more scrutiny."
During the campaign, Cheney
questioned Gore's support for a moratorium
on royalties
that companies pay to drill for oil in the Gulf of Mexico.
"At the time Gore did this, it was clear that perhaps the
biggest
beneficiary of that proposed extension of the
moratorium was Occidental
Petroleum," Cheney said at the
time.
Gore said that the stock
was held in trust and did not influence his
conduct. His
late father, Sen. Albert Gore Sr. (House, 1939-44, 1945-53;
Senate, 1953-71), acquired the stock as a company director.
Some taxpayer groups also
questioned the company's role in lobbying for
a fiscal
1996 spending law (PL 104-106) authorizing the sale of the Elk
Hills naval petroleum reserve in California. Occidental
later bid $3.65
billion to acquire the reserve. (1996
Almanac, p. S-1)
Consumer
advocate Ralph Nader, a third-party presidential candidate in
2000, portrayed the auction as a mistake in a time of cheap
oil. "People
thought Occidental would lose clout after
Armand Hammer's death. But
that hasn't been the case,"
he said.
Last year, Occidental
spent about $2 million on lobbying. The Center for
Responsive Politics reports that the company and its
employees accounted
for $215,000 in hard- and soft-money
donations in the 2002 election
cycle, with 81 percent
targeted to the GOP.
Meriage
argues the company's clout is exaggerated. He contends the
company merely supports aid for countries where it operates.
And
sometimes it does not get its way.
Last year, for example, Occidental
lost its campaign for loosening trade
sanctions on
Libya, where it hopes to re-establish an old oil claim.
Congress enacted a five-year extension of a law (PL 107-24)
that imposes
trade sanctions on companies that invest in
the energy industry in Iran
or Libya. (2001 CQ Weekly,
p. 3039)
Occidental faces a
tough battle on the Colombian pipeline. Democrats say
the plan would draw the Pentagon into a quagmire and set a
precedent for
defense of oil interests.
Source: CQ Weekly The definitive
source for news about Congress. ©2002
Congressional
Quarterly Inc. All Rights Reserved
Alan K. Ota Congressional Quarterly
Dear Members of Global Response's "Quick Response Network:"
Here's a great, positive way we
can support the campaign to stop oil
development on
Costa Rica's Caribbean coast. We are VERY CLOSE to
celebrating a victory in this campaign!!
Last Friday, April 12, The Municipal
Government of Talamanca (one of the
counties where the
Costa Rican government granted concessions to U.S.
companies for oil development) declared Talamanca an
"Oil-Free" County. As
far as we know, this is
the first government entity anywhere that has
declared
its territory "free of oil and gas exploration and exploitation" by
initiating a "moratorium on all activities related to
petroleum exploration
and exploitation within the
Talamancan territory."
The
Talamanca declaration also calls on Costa Rica's Minister of the
Environment to uphold the government's March ruling which
found oil
development on the Caribbean to be
"ecologically unviable." The US-based
oil
companies have appealed the government ruling against oil development.
Now the Minister of Environment has until May 3 to uphold or
revoke the
government ruling.
Let's all send faxes to the
Municipal Government of Talamanca,
congratulating them
on their courageous stand against oil development. They
are the leaders and pioneers in the movement from
fossil-fuel dependency
toward a new era of renewable,
sustainable energy!
Then send a
copy of your fax to the Minister of Environment -- before May 3!
This is a great way to reinforce the Ministry's March
decision against oil
development, and encourage the
Minister to hold firm against the oil
companies' appeal.
Please send a short, positive
fax message to:
Consejo
Municipal (Municipal Board)
Municipalidad de Talamanca
Bribri Talamanca de Limón
Costa
Rica
FAX 506-751-0137 or 506-751
0023
Send a copy of your fax to
the Minister of Environment:
Sra. Elizabeth Odio Benito
Vicepresidenta de la Republica
Ministra de Ambiente y Energia
Casa
Presidencial
Zapote de San Jose
Costa Rica
FAX 506-222-4161
Thanks for one last show of support
for the wonderful coalition of Costa
Rican organizations
and communities that are SO CLOSE to celebrating a very
impressive victory for the environment! --Paula Palmer
NOTE: Attached is a translation of
the Talamanca Municipal Board's April 12
Declaration.
For background information on
the anti-oil campaign, see Global Response
Action Alert
#2/01 "Stop Oil Development on Costa Rica's Caribbean Coast,"
http://www.globalresponse.org/gra_index/gra0201.html
Our oceans are at risk, and with them our food supplies, our
coastal
economies, and even ourselves. This Earth Day,
we have a rare opportunity
to learn more about the
decline in one of the earth's most important
resources –
the oceans. On or near Monday, April 22, 2002, PBS stations
around the country will be airing Empty Oceans, Empty Nets,
a powerful new
documentary on the rapidly declining fish
harvests of the world.
This
documentary's gripping images confirm what fishermen and scientists
are reporting the world over: our oceans are rapidly being
depleted of
fish. In fact, entire populations of fish
are becoming commercially
extinct. This
film, shot in several countries around the world, shows
fish populations on the verge of collapse, a fact confirmed
through
interviews with fishermen and scientists in many
of these same countries.
Oceans provide 95 percent of the living space for the
earth's animals and
plants, and are the largest source
of protein in the world, feeding
billions of people
around the globe. Healthy oceans are essential to the
survival of our planet. If you are
interested, you can preview a
30-second video and find
out when the film is airing near you at Habitat
Media
www.habitatmedia.org/pbs.html.
We must act now to preserve the earth's web of life for
future generations.
Consult your local TV listing and
tune in to learn more about our oceans,
and what you can
do to help save them.
Sincerely,
Gerald B. Leape
Marine Conservation Program Director
Thank you to all the activists who responded to the
American Oceans Campaign's "Protect Ocean Habitats"
action alert. Since the alert was sent on March 20,
AOC activists delivered a total of 652 faxes to 281
U.S. Congressional Representatives on this important
issue. The action alert had a great response rate of
31 percent.
There are 12 co-sponsors to the Ocean Habitat Protection
Act, both Democrats and Republicans representing a
good cross-section of Congress. The co-sponsors include:
Representatives Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii), Robert
E. Andrews (D-New Jersey), Michael Castle (R-Delaware),
Eliot Engel (D-New York), Jim C. Greenwood (R-Pennsylvania),
Betty McCollum (D-Minnesota), James P. Moran
(D-Virginia),
Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-New Jersey), William
Pascrell,
Jr. (D-New Jersey), Jim Saxton (R-New Jersey),
Adam
B. Schiff (D-California), and Mark Udall
(D-Colorado).
The Ocean Habitat Protection Act would
prevent the
most harmful trawling gear from smashing
fragile seafloor
habitats, including coral and rocky
reefs and undersea
boulder fields, that provide vital
benefits to ocean
wildlife. AOC is continuing to educate
Congressional
representatives and build support for this
much-needed
legislation.
If you have not participated in this action alert,
there is still time. You can help protect ocean habitats
by asking your U.S. Representative to co-sponsor the
Ocean Habitat Protection Act. Go to: http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/ohpa
to take action on this important issue.
Thanks again for voicing your
support of ocean protection.
~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
On
or near Monday, April 22, 2002 (Earth Day), PBS
stations
around the country will be airing "Empty Oceans,
Empty
Nets," a powerful new documentary on the state
of the
world's fish populations. The documentary's
gripping,
never-before-seen-footage presents a stunning
case in
support of what fishermen and scientists are
reporting
the world over: our oceans are rapidly being
depleted of
fish. To find out when the film is airing
where you
live, check your local listings or click
here: http://actionnetwork.org/ct/O7qqAsY1jPJm/.
To view a 20-second preview the documentary (using
Real Player), visit: http://www.americanoceans.org/emptyoceans.htm .
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
American Oceans Campaign
(www.americanoceans.org) is
a national, nonprofit
organization dedicated to safeguarding
the health and
vitality of the nation's oceans and
coastal areas.
--------------------------------------------------
Visit the web address below and tell
your friends about
this important issue!
http://actionnetwork.org/join-forward.html?domain=aocdc&r=OpqqAsY1juJU
If you received this message
from a friend, you can
sign up for American Oceans
Campaign at:
http://actionnetwork.org/aocdc/join.html?r=OpqqAsY1juJUE
To: Northeast Activists
From: John
Demos
Date: April 16, 2002
For suggestions or requests, please contact me at:
demos@americanlands.org
BIPARTISAN LEGISLATION TO CODIFY ROADLESS RULE
PLEASE CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES AND
ASK THEM TO SIGN ON AS A COSPONSOR TODAY!!
Legislation will be introduced soon by Sherwood Boehlert
(R-NY) and Jay Inslee (D-WA) to codify the National Forest Roadless Area
Policy. The Policy is currently being undermined by the Bush
Administration and is tied up in the courts.
Calls, letters, faxes and emails are urgently needed asking
Representatives to sign on as original cosponsors of the roadless area
protection bill. (phone numbers are listed below)
Already on the bill are Nancy Johnson (R-CT)
and Maurice Hinchey (D-NY). Constituents please call
Boehlert, Johnson and Hinchey to thank them.
The timing couldn't be better, because the Forest Service,
and their bosses in the Bush Administration are working overtime to get back to
large-scale logging in roadless areas and to abolish the roadless area
conservation rule. It is critical that
Congress intervene to ensure all remaining roadless areas are protected.
In addition to stopping this renewed
assault on roadless areas, legislating the rule will have significant long-term
effects on the ground. According to the Final Environmental Impact
Statement, the roadless conservation rule would reduce logging allowed under
existing Forest Plans by 85% in inventoried roadless areas from an estimated 1.1
billion board feet over 5 years, to just 160 million board feet. In
addition, an estimated 623 miles of new logging roads will not be built over the
same five year period.
The bills' main sponsors Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) and
Jay Inslee (D-WA), were joined on the Dear Colleague by Reps. Nick Rahall
(D-WV), Jim Greenwood (R-PA), Connie Morella (R-MD), Eva Clayton (D-NC), Jim
Leach (R-IA), George Miller (D-CA), David Wu (D-OR), Nancy Johnson (R-CT),
Maurice Hinchey (D- NY) and Stephen Horn (R-CA) in a strong show of bipartisan
leadership for this legislation. If your Representative is listed
above, please thank them for their leadership to protect 58 million acres of
National Forest roadless areas.
Calls, letters, faxes and emails are urgently needed to your
Representative asking them to be an original cosponsor of the National Forest
Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2002. The Capitol Switchboard
number is 202/224-3121 the address is Your Representative,
US House of Representatives, Washington DC 20515, and fax numbers and email
addresses can be found at http://www.congress.org Interested
Representatives should call either Rep. Jay Inslee or Rep.
Sherwood Boehlert's office to sign on by May 8.
A copy of the Dear Colleague letter is available at http://www.americanlands.org/dear_colleague.htm Also,
a sample letter that you can send to your Representative to encourage them to
sign on as a cosponsor is available at http://www.americanlands.org/sample_letter.htm
NEW ENGLAND
AND NEW YORK CONGRESSIONAL OFFICE NUMBERS
CT
Rob
Simmons R CT 2 (202) 225-2076
Nancy L Johnson R CT 6 (202) 225-4476
John Larson D CT 1 (202) 225-2265
James Maloney D CT 5 (202)
225-3822
Christopher Shays R CT
4 (202) 225-5541
MA
Michael Capuano D MA 8 (202)
225-5111
William Delahunt D MA
10 (202) 225-3111
Barney Frank D
MA 4 (202) 225-5931
Edward J.
Markey D MA 7 (202) 225-2836
James McGovern D MA 3 (202) 225-6101
Martin Meehan D MA 5 (202) 225-3411
Richard E. Neal D MA 2 (202)
225-5601
John Olver D MA 1 (202)
225-5335
John Tierney D MA 6
(202) 225-8020
NH
Charles F. Bass R NH 2 (202)
225-5206
John Sununu R NH 1
(202) 225-5456
NY
Gary L. Ackerman D NY 5 (202)
225-2601
Sherwood L. Boehlert R
NY 23 (202) 225-3665
Joseph
Crowley D NY 7 (202) 225-3965
Eliot L. Engel D NY 17 (202) 225-2464
Felix Grucci R NY 1 (202) 225-3826
Vito Fossella R NY 13 (202)
225-3371
Benjamin A. Gilman R
NY 20 (202) 225-3776
Maurice
Hinchey D NY 26 (202) 225-6335
Amo Houghton R NY 31 (202) 225-3161
Sue Kelly R NY 19 (202) 225-5441
Peter King R NY 3 (202)
225-7896
John J. LaFalce D NY
29 (202) 225-3231
Steve Israel
D NY 2 (202) 225-3335
Nita M.
Lowey D NY 18 (202) 225-6506
Carolyn Maloney D NY 14 (202) 225-7944
Carolyn McCarthy D NY 4 (202)
225-5516
John McHugh R NY 24
(202) 225-4611
Michael
R.McNulty D NY 21 (202) 225-5076
Gregory Meeks D NY 6 (202) 225-3461
Jerrold Nadler D NY 8 (202)
225-5635
Major R. Owens D NY
11 (202) 225-6231
Jack Quinn R
NY 30 (202) 225-3306
Charles
B. Rangel D NY 15 (202) 225-4365
Thomas Reynolds R NY 27 (202) 225-5265
Jose Serrano D NY 16 (202)
225-4361
Louise McIntosh
Slaughter D NY 28 (202) 225-3615
John Sweeney R NY 22 (202) 225-5614
Edolphus Towns D NY 10 (202)
225-5936
Nydia Velazquez D NY
12 (202) 225-2361
James T.
Walsh R NY 25 (202) 225-3701
Anthony Weiner D NY 9 (202) 225-6616
RI
Patrick J. Kennedy D RI 1 (202) 225-4911
James Langevin D RI 2 (202)
225-2735
VT
Bernard Sanders I VT AL (202)
225-4115
DEN Alert: Help Stop Massive Wyoming Drilling
The wild and storied lands
surrounding Wyoming's Powder River are
home to eagles,
falcons, pronghorn antelope, and the last herds of
plains elk. But the Bureau of Land Management is about to
authorize
50,000 natural gas wells - literally doubling
the number of wells
that are on all federal lands today
in this one area. This
controversial proposal would
carve 26,000 miles of new roads,
construct 50,000 miles
of new pipelines and utility corridors, and
dump 2
trillion gallons of toxic water into the environment.
Imperiled species – including the sage grouse and
white-tailed
prairie dog – would be pushed closer to
extinction. Help save the
Powder River Basin as a
critical wildlife habitat and an important
natural
legacy for future generations.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Send a FREE e-mail urging the Bureau of Land Management's
Wyoming
office to save the Powder River Basin from oil
and gas drilling.
Comments are due by Thursday, so
please send your e-mail today.
Thanks for protecting
the fragile wilderness of the Powder River
Basin.
If you don't have access to the
Internet, please mail your letter
to: Paul Beels,
Project Manager, Bureau of Land Management, Buffalo
Field Office, 1425 Fort St., Buffalo, WY 82834
or e-mail it to:
Buffalo_wymail@blm.gov (by April 18)
or to: Mary Bloom, Bureau of
Land Management, 111
Garryowen Road, Miles City, MT 59301 or via
e-mail at:
coalbed_methane@state.mt.us (by May 15)
INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPOND VIA THE
WEB:
If you have access to the
web, simply click on the link below which
will take you
to the DEN Action Center web site:
http://www.denaction.org
SAMPLE LETTER:
Dear Mr. Beels/Ms. Bloom:
As a supporter of our nation's
wildlife, I urge you not to approve
the unprecedented
increases in gas drilling proposed in Wyoming's
Powder
River Basin.
Drilling would
turn this area into an industrial wasteland. This
habitat is vital to big-game herds as well as golden
eagles, sage
grouse, burrowing owls, white-tailed
prairie dogs, and many
songbirds. Measures
designed to protect these species would be
overwhelmed
by the 50,000 wells, 26,000 miles of roads, the 2
trillion gallons of produced water, and the massive
industrial
facilities planned. The only way
to protect wildlife is to
drastically reduce the
proposed development.
Rather
than destroy the Powder River Basin, we should protect it as
a critical wildlife habitat and a natural legacy for future
generations. Thank you for considering my comments.
Sincerely,
___________________________________________________________
To SUBSCRIBE to DENlines,
visit Defenders' website at:
http://www.defenders.org/den or send an e-mail to
DEN@defenders.org and put the word SUBSCRIBE in the
subject line, and your name and address in the text
area.
___________________________________________________________
DENlines is a biweekly
publication of Defenders of Wildlife, a
leading
national conservation organization recognized as one of
the nation's most progressive advocates for wildlife and
its
habitat and known for its effective leadership on
saving
endangered species such as brown bears and gray
wolves. Defenders
advocates new approaches to wildlife
conservation that protect
species before they become
endangered. Founded in 1947, Defenders
is a nonprofit
501(c)(3) organization with more than 480,000
members
and supporters.
Defenders
of Wildlife
1101
14th Street, NW, Suite 1400
Washington,
DC 20005
http://www.defenders.org
http://www.kidsplanet.org
Copyright
(c) 2002 by Defenders of Wildlife
Dear NRDC BioGems Defender,
The moment of truth has arrived for the Arctic National
Wildlife
Refuge. The U.S. Senate is likely to vote as
early as Thursday on an
amendment to open America's
greatest sanctuary for Arctic animals to
oil
development and sprawling industrialization. Even if you have sent
a message to your senators about this issue before, new
developments
make it critical that you do so again
right now by going to
http://www.savebiogems.org/arctic/takeaction.asp?step=2&item=1190
Our defense of the Arctic
Refuge is hanging by a slender thread -- a
mere handful
of senators who are likely but not certain to vote with
us. As the critical vote nears, the pro-oil lobby is
resorting to
increasingly cynical schemes to lure these
"swing" senators to their
side. Drilling proponents
have offered to guarantee healthcare
benefits for
unemployed steelworkers in return for opening the refuge
to oil development. They have offered to guarantee a supply
of oil to
Israel. More eleventh-hour ploys are sure to
follow today and
tomorrow. It is an insult to the
American people to tie such issues to
the fate of the
Arctic Refuge. Providing for steelworkers and
promoting
peace in the Middle East should not depend on destroying our
greatest remaining wilderness.
These attempts to cut backroom deals that will sell out the
refuge are
especially repugnant because the Senate has
already voted AGAINST an
amendment that would have
improved fuel economy standards for cars and
light
trucks. That single measure alone would have saved far more oil
than the Arctic Refuge could ever produce. But pro-oil
senators would
rather sacrifice America's premier
wildlife refuge so that oil giants
can sell even more
oil that can then be wasted in the world's most
inefficient gas-guzzling vehicles. This is special-interest
politics
at its absolute, public-be-damned worst. It
can only be countered by
millions of pro-environment
messages from people like you and me.
Please do your part by contacting your two senators
immediately. If
you want to have the greatest possible
impact, then **pick up the
phone right now** and call
the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121.
Speak to your
senators' staff and ask them to tell your senators to
oppose any amendment that would allow oil exploration or
development
in the Arctic Refuge. It will take you only
about 3 minutes, but will
make a big impression.
If you have less than 3 minutes or
you're not within reach of a phone,
then go to
http://www.savebiogems.org/arctic/takeaction.asp?step=2&item=1190
and send an electronic fax or email (and please
take a few seconds to
personalize the sample message by
adding your own thoughts about why
preserving the
Arctic Refuge is important to you).
However you choose to contact your senators, *please do it
instantly.*
This may be our last, best chance to stop
the oil giants from
plundering America's irreplaceable
sanctuary for polar bears, white
wolves, and 130,000
caribou.
And thank you, as
always, for your continued support of NRDC.
Sincerely,
John H. Adams
President
Natural Resources Defense Council
=====
BioGems: Saving Endangered Wild Places
A project of the Natural Resources Defense Council
http://www.savebiogems.org
To: All Activists
From: Steve
Holmer
Date: April 16, 2002
Subject: Harmful Farm Bill Forest
Provisions Still Pending
A
proposed deal on goods for services projects in the Farm Bill
Conference Committee has still not been
resolved. We need to keep the
pressure on to
stop this harmful proposal that would allow for 375 new
projects using "goods for services," where the Forest
Service can give
away trees to pay for other
activities.
Forest Service
Already Claiming They Have Won
In addition, we have received a report from the Hells
Canyon
Preservation Council that the Forest Service is
already touting the new
authority (which they don't
officially have yet) as the "new timber
program." In a briefing to timber companies held
today, the Forest
Service indicated that ALL timber
sales in the future will include goods
for services
provisions. This could enable the agency to "sweeten the
pot" to sell otherwise uneconomical sales and to enter into
roadless
areas. We will make more details
about this outrageous meeting
available soon.
Please contact your Senators and
your Representative at 202/224-3121 or
see http://www.congress.org
to send an email and urge him/her to
intervene by
contacting the House Farm bill conferees. Ask them to tell
the conferees to oppose any new goods for services projects
for the
Forest Service.
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Agriculture
Committee is
a key player in this
decision. He has an outstanding American Lands
Campaign Forest Scorecard rating of 100% and has been a
longtime
supporter of forest
protection. Please contact his DC office and leave
the following message with his receptionist at
202/224-3254: "Please
stop the forest give-away and
stick to the Senate passed language on
stewardship
contracting."
In
the House, the ranking Democrat on the Agriculture Committee is Rep.
Charles Stenholm (D-TX). We need to convince
Rep. Stenholm and his
staff that the Forest Service can
do the wrong thing sometimes and
should not be trusted
with "goods for services" authority that would
allow
them to give away unlimited amounts of trees.
Please contact Quinton Robinson, Committee staff for Rep.
Stenholm at
202/225-8903 and urge him to oppose new
goods for services projects.
His fax number
is 202/225-0970.
Other House
Democrats on the Conference Committee we need to contact
include:
Rep. Colin Peterson (D-MN) Rob Larew 202/225-2165 225-1593
Rep. Gary Condit (D-CA) Christine Robbins 202/225-6131
225-0072
Rep. Tim Holden (D-PA) Nana Darrel
202/225-5546 226-0996
Rep. Cal Dooley (D-CA) Jim Travis
202/225-3341 225-9308
Thanks
for all your efforts to halt this dangerous legislation.
Steve Holmer
Campaign Coordinator
American
Lands
726 7th Street SE
Washington, D.C. 20003
202/547-9105
202/547-9213 fax
mailto:wafcdc@americanlands.org
http://www.americanlands.org
Care2 has been watching critical environmental issues to
help
keep you in the eco-loop. Currently, wasteful
fishing practices
are endangering our Ocean's fish. We
must act now to ensure
healthy oceans and to save
endangered species!
We need
your help to urge New York's representatives
to
cosponsor the Fisheries Recovery Act of 2001 before April 20th.
This Act will be a crucial step in the battle to save our
ocean fish!
Click Here: http://www.care2.com/go/redirect/2/3902
********WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?
Overfishing and wasteful fishing practices are putting
America's ocean fish at risk of extinction. Combined
with new, sophisticated fishing technologies, humans can
now
catch far more fish every year than what our oceans
can
produce. Consequently, more than 30 federally
managed fish
species are at risk of extinction. This
may only be the tip
of the iceberg because federal
fisheries managers don't even
know the status of
seventy-eight percent of America's ocean
fish
populations.
The problems with
mismanagement must be solved now if we
want our ocean
fish to be around for future generations.
Instead of
managing our resources primarily in the pursuit
of the
"biggest catch", we need to put sustainable fishing
and
conservation first!
The
collapse of many of our ocean fish populations has had
a devastating impact on our marine ecosystems, the
fishermen
and fishing communities that depend on ocean
fish for their
livelihood and as a food source.
Click Here: http://www.care2.com/go/redirect/2/3902
********WHAT CAN BE DONE?
We can stop overexploiting our ocean wildlife by passing
federal laws, such as the Fisheries Recovery Act of
2001
that makes conservation a top priority. Congress
will hold
a legislative hearing on this legislation to
address these
problems on April 25, 2002.
Please SIGN NOW and urge your
representative to cosponsor
the Fisheries Recovery Act
of 2001 today!
Click Here: http://www.care2.com/go/redirect/2/3902
The U.S. House of Representatives is considering
legislation that
would severely weaken a nearly
100-year-old law that 13 presidents
have used to
preserve endangered American landscapes. The law
authorizes presidents to preserve public lands with
significant
historical, scenic, or scientific values by
designating them as
national monuments.
The new bill would require that
national monuments of more than 50,000
acres be
approved by Congress within two years of their designation by
the president, or automatically lose their protected
status. Had this
provision been in force
from the beginning, it is doubtful that such
national
treasures as the Grand Tetons, Olympic National Park, and the
Grand Canyon would enjoy the protection that they do today.
PLEASE FOLLOW THE SIMPLE STEPS
BELOW TO SEND A FREE MESSAGE URGING
YOUR MEMBER OF
CONGRESS TO PROTECT THE CROWN JEWELS OF OUR PUBLIC
LANDS BY VOTING AGAINST THIS BILL.
**************************TAKE
ACTION NOW! ************************
To send the message below, as is, to your member of
Congress, hit
"reply" to this email and then "send." We
will automatically send the
message for
you. However, we urge you to greatly increase your
impact by adding your own thoughts to your
message. Personalizing
your message only
takes a minute; see below for details.
ADD YOUR OWN THOUGHTS AND INCREASE YOUR IMPACT
Log in to your Personal Action
Center
(http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org/login.asp) with
your email
address (alerts@earthhopenetwork.net) and
your password. (If you have
forgotten your
password, follow the instructions on the log-in page to
have a new password emailed to you.)
Once you are in your Personal
Action Center, click on "National
Monuments at Risk"
and follow the instructions for adding your own
thoughts to your message.
[If you haven't already done so,
please also take the "Oceans in
Crisis" action and urge
your member of Congress to support a bill to
make
conservation the first priority of federal fisheries management.
Go to http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org/action.asp?step=2&item=1157
to do so. We'd like to significantly
increase the number of bill
cosponsors before a late
April hearing on fisheries management.]
Please forward this email to your friends and colleagues
and ask them
to act today.
*********************LETTER TEXT******************
Dear (your representative's name
will be inserted here):
I
write to urge you to oppose H.R. 2114, the "National Monument
Fairness Act." H.R. 2114 would amend the
Antiquities Act of 1906 to
"sunset" after two years any
presidential designations of monuments of
more than
50,000 acres unless Congress voted to maintain them.
Since Congress first gave
presidents the authority to designate
national
monuments, presidents from both parties have used this power
to preserve public lands with significant historical,
scenic, or
scientific values. Monument
designation is a vitally important method
of protecting
public lands from the onslaught of sprawl, development,
and abuse. Many of the most recently-designated
national monuments,
for example, are threatened by
destructive logging, grazing, and
mining.
Under current law, Congress
maintains authority over the management
and funding of
monuments and may even abolish them. The fact that it
has seldom chosen to do so is a testament to the care with
which
presidents have traditionally applied their
powers under the act. The
Antiquities Act is
not an encroachment on congressional authority.
Rather, it is a mechanism whereby the executive and
legislative
branches may more effectively bring their
collective powers to bear to
protect America's natural
heritage.
Please support the
protection of the crown jewels of our public lands
by
voting against H.R. 2114.
Sincerely,
Your name and address
will be
inserted here
***********************END OF LETTER
TEXT*********************
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
H.R. 2114, the "National Monument Fairness Act," was
introduced on
June 7, 2001 by Representative Mike
Simpson (R-Idaho) and approved by
the House Parks
Subcommittee on March 20, 2002. The bill has 32
cosponsors.
Please act today.
______________________________________________________________________
Direct any questions about the WWF Conservation Action
Network to
actionquestions@takeaction.worldwildlife.org
______________________________________________________________________
The Conservation Action Network is sponsored by World
Wildlife Fund-
US. Known worldwide by its
panda logo, WWF is dedicated to
protecting the world's
wildlife and the rich biological diversity
that we all
need to survive. The leading privately supported
international conservation organization in the world, WWF
has
sponsored more than 2,000 projects in 116 countries
and has more than
1 million members in the United
States. WWF calls on everyone --
government,
industry, and individuals -- to take responsibility by
taking action to save our living planet.
World Wildlife Fund
1250 Twenty-fourth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037
http://www.worldwildlife.org
http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org
The Highlands is a two million-acre upland region
stretching
from Reading, Pennsylvania to the Litchfield
Hills
of Connecticut. Development and poor planning
threaten
the Highlands, jeopardizing the drinking
water, wildlife
habitat and recreational opportunities
that it provides
to millions of residents. Contact the
U.S. Forest Service
and attend public hearings to
protect the Highlands!
You can
take action on this alert either via email
(please see
directions below) or via the web at:
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/highlands/wk8bxn2ot8ii
Visit the web address below
and tell your friends to
take action on this important
campaign!
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/highlands/forward/wk8bxn2ot8ii
We encourage you to take
action by May 4, 2002
Protect
the Northeastern Highlands
----------------------
***************************
Action Network from Environmental Defense
finding the ways that work
***************************
The Highlands provides clean
drinking water for more
than 4.5 million people
throughout the New York metropolitan
area, including
much of northern New Jersey, the southern
Hudson River
Valley, and parts of New York City. The
Highlands also
attracts over fourteen million visitors
a year - more
than Grand Canyon National Park - and
is home to over
two hundred threatened and endangered
species. Rapid
development of the Highlands is degrading
its natural
resources and encroaching on open space.
You can help protect the Highlands in two ways:
First, send a letter to the Forest
Service urging it
to protect the Highlands; and second,
attend upcoming
hearings to express your support for
the Highlands.
Public Hearings
Schedule:
April 22: Haggerty Education Center,
Frelinghuysen
Arboretum, Morristown, NJ; 6:30pm
April 23: Ramapo Town Hall, 237
Route 59, Suffern,
NY; 6:30pm
For more details about attending
these important hearings,
contact Jason Patrick at
jpatrick@environmentaldefense.org
or 212/505-2100.
MORE INFORMATION:
In its updated Draft New York-New Jersey Highlands
Regional Study, the U.S. Forest Service has reaffirmed
the importance of the four-state Highlands and the
development pressures it faces. The draft study has
examined the Highlands' natural resources, focusing
on how these resources are likely to change and what
the impacts of those changes would be.
Key Findings:
- Every year, more than 5,000 acres of land are developed
in the Highlands, including forests and wetlands. The
core interior forest has decreased by 65,000 acres
since 1984.
- The Highlands population grew by 11% over the last
decade, with higher growth expected in the future.
If current trends continue, local groundwater use is
expected to exceed supply in several Highlands watersheds,
including the Ramapo, Whippanny, Pequest, Upper
Delaware
and Lopatcong.
- 62% of the Highlands (873,996
acres) provide habitat
for threatened or endangered
wildlife species.
- 38% of the Highlands (542,499 acres) has been rated
as having "exceptional" conservation value, while more
than half these lands (285,629 acres) are unprotected
from development.
State and local governments can act to protect the
Highlands' critical resources by adopting strategies
to manage future growth, safeguard drinking water,
conserve forests and open space, and provide recreational
opportunities, while promoting economic growth in the
region.
For more information about threats to the Highlands
and proposed solutions, read the U.S. Forest Service
study at:
http://www.fs.fed.us/na/highlands/draft_report
The deadline for written comments
is May 3.
----------------------
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/highlands/wk8bxn2ot8ii
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:
Mr. Marcus Phelps
-------YOU MAY EDIT THE LETTER
BELOW---------
I am writing to
comment on the Draft Highlands Regional
Study update
recently released by your office.
Thank you for the thorough work in outlining the Highlands'
critical resources, future development trends and
expected
impacts. The value of the Highlands to provide
clean
water, open space and wildlife habitat is clear,
and
we must work now to protect these resources. The
current
drought makes it even more imperative that we
safeguard
the Highlands as a primary source of water
for the
metropolitan area. Also of critical importance
are
the 285,000 acres designated as natural lands of
"exceptional"
value that are now unprotected.
I urge you to strengthen and
promote your findings
that local, state and federal
agencies can and should
do much more to protect the
Highlands.
-------END OF
LETTER-------------------------
Urgent Arctic Refuge Update:
Yesterday evening, Alaskan Senator Frank Murkowski and other drilling proponents submitted an amendment to the Senate Energy Bill that would open the Arctic Refuge to oil drilling. It is now up to the entire Senate to determine whether this amendment is allowed to stand. Should it pass, there is little that can stop oil companies from beginning to develop this spectacular, unspoiled wilderness.
What You Can Do
Calling your senator is easy! Simply dial the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202)224-3121 and ask to be connected to your senator's office. Once connected, ask to speak to your senator or to the staff member working on the Arctic Refuge. Tell your Senator that you oppose any attempt to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. Let them know that you believe the Refuge is simply too wild to waste. You can also send an email to your senator directly from the NWF website at: ga1.org/campaign/arcticrefuge01182002?.
Additional Information:
Please urge your senators to protect the Arctic and vote against any attempt to drill the Refuge. Don't forget to let us know you took action by emailing alerts@nwf.org.
Thank You!
GE Food Alert 3
(ge-food-alert-3@iatp.org) Posted:
04/17/2002 By jvogt@iatp.org
============================================================
TAKE ACTION FOR SAFE FOOD:
CALL KRAFT!
CALL KRAFT TO
DEMAND THAT IT REMOVES UNTESTED, UNLABLED, RISKY GENETICALLY
ENGINEERED INGREDIENTS FROM ITS PRODUCTS!
APRIL 17TH-22ND 2002. Call TODAY and PASS THIS EMAIL ON!
***********************
Do you
know what Kraft is putting in your food? It’s untested, unlabeled and
could put your family’s health and the environment at risk.
It’s GENETICALLY
KRAFTED and its time we tell Kraft NOT
IN MY KITCHEN!
TAKE 2 MINUTES
TO CALL KRAFT FOODS AT 1-888-560-4625 AND DEMAND SAFE FOOD.
1. Ask to leave a message for their CEO, Betsy Holden.
2. Tell them that you want Kraft to protect the health of
their customers
and the environment by removing
untested, unlabeled, genetically engineered
ingredients
from its products.
3. PASS IT ON! Send this Action
Alert to your friends. The more comments we
can
generate to Kraft, the more they’ll know their customers want safe food.
As the largest food company in the U.S. and the second
largest in the world,
Kraft has a responsibility to
ensure that its foods are safe for our health
and the
environment.
4. CELEBRATE! You just helped protect your
health and the health of the
planet!
HAZARDS OF KRAFT’S GENETICALLY
ENGINEERED FOODS
Kraft Foods is the largest food
company in the country, and the second
largest in the
world, with products that can be found in 99% of U.S.
households. Many of these products, such as Taco Bell taco
shells, Oreos,
Lunchables, Post cereals and Stovetop
Stuffing are likely to contain
untested and unlabeled
genetically engineered ingredients that may put our
families at risk.
Risks include health and environmental hazards such as new
allergies, new
plant toxins, harm to wildlife, the
creation of “superweeds” from cross
pollination, and
increased pesticide use.
Kraft
is aware of the potential health and environmental risks of
genetically engineered foods. After StarLink™ corn, a
variety of genetically
engineered corn
not approved for human consumption because of risk of
allergic reaction, was discovered in their products, the
company recalled
millions of boxes of taco shells and
switched to non-genetically engineered
white corn in
their corn-based taco products to avoid further contamination.
However, Kraft continues to use
questionable genetically engineered
ingredients in many
of its other products.
Kraft
has moved to avoid genetically engineered ingredients in their
products in Europe, showing they could be doing the same
around the world.
Kraft Foods,
the largest food company in the U.S. and second largest in the
world, needs to do more to ensure that their products are
safe for our
health and the environment.
WEEK OF ACTION APRIL 17-22
Unfortunately, Kraft has refused to meet with us to discuss
our concerns so
in more than 200 cities, Genetically
Engineered Food Alert volunteers and
allies are
organizing a week of consumer actions that will culminate on
April 22nd, Earth Day, the day of Kraft’s annual
shareholder meeting in East
Hanover, NJ. Thousands of
concerned citizens will educate their neighbors
and
fellow shoppers and will call Kraft foods to make it clear we don’t want
untested, unlabeled genetically krafted food in our
kitchens!
SENDING A STRONG
MESSAGE TO KRAFT THIS WEEK IS CRUCIAL TO BRINGING KRAFT TO
THE TABLE TO LISTEN TO CUSTOMER CONCERNS ABOUT FOOD SAFETY.
CALL TODAY! 1-888-560-4625
The Call-in is sponsored by Earth Tones—The Environmental
Phone Company
(http://www.earth-tones.com).**
For materials or more information,
contact Lisa Archer at larcher@foe.org or
1-877-843-8687. **You can also read about the latest
campaign developments,
find out other ways to get
involved, get more info on the campaign, and
download
materials at http://www.gefoodalert.org.
Special Green Party E-News alert!
For more information on E-News, including
subscribe/unsubscribe information and to view last month's issue, please visit
http://www.gpnys.org/enews . The next issue of E-News will be up on or about May 1,
2002, but we are now able to update the site regularly, so check weekly for new
additions.
Contents:
1. Massachussetts Greens Need Help
getting Gubernatorial Candidate on Ballot NOW- Stand to receive Millions in
Public Financing
2. Join thousands of Greens at April 20
Rally in Washington DC: RAISE YOUR VOICE FOR PEACE
==================================================================
1.
Massachusetts Greens Need Help getting Gubernatorial Candidate on Ballot NOW-
Stand to receive Millions in Public Financing
If the Mass. Greens get their candidates for state-wide
office on the ballot, they will likely receive between 2 and 3 Million dollars
through Massachusetts' Clean Elections initiative. This would be a tremendous
boost to Greens NATIONALLY.
The Mass Greens need the help of Greens in neighboring
states to get their candidates on the ballot. They need 10,000 signatures (which
means 25,000 raw signatures) to get Jill Stein and Anthony Lorenzen on the
ballot (candidates for Governor and Lt. Governor) and another 5,000 (12,500 raw)
to get James O'Keefe (candidate for State Treasurer) on the ballot. They
must accomplish all this by May 5.
Greens are invited to join efforts all over Mass, though
especially good places include Boston, Northampton/ Amherst, Springfield,
Pittsfield, Great Barrington, and Worcester.
There will be an especially big effort on the weekend of
April 27 and 28 -- on the 27th, there's an Earth Day event in Boston, which
draws tens of thousands of people, and on the 28th, there's a big concert event
in Cambridge.
Of course, your
help is needed anytime, you please contact Shelley
(see below) today if you can help on the weekend of the 27-28 or ANYTIME. She
can help set you up with a place to stay, snacks, etc., as needed.
For those of you who have never
petitioned - it's easy to learn, fun and totally rewarding. I promise (this
editorial note from Masada; I'm going to try and go that big weekend).
In addition, the Mass greens have
funds to support several people who can petition full time between now and May
5. They would provide a place to live, as well as a good wage (and a good time).
For more information contact:
Shelley Fite, Campaign manager for James O'Keefe at:
(617) 628-2922 or shelley_fite@yahoo.com
or visit http://www.jillwill.org/ or http://www.jamesokeefe.org/
==================================================================
2. Join thousands of Greens at April 20 Rally in Washington
DC
Come to Washington DC Friday through
Monday, April 19-22 for an extravaganza of events and make your voice heard for
global justice.
The World Bank
and IMF will host another round of meetings in Washington D.C. April 20-21.
These meetings come in the wake of the crisis in Argentina, where the
free-market policies pushed around the world by the World Bank and IMF unraveled
into a devastating economic situation for the population.
They also come after the collapse
of the multinational-corporate-giant Enron, a model of the abuses and strength
of corporate power. The Mobilization for Global Justice calls on activists from
around the country to converge in Washington, DC April 19-22 and make your voice
heard.
The protests against the
World Bank and the IMF will take place in solidarity and cooperation with the
mass mobilization against the US Intervention in Colombia and the School of the
Americas (SOA) and the April 20 March on Washington to Stop the War at Home and
Abroad. Many Greens including members of the Campus Greens plan to march
on the 20th.
These issues are
all part of the same fight for global justice. Military power often works hand
in hand with economic institutions like the World Bank and IMF. Democratic
resistance to the privatizations, forced relocations and economic austerity
measures pushed by the World Bank and IMF are often suppressed by military
force.
Things that Greens
traveling to D.C. can do for the April 20 march:
Wear
Green clothes, green armbands, green party buttons, hats, shirts, etc
Make and bring signs and banners that identify you as
Greens, and which convey a Green message.
To sign up for a seat on a bus from New York City contact
Monica Tarazi at 718-834-0024 or mterazi@adc.org
You can also contact Elizabeth Shanklin, at
elizs@earthlink.net.
More
resources
http://www.gp-us.org/911 register here to march with
other Greens on April 20
http://GlobalizeThis.org
http://ColombiaMobilization.org
http://A20StopTheWar.org register here for housing
http://soaw.org
http://abolishthebank.org
http://dc.indymedia.org
This
story in last month's E-News: http://gpnys.org/enews/corporate/4_02globaljustice.htm
To: All Activists
From: Steve
Holmer
Date: April 15, 2001
Register for the Forest Protection
Week June 2 - 7
With new
roadless area timber sales being offered each month and
numerous other rollbacks of forest protection underway we
need help from
Congress to stop the Bush Administration
and the Forest Service from
succeeding with these
attacks. While the news seems to be going from
bad to worse, by acting together, we can turn the tide and
create a
powerful backlash for forest protection.
To help make that happen, YOU are
invited to join activists from across
the nation for
our annual Forest Protection Lobby Week June 2 -7. This
is right before the House of Representatives votes on the
annual
Interior Appropriations bill.
WE NEED EVERYONE TO COME TO DC
THIS YEAR
This year, we know
that much is at stake. The Forest Service is moving
rapidly to dismantle the roadless conservation rule while
it is tied up
in court and is pushing forward new
roadless area timber sales. Without
action
by Congress, these areas will remain at risk and now the action
has begun with Reps. Insless and Boehlert announcing their
roadless area
protection bill. This year
will be an all-out blitz to pass permanent
legislation
protecting roadless areas and stopping Forest Service
rollbacks.
Fire and restoration funding and policy have dominated the
Interior bill
the last several years and we expect a
major fight once again to reign
in the abuse of
restoration and hazardous fuel treatment funds being
diverted for commercial logging. We are
also may be fighting
provisions to increase subsidies
for biomass from the National Forests.
Lack of enforcement of off-road vehicles and the agencies
failure to
monitor their impacts is allowing for
unacceptable damage to the public
lands. This year, we will ask Congress to start
tackling this problem
by asking for additional funding
for monitoring and requiring a portion
of the law
enforcement budget to be spent policing off road vehicles.
Register for the Forest Protection
Lobby Week
To attend the
Forest Protection Week, please e-mail the below
registration form to the American Lands organizer in your
region. You
will be coordinating with them
to schedule meetings on Capitol Hill.
Below
is a list of organizer contacts by state.
Scholarships
Travel scholarships are available
for half the cost of your airfare (up
to $200) for
those with financial need. In order to receive a stipend
activists must lobby for three full days. Other
travel scholarships may
also be available (e.g. gas and
bus ticket for Eastern activists).
Please
contact the organizer in you region below if you wish to receive
a travel scholarship.
Housing
Free housing options are limited. However, there
is a low cost housing
option available at the Penn
House, which is located on Capitol Hill.
The rate is $35 a night, which includes a
breakfast. For reservations
call the Penn
House at (202) 543-5560. For more information see
www.quaker.org/pen-house/lodging.htm. For other
low cost housing
options please see http://www.americanlands.org/dc_hotels.htm
Issue Briefing / Lobby Training
Please plan to arrive in
Washington D.C. on the evening of Saturday June
1, 2001
or in the early morning on Sunday June 2, 2001. On June 2nd
there will be an issue briefing and lobby training from 12
p.m. - 5 p.m.
Location to be announced.
Lobby Week Schedule
From June 2 - 7 activists will
lobby Members of Congress and their
staff. To coordinate Hill meetings contact the
American Lands organizer
in your
region. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evening at 5 p.m. we ask
everyone to join us for a debriefing meeting so we can give
you updates,
share information from our
meetings. Location to be announced. You will
receive meeting locations, directions and other important
information by
early May.
Registration Form
Please fill out the registration form and email it the
organizer in your
region.
FOREST PROTECTION LOBBY WEEK REGISTRATION FORM
NAME:
ORGANIZATION (If any):
ADDRESS:
PHONE:
EMAIL:
STATE: CONGRESSIONAL
REPRESENTATIVE:
DO YOU NEED
TRAVEL ASSISTANCE:
DO YOU NEED
A HOME STAY (THESE ARE LIMITED)?
AMERICAN LANDS ALLIANCE ORGANIZERS
CO, AZ, NE, NM,
WY: contact Harlin Savage, Southern Rockies Regional
Organizer, at 303-444-5693 or mailto:hscolorado@indra.com
CA, ID, MT: contact
Brian Vincent, California Organizer, at
530-265-3506 or
mailto:wafcca@nccn.net
OR,
WA: contact George Sexton, Watershed Coordinator, at 541-349-9660
or mailto:wafc@teleport.com
MA, NH, VT, NY, RI, CT, MASS, NJ: contact John
Demos, Northeast
Organizer, at 207-384-0175 or
mailto:demos@americanlands.org
WI, MN, IA, SD, ND: contact Lois Norrgard, Upper
Midwest Organizer, at
952-881-7282 or
mailto:lnorrgard@americanlands.org
IN, MI, OH, IL, MO, KY: contact Joshua Martin,
Midwest Organizer, at
812-333-5456 or
mailto:joshua@americanlands.org
NV, UT, AL, GA, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV: contact Anne
Martin, National Field
Director, at 775-786-1658 or
mailto:annem@americanlands.org
AR, TX, OK, FL, LA, KS, HI, PA, MD, MS: contact
Steve Holmer, Campaign
Coordinator, at 202-547-9105 or
mailto:wafcdc@americanlands.org
Steve Holmer
Campaign Coordinator
American Lands
726 7th Street
SE
Washington, D.C. 20003
202/547-9105
202/547-9213 fax
mailto:wafcdc@americanlands.org
http://www.americanlands.org
Our lakes, rivers, streams, coastal waters, and wetlands
are threatened by invasive species, as are jobs and
public health! Take action to strengthen an important law
due for reauthorization--the National Invasive Species
Act.
NISA addresses aquatic species, but its provisions
to
prevent new arrivals almost exclusively focus on
organisms
that arrive in the ballast water of ships,
and its toughest
provisions apply only to a few parts
of the United States.
TAKE
ACTION TODAY! To send the message below to your
senators and representative, simply hit REPLY now and
letters will be sent on your behalf. Or, if you want to
customize the letter, go to:
http://www.ucsaction.org/index.asp?step=2&item=1321
****************
Dear [Senators and
Representative],
Invasive
species are a huge--and inadequately addressed
--threat
to the native plants, animals, and habitats of
our
country. An important law to prevent and control
invasive species, the National Invasive Species Act
(NISA), is due for reauthorization. NISA is meant to
address the threat posed by one group of invasive
species: aquatic organisms. You have the power to see
that this bill is reauthorized and made stronger.
Scientists say there may be as
many as 7,000 species of
invasive plants and animals
already established in the
United States. Some were
brought here on purpose for
landscaping, to stock in
lakes, or as pets. Others came
uninvited--in packing
material, on hulls of boats, and
more. Some survive,
and those that thrive and spread
unchecked are called
invasive. These can push native
species toward
extinction, inflict terrible damage on
habitats, and
harm industries and fisheries.
I urge you to correct the weaknesses in the 1996 law
that make it ineffective and add new provisions so that
it will address all the ways invasives find their way
here, will protect all waters, and will apply across
the United States to all aquatic organisms. You have
the ability to ensure that aquatic species intentionally
brought into our country undergo effective
screening--if
found to be invasive or potentially
invasive, they must
be kept out!
When this bill comes before you,
please take quick
action to announce your support for
its reauthorization,
press for stronger provisions, and
support its full
funding.
Sincerely,
[Your name will appear here]
***************
Learn More About This Issue:
Most species fare poorly when people introduce them to
a new environment. Some survive, however, and those that
thrive and spread unchecked are called invasive. They
can push native species toward extinction, inflict
terrible damage on habitats, and harm industries and
fisheries.
Scientists estimate that about 7,000 invasive plant and
animal species are now established in the United States.
Damage and control measures cost billions of dollars
each
year. Invasive species are the second biggest
threat to the
loss of biological diversity, behind only
habitat
destruction and alteration.
In 1990, in response to the
arrival, in the late 1980s, of
the highly invasive
zebra mussel in the Great Lakes, Congress
adopted the
law that is now NISA (currently Public Law 104-
332).
NISA is due for reauthorization this spring and needs
to be strengthened. Specifically, NISA needs to:
- reduce or prevent unintentional
introductions via all
major pathways.
- effectively screen for invasiveness of all aquatic
species intentionally imported into the United States--
and keep out those that are known to be, or may become,
invasive.
- apply across the
United States, to all aquatic
organisms, and to all
types of water.
To learn more
about invasive species, visit:
http://www.ucsusa.org/environment/bio_invasives.html
For more information on
NISA, see:
http://www.nemw.org/nisa_summary.htm
|
A Bi-weekly Update from Defenders of Wildlife: Working to Save Wildlife and Wild Lands SPECIAL EARTH DAY
EDITION: WILDLIFE AT RISK |
| EARTH DAY 2002: Time to renew our commitment to save wildlife |
| BACKROOM VOTE-BUYING: Big Oil's allies hatch new scheme to exploit Arctic refuge |
| FOR 40 MINUTES OF OIL: Rocky Mountain Front in the cross hairs |
| IGNORING THE LAW: No sanctuary for manatees |
| GHOSTS OF THE SELKIRKS: Last herd of caribou moves closer to extinction |
| WHERE WILDLIFE COMES FIRST? Not when it's up to Norton |
| HELP SAVE MANATEES: We'll thank you with a plush manatee toy |
| 1. EARTH DAY 2002: Time to
renew our commitment to wildlife
Earth Day arrives Monday with our wildlife and wild lands facing their greatest threat in a generation. With the help of Interior Secretary Gale Norton and other allies in the Bush administration, wealthy special interests have launched an unprecedented assault on America's vanishing natural heritage. Defenders of Wildlife President Rodger Schlickeisen called it "a clear, massive and undeniable strategy on the part of the Bush administration and its appointees from industry to weaken, undermine and subvert the nation's environmental protection laws to benefit their big corporate supporters." Defenders is joining other environmental groups across the country in acting to ensure that laws protecting wildlife are enforced. Click here for an audio report from Schlickeisen, who went to Florida this week to announce actions to help protect endangered manatees and other species: http://www.defenders.org/audio/02.html. Click here to read our new, in-depth report "Open Season On America's Wildlife": http://www.defenders.org/newsroom/openseason.pdf. And read this special edition of DENlines to find out what you can do to help. 2. BACKROOM VOTE-BUYING: Big Oil's allies hatch new scheme to exploit Arctic refugeBig Oil's political allies are resorting to cynical schemes to pressure senators to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. In the latest, they tried to tie drilling to a steel industry bailout. Even the pro-drilling Wall Street Journal denounced this ploy as an attempt to "bribe" votes. Secretary Norton, meanwhile, is functioning like a press agent for Big Oil, distributing an industry-produced video depicting the refuge as a frozen tundra. "The Interior Department shouldn't be spreading oil company propaganda any more than the Department of Energy should be promoting Enron stock," Congressman Edward Markey of Massachusetts said. Celebrate Earth Day by urging your senators to save the Arctic refuge. The Senate is likely to vote this week, and only a handful of votes will make the difference. To make your voice heard, go to www.SaveArcticRefuge.org. And help spread the word about the threat to the refuge by sharing this edition of DENlines with friends. 3. FOR 40 MINUTES OF OIL: Rocky Mountain Front in the cross hairsIf you think the Alaska refuge is the only important wildlife habitat under siege by Big Oil, think again. Secretary Norton, the chief steward of one of every four acres of this country's land, has issued an open invitation to the oil, gas, mining and timber industries to exploit great swaths of America's last remaining wild places. One major target is the spectacular Rocky Mountain Front. It's the only place in the Lower 48 where grizzly bears still roam from the mountains to their historic habitat on the plains, and it's a major corridor for some of the largest remaining herds of big horn sheep, elk and moose, as well as rare species such as wolves, wolverine and lynx. Oil development would destroy this land. And what would we gain? Enough oil to satisfy U.S. demand for less than 40 minutes. An amendment to the energy bill now before the Senate would seriously weaken environmental protections for oil and gas pipelines across public land. To speak out against this harmful proposal, go to www.DenAction.org and respond to Alert 149. 4. IGNORING THE LAW: No sanctuary for manatees
Tell Secretary Norton that she must act now to protect manatees from reckless pleasure boaters. To send your message, go to www.HelpManatees.org. 5. GHOSTS OF THE SELKIRKS: Last herd of caribou moves closer to extinctionThe woodland caribou is one of our most highly endangered species. Only 30 of the animals remain alive in the contiguous United States. They?re known, sadly, as the "the Ghosts of the Selkirks." But the U.S. Forest Service is allowing the Stimson Lumber Co. to log the Colville National Forest in the Selkirk Mountains of northeastern Washington -- right in the path of this last herd of caribou. That's even though government wildlife scientists have concluded that logging will likely result in the deaths of caribou, as well as grizzly bears and lynx, and the further fragmentation of their vanishing habitat. 6. WHERE WILDLIFE COMES FIRST? Not when it's up to Norton"Wildlife comes first" in national wildlife refuges, according to the government slogan. But Secretary Norton is standing by while irrigators along the Snake River drain the habitat of millions of migratory birds that depend on the Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge in Idaho. Norton is refusing to appeal an Idaho court ruling that denies water rights to the refuge. That refuge -- 100 islands in the Snake River -- was created in 1937 by President Roosevelt to protect migratory birds. Earth Day is a time to send the message that America's natural heritage is precious and belongs to all of us, not just the special interests. To find an Earth Day event near you, click here http://www.earthday.net/events/events-us.stm. 7. HELP SAVE MANATEES: We'll thank you with a plush manatee toy Help save the lives of Florida's manatees. Please make a contribution of $25 or more, and we'll thank you with a plush manatee toy. Your donation will be used in our efforts to pressure Secretary Norton not to take away federal protections for these endangered animals. http://www.defenders.org/donate/manatee.html.
For more information on annuities with Defenders please email legacy@defenders.org or call 1-800-915-6789 or visit our website at http://www.defenders.org/donate/legacy/cgifts.html. In these uncertain times, more Americans are updating or preparing their wills especially as they plan vacation trips. Defenders has set up a special web site with helpful information. Please go to http://www.makeawill.org. DENlines is a bi-weekly update of Defenders of
Wildlife, a leading national conservation organization recognized as one
of the nation's most progressive advocates for wildlife and its habitat.
It is known for its effective leadership on endangered species issues,
particularly predators such as brown bears and gray wolves. Defenders also
advocates new approaches to wildlife conservation that protect species
before they become endangered. Founded in 1947, Defenders is a nonprofit
501(c)(3) organization with more than 400,000 members and supporters. To
unsubscribe, send an e-mail to denlines@defenders.org and put
the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line. Defenders of Wildlife Copyright Defenders of Wildlife 2002 |
Dear U.S. PIRG supporter,
On Tuesday, Senator Murkowski offered his amendment to open
the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling. Almost
immediately, Senators Kerry and Lieberman began their filibuster. A
vote to end the filibuster, called a cloture vote, is scheduled for Thursday
morning, and now is the time for senators to vote to protect the Arctic Refuge
by voting no on the cloture vote. A no vote will show that the Senate
doesn't support drilling in the Arctic Refuge, while a yes vote will end the
filibuster against drilling in the Arctic Refuge.
This is it.
With a vote scheduled for this Thursday, we expect
President Bush and the oil and gas industry will spend Wednesday pressuring
senators to vote for drilling in the Arctic Refuge and cutting deals to win
votes. We need to spend Wednesday making sure senators know the
public wants the Arctic Refuge to be protected.
Senators Clinton and Schumer (NY) need to hear from you.
Senators Clinton and Schumer
have both publicly said they oppose drilling in the Arctic
Refuge. But with pressure coming from President Bush and oil and gas
industry lobbyists, they need to hear that the people of New York support them
and want the Arctic Refuge to be protected.
You can call Senator Clinton at (202) 224-4451 and Senator
Schumer at (202) 224-6542 and leave the following message -
"Hello, my name is _____ and I
live at _______. I want to thank you for promising to vote against any attempt
to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling and to vote
NO on the cloture vote on the Arctic filibuster."
Then, let us know you made the call so we can keep a count
by following the link below and filling out the form there.
http://pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=174&id4=ES
Thanks for your support.
BACKGROUND
On Tuesday, Senator Frank Murkowski offered an amendment to
allow oil and gas drilling in the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge. As you
probably know, drilling in the Arctic Refuge would industrialize one of
America's last wild places for less than six months worth of oil, oil that won't
reach consumers for another 10 years.
Almost immediately, opponents of Arctic drilling, led by
Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman, began a filibuster to block the Murkowski
amendment from even coming up for a vote. In order to stop the filibuster and
bring up his amendment Sen. Murkowski will need 60 - not 50 - votes.
The Senate debate on the Arctic
will be the most important environmental vote this year, and the fate of
America's Arctic hangs in the balance. The House has already voted to allow
drilling in the Arctic Refuge, and President Bush supports allowing BP,
ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco and Phillips Petroleum to plunder the Arctic Refuge.
Only the Senate can stop them.
The Senate has scheduled a vote to end the filibuster,
called a cloture vote, for Thursday morning. If we get a no vote,
we'll show that the oil and gas industry doesn't have the votes to open the
Arctic Refuge to drilling; if the Senate votes yes on the cloture vote, it will
end the filibuster.
Senators
Clinton and Schumer have publicly said they oppose drilling in the Arctic
Refuge. But with pressure coming from President Bush and oil and gas
industry lobbyists, they need to hear that the people in their state support
them and want the Arctic Refuge to be protected.
You can call Senator Clinton at (202) 224-4451 and Senator
Schumer at (202) 224-6542 and leave the following message -
"Hello, my name is _____ and I
live at _______. I want to thank you for promising to vote against any attempt
to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling and to vote
NO on the cloture vote on the Arctic filibuster."
Then, let us know you made the call so we can keep a count
by following the link below and filling out the form there.
http://pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=174&id4=ES
Sincerely,
Gene Karpinski
U.S. PIRG Executive Director
http://www.USPIRG.org
http://www.SaveTheArctic.com
It's time for members of Congress to make decisions
about fiscal year 2003 funding. Ask your lawmakers
to request an increase for Title X - the nation's domestic
family planning program
You can take action on this alert either via email
(please see directions below) or via the web at:
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/Support_DomesticFamPlanning/ee3bx4f78xeek
Visit the web address below
and tell your friends to
take action on this important
campaign!
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/Support_DomesticFamPlanning/forward/ee3bx4f78xeek
We encourage you to take
action by July 31, 2002
Tell
Congress to Support Domestic Family Planning
----------------------
Low income Americans face many obstacles to receiving
family planning information and services. Federal funds
for the Title X (ten) program - the only federal program
dedicated to making family planning available to
Americans
- are woefully inadequate. As Congress begins
to consider
the 2003 federal budget, they should
support a funding
increase for the crucial Title X
program. Help make
sure that America's women and teens
have access to
the full range of family planning
services.
----------------------
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/Support_DomesticFamPlanning/ee3bx4f78xeek
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 John Edwards
Representative David Price
Senator
Jesse Helms
-------YOU MAY EDIT THE LETTER BELOW---------
**Constituent Letter**
As you consider the 2003 federal
budget, I urge you
to provide at least $325 million for
the Title X----domestic
family planning program. Title
X-funded clinics play
a vital role in serving those who
are uninsured and
who have no place else to go for
care.
Title
X-funded clinics continue to be asked to do more
with
less. Current funding allows Title X clinics to
serve
only half of those who need subsidized family
planning
services. Increasing access to voluntary family
planning services is critical to addressing the sad
fact that fully half of all pregnancies in the U.S.
and more than three-quarters of teenage pregnancies
are unintended.
Furthermore, funding for family planning is a cost
effective investment that saves money over the long
run and helps to give people control over their own
lives. A modest increase for the Title X program will
help improve access to vital family planning and
reproductive
health care services for low-income
Americans and,
in turn, help reduce rates of unintended
pregnancy
in our nation.
The need for a funding increase for the Title X program
is clear. I hope you recognize the importance of the
Title X program in the lives of America's women by
supporting at least $325 million in funding for fiscal
year 2003.
-------END OF
LETTER-------------------------
Natural Resources Defense Council's
LEGISLATIVE WATCH
April 18, 2002
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the text of bills and congres
Defenders of Wildlife asked a federal judge this week
to force Secretary Norton to comply with a court-approved agreement
establishing 16 new safe havens for Florida manatees. Norton has been
flouting the agreement. Instead, speeding to the aid of boat
manufacturers, marinas and pleasure boaters, she's trying to weaken
protections for the imperiled sea cows. She ignored the objections of a
supervisor in one of her own agencies when she decided to allow boat
manufacturers to test watercraft at high speeds inside existing manatee
sanctuaries. Last year alone, 81 manatees died in collisions with boats,
and powerboats killed 18 more just this past January -- a record for a
single month.