|
ETC Group
News Release
April 1, 2003
www.etcgroup.org
Terminator Technology & Exorcist Technology:
New Issues and Old Controversies
The ETC Group (formerly known as RAFI) today releases "Terminator Technology: Five Years Later," a report on new issues and controversies surrounding the ongoing development of genetic seed sterilization - plants genetically engineered to render sterile seeds. Terminator technology is being developed as a biological mechanism to extinguish the right of farmers to save and re-plant seeds from their harvest, thus creating greater dependence on the commercial seed market.
ETC Group also reports on "Exorcist Technology," the biotech industry's recent attempt to develop genetically modified crops that shed their foreign DNA before harvest - with the help of chemical inducers - as a means of silencing anti-GM critics. "Exorcist is a new technology, but the basic strategy is the same - the biotech industry wants to shift all the burden to the farmer and society. If gene flow is a problem, the farmer will be obliged to apply a chemical inducer to excise the offensive transgenes. It's the newest bag of genetic tricks to fix the biotech industry's leaky genes and public relations problems," explains Hope Shand of ETC Group.
"We're still
discovering new patent claims on Terminator, this time by Syngenta, and now the
seed industry and the US Department of Agriculture are boldly extolling the
virtues of Terminator technology for small farmers and indigenous peoples,"
explains Shand.
"Even more
dangerous, industry is greenwashing Terminator by promoting it as a biosafety
tool," says Jim Thomas of ETC Group. "The promotion of Terminator seeds as a
biosafety mechanism to prevent GM pollution is biotech's Trojan Horse," explains
Thomas, "If Terminator technology wins market acceptance under the guise of
biosafety, it will eventually be used everywhere as a monopoly tool to prevent
farmers from saving and re-using seed."
Even UPOV, the international body that promotes plant
breeders' rights, concedes that Terminator has "considerable disadvantages for
society." A new memo from UPOV explains that Terminator will hinder access to
genetic resources.
If ministers of
trade, agriculture and environment accept the US government's invitation to
attend the Sacramento Ministerial Conference on Agricultural Science and
Technology, June 23-25, the ETC Group recommends that the US government be held
accountable for its role in developing, patenting and licensing Terminator
technology. The meeting is sponsored by the US Department of Agriculture (owner
of 3 Terminator patents), US AID, and the US Department of State. "If the US
government plans to showcase biotech's new and controversial agricultural
technologies for the South in the lead up to the WTO Ministerial in Cancún, it
should begin by explaining why it supports an anti-farmer, anti-diversity
technology for use in the developing world - where 1.4 billion people depend on
farm-saved seeds," advises Silvia Ribeiro of ETC Group.
Five years later, Terminator is not
dead yet. Together with hundreds of civil society, farmers' and indigenous
peoples organizations worldwide, ETC Group concludes that the only solution is
for governments to recommend a global ban on suicide seeds.
The full text of the 10-page report on
Terminator is now available:
http://www.etcgroup.org
For more information:
Silvia Ribeiro, ETC Group (Mexico)
silvia@etcgroup.org
Hope Shand, ETC Group (USA)
hope@etcgroup.org
Jim Thomas, ETC Group (UK)
jim@etcgroup.org
The Action Group
on Erosion, Technology and Concentration, formerly RAFI, is an international
civil society organization headquartered in Canada. The ETC group is dedicated
to the advancement of cultural and ecological diversity and human
rights. www.etcgroup.org. The ETC group is also a member of the
Community Biodiversity Development and Conservation Programme
(CBDC). The CBDC is a collaborative experimental initiative involving
civil society organizations and public research institutions in 14
countries. The CBDC is dedicated to the exploration of
community-directed programmes to strengthen the conservation and enhancement of
agricultural biodiversity. The CBDC website is www.cbdcprogram.org
To:
Mark Udall,
(D-CO)
202/225-2161
Wayne T. Gilchrest, (R-MD)
202/225-5311
Neil
Abercrombie, (D-HI)
202/225-2726
Solomon P. Ortiz (D- TX)
202/225-7742
Frank Pallone, Jr., (D-NJ)
202/225-4671
Calvin M. Dooley, (D-CA)
202/225-3341
Ron Kind, (D-WI)
202/225-5506
Grace F. Napolitano, (D-CA) 202/225-5256
Brad Carson, (D-OK)
202/225-2701
Raúl M. Grijalva, (D-AZ)
202/225-2435
Dennis A. Cardoza, (D-CA) 202/225- 6131
Edward J. Markey, (D-MA) 202/225-2836
Rubén Hinojosa, (D-TX)
202/225-2531
Ciro D. Rodriguez, (D-TX)
202/225-1640
Joe Baca, (D-CA)
202/225-6161
Betty McCollum, (D-CA)
202/225-6631
*******************************************
*Your WildAlert for Tuesday, April 1, 2003
*******************************************
This is an urgent request for your
phone calls and
faxes to the U.S. House of
Representatives to protect
the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge yet again. Despite
the Senate's 52-48 bipartisan
rejection of Arctic drilling
on March 19, the House
continues to push its drilling
plans through every
available vehicle.
The
latest attack comes in the House energy bill, which
the
House Resources Committee will begin debating starting
Wednesday, April 2. The measure will probably come
to the House floor sometime next week. Among its many
damaging provisions, the bill would open the Coastal
Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil
and gas drilling.
Reps. Ed Markey (D-MA), Nancy Johnson (R-CT), and others
will offer an amendment on the floor next week to strike
the Arctic Refuge provisions. We can't be sure which
day the vote will come, but House leaders have vowed
to pass an energy bill before they leave for their
spring recess April 11. Two years ago, the House narrowly
approved an energy bill that would have opened the
Arctic to drilling. We expect the vote to be very close
this time as well and we can't afford to take even
a single vote for granted. Drilling proponents are
applying heavy pressure on swing members. Conservationists
are pushing back just as hard.
Because of the accelerated timetable
for this legislation,
we urgently need you to call your
member of Congress
NOW! You can reach your representative
through the
Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121. Please
make your
call today! We've listed talking points below.
It will help us in this immensely
in this effort if
you will let us know by email
(action@tws.org) what
you hear when you phone your
Representative.
If you are unable
to call, you can send a fax to your
representative
immediately from http://ga1.org/ct/Bda4MzE1d116/house_arctic
**************************************
BACKGROUND
Despite the Senate's
bipartisan 52-48 vote to strip
Arctic drilling out of the
federal budget for 2004,
drilling proponents continue to
press to open the Arctic
Refuge through other bills. The
latest threat comes
in the energy bills being considered
in both houses
right now. The House's version would open
the Refuge
to oil and gas leasing.
Make no mistake: this bill poses a
grave threat to
the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The
Senate will
mark up its own version of the bill next
week. In its
current form, the Senate bill does not
contain Arctic
drilling language, but the House passes an
Arctic drilling
provision, then a House-Senate conference
convened
to reconcile differences in the two measures
could
decide to include drilling in the final
bill.
INCOMPARABLE
HABITAT AND WILDERNESS
The rolling tundra of the Arctic
Refuge coastal plain
with the snow-capped Brooks Range in
the background
is a breathtaking sight. The Refuge is
prized the world
over for its wildness, beauty, and the
incomparable
habitat it provides to arctic wildlife,
including wolves,
grizzlies, caribou and millions of
migrating birds.
It is also the subject of an intense
lobbying campaign
by the oil industry.
Oil exploration and drilling in the
Arctic will ruin
one of our last great wild places, all
for what the
U.S. Geological Survey concedes is less oil
than the
U.S. uses in six months, and which wouldn't get
here
for 10 years or more. Moreover, the Energy
Information
Administration has concluded that drilling in
the Refuge
would only reduce American dependence on oil
imports
from a projected 62% of our total oil supply in
2020
to 60% at peak production.
The energy bill the House is now
considering is very
similar to HR 4, the ill-conceived
legislation that
passed the House in August 2001. In
addition to Arctic
drilling, the bill would extend
massive subsidies to
the fossil fuels industries. Other
provisions seek
to "expedite" the development of energy
projects on
federal lands, almost certainly at the
expense of environmental
values.
In fact, throughout the bill, existing
laws and policies
designed to protect environmental
values are labeled
as "impediments" and "restrictions" on
energy development.
Sacrificing our environment in order
to make it easier
for energy companies to exploit
publicly owned resources
should not be the foundation of
an energy policy for
the 21st century. We need an energy
policy that protects
our wild places and invests more in
cleaner, safer,
renewable sources of energy.
***********************************
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Call Now!
Phone calls are the most helpful action you can take
because there is so little time. Please use the talking
points below when you call. The number for the House
switchboard, again, is 202-224-3121. Again, if you
could let us know by email what you hear when you call,
it will help us considerably in defending the Arctic
Refuge.
If you can't call, you can send a fax to your representative
immediately from http://ga1.org/ct/Bda4MzE1d116/house_arctic
. If you'd prefer to send your own fax we've provided
a sample below that you can draw from.
Thank you for helping us, once again,
protect the incomparable
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
And thank you for
being an important part of WildAlert,
our online community
of wilderness advocates!
To find the fax number for your member
of the House
of Representatives, go to http://ga1.org/ct/B7a4MzE1d11O/house-gov
***********************************
TALKING POINTS
When you call your
congressional office, simply tell
the person who answers
the phone that you'd like to
provide your Representative
your opinion about the
Energy Bill. That person will take
a message and may
also be keeping a tally of calls.
Please express these
major points:
1. Please ask the Representative to
support the amendment
to the energy bill that will
protect the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge from oil
drilling.
2. The Arctic Refuge
is an incomparable wilderness
and important wildlife
habitat.
3. Oil development
will do little for American energy
security; we need an
energy policy that protects wild
places and invests
more in cleaner, safer, renewable
energy sources;
***************************************
SAMPLE LETTER:
Dear Representative:
I am very concerned about the
attempt to include a
proposal to drill in the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge
in the energy legislation now
under consideration in
the House. A bipartisan majority
of the U.S. Senate
last spring soundly defeated a
provision to drill in
the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge. And the Senate
defeated Arctic drilling again
less than two weeks
ago. Those votes reflected the will
of the solid majority
of the American public that
strongly supports protecting
the Arctic Refuge. The
House should stay the course
and reject attempts to
drill the Arctic now.
We need an energy policy that protects our wild places
and invests more in cleaner, safer, renewable sources
of energy. Drilling in the Arctic will ruin one of
our last great wild places. But it will do nothing
to increase national security or reduce our dependence
on imported oil. The U.S. Geological Survey concedes
that the Refuge likely holds less oil than the U.S.
uses in six months and it wouldn't reach consumers
for 10 years or more. Moreover, The Energy Information
Administration has concluded that drilling in the Refuge
would only reduce America's dependence on imported
oil from a projected 62% of our total supply in 2020
to 60% at peak production.
The Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge has long been recognized
as a place too special
to sacrifice for short-term
gain. For more than thirty
years the oil industry has
tried to open it to
development. Thankfully, Senators
throughout the past
three decades have refused to yield
to the industry's
arguments, despite international
wars, rising gas
prices and budget deficits. I look
to you to for such
far-sighted leadership. I urge you
to support the
amendment to strike Arctic Refuge oil
drilling from the
Energy Bill.
Thank
you for your attention to this important matter.
Sincerely,
*******************************************
You can take action on this alert
either via email
(please see directions below) or via
the web at:
http://ga1.org/campaign/house_arctic/inbx8bzp7mi6
Visit the web address below to
tell your friends about
this.
http://ga1.org/campaign/house_arctic/forward/inbx8bzp7mi6
We encourage you to take
action by April 11, 2003
Despite Senate Vote, House To Push for Arctic Drilling
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://ga1.org/campaign/house_arctic/inbx8bzp7mi6
INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPOND VIA
EMAIL:
Just choose the "reply to sender" option on your
email
program.
Your letter will be addressed and sent to:
Your Congressperson
----THIS LETTER WILL BE SENT IN
YOUR NAME----
Dear [decision maker name automatically
inserted here],
I am very
concerned about the attempt to include a
proposal to
drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
in the
energy legislation now under consideration in
the
House. A bipartisan majority of the U.S. Senate
last
spring soundly defeated a provision to drill in
the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. And the Senate
defeated Arctic drilling again less than two weeks
ago. Those votes reflected the will of the solid majority
of the American public that strongly supports
protecting
the Arctic Refuge. The House should stay the
course
and reject attempts to drill the Arctic
now.
We need an
energy policy that protects our wild places
and invests
more in cleaner, safer, renewable sources
of energy.
Drilling in the Arctic will ruin one of
our last great
wild places. But it will do nothing
to increase
national security or reduce our dependence
on imported
oil. The U.S. Geological Survey concedes
that the
Refuge likely holds less oil than the U.S.
uses in six
months and it wouldn't reach consumers
for 10 years or more. Moreover, The Energy Information
Administration has concluded that drilling in the Refuge
would only reduce America's dependence on imported
oil from a projected 62% of our total supply in 2020
to 60% at peak production.
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
has long been recognized
as a place too special to
sacrifice for short-term
gain. For more than thirty
years the oil industry has
tried to open it to
development. Thankfully, Senators
throughout the past
three decades have refused to yield
to the industry's
arguments, despite international
wars, rising gas prices
and budget deficits. I look
to you to for such
far-sighted leadership. I urge you
to support the
amendment to strike Arctic Refuge oil
drilling from the
Energy Bill.
Thank
you for your attention to this important matter.
----END OF LETTER TO BE SENT----
Sincerely,
--------------------------------------------------
If you received this message from a
friend, you can
sign up for The Wilderness Society at:
http://ga1.org/wilderness/join.html?r=Gpa4MzE1A1zfE
From:
Matt Howes, National Internet Organizer, ACLU
To: ACLU
Action Network Members
Date: April 2, 2003
1) Wrong Answer to Victim's Rights!
The Senate Judiciary Committee
is preparing to once again consider a misguided effort to amend the
Constitution. You're receiving this special email because one of your Senators
is on the Judiciary Committee and it is crucial that you speak out now to stop
this amendment before it gets to the Senate floor.
The proposal -- the so-called Victims' Rights Amendment
(S.J. Res 1) -- would, if passed, jeopardize the bedrock legal principles that
the accused are innocent until proven guilty and that everyone in this country
should have the right to a fair trail.
While many provisions of the proposed amendment reflect
laudable goals, it is unnecessary, even counterproductive, to amend the U.S.
Constitution to achieve them. Every state has either a state constitutional
provision or law protecting victims' rights -- or both. For this and other
reasons, victims groups including National Network to End Domestic Violence,
Survivors Advocating for an Effective System, Safe Horizons and the National
Clearinghouse for the Defense of Battered Women are speaking out against this
constitutional amendment.
Take
Action! You can read more and help stop this effort to amend the Constitution by
sending a FREE FAX to your Senators from our action alert at:
http://www.aclu.org/CriminalJustice/CriminalJustice.cfm?ID=9955&c=52
2) Support Oversight over
the Secret FISA Court!
In the
wake of government scandals about illegal wiretaps and break-ins carried out by
the FBI during the civil rights and anti-Vietnam war movements, Congress passed
the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to provide oversight to
intelligence gathering activities in the United States. In the decades since its
original passage, however, FISA and the super-secret court it created have
steadily expanded their reach to where they now pose a significant threat to the
individual rights they were originally designed to protect.
In a rare public opinion, the FISA
court itself criticized the government for going too far with wiretaps. But
citing procedural arguments, the Supreme Court recently rejected the case,
leaving those concerned about an over-reaching government with nowhere to turn
but Congress.
The Department of
Justice, for example, refuses to release even the most basic information about
the FISA court, such as the number of Americans under surveillance and the
number of times FISA information has been used in law enforcement. But
bipartisan legislation introduced by Senators Charles Grassley of Iowa and
Patrick Leahy of Vermont would ensure that this secret court has Congressional
oversight without hindering law enforcement. Without this
legislation, we will be denied the proper public accounting of this secret
court's activities.
Urge your
Senators to support the FISA Oversight Bill and ensure that secret courts have
proper oversight!
Click here to
get more information and take action:
http://www.aclu.org/NationalSecurity/NationalSecurity.cfm?ID=12219&c=110
************************************************************************
For more information on other issues and the latest
news, please visit our website at http://www.aclu.org
Help Strengthen the ACLU's Voice in Congress... Click below
to become a card-carrying Member or donate today!
http://www.aclu.org/contribute/contribute.cfm?ORGID=AA02
If you are not already on our
mailing list and would like to subscribe to the ACLU Action Network Updates,
click http://www.aclu.org/team/member.cfm
To find out what more you can do to
protect your civil liberties, please visit http://www.aclu.org/action
| |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
|
Help Stop the Assault on Our National Forests
Bush Administration Proposal
Severely Weakens National Forest Protections
Make Your
Voice Heard - 5 Days Left in Public Comment Period!
TAKE ACTION:
Visit the Defenders of
Wildlife "Save Our National Forests" website (http://www.savenationalforests.org) to send a comment
online.
(A sample letter and instructions for comment by
mail, email and fax are included at the end of this alert.)
BACKGROUND:
The Bush administration has proposed to eliminate vital
protections that apply to all of our national forests – including the Tongass
and Chugach National Forests in Alaska. Protections that safeguard our drinking
water by preserving vital watersheds, protect habitat for nearly 3,000 species
of wildlife and assure that our forests remain American treasures for future
generations.
Instead of
listening to scientists, forest experts and the public, the Bush Administration
has apparently heard only one voice -- that of his timber industry supporters
who want to log our national forests without worrying about the needs of
wildlife, the environment and the public.
Not that his timber industry supporters haven't already
benefited from the president's help. His administration has already:
* Appointed a former timber
industry top lobbyist to set policy for the U.S. Forest Service.
* Failed to recommend wilderness
protection for a single acre in the Tongass National Forest, out of over 9
million roadless acres reviewed.
* Rollback back Wilderness
recommendations in the Chugach National Forest which at 98 percent road-free is
arguably the wildest forest in the nation.
* Opposed, undermined and failed to
defend the Roadless Rule which permanently protect from logging and
road-building our remaining 58.5 million acres of wild, road-free national
forests.
* Actively
sought to exempt the Tongass Chugach from the Roadless Rule.
And now the Bush administration
has launched its most far-reaching attack yet. Under the guise of simply
changing federal regulations implementing the National Forest Management Act,
they plan to eliminate or seriously weaken vital environmental protections that
apply to every one of our 155 national forests, protections that have been
supported by Democratic and Republican presidents alike since 1979.
Specifically, President Bush's
proposal would eliminate a longstanding requirement to maintain native wildlife
species on national forests; exempt forest management plans from environmental
analysis; make forest plans meaningless by allowing projects like timber sales
to proceed even if in violation of the plan; limit opportunities for public
participation in public forest planning; and eliminate requirements for
scientific input and monitoring and evaluation of plan impacts.
You can help stop this latest
giveaway of our national forests. Tell Forest Service Chief Bosworth that the
national forests belong to all Americans, not the administrations corporate
friends in the timber industry.
Comments on there regulations are due by April 7th 2003.
****
To send your comments:
Online:
Defenders of Wildlife “Save Our National Forests” (http://www.savenationalforests.org)
By Mail:
USDA FS Planning Rule
Content
Analysis Team
PO Box 8359
Missoula, MT 59807
By Email: planning_rule@fs.fed.us
By Fax: Attn: Planning
Rule Comments at (406) 329–3556.
****
Sample NFMA comment letter:
Dear Chief Bosworth,
I am registering my strong
objection to the newly released proposal that seriously weakens protections for
wildlife and the environment under the National Forest Management Act.
Mandatory rules to keep native
species on National Forests are needed, especially since these forests are
heavily used for logging, mining and oil and gas drilling. Maintaining our
native wildlife must be required by law, and not be voluntary or subordinate to
logging and other extractive interests. Mandatory environmental impact
statements, scientific review, public participation, monitoring and evaluation
are also needed.
National Forests provide sanctuary for
millions of wild animals. It is the Forest Service's obligation to maintain
species that depend on healthy forest habitats, and to prevent them from
becoming endangered by excessive logging, clear-cutting, road-building and other
extractive industrial processes.
Too many of America's National Forests have already been
seriously damaged. I urge you to stop this proposal -- and protect our National
Forests by managing them so they include healthy populations of all their native
wildlife.
Sincerely,
NAME
ADDRESS
****
For
more information on this issue or other issues effecting Alaska's rainforest,
contact: Laurie Cooper, Forest Outreach Director (laurie@alaskacoalition.org).
Action Deadline: April 10, 2003
We urgently need your help to
oppose yet another attempt to open the pristine coastal plain of the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling. The House of
Representatives will vote next week on national energy legislation that
authorizes drilling in the refuge. The bill also proposes a flawed
and unsustainable energy policy that would cause more global warming, pollution,
and wildland destruction. Caribou, penguins, coral reefs, estuaries,
and other wildlife and habitat would all suffer from adoption of such a policy.
PLEASE FOLLOW THE SIMPLE STEPS
BELOW TO SEND A FREE MESSAGE URGING YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS TO KEEP OIL RIGS OUT
OF THE ARCTIC REFUGE AND TO OPPOSE THE OVERALL ENERGY PACKAGE.
You can have an even greater
impact by also calling the Washington, D.C. office of your member of Congress
and relaying the same message. To do so, call 1-877-703-9491 (toll-free).
Please forward this alert to your
friends and colleagues.
**************************TAKE ACTION
NOW!*********************
If
you received this email from World Wildlife Fund's Conservation
Action Network, follow the steps below for taking
action. If a friend forwarded this email to you, go to http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org/ctt.asp?u=26681&l=2012
to take action.
TO TAKE ACTION
QUICKLY -- 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.
BETTER YET, ADD YOUR OWN THOUGHTS AND GREATLY INCREASE YOUR
IMPACT -- Log in to your Personal Action Center -- http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org/ctt.asp?u=26681&l=2013
-- with your email address (alerts@earthhopenetwork.net) and your
password. Once you are in your Personal Action Center, click on
"Critical Arctic Refuge Vote" and follow the instructions for adding your own
thoughts to your message.
If
you have any questions or problems with taking action, contact us at
actionquestions@takeaction.worldwildlife.org for help.
***************************LETTER
TEXT**************************
Dear (your representative's name will be inserted here):
When the House considers the
Energy Security Act of 2003, I urge you to support an amendment to be offered by
Edward Markey (D-Ma.) and Nancy Johnson (R-Conn.) to remove provisions that
would authorize oil and gas development in the pristine coastal plain of the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The United States faces real energy issues that deserve
consideration. Drilling in the Arctic Refuge would do nothing to help
lower the nation's gasoline or electricity bills, nor would it help reduce the
carbon emissions that cause climate change. The government estimates
that only six months of economically recoverable oil exists in the coastal
plain.
Drilling would
devastate the coastal plain of the refuge. A recent report by the
National Research Council confirmed that oil and gas activities on Alaska's
North Slope have taken a serious toll on the arctic environment and that the
federal and state government have failed to do the planning necessary to
minimize these impacts. The North Slope is a globally outstanding area for both
marine and terrestrial wildlife species including polar bears, caribou, bowhead
whales, and ringed seals. The area affected by drilling is already
the size of Rhode Island and is expected to double. Therefore, I urge
you to support the Markey/Johnson amendment and, if you haven't already done so,
to cosponsor H.R. 770, which would protect the coastal plain of the refuge as
wilderness.
I also encourage
you to reject the overall energy bill. Overly reliant on fossil fuels
such as oil, coal, and natural gas, this proposal is a short-sighted approach to
our country's energy future. As a nation, we hold only 3 percent of
the world's reserves of oil, yet we consume almost 25 percent of the world's
daily production. As long as this is the case, we will remain
dependent on world oil markets, and we will pay the world price for oil, whether
it is produced domestically or abroad.
The safest and fastest way to increase our energy security
is to improve the energy efficiency of our cars, trucks, homes, factories, and
offices, and to increase the use of renewable sources of energy such as wind,
solar, and geothermal. Simply increasing fossil fuel production, at
the expense of the wilderness areas and wildlife we all cherish, will not buy
America energy security--in either the short or the long run.
Please do all you can to protect
the Arctic Refuge and to support our country's transition to a sustainable
energy future.
Sincerely,
Your name and address
will be inserted here
***********************END OF LETTER
TEXT*********************
Tell
your representative to support Representative Dingell's
hydropower amendment to the energy bill that will uphold
existing
standards for protecting rivers and fish!
PLEASE ACT TODAY - the
House of Representatives is
aggressively moving an energy bill, and
the full House
is expected to vote on the bill next week.
Take action today:
http://amriversaction.ctsg.com/wac/index.asp?step=2&item=2573
The hydropower title (Title
III) of the proposed Energy Bill will
undermine basic
environmental protections for our nation's rivers and
will only further complicate hydropower dam
licensing. Legislative
action isn't
necessary - collaborative efforts already underway will
improve the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC)
licensing
process without harming
rivers. The approach taken in Title III will
have environmentally harmful consequences and won't fix
anything.
Because hydropower dam licenses last 30 to 50
years, the results of
this bill are critical to the
long-term health of our rivers.
Please urge your member of Congress to oppose this
unnecessary and
misdirected
legislation! Urge your Representative to support the
Dingell amendment! Visit:
http://amriversaction.ctsg.com/wac/index.asp?step=2&item=2573
Representative Dingell's
(D-MI) amendment would remove the energy
bill's
ill-conceived hydropower title, which will make hydropower
licensing slower, more expensive, and worse for the
environment.
Instead, the amendment would
replace the hydropower title with
straightforward
process changes - a compromise struck last year
between
Chairman Tauzin and Congressman Dingell, and between the
environmental community and the industry.
Specifically, the hydropower title
of the proposed energy bill
creates several problems:
1. It would decrease protection for public resources
including public
land, fish, and wildlife by lowering
the standard for agency
conditions;
2. It would vastly increase the red tape, time and expense
of the
relicensing process; and
3. By excluding all parties except the hydropower
applicant, the
proposed hydropower title would skew
licensing outcomes toward
hydropower interests and shut
out all other users of the river.
Please visit http://amriversaction.ctsg.com/wac/ to read more and
contact your Representative.
Thank you-
American Rivers' Running Rivers Campaign
http://www.amrivers.org/hydropowerdamreform/default.htm
*************************************
Thank you for helping to protect and
restore America's rivers, and being a part of American
Rivers' River
Action Center (http://www.americanrivers.org/takeaction/).
To contact American Rivers, email
us at outreach@amrivers.org
To: All
Activists
USDA FS Planning Rule, Content
Analysis Team
PO Box 8359, Missoula, MT 59807
Email: planning_rule@fs.fed.us
/ Fax: (406) 329-3556
Dear Forest Service,
As an individual with an interest in how my public lands
are managed, I am filing these comments on the proposed changes to the National
Forest Management Act (NFMA) planning regulations 36 CFR Part 219. I
believe that the proposed regulations violate several laws including the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Appeals Reform Act (ARA), and NFMA
itself. The proposed regulations undermine the very purpose of NFMA - to
guide the Forest Service to manage the public estate in a manner that is
sustainable and in the best interests of its owners as a whole. For
these reasons and the reasons outlined below, I believe that the proposed
regulations should be withdrawn.
The proposed regulations are largely discretionary and are
written so as to make them voluntary and unenforceable. "Shield's appear
where "must, will, or shall's belong. Site-specific projects would not
have to comply with the land and resource management plans (forest plans or
plans). Interim amendments lasting four years could be issued without
public review. The discretionary language and loopholes are meant to
address problems implementing the current planning regulation and give forest
managers more flexibility in designing and carrying out management plans.
But, there has been no evidence made available to the public that shows any
problem in implementing the current plans or that the new regulations would
increase administrative efficiency. The Forest Service has neither earned
nor justified the need for the greater trust from the public that accompanies
more flexibility for the Service.
Most troubling about the proposed regulations is the fact
that forest plans would be able to be categorically excluded from environmental
analysis. This categorical exclusion (CE) of forest plans significantly limits
the ability of the public to participate in the management of the national
forests. With the CE, there is no opportunity for administrative appeal
and there is no requirement that "all reasonable alternatives" be considered in
the development of the plans. These limitations effectively exclude the
public from the decision making process. CEs are accompanied by much more
cursory environmental analysis than is done for environmental assessments (EA)
or environmental impact statements (EIS), thus giving the public less
information on which to comment and the Forest Service less information on which
to base its decisions. Since they were mandated, the forest plans have
always been the vehicle for evaluating the cumulative impact of multiple
projects that an area could be expected to endure. This analysis of
cumulative impacts is critical to maintaining the sustainability of our national
forests and must be subjected to the rigorous environmental analysis embodied in
an EIS. Forest Plans should not be categorically excluded; to do so
violates NEPA, NFMA, and ARA.
There was no consultation with a committee of scientists
during the formulation of the proposed regulations as there has been for every
prior rewriting. This lack of independent scientific input epitomizes how
the Forest Service plans on conducting all of its decision-making under the new
regulations. There are no requirements for peer review, scientific
advisory boards, adaptive management, or standardized monitoring. Species
protections will be significantly weakened with the elimination of the
requirement to monitor management indicator species (MIS) or do population
surveys. There are no binding requirements to ensure the viability of
species or safeguards adequate to protect the habitat of MIS or threatened and
endangered species as required by NFMA. This shunning of science in the
management of the forests will lead to the listing of ever more species as
threatened or endangered, the decline of the productivity and resiliency of our
forests, and the violation of the public trust.
The proposed plans clearly prioritize logging and natural
resource extraction over all other uses in contradiction of the will of the
public for whom these lands are held in trust. This prioritization of
logging and the resulting de-emphasis of sustainability violates the Multiple
Use and Sustained Yield Act (MUSYA), which requires that public lands are used
to "best meet the needs of the American people," and the Renewable Resources
Planning Act (RPA). The public must be allowed to express its desires for
the use of its lands and the Forest Service is under legal obligation to meet
the public's management goals. For years the public has sustained its
message that it doesn't want logging to undermine the many other resource and
ecosystem values of its land. Any regulations that do not recognize values
such as recreation, aesthetics, water quality, species habitat, and ecosystem
integrity should not be considered.
I am also very concerned about the cumulative effect of the
numerous proposals and actions taken by the Bush Administration in the last
several months. Together these changes in the regulations guiding forest
management would affect changes that could not be predicted or analyzed by
looking at any single proposal. If all regulations are adopted, the total
effect would be to allow the categorical exclusion of nearly every project on
our national forests, eliminate most avenues available to the public for
weighing in on public lands management, and eliminate meaningful consideration
of the cumulative impact of multiple projects on a landscape.
Please withdraw these proposed
regulation and thank you for the opportunity
to
comment.
… America's National
Forests comprise some of the most biologically and economically significant land
left on earth. The 191 million acres that comprise our National Forest system is
the best wildlife habitat in the US for over 3,000 fish and wildlife species and
10,000 plants. In fact, more than one quarter of the nation's imperiled species
are found on National Forests.
… Despite the high value of these irreplaceable
treasures, the Administration in Washington, D.C has put career
… While the nation is distracted by the war on Iraq, Rey
and the timber industry are working behind-the-scenes to re-write our
environmental laws. Their goal: increase commercial logging and resource
extraction by eliminating public participation and the laws that restrict
logging.
… If Rey's corporate
takeover is successful, logging corporations will have more authority over
America's Forests than the Americans who own the forests.
… The American people
overwhelmingly support the complete protection of National Forests from logging
and commercial exploitation. We treasure our national forests for providing
clean water, places to hunt, fish and camp and open spaces.
… Commercial logging and
road-building in national forests costs us, U.S. Taxpayer's, over $1.2 BILLION a
year to supply the country with only 2% of the wood we use.
… It's time we put local people to
work restoring the damage caused by over a century of logging on our National
Forests. The National Forest Protection and Restoration Act does this by
permanently protecting our federal public lands from commercial logging and
redirecting those funds toward ecologically based restoration. Learn more at
www.forestadvocate.org and www.americanlands.org.
These changes
are part of a systematic assault by the Administration on the role of science
and public participation in the decision making process for our national
forests.
Without sound policies, our public forests will be left vulnerable to
profit-oriented exploitation. The letter asks the President to withdraw
these misguided proposals immediately. The proposals relate to the way the executive
branch is enforcing, or failing to enforce, bedrock environmental legislation
such as the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Forest Management
Act. Specifically the letter states, "the cumulative effect of these proposals
is a radical rewrite of national forest policy to the detriment of the
public."
Here in the state of (your state), (members who signed on), should be
commended for this support for this letter. Those that did not should be called and
encouraged to speak up, for their silence equals compliance with this
destructive agenda. The Forest Service is taking your comments on these changes
to the National Forest Management Act regulations until April 7th at
planning_rule@fs.fed.us.
YOUR
ORGANIZATION
Protect America's Endangered Forests!
The Bush Administration has put
career timber lobbyist Mark Rey in charge of deciding the fate of America's
endangered national forests. At stake is the future of our National Forests and
the species that depend on them. Also at risk is YOUR right to participate in
decisions that affect YOUR National Forests.
The bottom line is this: if Rey's corporate takeover
is successful, logging corporations will have more authority over America's
Forests than the public.
Protecting America's endangered forests will require us to
call upon our greatest strength - the American people - who overwhelmingly
support the complete protection of National Forests from commercial logging.
We must also use this momentum to
advocate for an ecologically driven and non-commodity based approach to public
lands stewardship that will put local people to work restoring the damage caused
by over a century of logging on our National Forests.
With your help, we will
permanently protect American's endangered National
Forests!
Dear Advocate:
Because of fishing industry
pressure the National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS)
is considering weakening the regulations that prevent overfishing
and require the rebuilding of overfished
stocks. Please send NMFS your
comments –
DON'T LET THE INDUSTRY SPEAK FOR YOU! Visit
http://www.politicaloutreach.com/AA.asp?C=102&ID=98
for more information
on how your voice can be
heard. Comments must reach NMFS by April 16,
2003.
The
potential for irreversible effects of overfishing continues despite
clear mandates from Congress to conserve and manage ocean
fish
sustainably. Over the years, increased
fishing pressure has resulted in
populations of fish
declining so rapidly that their long-term existence
has
become threatened. Evidence of the scope of overfishing can be found
in the 2001 report to Congress by NMFS on the status of
the nation’s fish
stocks, which found that almost a
third of all evaluated stocks are
overfished,
experiencing overfishing, or both – 93 out of 304 (30.6%).
Despite this, the government is
considering rollbacks to overfishing
regulations – and
this at a time when the future of fish stocks is far
from bright. Ocean fish are a finite resource
needing more protection,
not less, to ensure healthy
oceans and stable economies. Please see
http://www.politicaloutreach.com/AA.asp?C=102&ID=98
to send a letter to
NMFS asking them to maintain the
guidelines that will put an end to
overfishing and
rebuild overfished stocks and NOT make changes that will
ultimately weaken implementation of the law.
Don’t let industrial fishing
sectors have the only word – send your
comments today
and help protect ocean fish and fishing communities
http://www.politicaloutreach.com/AA.asp?C=102&ID=98
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Background Information:
NMFS, the government agency charged with the conservation
and management
of the nation’s ocean fish has published
an Advanced Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking (ANPR),
asking the public whether it should revise the
regulatory guidelines for National Standard
1. National Standard 1 as
stated in the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act
(Magnuson-Stevens Act), says that conservation and
management measures
shall prevent overfishing while
achieving on a continuous basis, the
optimum yield from
each fishery for the United States fishing industry.
Fishery managers follow a set of
guidelines to identify when a fish
population is
overfished or is experiencing overfishing (“overfishing”
refers to a rate of fishing mortality that jeopardizes the
long-term
sustainability of a fish population and
“overfished” refers to a
population size that is at
unsustainably low levels); to develop
rebuilding plans
for overfished populations; and to define maximum
allowable fishing levels.
The ANPR could be the first step in rolling back these
important fish
conservation regulations. To
guard against this, we are asking citizens
to speak out
in favor of saving ocean fish and fishing communities that
depend on them by sending comments regarding the ANPR to
NMFS.
Please send a letter to
NMFS and let them know that weakening the
regulatory
guidelines for National Standard 1 is not acceptable
http://www.politicaloutreach.com/AA.asp?C=102&ID=98.
Don't
let the Department of Interior take us down the Road to Ruin
PARTICIPATE IN NATIONAL CALL-IN
DAY
Dear National Park
Advocate,
We
need your help to fight a new Interior policy that could allow thousands of
miles of new roads to be built through public lands, including national parks.
This policy, which could damage parks from Denali to Grand Canyon, revives a
Civil War-era law, Revised Statute 2477 of the 1866 Mining Act, originally
designed to encourage mining and western settlement in the mid-19th century.
Moffat County, Colorado, already is threatening to build roads through Dinosaur
National Monument. Alaska, Utah, and several California counties may claim
road-building rights through some of our most treasured national parks.
The National
Parks Conservation Association has joined a nationwide effort to keep Congress
from implementing this arcane law. Please join thousands across the country
tomorrow, April 8, for a National Call-in Day to Congress.
Representative
Mark Udall (D-CO) is gathering signatures on a letter to Secretary of the
Interior Gale Norton demanding that she not process R.S. 2477 claims. Please
call your representative Tuesday and ask him or her to sign onto the Udall
letter. Be sure to express your concern with how this land-grab scheme will
jeopardize national parks by opening them to haphazard and indiscriminate road
construction and other development.
Members listed below already have signed
onto the Udall letter. If your representative is named, please feel free to call
to say thanks for protecting our national parks.
You can call the Capitol Hill switchboard
at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to your representative, or call your
representative directly. Direct phone numbers are listed at http://clerk.house.gov/members/mcapdir.php .
********
Suggested script:
"Hello, my name is _______ and I'm from
(city, state). Please tell Representative ________ that I urge him/her to join
Representative Mark Udall in sending a letter to Interior Secretary Gale Norton
to protect our parks from the Interior Department's harmful disclaimer rule,
known as R.S. 2477, a land-grab scheme that opens national parks to haphazard
and indiscriminate road construction and other development. National parks must
be preserved for future generations. Thank you."
********
For more information about R.S.2477 and
its impacts on national parks, please visit
http://www.npca.org/take_action/action_alerts/rs2477.asp
.
If you
contact your representative, please email us at TakeAction@npca.org to let us
know.
Thank
you for your continued dedication to protecting our national parks. Your calls
and letters have helped keep Congress aware of park threats and, even more
importantly, have let your elected officials know that these issues are
important to you, their constituents.
Members who have signed onto the Udall letter on R.S. 2477,
to date:
Anibal Acevedo-Vila
(D-PR)
Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)
Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY)
Corrine
Brown (D-FL)
Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
Ed Case (D-HI)
Joseph Crowley
(D-NY)
Danny Davis (D-IL)
Peter DeFazio (D-OR)
Rosa DeLauro
(D-CT)
Lloyd Doggett (D-TX)
Eliot Engel (D-NY)
Raul Grijalva
(D-AZ)
Maurice Hinchey (D-NY)
Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX)
Joseph
Hoeffel (D-PA)
Rush Holt (D-NJ)
Mike Honda (D-CA)
Jay Inslee
(D-WA)
William Janklow (R-SD)
Dale Kildee (D-MI)
Tom Lantos
(D-CA)
Jim Leach (R-IA)
Barbara Lee (D-CA)
Edward Markey
(D-MA)
Betty McCollum (D-MN)
Jim McDermott (D-WA)
James
McGovern (D-MA)
Michael McNulty (D-NY)
George Miller (D-CA)
Jim Moran
(D-VA)
Grace Napolitano (D-CA)
Frank Pallone (D-NJ)
Nick Rahall
(D-WV)
Jim Ramstad (R-MN)
Linda Sanchez (D-CA)
Martin Olav
Sabo (D-MN)
Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)
Christopher Shays (R-CT)
Hilda
Solis (D-CA)
Pete Stark (D-CA)
Ellen Tauscher (D-CA)
Mike
Thompson (D-CA)
Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)
Anthony Weiner (D-NY)
Thank you for your time and dedication to helping enhance
and protect our national parks for present and future generations,
Gaby
NPCA Grassroots Staff
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
* To learn how you and your friends can
become more involved in national park advocacy, contact our grassroots staff at
TakeAction@npca.org. Take action! Tell your friends! Just go to http://www.npca.org/takeaction.
Comments? Suggestions? Tell us how
we can improve. Write TakeAction@npca.org.
Visit us online at http://www.npca.org.
|
URGENT ALERT: Arctic Refuge Drilling Scheme Moving Through U.S. House Dear Friend of Wildlife: Despite the recent bipartisan Arctic victory in the Senate, oil lobbyists continue to look for every opportunity to force an Arctic Refuge drilling scheme through Congress. The latest attack comes in the Energy Bill that will be voted on by the House of Representatives in a matter of days. Among its many damaging provisions, the bill would mandate drilling in the Arctic Refuge coastal plain. However, debate over opening other key public lands to oil development, improving the fuel efficiency of motor vehicles and increasing the use of renewable energy technologies is also expected to take center stage. The decisions made by Congress will determine whether the United States becomes a driver of environmental progress or simply continues to rely on 19th century fuels and technologies, increasing air pollution and laying waste to some of our last great, unspoiled wild places. As a result, NWF is working to encourage House members to oppose any energy policy that:
You can help by writing or calling your Representative and urging him/her to oppose any attempts to open the Arctic Refuge to oil drilling. Ask them to support a clean energy policy that both helps the economy and protects wildlife, wild places and public health . There are two ways to take
action: For more ways to get involved and help with NWF's Arctic campaign, go to www.nwf.org/arcticrefuge . You can also email alerts@nwf.org for more information. Thanks in advance for your
help! * We look forward to receiving your feedback. Please
email us at info@nwf.org
or call us at
1-800-822-9919.
|
During the last months most of us have been working
double-time as citizen
activists, continuing our
efforts for environmental protection and
indigenous
peoples' rights, and at the same time doing everything we can to
stop the war in Iraq. The world community was not able to
prevent this war,
but we have emerged as a global
citizens' movement for peace -- the largest
and
strongest peace movement the world has ever seen. I believe that we can
be THE major force in creating a politically, economically
and
environmentally sustainable world community in the
21st century.
While we all in
our own ways work and pray for peace, it feels good to also
work on very immediate, tangible issues -- doing the work
that creates the
kind of world we want to live in.
In this spirit, I'm asking you
today to write a letter to help convince the
United
Nations that it can and it must take action to prevent the extinction
of the Pacific Leatherback sea turtle. I sent this action
alert out just as
the war was starting. In these
terrible circumstances I know it has not
received the
attention it deserves. If you have not yet written your letter
to stop the wasteful, destructive practice of longline
fishing, please take
a few moments to write today.
Longline fishing also threatens the survival
of 23
endangered seabird species and the food security of coastal
communities worldwide.
The United Nations can prevent a chain of extinctions in
the Pacific by
declaring a moratorium on longline
fishing -- but it must take decisive
action now.
Please write a letter to Secretary
General Kofi Annan. Global Response will
HAND-DELIVER
your letter to the United Nations on May 6 (see mail/fax/email
instructions below).
We can act as a world community, represented in the United
Nations, to
protect the planet's largest resource: our
oceans.
In peace, for peace,
Paula Palmer
GLOBAL RESPONSE ACTION ALERT #2/03
SAVE PACIFIC LEATHERBACK SEA TURTLES FROM EXTINCTION /
UNITED NATIONS
March-April 2003
“The
decline of the leatherback in the last five years is nothing
short of catastrophic, and it is imperative that the global
community come
together to eliminate the use of the
most destructive forms of industrial
fishing before it
is too late.”
--
Dr. Sylvia Earle, Explorer-in-Residence, National Geographic
The
nesting population of Pacific leatherback sea turtles has plummeted from
91,000 in 1980 to fewer than 5,000 in 2002, a decline of
95%. Pacific
beaches in Mexiquillo, Mexico
and Playa Grande, Costa Rica that are famed
for the
annual arrival of thousands of nesting sea turtles, reported just 4
and 58 leatherback arrivals last year, respectively.
Marine scientists warn that unless
immediate and significant steps are
taken, the
leatherback, which has swum the oceans since the time of the
dinosaurs, will be extinct within 10 years. The
plight of the world’s
largest and most wide-ranging sea
turtle may foreshadow a host of other
extinctions.
What’s to blame, and what can be
done? In an open letter to the United
Nations printed
in the New York Times on Feb. 18, over 400 scientists and
100 organizations said the main threat to sea turtles is
longline fishing.
Global Response joins a worldwide
coalition in calling for a moratorium on
pelagic (high
seas) longline fishing and gillnetting in the Pacific.
According to the California-based
Sea Turtle Restoration Project, longliners
set up to 10
billion hooks in our oceans every year in their quest for
swordfish and tuna. Longliners cast a fishing
line up to 60 miles long on
the ocean’s surface,
dangling as many as 3,000 baited hooks at various
depths depending on the fish they are targeting.
But longlining is non-selective;
any bird, fish, or marine mammal that bites
the bait or
becomes entangled in the lines is caught. Worldwide, the
accidental “bycatch” constitutes one quarter of the annual
seafood catch and
is thrown overboard, usually dead or
dying. Approximately 40,000 sea
turtles are
caught and killed by longline operations each year, and 23
species of seabird are in danger of extinction due to
impacts from longline
fishing.
Longline fishing also contributes
to the disastrous overfishing of ocean
resources,
leading to depletion and collapse of fisheries that provide the
main source of protein for some 950 million people, mostly
in the developing
world. The United Nations reports
that over 70 % of global fish populations
are now
overfished or at the brink of being overfished, compared to just 5 %
reported only 40 years ago. In addition to the direct loss
of a critical
food resource, declining fisheries
threaten the livelihoods of small-scale
fishers and the
tourist industry in coastal communities.
A moratorium on longline fishing in the Pacific, in
combination with strict
protection of nesting
beaches, can save the leatherback from extinction,
says Dr. Larry Crowder of the Marine Laboratory at Duke
University. Dr.
James Spotila of Drexel
University predicts, “Longline and gillnet fishing
in
the Pacific will end during our lifetimes. It’s just a question of
whether we stop now, while we can save the leatherbacks and
provide help for
the fishers. Or whether we’ll allow
this fishery to collapse, at which point
leatherback
and loggerhead sea turtles will be long gone.”
Evidence of overfishing and wasteful bykill led the United
Nations General
Assembly to impose an effective ban on
driftnet fishing in the early 1990s.
Now is the time
for equally decisive action to stop destructive longline
fishing in the Pacific.
How You Can Help: Urge the United Nations to
institute a moratorium on the
use of longlines and
gillnets in the Pacific. If Global Response receives
your letter by May 1, we will hand-deliver it to the office
of Kofi Annan at
the United Nations on May 6.
**********************
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
**********************
LEATHERBACK SEA TURTLES –
The
leatherback is the world’s largest sea turtle, growing up to 9 ½ feet
long and weighing almost 2,000 pounds. It is the
only sea turtle without a
shell, having a leathery
carapace instead. The leatherback dives deeper and
swims into colder waters than any other sea
turtle. Adult leatherbacks have
been known
to dive up to 1,500 meters (nearly a mile) deep. It takes
leatherbacks 8 to 15 years to reach reproductive
maturity. Like all other
sea turtle
species, they return to the beach where they hatched to lay their
eggs. Sea turtles have lived on the Earth for
150 million years, since
before the time of the
dinosaurs. All seven species of sea turtles are
endangered and protected under various national laws and
international
treaties.
THE CONSUMER CONNECTION: SKIP THE SWORDFISH
Many environmental organizations are asking consumers,
grocery stores and
restaurants to stop buying and
selling swordfish for two main reasons:
1) The longline fishing fleet that targets swordfish is
responsible for most
of the sea turtle “bykill,”
especially in the Pacific.
2)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns pregnant women, children and
women who might become pregnant to avoid eating swordfish,
shark, tilefish
and mackerel because of their high
methylmercury content.
At the
Sea Turtle Restoration Project website (www.seaturtles.org), you can
send an email to the Red Lobster seafood chain, asking them
to pull
swordfish from their menu until longline
fishing is stopped and
methylmercury levels in
swordfish are found to be safe for all people. Talk
to your grocer, too, and check out these recommendations
for fish
consumption:
www.nrdc.org/wildlife/fish/gwhichfi.asp.
***************************************
REQUESTED ACTION:
Please write a polite letter to Kofi Annan, Secretary
General of the United
Nations c/o Global
Response. All letters received by Global Response by May
1 will be hand-delivered to the Secretary General on May
6. Letters
received by Global Response after
May 1 will be forwarded to the U.N. Also,
please send a copy of your letter to the Secretary of the
Fisheries
Committee, U.N. Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO).
Tell the Secretary General of the UN and the FAO Fisheries
Committee that
you join a coalition of over 400
scientists and 100 NGOs in urging them to:
* Institute a moratorium on pelagic (high seas)
longline and gillnet
fishing techniques that harm
critically endangered Pacific leatherback sea
turtles.
* Urge fishing
nations to reduce the overall quantity of fishing to enable
the long-term survival of targeted fish populations and the
fishers and
communities who depend on them.
* Provide transitional
aid to fishers and communities who are impacted by
shifts in policy that promote the sustainable use of the
oceans.
Mail Your Letter To:
Mr. Kofi Annan, Secretary
General
United Nations
C/O
Global Response
P.O. Box 7490
Boulder CO 80306 USA
FAX: Int’l code+303 449-9794
Email: action@globalresponse.org
Please send a copy of your letter
to:
Dr. Benedict P.Satia,
Secretary
Committee of Fisheries, FAO
Via delle Terme di Caracalla
00100
Rome, ITALY
FAX: Int’l code+39 06 5705 6500 (or 3605)
E-mail: benedict.satia@fao.org
************************************************
COLLABORATING ORGANIZATIONS AND MORE INFORMATION
This Global Response Action was
issued at the request of and with
information provided
by the Sea Turtle Restoration Project
(www.seaturtles.org) and Asociacion PRETOMA, Costa Rica
(www.tortugamarina.org). For more
information on sea turtle conservation:
www.seaturtles.org; www.tortugamarina.org;
www.cccturtle.org/contents.htm.
Leatherback sea turtle
photos: www.cresli.org/cresli/slides/crslides.html.
Longline fishing: www.hsus.org/ace/15050;
www.seaturtles.org/pdf/Longline_facts.pdf. Ocean
resources:
www.oceansatlas.org/index.jsp;
www.fao.org/fi/default.asp.
***********************************************
THANK YOU FOR YOUR LETTER! OVER
THE LAST 12 YEARS, WE HAVE CELEBRATED
VICTORIES IN 44%
OF OUR LETTER-WRITING CAMPAIGNS!
TO ORDER HARDCOPIES of this Action Alert, please write to:
action@globalresponse.org. Action alerts are also
available for teens
(Eco-Club Actions) and children,
grades 3-8 (Young Environmentalist's
Actions). Free
Teacher's Packet and 5-minute video.
TO MAKE A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE CONTRIBUTION to support Global
Response, see
www.globalresponse.org. We need and
appreciate your support!
********************************
Paula Palmer, Program Director
Global Response
P.O. Box 7490
Boulder CO 80306
USA
TEL: 303-444-0306
FAX:
303-449-9794
Email: paula@globalresponse.org
Website: http://www.globalresponse.org
At the request of indigenous
peoples and grassroots organizations, Global
Response
organizes international letter-writing campaigns to help
communities prevent environmental
destruction. Young people and adults in
92
countries participate in these very effective campaigns.
To request Global Response Action
alerts by mail or email, or to make a
tax-deductible
donation, please visit http://www.globalresponse.org.
********************************
Paula Palmer, Program Director
Global Response
P.O. Box 7490
Boulder CO 80306
USA
TEL: 303-444-0306
FAX:
303-449-9794
Email: paula@globalresponse.org
Website: http://www.globalresponse.org
At the request of indigenous
peoples and grassroots organizations, Global
Response
organizes international letter-writing campaigns to help
communities prevent environmental
destruction. Young people and adults in
92
countries participate in these very effective campaigns.
To request Global Response Action
alerts by mail or email, or to make a
tax-deductible
donation, please visit http://www.globalresponse.org.
Dear
U.S. PIRG supporter,
In
January, the Bush administration proposed a new rule that would severely limit
the scope of the Clean Water Act, removing at least 20 million acres of wetlands
and many other miles of rivers and streams from protection under the law.
The Environment Protection Agency
is currently taking comments on this issue, and it is very important that they
hear from the public that weakening the Clean Water Act is
unacceptable. Follow the link below to go to our web site where you
can e-mail the Environmental Protection Agency.
http://pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=245&id4=ES
BACKGROUND
On October 18, 1972, Congress passed the Clean Water Act to
make the nation's waters safe for fishing and swimming, reduce harmful
discharges of pollution and protect the nation's wetlands. Now, 30
years later, this landmark legislation is under attack by corporate polluters
and the Bush administration.
On January 15, 2003, the U.S. EPA and the Army Corps of
Engineers announced the first step in a plan to re-write what waterways are
protected by the Clean Water Act by releasing what is called an Advance Notice
of Proposed Rulemaking. The EPA is looking at what waterways should
continue to be protected under the Clean Water Act, and in particular whether
certain streams, ponds, wetlands and other waters should be removed from federal
protection. Since these waters, including small streams, ponds and
even so-called "isolated" wetlands, are usually connected to larger rivers,
lakes and coastal waters, ALL of our nation's waters would be put at risk of
increased pollution and ecological degradation if Clean Water Act protections
are removed.
At the same time,
the Bush administration issued a "guidance memorandum" directing the EPA and
Corps of Engineers to immediately stop asserting protections over ALL so-called
"isolated" waters.
The term
"isolated" is not defined in the proposal. It is not a term used in
the Clean Water Act, which for 30 years has protected all of the nation's
waters. Very few water bodies are truly "isolated" from a scientific
perspective, since pollution in or destruction of even small wetlands, headwater
streams, natural ponds and seasonal waterways will have serious effects on the
physical, chemical and biological integrity of other waters. But the
notice of proposed rulemaking and the guidance memo open the way for developers,
mining companies and other polluters to argue to the Corps and EPA that all
kinds of non-navigable streams, small ponds, wetlands and other waters - even
some small tributaries - are "isolated."
The Bush administration's actions place a huge number of
the nation's waters at risk. As much as 60 to 80 percent of the
nation's streams are non-navigable or seasonal waterways. The EPA
estimates that about 20 million acres of wetlands - 20 percent of the remaining
wetlands in the lower 48 states - could lose protection under the new rulemaking
and the guidance memo. These unique and ecologically diverse wetlands
including some prairie potholes, playa lakes, poccosins, vernal pools and
bogs. Additionally, many small natural ponds, especially those that
do not have a direct connection to a navigable river, are at
risk. These streams, wetlands and ponds are critical in helping to
control flooding and reduce water pollution. They also provide
important fish and wildlife habitat and support a wide variety of outdoor
recreational opportunities.
The Clean Water Act was enacted to "restore the physical,
chemical and biological integrity of our nation's waters," but the Bush
administration's new rules threaten to do the opposite. If allowed to
move forward, these rules would turn back the 30 years of progress made under
the Clean Water Act and lead to significantly more flooding, pollution and
accelerated loss of wildlife habitat.
Please participate in the Environment Protection Agency's
public comment period on this issue going on now by telling the EPA that you
oppose the proposed rulemaking and guidance that would weaken the Clean Water
Act. Follow the link below to go to our web site where you can e-mail
the Environmental Protection Agency.
http://pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=245&id4=ES
Sincerely,
Gene Karpinski
U.S. PIRG Executive Director
GeneK@uspirg.org
http://www.USPIRG.org
P.S. Thanks again for
your support. Please feel free to share this with your family and
friends.
Action Newsletter features important steps YOU can quickly
take to
help make the world greener. This is an urgent
request for your
help in convincing the House of
Representatives to protect the Arctic
National Wildlife
Refuge in the upcoming Energy Bill.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Arctic Threat in Energy Bill
Despite the Senate's unequivocal 52-48 bipartisan
rejection
of Arctic drilling on March 19, the House has
now launched
an Arctic attack in the House Energy Bill,
which will be debated
in the House Resources Committee
this week. This vote will be
EXTREMELY
close, so your individual actions are critical - every
vote and every call count!
What you can do:
1) Support
Pro-Environmental Efforts in Washington:
Swing members
(check the list below to see if your rep is
one of
them!) are being subjected to extreme pressure from a
well-paid oil industry lobby, so we need to push back! In
fact,
House representatives who voted to drill in the
Arctic last
year received nearly six times as much
campaign contribution
money from oil companies as did
reps who voted against
drilling. Thus, The Wilderness
Society is making personal
visits to Capitol Hill and
working non-stop to mobilize public
comments to urge
our reps to vote to protect the Arctic. To
support the
people doing the footwork in Washington, please make
a
donation to The Wilderness Society here:
http://www.care2.com/go/z/5202
2) Call your Representative
An amendment will be offered to strike the Arctic
provisions, so even if
your rep is not a swing rep, be
sure to tell him/her to support it. The
accelerated
timetable for this legislation makes your phone calls to
your member of Congress urgently needed now!
Call the Capitol Switchboard and
ask for your rep by name:
202-224-3121
(See talking points below to help your call go smoothly).
If you don't know who your rep
is, enter your zip code
to get his/her name and number:
http://www.care2.com/go/z/5203
2. Talking Points for Your Call
* The representative should OPPOSE inclusion of the
Arctic
Refuge in the Energy Security Act of 2003 by
supporting an
amendment to be offered by Edward Markey
and Nancy Johnson
to remove provisions that would
authorize oil and gas development
in the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge.
*
Drilling in the refuge will ruin one of our last great wild
places, for what the U.S. Geological Survey estimates is
less
oil than the United States uses in six months -
and it wouldn't
get here for 10 years or more.
* Drilling would do nothing to
help lower our gasoline or
electricity bills, or reduce
the carbon emissions that cause
climate change. The
safest and fastest way to increase our
energy security
is to improve the energy efficiency and to
increase the
use of renewable energy.
* You
are aware that House representatives who voted to
drill
in the Arctic last year received nearly six times as much
campaign contribution money from oil companies than did
reps who voted against drilling. You want your rep to vote
the way YOU want, not the way they've been influenced
to vote.
3. Swing Reps and
Their Phone Numbers:
These Representatives are
particularly important to call because
they could vote
either way. Check to see if your rep is one of
them, so
you can be SURE to call today and urge them to vote
to
protect the Arctic. (In alphabetical order by state)
AL - Davis Phone number: (202)
225-2665
AR - Berry Phone number: (202) 225-4076
AZ - Franks Phone number: (202) 225-4576
AZ - Renzi Phone number: (202) 225-2315
CA - Baca Phone number: (202) 225-6161
CA - Cardoza Phone number: (202) 225-6131
CA - Dooley Phone number: (202) 225-3341
CA - Nunes Phone number: (202) 225-2523
CO - Beauprez Phone number: (202) 225-2645
CO - McInnis Phone number: (202) 225-4761
CO - Miller Phone number: (202) 225-4136
CO - Musgrave Phone number: (202) 225-4676
FL - Brown-Waite Phone number: (202) 225-1002
FL - Diaz-Balart Phone number: (202) 225-2778
FL - Feeney Phone number: (202) 225-2706
FL - Goss Phone number: (202) 225-2536
FL - Harris Phone number: (202) 225-5015
FL - Meek Phone number: (202) 225-4506
GA - Bishop Phone number: (202) 225-3631
GA - Burns Phone number: (202) 225-2823
GA - Gingrey Phone number: (202) 225-2931
GA - Majette Phone number: (202) 225-1605
GA - Marshall Phone number: (202) 225-6531
GA - Scott Phone number: (202) 225-2939
IA - King Phone number: (202) 225-4426
IL - Biggert Phone number: (202) 225-3515
IL - Emanuel Phone number: (202) 225-4061
IL - Lipinski Phone number: (202) 225-5701
IN - Chocola Phone number: (202) 225-3915
KY - Lucas Phone number: (202) 225-3465
LA - Alexander Phone number: (202) 225-8490
LA - Jefferson Phone number: (202) 225-6636
MD - Ruppersberger Phone number: (202) 225-3061
MI - Kilpatrick Phone number: (202) 225-2261
MI - McCotter Phone number: (202) 225-8171
MI - Miller Phone number: (202) 225-2106
MI - Upton Phone number: (202) 225-3761
MN - Kline Phone number: (202) 225-2271
MN - Oberstar Phone number: (202) 225-6211
MN - Peterson Phone number: (202) 225-2165
MO - Skelton Phone number: (202) 225-2876
MS - Taylor Phone number: (202) 225-5772
MS - Thompson Phone number: (202) 225-5876
NH - Bradley Phone number: (202) 225-5456
NJ - Garrett Phone number: (202) 225-4465
NM - Pearce Phone number: (202) 225-2365
NV - Porter Phone number: (202) 225-3252
NY - King Phone number: (202) 225-7896
OH - Ryan Phone number: (202) 225-5261
OH - Turner Phone number: (202) 225-6465
PA - Brady Phone number: (202) 225-4731
PA - Doyle Phone number: (202) 225-2135
PA - Gerlach Phone number: (202) 225-4315
PA - Kanjorski Phone number: (202) 225-6511
PA - Murphy Phone number: (202) 225-2301
PA - Murtha Phone number: (202) 225-2065
PA - Weldon Phone number: (202) 225-2011
SC - Barrett Phone number: (202) 225-5301
SC - Clyburn Phone number: (202) 225-3315
TN - Cooper Phone number: (202) 225-4311
TN - Davis Phone number: (202) 225-6831
TX - Bell Phone number: (202) 225-7508
WV - Capito Phone number: (202) 225-2711
WV - Mollohan Phone number: (202) 225-4172
4. Activist Tip:
If your rep is not on this list, it still helps to call
your
own rep! It would also help if you shared this
email with
friends so that they can contact their reps.
5. Inspirational Quote
"Nothing is perfect but primitiveness"
John Audubon
--------------------------------------------------------------------
To SUBSCRIBE,
e-mail: care2-alerts-subscribe@australia.care2.com
From:
"EarthNet Editor" earthnet@envirocitizen.org
Subject:
EarthNet News -- Apr. 8, 2003
EarthNet News
... a
project of EnviroCitizen
http://www.envirocitizen.org
----------------------------------------------------------------------
April 8, 2003
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sadly, if you are watching the news, you know that
many civilians, soldiers and journalists have thus
far died in the war in Iraq. It is confusing to watch
the news and see Iraqis cheering for U.S. troops in
one clip and cheering for Saddam in another. It makes
you rethink your own place as a citizen of this planet--and
you might ask, "What do I cheer for?"
Take action and tell President Bush to spare as many
civilian lives as possible in SHADOW CONGRESS.
Peace,
Amanda Jacobson
EarthNet Editor,
Student Journalist University of Tennessee
earthnet@envirocitizen.org
----------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENT
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Shadow Congress: Tell Bush
not to use indiscriminate
weapons
2. Quote of the Week
3. At the Grassroot: Oakland plant shut down by community
4. Glimmer of Hope: Talk the talk and walk the walk
5. Mercy Mercy Me: New York's Dirty Dozen
6. Jobs and Internships
7. Events and Gatherings
8. Activist Phone Book & EarthNet News Info
----------------------------------------------------------------------
SHADOW CONGRESS
----------------------------------------------------------------------
TELL BUSH NOT TO USE INDISCRIMINATE WEAPONS
Write President Bush and urge him not to authorize
the indiscriminate use of weapons on Iraqis. The protection
of life, safety, and security of civilians must be
of paramount consideration in any action taken to resolve
the crisis. Indiscriminate weapon use could include
direct attacks on civilians or civilian objects; attacks
which do not distinguish between military targets and
civilians or civilian objects; and attacks which,
although
aimed at a military target, have a
disproportionate
impact on civilians or civilian
objects.
**TAKE
ACTION: Write Bush and tell him to protect civilian
Iraqis:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/y1qAAaF1yc-d/
**Learn more on indiscriminate
bombing from IndyMedia:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/ydqAAaF1yc-c/
**How many civilians have died so far? Find out here:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/y7qAAaF1yc-B/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Voice or no voice, the people
can always be brought
to the bidding of the leaders.
That is easy. All you
have to do is tell them they are
being attacked, and
denounce the peacemakers for lack
of patriotism and
exposing the country to danger. It
works the same in
any country"
---Hermann Goering at the Nuremberg Trials
----------------------------------------------------------------------
AT THE GRASSROOT
----------------------------------------------------------------------
OAKLAND PLANT SHUT DOWN BY
COMMUNITY
Citizens of Oakland,
California shouted for joy when
Red Star Yeast
announced it would close the 100-year-old
polluting
plant--activists have said its emissions
of
acetaldehyde, a probable human carcinogen, are causing
health problems from asthma to cancer in the neighborhood.
About 150 workers will be laid off, but many more
asthma-sufferers
in the area will be able to breathe
easier.
**Read the whole
story:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/EpqAAaF1yc-w/
**The plant and environmental justice in Oakland:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/E7qAAaF1yc-2/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
GLIMMER OF HOPE
----------------------------------------------------------------------
TALK THE TALK AND WALK THE
WALK
Straight from Grist Magazine
With the U.S. military pummeling
Iraq, people looking
for a way to walk their "No Blood
for Oil" talk are
turning to biodiesel, reports Salon.
In addition to
imparting rebel cred, biodiesel produces
78 percent
less carbon dioxide than regular diesel and
mitigates
the cancer risks of diesel exhaust by 94
percent (though
nitrous oxide emissions are slightly
higher than those
from petroleum diesel). This summer,
look for more
biodiesel evangelists trekking
cross-country, trailing
their signature french fry (er,
freedom fry) scent
and spreading the gospel of grease.
While homebrew
operations abound, the biodiesel
infrastructure in
the U.S. remains nearly nonexistent,
with only about
50 commercial pumps
nationwide.
**All
the gas from Grist:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/j7qAAaF1yc-a/
**Environmental cost of gasoline
got you down? Biofuel-up
here:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/jpqAAaF1yc-z/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
MERCY MERCY ME
----------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW YORK'S DIRTY DOZEN
One New York environmental group
has announced it's
first annual list of the dirtiest
polluters in the
state. "While many polluters pose a
threat to New York
State, this year's winners are
particularly notorious
for the dangers they pose to the
environment and their
neighbors," said Bobbi Chase,
Associate Director of
Citizens' Environmental
Coalition. She noted, "These
are some bad eggs you
wouldn't want to find in your
Easter
Basket."
**Here's
the New York list!
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/j1qAAaF1yc-1/
**California wins this year's
"Crappiest Air" award:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/UdqAAaF1yc-x/
**Working women exposed to cancer-causing pollutants:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/U1qAAaF1yc-s/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
JOBS AND INTERNSHIPS
----------------------------------------------------------------------
These are a sampling of the
over 200 environmental
and activist jobs and
internships listed at
http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/jobs/index.asp
Job Title: Full Time Internship
Organization: Grist Magazine
Location: Seattle, WA
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/EdqAAaF1yc-N/
Job Title: Media Officer
Organization: Greenpeace
Location:
Washington, D.C.
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/E1qAAaF1yc-M/
Job Title: Field Team 2003
Organization: Maine Conservation Corps
Location: Augusta, ME
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/m1qAAaF1yc-S/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
EVENTS AND GATHERINGS
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Lots more events listed at http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/events/index.asp
Event: Lobby Day
Location: Seattle/Olympia, WA
Date: 4/17/2003
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/mpqAAaF1yc-A/
Event: Colorado Sustainability
Summit
Location: University of Colorado, Boulder
Date: 4/24/2003-4/25/2003
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/mdqAAaF1yc-L/
Event: Shut Down the World
Agricultural Forum
Location: St. Louis, MO
Date: 5/18/2003-5/23/2003
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/m7qAAaF1yc-_/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIVIST PHONE BOOK
----------------------------------------------------------------------
U.S. Capitol Switchboard:
202.224.3121
White House Comment Line:
202.456.1111
White
House Address:
1600 Pennsylvania
Ave
Washington, DC 20500
Senate Address:
US Senate
Washington,
DC 20510
House
Address:
US House of
Representatives
Washington, DC
20515
Go to
Congress.org to find contact info for YOUR elected
representatives:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/jdqAAaF1yc-q/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Write your own short articles
for submission to EarthNet.
We are particularly
interested in articles about student
activism on your
campus.
For
general comments:
mail to:
earthnet@envirocitizen.org
Submit Jobs/Internships/Volunteer listings at:
http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/jobs/add.asp
Submit Events at:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/upqAAaF1ycFC/
--------------------------------------------------
Make sure your friends news and
action: Tell them to
sign up for EarthNet News!
http://actionnetwork.org/join-forward.html?domain=san&r=d7qAAaF1EPF1
If you received this
message from a friend, you can
sign up for Student
Action Network at:
http://actionnetwork.org/san/join.html?r=d7qAAaF1EPF1E
Dear
Members of the Global Response "Quick Response Network:"
Many thanks to all of you who
wrote letters on behalf of environmental
activist Farid
Tukhbatullin, who was imprisoned in Turkmenistan. He's been
released! Here's the report from Amnesty International's
Urgent Action
Office:
07 April 2003
Further Information on UA 04/03 issued 7 January 2003 and
re-issued March 5, 2003
Prisoner of Conscience / Unfair Trial / Fear of Torture
TURKMENISTAN
Farid Tukhbatullin (m), aged 41,
civil
society activist and co-chair of the
Ecological Club
Prisoner of conscience Farid Tukhbatullin has been
released, and
is now reunited with his family. His
release came as the result of
immense international
pressure, including letters sent by
members of the
Urgent Action network.
Farid
Tukhbatullin had been serving a three-year prison
sentence, imposed after an unfair trial in March 2003. He
was
released from the detention facilities of the
Ministry of National
Security in the capital Ashgabat
at around 7.30pm on 2 April, in
accordance with a
presidential order that had been broadcast on
television the previous day.
His passport was returned to him on 4 April, and on 5 April
Farid Tukhbatullin flew to his hometown of Dashoguz
near the
Turkmen-Uzbek border.
Prior to his release, Farid
Tukhbatullin had to sign a
"confession", repenting his
"guilt" and promising not to engage
in any "illegal
activity" in the future. On 2 April the
"confession"
was published in Turkmen newspapers.
Throughout his
pre-trial detention and in court Farid
Tukhbatullin had
insisted that he was innocent. Amnesty
International
considered him a prisoner of conscience.
BACKGROUND
Farid Tukhbatullin is
the co-chair of the Ecological Club in
Dashoguz. He had
been detained since 23 December 2002,
charged with
illegally crossing the border from Uzbekistan into
Turkmenistan and of concealing a serious criminal act.
The latter charge concerns Farid
Tukhbatullin's attendance of an
international
conference organized by human rights
organizations,
which was devoted to rights issues ranging from
freedom
of expression to the rights of the child. Farid
Tukhbatullin was accused of refusing to disclose
information
about plans of exiled opposition groups to
carry out an armed
coup which, according to the
authorities, were discussed at the
conference. Amnesty
International and other human rights
organizations -
whose delegates attended the conference - stated
that
discussions at the conference forum did not include the
violent overthrow of the government. Amnesty International
regarded Farid Tukhbatullin as a prisoner of
conscience, arrested
and imprisoned solely to punish
him for his peaceful activities as
a civil society
activist.
In a meeting on 3
March in Ashgabat with Jaap de Hoop
Scheffer, the
chair-in-office of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Turkmen President Saparmurad
Niyazov had promised that Farid Tukhbatullin "will be
released
soon". The next day Farid Tukhbatullin was
sentenced to three
years' imprisonment in an unfair
trial.
No further action is
requested from the UA network. Many
thanks to all who
sent appeals.
Urgent Action
Network
Amnesty International USA
PO Box 1270
Nederland CO
80466-1270
Email: uan@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 303 258 1170
Fax: 303 258 7881
********************************
Paula Palmer, Program Director
Global Response
P.O. Box 7490
Boulder CO 80306
USA
TEL: 303-444-0306
FAX:
303-449-9794
Email: paula@globalresponse.org
Website: http://www.globalresponse.org
At the request of indigenous
peoples and grassroots organizations, Global
Response
organizes international letter-writing campaigns to help
communities prevent environmental
destruction. Young people and adults in
92
countries participate in these very effective campaigns.
To request Global Response Action
alerts by mail or email, or to make a
tax-deductible
donation, please visit http://www.globalresponse.org.
Action deadline: immediately
We urgently need your
help. The president of Peru is poised to sign a decree that would
undermine efforts to stop the destruction of millions of acres of rain forest in
Peru. The highly threatened jaguar, the harpy eagle, and the giant
river otter are just some of the creatures that need these special
places.
FOLLOW THE
SIMPLE STEPS BELOW TO SEND A FREE MESSAGE URGING THE PRESIDENT NOT TO SIGN THE
DECREE.
Please forward this
alert to your friends and colleagues.
**************************TAKE ACTION
NOW!*********************
If
you received this email from World Wildlife Fund's Conservation
Action Network, follow the steps below for taking
action. If a friend forwarded this email to you, go to http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org/ctt.asp?u=26681&l=2355 to
take action.
TO TAKE ACTION
QUICKLY -- To send the message below, as is, to Peru's president, hit "reply" to
this email and then "send." We will automatically send the message
for you.
BETTER
YET, ADD YOUR OWN THOUGHTS AND GREATLY INCREASE YOUR IMPACT -- Log in to your
Personal Action Center -- http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org/ctt.asp?u=26681&l=2356
-- with your email address (alerts@earthhopenetwork.net) and your
password. Once you are in your Personal Action Center, click on
"Urgent Threat to Peruvian Rain Forest" and follow the instructions for adding
your own thoughts to your message.
If you have any questions or problems with taking action,
contact us at actionquestions@takeaction.worldwildlife.org for help.
***************************LETTER
TEXT***************************
Dear President Toledo:
I urge you not to extend the 1,000-hectare, small-scale
logging permits in Peru.
Peru's Congress let these damaging and outdated logging
permits expire on March 31, 2003. Ending these permits is vitally
important to the health of Peru's forests. Extending them would
completely undermine years of work to protect Peru's ecologically-rich rain
forests. The small-scale permits provide a huge loophole for illegal
and unsustainable logging.
Small-scale permits are decimating some of the richest and
largest tracts of intact tropical rain forest in the world. The
current rate of deforestation in Peru is an alarming 260,000 hectares per
year. These forests harbor threatened species of high commercial
value such as mahogany and cedar, and also provide habitat for wildlife such as
the highly threatened jaguar, the harpy eagle, and the giant river otter.
As long as the small-scale permits
remain, larger and sustainable forest concessions will not be economically
viable. These concessions must be granted through a transparent,
public bidding process and managed according to a forest management
plan. The positive result is that concessionaires manage these
forests in a way that conserves biological diversity and maintains ecosystem
functioning, while providing sustainable economic resources to the local
populations whose livelihoods are critically linked to
forestry. Concessions are expected to result in nearly 5 million
hectares being sustainably managed.
Instead of extending the 1,000 hectare small-scale permits,
please do all you can to ensure that forestry in Peru is sustainable.
Sincerely,
Your name and address
will be inserted here
**************************END OF LETTER
TEXT*************************
______________________________________________________________________
Direct any questions about the WWF Conservation Action
Network to
actionquestions@takeaction.worldwildlife.org
______________________________________________________________________
The Conservation Action Network is sponsored by World
Wildlife Fund-
US. Known worldwide by its
panda logo, WWF is dedicated to
protecting the world's
wildlife and the rich biological diversity
that we all
need to survive. The leading privately supported
international conservation organization in the world, WWF
has
sponsored more than 2,000 projects in 116 countries
and has more than
1 million members in the United
States. WWF calls on everyone --
government,
industry, and individuals -- to take responsibility by
taking action to save our living planet.
World Wildlife Fund
1250 Twenty-fourth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037
http://www.worldwildlife.org
http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org
| |||
|
FROM
UNITING FOR PEACE:
Dear
friends,
Now that the League
of Arab States has formally requested
a meeting of the
General Assembly on Iraq - see AP article
below - *now*
is the time to take action to support this
request and
to give the UN a chance to redeem itself.
Please make an all-out effort to lobby the members of the
General Committee of the General Assembly to approve a
meeting of the General Assembly on Iraq, pursuant to
the
provisions of Uniting for Peace, Resolution 377
(V).
The General Committee
will meet on Friday, so time is
of the essence. Contact
information for members of the
General Committee is
included at the end of the message.
After sending a fax or email in support of this initiative,
please consider making a follow up phone call to the
missions.
For additional information on Uniting for Peace, please
visit
http://habitat.igc.org/ufp - note that the contact
information
for members of the general committee is
available online at
http://habitat.igc.org/ufp/gc.htm - phone, fax and
email
information for the New York Missions of all UN
Member States
is available at http://habitat.igc.org/ufp/missions.htm
Please forward this message to
your networks.
Let's Unite for
Peace now!
Robert
-=-=-
Robert Pollard
Information Ecologist
Information
Habitat: Where Information Lives
<http://habitat.igc.org>
<ecology2001@mindspring.com>
-=-=-
Arab nations formally request
General Assembly meeting on Iraq
Edith M. Lederer, Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, April 8, 2003
(04-08) 17:25 PDT United Nations
(AP)
Arab nations on Tuesday
requested a U.N. General Assembly meeting
on the war in
Iraq, hoping to win approval for a resolution
calling
for a cease-fire.
The
assembly's General Committee will meet Friday morning to
consider the request, assembly spokesman Richard Sydenham
said.
At least 15 of the
committee's 28 members must approve the
meeting and
then, the full 191-member General Assembly must vote
to
add it to the assembly's agenda.
Yemen's U.N. Ambassador Abdullah Alsaidi, the Arab Group's
chairman who made the request, said the group will seek
a "very
mild" resolution.
"It will ask for a cease-fire, respect for Iraqi
sovereignty,
territorial integrity," he said. "It will
ask for the unity of
Iraq."
U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte
said last Wednesday that
Washington does not think it
is "either necessary or desirable"
to raise Iraq in the
General Assembly, because the issue was
discussed March
26-27 in the Security Council.
But Yemen's Alsaidi said Monday that Arab nations want a
General
Assembly meeting, because "they discovered
there was no
possibility of a resolution" in the
Security Council, where the
United States and its ally
Britain have veto power.
Iraq's U.N. Ambassador Mohammed Al-Douri said the Arab
Group
knows that nearly 50 countries in the U.S.-led
coalition
supporting the war will try to prevent a
General Assembly
resolution on Iraq.
But he said Iraq was facing "the
destruction of a whole country
and the killing of
several thousand people" and "we think the
international community has to shoulder its
responsibilities."
There are
no vetoes in the 191-nation General Assembly. But
unlike the Security Council, its resolutions are not
legally
binding though they do reflect international
opinion.
-=-=-
Contact Information for General
Committee of the General Assembly
Czech Republic
H.E. Mr. Jan Kavan
President, General Assembly
Tel:
1.212.535.8814 Fax:
1.212.772.0586
czechrepublic@un.int
Austria
H.E. Mr. Gerhard Pfanzelter
Vice-President, General Assembly
Tel:
1.212.949.1840 Fax:
1.212.953.1302
austria@un.int
Bahrain
H.E. Mr. Tawfeeq Ahmed Khalil Almansoor
Vice-President, General Assembly
Tel:
1.212.223.6200 Fax:
1.212.319.0687
bahrain@un.int
Barbados
H.E. Ms. June Clarke
Vice-President, General Assembly
Tel:
1.212.867.8431-8435 Fax: 1.212.986.1030
barbados@un.int
Chad
H.E. Mr. Koumtog
Laotegguelnodji
Vice-President, General Assembly
Tel:
1.212.986.0980 Fax:
1.212.986.0152
chad@un.int
China, People's Republic
H.E. Mr.
Wang Ying-Fan
Vice-President, General Assembly
Tel:
1.212.655.6100 Fax:
1.212.634.7626
chnun@undp.org, china@un.int
Ecuador
H.E. Mr. Luis Gallegos Chiriboga
Vice-President, General Assembly
Tel:
1.212.935.1680 Fax:
1.212.935.1835
ecuador@un.int
Egypt
H.E. Mr. Aboul Gheit
Vice-President, General Assembly
Tel:
1.212.879.6300 Fax:
1.212.794.3874
egypt@un.int
Ethiopia
H.E. Mr. Abdul Mejid Hussein
Vice-President, General Assembly
Tel:
1.212.421.1830 Fax:
1.212.754.0360
ethiopia@un.int
France
H.E. Mr. Jean-Marc de LA SABLIERE
Vice-President, General Assembly
Tel:
1.212.308.5700 Fax:
1.212.421.6889
france@un.int
Gambia
H.E. Mr. Crispin Grey-Johnson
Vice-President, General Assembly
Tel:
1.212.949.6640 Fax:
1.212.808.4975
gambia@un.int
Indonesia
H.E. Mr. Moch. Slamet Hidayat
Vice-President, General Assembly
Tel:
1.212.972.8333 Fax:
1.212.972.9780
ptri@indonesiamission-ny.org
Kazakhstan, Republic of
H.E. Ms. Dr. Madina B. Jarbussynova
Vice-President, General Assembly
Tel:
1.212.230.1900 Fax:
1.212.230.1172
kazakhstan@un.int
Mexico
H.E. Mr. Adolfo Aguilar Zinser
Vice-President, General Assembly
Tel:
1.212.752.0220 Fax:
1.212.688.8862
mexico@un.int
Portugal
H.E. Mr. Gonçalo Aires de Santa Clara Gomes
Vice-President, General Assembly
Tel:
1.212.759.9444-9447 Fax: 1.212.355.1124
portugal@un.int
Qatar
H.E. Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz
Al-Nasser
Vice-President, General Assembly
Tel:
1.212.486.9335/9336 Fax: 1.212.758.4952
qatar@un.int
Russian Federation
H.E. Mr. Sergey
Lavrov
Vice-President, General Assembly
Tel:
1.212.861.4900 Fax:
1.212.628.0252
rusun@un.int
Swaziland
H.E. Mr. Clifford Sibusiso Mamba
Vice-President, General Assembly
Tel:
1.212.371.8910 Fax:
1.212.754.2755
swaziland@un.int
Togo
H.E.
Mr. Roland Yao Kpotsra
Vice-President, General Assembly
Tel:
1.212.490.3455/3456 Fax: 1.212.983.6684
togo@un.int
United Kingdom of Great Britain
H.E. Sir Jeremy Greenstock
Vice-President, General Assembly
Tel:
1.212.745.9200 Fax:
1.212.745.9316
uk@un.int
United States of America
H.E. Mr.
John D. Negroponte
Vice-President, General Assembly
Tel: 1.212.415.4000 1 212.415.4443
usa@un.int
Viet Nam
H.E. Mr. Nguyen Thanh
Chau
Vice-President, General Assembly
Tel:
1.212.644.0594 Fax:
1.212.644.5732
vietnam@un.int
Uganda, Republic of
H.E. Mr. Matia Mulumba Semakula Kiwanuka
Chairman, First Committee
Tel:
1.212.949.0110/0113 Fax: 1.212.687.4517
uganda@un.int
Honduras
H.E. Mr. Marco Antonio
Suazo
Chairman, Second Committee
Tel:
1.212.752.3370/3371 Fax: 1.212.223.0498
honduras@un.int
Liechtenstein, Principality of
H.E. Mr. Christian Wenaweser
Chairman, Third Committee
Tel:
1.212.599.0220 Fax:
1.212.599.0064
liechtenstein@un.int
South Africa
H.E. Mr. Graham Maitland
Chairman,
Fourth Committee
Tel:
1.212.213.5583 Fax:
1.212.692.2498
southafrica@un.int
Nepal, Kingdom of
H.E. Mr. Murari Raj SHARMA
Chairman, Fifth Committee
Tel:
1.212.370.3988 Fax:
1.212.953.2038
nepal@un.int
Hungary
H.E. Mr. Arpad PRANDLER
Chairman, Sixth Committee
Tel:
1.212.752.0209 Fax:
1.212.755.5395
hungary@un.int
Kristin Dawkins
Vice President for International Programs
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
2105 First Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55404 USA
Tel: 612-870-3410
Fax:
612-870-4846
Email: kdawkins@iatp.org
http://www.iatp.org
http://www.gefoodalert.org
http://www.tradeobservatory.org
http://www.waterobservatory.org
Dear
friends: My letter is below. Here is the prepared email list. Please
feel free to cut and paste, for your convenience. Thanks,
Kristin
=================
czechrepublic@un.int, austria@un.int, bahrain@un.int,
barbados@un.int,
chad@un.int, chnun@undp.org,
china@un.int, ecuador@un.int, egypt@un.int,
ethiopia@un.int, france@un.int, gambia@un.int,
ptri@indonesiamission-ny.org, kazakhstan@un.int,
mexico@un.int,
portugal@un.int, qatar@un.int,
rusun@un.int, swaziland@un.int, togo@un.int,
uk@un.int,
usa@un.int, vietnam@un.int, uganda@un.int, honduras@un.int,
liechtenstein@un.int, southafrica@un.int, nepal@un.int,
hungary@un.int
=============
Dear Honorable Delegates to the General Committee of the
General Assembly:
I am writing
to request your support for the request of the League of Arab
States that the General Assembly consider the Iraq
situation and call for a
cease-fire. Please lend your
government's approval for such a meeting,
pursuant to
the provisions of Uniting for Peace, Resolution 377 (V).
The world longs for peace. Thank
you very much for your consideration.
Sincerely,
McDonald's and Burger King may lead the fast-food industry
in
churning out cheap hamburgers, but they are
unhurried when it comes
to protecting public health.
The majority of antibiotics used in the
production of
poultry, pork, and beef serve nontherapeutic purposes,
such as accelerating growth and warding off diseases
brought on by
unsanitary factory farm
conditions. Last year, McDonald's addressed
one small segment of these concerns by halting the purchase
of
poultry treated with a class of antibiotics known as
fluoroquinolones. Since then, McDonald's and
Burger King--the
industry leaders with the largest
influence over meat suppliers--have
failed to issue
comprehensive policies on antibiotic use despite
numerous requests from UCS over the past
year. We think they can do
better.
SIMPLY HIT REPLY on your email
program to automatically write to the
CEOs of
McDonald's and Burger King and challenge them to get animals
off drugs now.
You may also personalize the letter and learn more about
this issue by visiting our action center at:
http://www.ucsaction.org/index.asp?step=2&item=2606
******************************
Dear Mr. Cantalupo, CEO, McDonald's
Dear Mr. Blum, CEO, Burger King
I am writing to McDonald's and
Burger King to urge both companies to
act in the
interests of public health and stop buying meat from
suppliers that overuse antibiotics.
In the past, both companies have
expressed an interest in addressing
the issue of
antibiotic overuse. Last year, McDonald's addressed one
small segment of the concerns regarding antibiotic
resistance by
halting the purchase of poultry treated
therapeutically with a class
of antibiotics known as
fluoroquinolones. However, after months of
waiting, both companies have yet to announce a formal
policy position
on the use of other antibiotics.
I urge McDonald's and Burger
King--as leaders in the fast-food
industry--to take a
stand on behalf of public health and ensure that
antibiotics continue to be effective tools for treating
disease in
humans. I ask both companies to
require their suppliers to produce
meat without the
nontherapeutic use (for growth promotion or routine
disease prevention) of eight classes of antibiotics
important in
human medicine: penicillins,
tetracyclines, macrolides (including
tylosin and
erythromycin), sulfonamides, lincomycin, virginiamycin,
aminoglycosides, and bacitracin.
I further urge both McDonald's and
Burger King to institute a system
to ensure that their
suppliers comply with the antibiotic-reduction
requirements. Please take action to preserve
antibiotic efficacy for
future generations.
Sincerely,
[your name will be inserted here]
***********************
If you have questions, comments or concerns about this
action, send
email to action@ucsusa.org -- replying to
this action will send the
letter.
|
|
Arctic Drilling
Passes in House of Representatives.
Last Friday, April 11th, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bad Energy bill that will do little to curb oil use, fails to tackle global warming, and will open the Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to new oil drilling. An amendment introduced by Representative Edward Markey (D-MA) would have blocked new oil drilling in the Arctic Refuge by stripping out drilling language from the Energy bill. Unfortunately, the Markey amendment failed 197-228, and the House voted to support Arctic drilling despite our action alert last week that generated e-mails and phone calls from over 25,000 Environmental Defense e-mail activists. Thanks for your efforts.
HOW DID YOUR REPRESENTATIVE VOTE?
HOLD CONGRESS ACCOUNTABLE:
Did your
Representative vote against Arctic oil drilling (vote with "Ayes")?
If so, send them a message thanking them for acting to protect our
wilderness and wildlife heritage:
FIGHT TO SAVE THE ARCTIC NOT OVER:
CLIMATE STEWARDSHIP ACT - BECOME A CITIZEN
CO-SPONSOR:
Spread
the word about Environmental Defense Action Network:
|
From:
ACLU Executive Director, Anthony Romero
To: ACLU Action
Network
Date: April 15, 2003
I last wrote to you in December.
Normally, you would not hear from me again until the end of the year. But these
are not normal times.
The
government is resorting to detentions, deportations, and other tactics
reminiscent of the Palmer Raid period that led to the ACLU’s founding 83 years
ago.
New approaches are
required. I want to tell you about an exciting initiative and its opportunities
for you as a concerned individual.
In less than two months, ACLU members and activists from
across the country will converge on Washington for four days of critical debate
and conversations with high-level decision-makers, highlighted by the ACLU's
first-ever lobby day.
This
event, the ACLU's Inaugural Membership Conference, is designed to remind our
political leaders that Americans of all backgrounds and from all regions believe
that keeping us free is as important as making us safe.
This will be an exciting
opportunity for you to lobby your Members of Congress and help shape policy.
Your faxes to Congress have made a difference. Attending this conference is a
great way for you to take your activism to the next level. You will have an
amazing opportunity to meet like-minded activists from across the country and
exchange ideas, strategies and experience.
We will spend one day of the conference at the ACLU's
first-ever lobby day on Capitol Hill, bringing our civil liberties concerns
directly to Members of Congress and their staffs. A training session will
explain how to make our case and become even more effective participants in the
nation's democratic process.
Following the lobby day, the ACLU takes the debate into
point-counter-point plenary sessions with important officials and pundits
representing the Administration's approaches to the balance between security and
liberty.
Throughout the
conference, workshops and other sessions will help sharpen our knowledge of key
issues such as racial profiling and the treatment of Arabs and Muslims in
America, data mining and data surveillance, lesbian and gay rights, reproductive
freedom and the ill-conceived drug policy.
We have also organized special youth programs, and
participants between the ages of 16 and 27 are eligible for reduced conference
rate. This special rate is also available to full-time students.
Today, ACLU stands at the very
center of the American purpose. And for four days in June, at our Inaugural
Membership Conference, we will have an unprecedented opportunity to communicate
that message to our leaders and to our fellow citizens.
This is our time. This is your
meeting. As the conference headline urges: Stand Up For Freedom. Because Freedom
Can't Protect Itself.
For
further information and to register, visit the ACLU Web site www.aclu.org, email
mem_conf@aclu.org, or call 212 549 2561.
Here's some great news about the campaign to get Citibank
to stop funding
rainforest destruction!
Global Response contributed to
this campaign with a letter-writing campaign
in June
2002. In our letters, we urged Citibank to stop financing palm oil
plantation companies in Indonesia, which are destroying
tropical rainforest
and indigenous
villages. See the text of the Global Response action alert
at http://www.globalresponse.org/gra_index/gra0402.html.
This report is from
Rainforest Action Network's Citibank Campaign
Coordinator, Dan Firger:
Due to the hard work and
extraordinary commitment of the many thousands of
activists worldwide who have participated in the Campaign
for a Sane Economy
over the past three years, Citigroup
has approached Rainforest Action
Network to ask for a
CEASE-FIRE on campaign activities so that we can work
towards a permanent and comprehensive policy on Citigroup's
involvement in
deforestation and climate change!
We received word of the cease-fire
request from Citi less than a day before
the company's
annual shareholder meeting at Carnegie Hall in New York,
scheduled for tomorrow, April 15. The event was to be met
with a large and
colorful protest, and followed a few
weeks later with an International Day
of Action against
Citigroup on April 29, with dozens of actions planned in
cities around the country and around the world.
Citigroup has agreed to take
immediate steps to stem short-term damage to
ecosystems
and indigenous populations through projects that it funds, while
working closely with RAN towards a permanent and
comprehensive set of
environmental and social policies
over the next few months.
RAN
has therefore agreed to a 90 day "moratorium" on all external campaign
activity: INCLUDING THE PROTEST SCHEDULED FOR TOMORROW
(APRIL 15) IN NEW
YORK CITY AND
THE DAY OF ACTION SCHEDULED FOR APRIL 29.
At the end of 90 days, we hope to
have a satisfactory policy in hand. If
not, the
Campaign for a Sane Economy will continue, full steam ahead, until
we do!
This is an important milestone in the long struggle for
global justice and
ecological sanity. Remeber to
celebrate this victory and congratulate
yourselves and
everyone else who's worked on this campaign over the past few
years. We'll be sure to keep you posted with updates as the
90-day
negotiating period moves forward, and we look
forward to working together
with you towards a
permanent victory on this campaign and a more just,
earth-centered economic system for all!
In Solidarity for the Earth,
The RAN Citigroup Team
_____________________
Dan Firger
Rainforest Action Network
Global Finance Organizer
221 Pine
St., # 500
San Francisco, CA 94104
415-398-4404 x359
800-989-RAIN
415-948-7338 (cell)
~~~~~
********************************
Paula Palmer, Program Director
Global Response
P.O. Box 7490
Boulder CO 80306
USA
TEL: 303-444-0306
FAX:
303-449-9794
Email: paula@globalresponse.org
Website: http://www.globalresponse.org
At the request of indigenous
peoples and grassroots organizations, Global
Response
organizes international letter-writing campaigns to help
communities prevent environmental
destruction. Young people and adults in
92
countries participate in these very effective campaigns.
To request Global Response Action
alerts by mail or email, or to make a
tax-deductible
donation, please visit http://www.globalresponse.org
Take
Action Online!
http://capWiz.com/vision/issues/alert/?alertid=1926576&type=CO
WHAT’S AT STAKE
Bush’s ’04 Budget Plans Could Bring Us Closer to Developing
and Testing of New Nuclear Weapons.
New initiatives by President Bush and House Republicans are
edging us closer to resumed testing and use of nuclear weapons.
First, the Bush administration has
been studying possible uses of nuclear weapons in preemptive strikes and intends
to develop nuclear “bunker busters,” which have already received
some congressional funding. This will encourage other
countries to seek nuclear weapons to deter us. Though dubbed “usable” by defense
hawks, bunker busters could actually increase civilian casualties by shooting
irradiated soil into the atmosphere.
Second, the administration is pushing hard to repeal the
current ten-year ban against research and development of “low-yield” (less than
5 kilotons) nuclear weapons. This is approximately one-third the size of the
Hiroshima bomb.
Third, the
House Republican Policy Committee released a document in February that calls for
expedited preparations for underground testing, expanded nuclear capability, and
granting the President options to use both conventional and nuclear weapons in
preemptive strikes.
Moving
forward with new nuclear weapons greatly increases the likelihood of resumed
testing, a breach of our ten-year moratorium on such testing. The
administration is using doublespeak when it pushes to develop low-yield weapons
while professing no intent to produce them. This is especially
apparent given the administration now wants to shorten the time to prepare for
nuclear testing. Once the funding and support get locked in, it will
become harder and harder to stop the march toward resumed nuclear testing or
even use.
In this wartime
climate, we must do all we can to stop these senseless steps toward an arms race
and a weakened global security. Last year we helped stop
congressional funding for low-yield nukes and also put restrictions on bunker
buster funding. But these issues won’t go away.
We have a new opportunity
now. A true champion in the House, Rep. Ed Markey (D MA) will
introduce an amendment soon that would gut the $15 million in the Bush ‘04
budget for the nuclear bunker buster, called the “Robust Nuclear Earth
Penetrator.” Your action is needed right now, so please don’t delay.
TAKE ACTION
http://capWiz.com/vision/issues/alert/?alertid=1926576&type=CO
Write, e-mail, fax or call
your Representative in the House. Urge him/her to support the Markey
amendment that would cut the $15 million for the Robust Nuclear Earth
Penetrator, or bunker buster. This is expected to be voted on next
month during House floor consideration of the ’04 defense authorization bill
and/or the energy and water appropriations bill. In addition,
please urge your Representative and Senators to maintain the ban on low-yield
nuclear weapons research. If you write a letter it’s always better to
write to the district office, since mail is very slow in reaching their
Washington, DC offices. You can find your district office by
contacting your Rep. via the Capitol Switchboard (202-225-3121) and
asking for a list of your Member’s district offices or by taking action at
www.2020vison.org.
The following organizations have endorsed this alert
20/20 Vision
Americans for Democratic Action
Alliance for Nuclear Accountability
Arms Control Advocacy Collaborative
Arms Control Association
British
American Security Information Council (BASIC)
Central
Conference of American Rabbis
Council for a Livable
World
Church of the Brethren Washington Office
Education for Peace in Iraq Center (EPIC)
Episcopal Peace Fellowship
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Lutheran Office for
Governmental Affairs
Friends Committee on National
Legislation
International Physicians for the
Prevention of Nuclear War
Maryknoll Office for Global
Concerns
Methodists United for Peace with Justice
Military Toxics Project
Muslim
Peace Fellowship
Peace Action
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Psychologists for Social Responsibility
Saferworld
Sojourners
True Majority
Union of American
Hebrew Congregations
Union of Concerned Scientists
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
Women’s Action for New Directions
World Peacemakers
GYC
Alert & ActionClick amazonwatch.org DEN
Alert: Urge the Department of Defense to Follow Environmental Laws
Take One Minute for
Yellowstone
Please give a "click" for Buffalo and Elk
in Yellowstone
APHIS Planning
Drastic Action on Buffalo and Elk
The Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service (APHIS)--a federal agency
recently moved from the Department of Agriculture to the
Department of
Homeland Security--is holding a meeting
on Thursday April 24 in Jackson, WY
to propose a
Greater Yellowstone-wide plan to eradicate brucellosis.
APHIS is pushing for complete
removal of healthy elk and buffalo that carry
the
bacteria, through any means necessary--including capture, test and
slaughter on a scale currently
unimaginable. APHIS' new plan could result
in the death of thousands of Greater Yellowstone's wild elk
and
buffalo--even those living within Yellowstone
National Park! High level
officials from the
Department of Agriculture and Department of Interior will
be at the meeting. Public comment will be welcomed.
HOW YOU CAN HELP:
1) Attend the meeting in Jackson
WHEN: Thursday, April 24, 9:00 AM (Public Comment Period
begins at 10:30)
WHERE: Snow King Resort, 400 E. Snow
King Avenue, Jackson, Wyoming
2) Write a letter to be submitted to APHIS and the agency
officials at the
meeting.
TO WRITE A LETTER GO TO:
http://www.greateryellowstone.org/act_brucellosis.html#form
- OR -
3) If you don't have
time to write a personal letter:
INSTANTLY SEND A GYC STATEMENT TO THE DECISION MAKERS IN
WASHINGTON BY GOING
TO: http://www.greateryellowstone.org/act_brucellosis.html#instant
YOU ONLY NEED TO ADD YOUR
NAME AND ADDRESS TO MAKE YOU VOICE OFFICIALLY HEARD
THANK YOU FOR CLICKING AND CARING ABOUT THE GREATER
YELLOWSTONE ECOSYSTEM.
*****************************************************************************
IMPORTANT POINTS TO MAKE IN
YOUR SELF-WRITTEN LETTER:
Greater Yellowstone's wildlife is a national treasure and
should be treated
with the highest protections. Our elk
herds are the largest and widest
ranging in the lower
48 states. Yellowstone's buffalo are genetically unique
and the only wild, free-roaming buffalo herd left in the
United States. An
eradication plan could result in the
death of many thousands of Greater
Yellowstone elk and
buffalo, even those living within Yellowstone National
Park.
Wildlife professionals, not livestock and agricultural
interests, must be in
charge of Greater Yellowstone's
wildlife. The Montana Department of
Livestock's
mishandling and unnecessary slaughter of Yellowstone's buffalo
is an example of why wildlife professionals must have
jurisdiction over
wildlife.
There are common-sense solutions
already in place to handle the small risk
of
brucellosis. Vaccination of cattle, separation of livestock from key
migration areas, and education of ranchers about how to
operate successfully
in Greater Yellowstone are all key
components. Yellowstone National Park,
the States of
Montana, Wyoming and Idaho all have plans in place to manage
wildlife and livestock to prevent conflict. The National
Elk Refuge' plan is
underway. APHIS' proposed, new plan
is unnecessary and duplicative.
The APHIS plan is costly and would harm businesses in the
region that depend
on hunting, tourism and wildlife.
Money saved by not pursuing this ill
conceived
brucellosis eradication venture could be expended on habitat based
stewardship priorities that truly could benefit both
wildlife and livestock.
We must not place wildlife at
risk based on fears of a disease that has
never been a
problem. Furthermore, there are many other
wildlife diseases that pose far greater threat to wildlife
and human health,
such as Chronic Wasting Disease, for
which no preventive action is being
taken.
Solutions exist to reduce wildlife
disease. Wildlife professionals note that
the
artificial crowding of wildlife on feedgrounds increase prevalence of
wildlife disease. In order to be healthy, wildlife must be
allowed to be
wild and free-roaming, and have access to
natural migration routes.
Elk
and buffalo were infected with the bacteria brucellosis by cattle in the
early 1900s. Simple vaccination of cattle
and separation of
wildlife and livestock is the obvious
answer.
Visit
these pages for more information:
http://www.greateryellowstone.org/wildlife_disease_CWD.html
http://www.greateryellowstone.org/buffalo_park_slaughter.html
http://www.greateryellowstone.org/buffalo_norton_letter.html
http://www.greateryellowstone.org/wildlife_profile.html#Anchor-Buffalo-59501
================================================================
Greater Yellowstone Coalition
Working to protect the lands, waters, and wildlife of
the
Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, now and for future
generations
MEMBERSHIP
By becoming a member of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition
you can
help shape the future of the Greater
Yellowstone region. Go to:
http://www.greateryellowstone.org/home_join.html
================================================================
TO SUBSCRIBE to the Greater
Yellowstone New Bytes visit:
http://www.greateryellowstone.org/home_activist.html
or send a message to
saveylstn@greateryellowstone.org
with "Subscribe" in the
subject line.
from Amazon Watch April 25, 2003
IN THIS POST:
1.
OXY GETS SUED!! PROTEST TOMORROW!!
2. Press Release: Occidental
Petroleum Sued in U.S. Courts For
Role in
Civilian Massacre in Colombia
3. AP: Human rights groups
sue Occidental over 1998 Colombia
bombing
With the second invasion of
Iraq--this time led by transnational
corporations--well
under way, a similar story of US empire building,
oil,
and corporate war profiteering is unfolding in Colombia. Hidden in
the Bush Administration's recent $85 billion war budget
was $105 million
dollars of military aid to Colombia,
$37 million of which is dedicated
to protecting OXY's
Cano Limon oil pipeline. U.S. military aid to
protect OXY's pipeline totals a staggering $131 million so
far this
year. From Baghdad to Bogota, it's
up to us to put a stop to this
corporate welfare and
terror that's devastating lives and ecosystems
around
the world.
To get
involved, contact: kevin@amazonwatch AND visit
www.amazonwatch.org and www.colombiamobilization.org
1. OXY PROFITS ARE SOARING--WHO'S
PAYING THE PRICE?
JOIN US AT
THE COMPANY'S ANNUAL SHAREHOLDER MEETING AND HOLD OXY
ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR CORPORATE CRIMES IN COLOMBIA!
When: 8:30am, Friday, April 25 at
2003
Where: St. Regis Hotel, 2055 Avenue of the Stars,
Century
City, California.
Dear Allies,
Below you will find the press release and Associated Press
article
regarding a lawsuit that was filed this morning
at 9:03am against
Occidental Petroleum and their
security contractor Airscan, Inc. for
their involvement
in the bombing of a small town in Colombia in 1998,
which left 17 people dead and 21 wounded.
In support of the lawsuit and to
highlight OXY as one of
the primary companies
benefiting from US military aid to
Colombia, please
join us tomorrow morning for a protest
outside Oxy's
annual shareholders' meeting!
If you are in L.A. or can't come to the action but want to
continue to
support the movement for peace and social
and environmental justice in
Colombia, contact
kevin@amazonwatch.org.
2. Press Release:
AMAZON WATCH * GLOBAL EXCHANGE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE APRIL 24, 2003
CONTACTS: Kevin Koenig
310-420-8245 / 310-456-9158
Liza Smith 510-290-6012
Occidental Petroleum Sued in U.S.
Courts For
Role in Civilian Massacre in Colombia
Plaintiff to Address CEO and
Shareholders at Annual
Meeting on Friday
(Los Angeles, CA)-- International
rights attorneys filed
suit today under the Alien Tort
Claims Act against Occidental Petroleum
and its
security contractor, Airscan, Inc., for their role in the murder
of innocent civilians in the hamlet of Santo Domingo,
Colombia on
December 13, 1998.
The filing coincides with OXY?s
annual stockholders' meeting on Friday,
where a
survivor of the massacre and critics will question
the
CEO, Ray Irani and the board of directors on the company?s
financially negligent and morally questionable practices
worldwide
including its role in the Colombian massacre.
The suit which was brought
forth by the International
Labor Rights Fund and the Center for Human
Rights at
Northwestern University School of Law, was filed in the U.S.
District Court for the Central District of California
A press conference is scheduled
Friday morning featuring
attorney Paul Hoffman, and the
plaintiff, Luis Alberto Galvis Mujica,
whose mother,
sister and cousin were among the 11 civilians and 6
children who perished in the massacre. Joining them are
former State
Senator Tom Hayden and leading human
rights activists.
The suit
charges that both OXY and Airscan helped conduct the attack,
providing key strategic information, as well as ground and
air support
to the Colombian military in the bombing
raid on the town.
Airscan's plane--which provides
aerial surveillance for OXY?S Caño
Limon oil
pipeline--accompanied the Colombian air force during the
bombing, using its infrared and video equipment to pinpoint
targets on
the ground. While allegedly targeting
suspected rebels, no rebels were
killed.
Occidental Petroleum?s Colombian
operations are a magnet
for violence and have been
under fire from human rights and
environmental groups
for seven years. The company gained notoriety for
its
relentless attempts to drill for oil on sacred U'wa indigenous
lands, but abandoned a direct role in that drilling effort
after intense
international criticism and local
resistance. Occidental has been a
chief architect of
U.S. foreign policy toward Colombia, which continues
to
reward the company--despite its track
record--with
increasing U.S. military aid to protect its oil operations.
Lawmakers
granted some $131 million in U.S. military aid
in 2003,
and $110 million is proposed in 2004 for the protection of
OXY's Caño Limon pipeline. This unprecedented corporate
subsidy of $3.58
a barrel is a handsome payoff for
OXY's aggressive lobbying efforts and
political
contributions.
"The evidence
in this lawsuit validates what human rights and
environmental groups have been saying all along?that OXY is
a morally
bankrupt company that directly perpetrates
human rights abuses. It's an
outrage that U.S.
taxpayers are footing the bill for such a lawless
corporation," said Kevin Koenig of Amazon Watch. Posted on
Thu, Apr. 24,
2003
3. Human rights groups sue Occidental over 1998 Colombia
bombing
PAUL CHAVEZ
Associated
Press
LOS ANGELES
-International human rights groups filed a federal lawsuit
Thursday against Occidental Petroleum and one of its
security
contractors over a 1998 bombing that killed 17
civilians in a Colombian
village.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S.
District Court on behalf of Luis Alberto
Galvis Mujica,
who allegedly was forced into exile after his mother,
sister and cousin were killed Dec. 13, 1998, when a cluster
bomb was
dropped on the village of Santo Domingo.
The lawsuit names Los
Angeles-based Occidental and Rockledge, Fla.-based
Airscan Inc., an aviation security firm, as defendants and
accuses the
companies of aiding the raid with the
Colombian military.
Employees
of Airscan, which provided aerial surveillance for
Occidental's Cano Limon oil pipeline, accompanied the
Colombian air
force during the bombing and helped
pinpoint ground targets, the lawsuit
alleged.
Occidental was accused of helping Airscan and the military plan
the attack.
A telephone call to a spokesman for Occidental was not
immediately
returned. A lawyer for Airscan also did not
immediately return a phone
call seeking comment.
It is the latest lawsuit to invoke
the Alien Tort Claims Act against a
U.S. company for
alleged violations that occurred in a foreign country.
The law allows a foreign national to sue in U.S. courts for
damages when
international laws have been violated.
The bombing raid targeted rebels
in war torn Colombia who were
sabotaging Occidental's
pipeline, but no rebels were struck, the lawsuit
said.
"There's ample evidence that
in the bombing of civilians in Santo
Domingo, Colombia,
that Occidental Petroleum and the Airscan Corporation
were both involved and were working very closely with the
Colombia air
force to drop the bombs and that is a
violation of multiple provisions
of international law,"
said Doug Cassel, director of the Center for
International Human Rights at the Northwestern University
Law School,
and a pro bono lawyer for the plaintiff.
The Occidental case being
brought by Cassel's group and the
International Labor
Rights Fund raises questions about the role of the
U.S.
government and U.S. companies in Colombia, which has been mired in
a decades-long civil war, Cassel said.
"U.S. government and U.S.
corporations hope to somehow walk into the
middle of a
situation like that and come out with their hands clean,"
Cassel said. " ... Trying to muddle through is likely to
get them
implicated in human rights violations as it
appears to have done in this
case."
Amazon Watch, an environmental
group, said it will hold a protest at
Occidental's
annual stockholders meeting Friday and denounce the $110
million recently approved by Congress to provide security
for
Occidental's pipeline in Colombia.
The Colombia government in an
October 2002 report that was not released
publicly
faulted a Colombian helicopter pilot and a crewman for dropping
the bomb that killed the Santo Domingo civilians.
The Alien Tort Claims Act also has
been invoked in a federal lawsuit
filed on behalf of
indigenous farmers of Myanmar who alleged that El
Segundo-based Unocal Corp. was involved in human rights
violations
carried out by the country's military.
A federal judge had dismissed the
Unocal case, first brought in 1996,
but a three-judge
panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal in
September reinstated the lawsuit. The court's action was
appealed and 11
judges of the appellate court will hear
the case in June to determine if
Unocal should face a
civil trial.
Unocal has
strongly denied allegations that it was complicit in slavery,
murder and rape carried out by the military, which provided
security for
the company's pipeline venture with
Myanmar, formerly called Burma.
from Defenders of Wildlife April 25, 2003
There is a major effort underway
to exempt the Department of
Defense from certain parts
of some our nation's most important laws
protecting
imperiled species, whales and dolphins and the
environment and public health and safety. These laws
include: the
Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal
Protection Act, Clean Air
Act, Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act, and Superfund.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Your member of Congress sits on a
key committee that will soon act
on these exemptions.
Please send a fax to your
representative/Senator today
and urge them to oppose any
legislation that would
exempt the Defense Department's from
critical
environmental protection laws. Thanks for support our
nation's most important environmental laws.
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
LETTER:
Dear Representative/Senator:
I urge you to oppose any
legislative action that would exempt the
Department of
Defense from provisions of two of our nation's most
important wildlife protection laws – the Endangered Species
Act and
the Marine Mammal Protection Act. It
makes no sense to allow the
military to harm or kill
imperiled species and sensitive marine
mammals when
alternatives exist that would permit military training
and testing to proceed while still protecting these
animals.
I also urge you to
oppose any legislation that would exempt the
Defense
Department from key provisions of environmental and public
health laws including the Clean Air Act, Resource
Conservation and
Recovery Act, and Superfund. These are
important federal laws that
help our children and
communities keep safe from hazardous waste
and
pollutants in the air.
Federal
law already allows the Defense Department to obtain
exemptions from all of these laws on a case by case basis
when
national security is at stake. I support the U.S.
military,
especially in its efforts to protect our
national security. But no
federal agency should be
above the law, especially the laws that
protect our
children and communities from toxic pollutants and
conserve rare and sensitive creatures. 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.
from The Ocean Conservancy April 28, 2003
Marine mammals are being threatened by Congressional
action on the Defense Authorization Act. The Department
of Defense has proposed amendments to the Marine Mammal
Protection Act (MMPA) that would change its definition
of harassment, modify the process for permitting the
incidental harassment, injury, or killing of marine
mammals (also known as "take"), and create broad exemptions
for military readiness activities: all of which would
add up to a significant decrease in the protection
for marine mammals.
Please respond today and let your Congressperson and
Senator know that you do not believe these exemptions
to our nation's environmental laws are necessary and
specifically that you do not support exemptions to
the MMPA.
You can take action on this alert and learn more about
what is at stake via the web at:
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/DoDMMPA/wkwxs54v7835de
Or via email by simply by selecting the "reply to sender"
option in your email browser.
Visit the web address below to tell your friends about
this.
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/DoDMMPA/forward/wkwxs54v7835de
We encourage you to take action by May 15, 2003
Your letter will be addressed and sent to:
Your Congressperson and Your Senators
----THIS LETTER WILL BE SENT IN YOUR NAME----
***To Make Edits to the Sample Letter, Please Visit
the Alert Website and Make Changes in the Letter Edit
Window***
Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here],
As your constituent, I urge you to oppose any environmental
exemptions in the Defense Authorization Act or related
appropriations legislation. I believe our nation's
environment laws should apply to all Americans, in
all of our endeavors. I am a strong supporter of national
security, but I do not believe we need to weaken conservation
laws to have a strong national defense.
I am particularly concerned that the Department of
Defense is seeking to exempt itself from key provisions
of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). The proposed
changes would significantly weaken the MMPA by modifying
the definition of "harassment;" providing new authority
for blanket exemptions from the MMPA; and eliminating
existing restrictions on the number of and geographic
areas where marine mammals may be harassed or injured
as a result of military actions.
Our current regulations provide for case-by-case determinations
to ensure that both military readiness and environmental
protections are achieved. Instead of enacting broad
legislative changes to the MMPA, I urge you to encourage
federal agencies to make better use of the existing
provisions by increasing current staffing and funding
levels and improving coordination and communication
among those agencies.
Please do not support any of the proposed exemptions
from our nation's environmental laws in the Defense
Authorization Act.
Thank you for considering my views.
----END OF LETTER TO BE SENT----
Sincerely,
ETC Group
News Release
April 28, 2003
www.etcgroup.org
Monsanto's Species-Wide Patent on Trial:
May 6-7, European Patent Office Hears Patent Challenge in Munich
- Eight and One-Half Years Later!
Remember 1994? Nine years ago: Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin, and Shimon Peres won the Nobel Peace Prize, Nelson Mandela was elected President of South Africa, US President Bill Clinton sent ground troops to the Persian Gulf to counter a move by Iraq's Saddam Hussein, and Brazil won the World Cup. The United Nations' Biodiversity Convention entered into force in 1994 and the Uruguay Round of GATT was drawing to a close. In the "life sciences" cosmos, Monsanto and Dupont were chemical companies with minor interests in seeds and Syngenta did not yet exist. ETC Group was known as RAFI. Also in 1994, a small biotech subsidiary of W.R. Grace, Agracetus, won a breathtakingly broad patent on all genetically modified soybean varieties, European Patent No. 301,749.
On May 6-7, 2003, almost nine years after ETC Group (formerly known as RAFI) officially challenged Agracetus/W.R. Grace's patent monopoly on all genetically modified soybeans, the European Patent Office will hold an oral hearing to decide the fate of one of agbiotech's most notorious patents. It was the emergence of species-wide patents on soybeans and cotton in the early 1990s that first galvanized governments, scientists and CSOs to seriously question the morality and ethics of intellectual property in the early 1990s. (1)
Specious Species Patent: On March 2, 1994 a US-based biotech company, Agracetus (then-subsidiary of W.R. Grace & Co.), won a European patent on all genetically engineered soybean varieties and seeds (regardless of the genes used) and all methods of transformation (one of the patent's claims actually extends beyond soya to other plant species!).(2) Even biotech industry insiders were stunned by W.R. Grace's sweeping patent monopoly on one of the world's major food crops. ETC Group, with the support of 18 civil society organizations worldwide, filed formal opposition to the patent in December 1994.
ETC Group's 1994 "Notice of Opposition Against European Patent No. 301,749" is available here: http://www.etcgroup.org/documents/occ_vol1_5.pdf
"ETC Group believes that EPO must throw out Monsanto's patent because it is technically flawed and morally unacceptable," said Jim Thomas, the UK-based Programme Officer of ETC Group. "We don't want the patent pruned - we want it revoked," said Thomas. "After waiting nine years to get an oral hearing, we are firm in our conviction that intellectual property jeopardizes world food security, undermines conservation and use of biodiversity, and increases the economic insecurity of farming communities. Instead of promoting innovation, intellectual property is stifling research, limiting competition and thwarting new discoveries," said Thomas.
At the European Patent Office in Munich, ETC Group will be represented by Mr. Daniel Alexander, a London-based barrister specializing in intellectual property law. Mr. Alexander served as a commissioner on the United Kingdom's Commission on Intellectual Property Rights. In Munich, ETC Group will join Greenpeace and other civil society organizations that are actively involved in opposing the patent. Stephan Geene, an activist who cooperates with Greenpeace, was also among the original patent challengers in 1994. The EPO has taken the unusual step of scheduling two days for the hearing and has indicated that it will move to a bigger room to accommodate the interested parties.
Musical monopoly chairs: ETC Group and Stephan Geene were not the only parties to challenge the soybean patent back in 1994. We were joined by agrochemical and seed industry giants who feared the patent would arrest soybean research worldwide, including: Sandoz, Ciba Geigy, Monsanto, Dekalb, Pioneer Hi-Bred. Where are they now? Sandoz and Ciba Geigy merged to become Novartis in 1996, Monsanto took over Dekalb in 1998, and DuPont acquired Pioneer Hi-Bred in 1999. RAFI changed its name to ETC Group in 2001.
Monsanto's About-Face: In 1994 Monsanto submitted an exhaustive, 292-page opposition statement that shredded the technical merits of Agracetus's soybean patent. Monsanto's lawyers wrote that the soybean patent should be "revoked in its entirety," is "not... novel", "lacks an inventive step," and "sufficient disclosure [of scientific method] is woefully lacking." But when Monsanto acquired Agracetus in April 1996, it withdrew its challenge, reversed its position and announced that it would defend its newly-acquired patent!(3)
Soybean Superpower: Back in 1994, genetically modified soybeans were not yet commercially available. In 1996, Monsanto acquired the Agracetus company and its soybean patent - just one of many biotech companies and patents Monsanto would devour in its binge buying to gain supremacy in ag biotech.
Last year, Monsanto accounted for all of the GM soya seed planted worldwide -- occupying 36.5 million hectares in 2002 - that's over half of the 72 million hectares devoted to all soybeans worldwide. In other words, Monsanto's exclusive monopoly claims extend to more than one-half of the soya crop - one of the world's most important food feed and oilseed crops.(4) Worldwide, the commercial soybean market was valued at over $22 billion in 2001. (5)
"The statistics speak for themselves," said Hope Shand, Research Director of ETC Group. "Monsanto is the world's only GM soybean superpower, a single company has been awarded monopoly control over one of the world's most important food crops." "The existence of EP No. 301,749 has been and remains a strong deterrent to any competition trying to challenge Monsanto's dominance in GM soybean research and markets," said Shand.
"We realize that Monsanto's species-wide soybean patent is just one of the factors behind Monsanto's present-day monopoly on GM soybeans, but this is a dangerous precedent that cannot be allowed to stand," explained Shand.
While soya is a relatively minor crop in Europe, it is a major commodity in other regions, including China, India, Argentina, Brazil and North America. If Monsanto's patent is allowed to stand, it could set a dangerous precedent. Even the United States government struck-down the species-wide cotton patent, and refused to allow broad claims on all GM soybeans.(6) Now, nine years later, it's time for the EPO to act!
ETC Group will join Greenpeace Germany at a press conference in Munich on Monday, 5 May, 11:00 hrs, the day before the EPO hearing on Monsanto's patent. Hope Shand and Jim Thomas of ETC Group will attend the EPO hearing and will be available to respond to media inquiries.
For more information:
Hope Shand, ETC Group (USA) hope@etcgroup.org -- 919 960-5223
Jim Thomas, ETC Group (UK) jim@etcgroup.org -- cell: 44 (0)7752 106806
Silvia Ribeiro, ETC Group (Mexico) siliva@etcgroup.org -- from outside Mexico City: +52 55 2653 3330 Calling within Mexico City: 44 55 2653 3330
Hope Shand and Jim Thomas can be reached in Munich, May 5-7, cell: 44 7752
106806
For additional information about the press conference in Munich, please contact:
Uli Brendel, Greenpeace Germany Ulrike.Brendel@greenpeace.de
Phone: + 49-171-87 80 844 (cell)
The Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration, formerly RAFI, is an international civil society organization headquartered in Canada. The ETC group is dedicated to the advancement of cultural and ecological diversity and human rights. www.etcgroup.org. The ETC group is also a member of the Community Biodiversity Development and Conservation Programme (CBDC). The CBDC is a collaborative experimental initiative involving civil society organizations and public research institutions in 14 countries. The CBDC is dedicated to the exploration of community-directed programmes to strengthen the conservation and enhancement of agricultural biodiversity. The CBDC website is www.cbdcprogram.org .
Endnotes:
1 For example, ETC Group (then RAFI) participated in the Crucible Group, a non-consensus process involving governments, industry, scientists, CSOs and indigenous peoples from North and South, to examine policy issues related to biodiversity and intellectual property.
2 The claims of the patent are 1-25. Claims 1-16 are to methods of making 'genetically transformed' soybean plants using a particle accelerator (gene gun). Claims 17-20 are to 'genetically transformed' soybean seeds, however produced. Claim 21 is to seed claimed in claim 17 obtainable by a method claimed in any of claims 1-16. Claim 24 is to a method of making 'a genetically transformed line of plants' (any plants, not just soybean plants) by the processes defined in claims 1-17, followed by growing the transformed plant to produce seed, self-pollinating the seed, growing it and assaying its progeny. Claim 25 is to applying this process to soybeans.
3 ETC Group (then as RAFI) reported on the reversal in the July/August 1996 Communique, available on the Internet: http://www.etcgroup.org/article.asp?newsid=199
4 Based on statistics available on Monsanto's website (www.monsanto.com) and statistics on global GM area provided by ISAAA (www.isaaa.com).
5 According to FAO Statistical Databases, 2001. www.fao.org
6 The US equivalent of the Monsanto EPO patent, is US patent no. 5,015,580. It is much narrower than the European patent. Claims are only to processes of transforming soybeans and soybean lines. There are no independent product claims, and no claims to transforming plants other than soybeans. US patent no. 5,159,135, the Agracetus' species-wide claim on all GM cotton, was revoked by the US Patent & Trademark Office after being re-examined in 1994.