|
|
To: All Activists
From: Tiernan
Sittenfeld, US PIRG
Date: April 30, 2002
Subject: Roadless Area Protection
Call In Day Tomorrow
PLEASE
CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 1ST, AND URGE THEM TO
BECOME ORIGINAL COSPONSORS OF THE "NATIONAL FOREST ROADLESS
AREA
CONSERVATION ACT!" YOU CAN CALL THE
CAPITOL SWITCHBOARD TOLL FREE AT
888-223-4066 OR AT
202-224-3121 AND ASK FOR YOUR REPRESENTATIVES OR CALL
THEIR OFFICES DIRECTLY.
Our cosponsor drive is off to a great start, but we want to
get as many
original cosponsors onto the bill as we can
in the next few days. Please
call your Representative
and any other Members of your state delegation
who you
think would be interested in cosponsoring the bill and ask them
to sign on in order to represent the wishes of the American
people who
want to protect our last wild
places. Even if your Representative is
already on the bill, please call and thank him or her.
Please call this
Wednesday, May 1st, and urge your
friends and colleagues to call as
well.
SAMPLE RAP (please adjust this as
you see you fit):
Hi, my name is _____ and I'm a constituent calling from
_______ (city or
town). I'm calling to ask
Representative _______ to become an original
cosponsor
of the National Forest Roadless Area Conservation Act.
This bill would simply codify the
roadless rule that was shaped by the
greatest outreach
in federal rulemaking history, including the more than
2.2 million comments submitted by the American
public. The
administration has failed to
implement the roadless rule, so we're
looking to
Congress to help protect our last wild places.
Will Representative _______ sign
on before May 8th? (If the staffer
says the
Member is already on, just say thank you.)
For more information please see http://www.americanlands.org/ or
http://www.ourforests.org Thanks!
Steve
Holmer
Campaign Coordinator
American Lands
726 7th Street SE
Washington, D.C. 20003
202/547-9105
202/547-9213 fax
mailto:wafcdc@americanlands.org
http://www.americanlands.org
1. CALL-IN DAY, TOMORROW!
2. TONGASS
WILDERNESS PLAN TO BE ISSUED BY MID MAY
3. JUDGE ORDERS
CONTINUED BAN ON MOST HARVESTING IN THE TONGASS
****
WILD
FORESTS CALL-IN DAY – WEDNESDAY, MAY 1
Just ONE FREE CALL
Helps Protect Roadless Areas in the Tongass and Chugach National Forests and
other wild forests nationwide. (Phone number and sample message included below.)
With the Bush Administration still
dragging its heels nearly a year after its pledge to implement the National
Roadless Area Conservation Rule, Congress is ready to say enough is enough and
ensure the Roadless Rule takes effect. The Roadless Rule protects the last
remaining untouched, unprotected wild areas of America’s National Forests –
one-quarter of which are within the Tongass and Chugach in
Alaska. Alaska’s rainforest has the most to gain from roadless
protection and the most to lose by anti-conservation
rollbacks. America’s National Forests in Alaska have the most
existing logging roads, the most areas without roads, and face the overwhelming
threat of 33 timber sales in roadless areas that should be protected by the
Rule.
In the next few weeks,
leaders in the House of Representatives will introduce legislation to codify the
Roadless Rule. Led by Reps. Jay Inslee (D, WA-1) and Sherwood Boehlert (R,
NY-23), the drive is on to get as many original cosponsors onto the bill as
possible in the next few days and you can help!
On WEDNESDAY, MAY 1 wild forest supporters from across the
country will be participating in a CALL-IN DAY to urge their Representatives to
become original cosponsors of the “National Forest Roadless Area Conservation
Act.” Take part by calling the Capitol switchboard TOLL FREE at 888-223-4066 or
at 202-224-3121. Ask for your Representative and tell them you want their
support on the bill. (Don't worry if you miss the May 1 date - go ahead and call
in. Every call counts!)
Sample
message:
Hi, my name is _____
and I'm a constituent calling from _______ (city or town). I'm
calling to ask Representative _______ to become an original cosponsor of the
National Forest Roadless Area Conservation Act. This bill would
simply codify the roadless rule that was shaped by the greatest outreach in
federal rulemaking history, including the more than 2.2 million comments
submitted by the American public. The administration has failed to
implement the roadless rule, so we're looking to Congress to protect our last
wild places including the Chugach and Tongass National Forests in Alaska, the
crown jewels of the National Forest System. Will Representative
_______ sign on before May 8th? (If the staffer says the Member is
already on, just say thank you.) Thanks!
****
TONGASS
WILDERNESS PLAN TO BE ISSUED BY MID MAY
According to reports from the Tongass National Forest
supervisor’s office, the Tongass Wilderness Plan will be issued by mid-May,
commencing a 90-day public comment period.
We will alert everyone as soon as we are made aware of the
exact date of the release. In the meantime, we still have limited quantities
available – free of charge – of fact sheets and pre-printed postcards that
organizations and individuals can use to participate in the comment period. If
you and/or your organization are interested in receiving a supply of the
postcards, please contact Laurie Cooper (laurie@alaskacoalition.org) with your
request in multiples of 20 for the postcard and/or flyer.
Background:
The development of a new Tongass Wilderness Plan will
provide Alaska Wilderness supporters with the opportunity to help safeguard the
remaining unprotected temperate rainforest wildlands on the Tongass National
Forest. By court order, the U.S. Forest Service has had to revisit its
management blueprint for the Tongass National Forest. Originally developed in
1997, the Tongass Land Management Plan (TLMP) was ruled illegal because it
failed to consider new wildlands eligible for long-term protection under the
National Wilderness Preservation System. As a result, the USFS will issue a
supplemental plan which we expect to include an Alaska Rainforest Conservation
alternative. Stay tuned for information on how you can participate in the
upcoming 90-day public comment period.
*****
NEWS ON THE TONGASS: Judge's order continues to bar harvest
in most Tongass wilderness
04/28/2002 - Associated Press Newswires
Copyright 2002. The Associated
Press. All Rights Reserved.
Judge allows
limited Tongass timber harvests
KETCHIKAN (AP) - Right-of-way clearing for the Swan
Lake-Lake Tyee electrical intertie and five other timber harvests on the Tongass
National Forest can proceed, according to a ruling Friday by U.S. District Court
Judge James K. Singleton.
They
were the only exemptions granted by Singleton in an injunction that otherwise
prohibits the U.S. Forest Service from permitting timber harvest or road
building in roadless areas until 45 days after the agency completes the final
supplemental environmental impact study ordered by Singleton in March 2001.
The agency has said the supplemental
environmental impact statement should be finished later this year.
The five timber sales to proceed are
the Upper Carroll, South Lindy, Four Leaf, South Arm and King George, according
to the Forest Service.
The sales
contain about 62 million board feet of timber in the Craig, Ketchikan and
Wrangell areas.
The ruling is
similar to what the industry and Forest Service had requested at a hearing
earlier this year.
Singleton
ruled a year ago that the Forest Service violated federal law when it failed to
consider some areas for wilderness designation in issuing the 1997 Tongass Land
Management Plan. At the time, he issued an injunction that halted logging on the
Tongass. He lifted it two months later, pending a hearing on the issue.
At the February hearing,
conservation groups argued that an injunction would protect high-value
wilderness from irreparable harm.
Tom Waldo, attorney for the environmental law firm
Earthjustice, said the environmental groups in the case are pleased with
Friday's order, although it didn't go as far as they had hoped.
"It gives some breathing room ... so
there's some possibility of protecting these areas in the wilderness
review that's taking place right now," Waldo said.
The order Friday may not stop the Forest Service from
planning timber sales in areas under review for wilderness designation, but
would stop a decision in such cases, Waldo said.
Pat Veesart, executive director of the Sitka Conservation
Society, said his group is focusing its attention on the wilderness review.
"Can the Forest Service make a fair
decision on these areas while they are simultaneously planning timber sales in
them?" he asked. "We'll see."
Singleton's ruling comes at a critical time for Southeast
Alaska's timber industry, said Alaska Forest Association President George
Woodbury, who runs a forest products consulting business in Wrangell. Timber
companies are preparing to enter the woods to replenish their wood supply, he
said.
"I think we're in good
shape for the shape we're in," he said. "Winter inventory is getting low and
interruptions would be difficult. We're very happy to have that decision."
Right-of-way clearing for the
57-mile Swan Lake-Lake Tyee electric intertie is scheduled to start this summer.
The overland power line will connect Ketchikan with Petersburg and Wrangell.
Copyright (c) 2002 Dow Jones &
Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
*****
Greenpeace's
Positive Energy
Newsletter
April 22-28, 2002
v
2.14
Time for Greenpeace’s CLEAN
ENERGY NOW! campaign’s
weekly good news update!!!
Inside this edition:
- New Hampshire First State to Tackle Global Warming
- CEC to Fund Feasibility Study of Ocean-Based Energy
Systems
- Never Too Young to Be
Involved
+ + + + +
New Hampshire First State to Tackle Global Warming
New Hampshire lawmakers became the
first in the country to
pass a law to reduce global
warming. The measure is aimed
at reducing
emissions of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide,
and
nitrogen oxide – thus addressing global warming, acid
rain, smog and airborne mercury poisoning contributions by
fossil-fuel power plants. Although some
environmentalists
have opposed a part of the bill that
allows credit-trading
with out-of-state utilities for
those unable to cut local
emissions by 2007, others have
supported the plan and
called the compromise a major
step forward. Even though
the new rules for emissions
pale in comparison to the Kyoto
Protocol, the measure
will serve as a model for other
states and the federal
government to follow New
Hampshire’s initiative and take
action in curbing our role
in climate change.
To read more about New Hampshire’s
initiative, go to:
http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2002/2002L-04-22-06.html
and
http://www.cmonitor.com/stories/news/local2002/clean_air_law7466_2002.shtml
+ + + + +
CEC to Fund Feasibility Study of Ocean-Based Energy Systems
In the near future, California
could be using ocean-wave
energy systems to meet some of
its energy needs. The
prospects of using wave
actions to generate electrical
energy is not new by any
means, Pacific Gas & Electric Company released a report in 1991 looking into
potential energy conversion of wave energy into usable energy. With
funding from the California Energy Commission, a group
of researchers and experts will survey the California coast to study the
feasibility of using sea swells as a potential
source of
renewable energy in the upcoming weeks. Initial
assessments indicate a potential of 23,000 MW of ocean-
based electricity could be generated along the northern
coast alone, making this technology appealing to conscious
energy users and advocates who want California to adopt
a
diverse clean energy portfolio. Although wave energy
is
effectively non-polluting, there are environmental
considerations that still have to be explored, including
its impact on sea life. In addition, there are still a
few technical challenges that will need to be overcome
to
make this concept economically competitive with
traditional
sources of energy. Even so,
experts are excited about the reality of establishing wave-energy electricity
converters in the near future – the World Energy Council estimates
that the equivalent of twice the global electricity
production could be harvested from the world’s oceans.
Check out this animation showing how
wave energy works:
http://www.techreview.com/articles/visualize0102.asp
+ + + + +
Never Too Young to Be Involved
Not sure if kids can be committed,
effective activists?
Well South Australian Premier Mike
Rann recently announced
that his 11-year-old daughter
convinced him to
go "green" and we believe kids can help
convince their
fellow Californians to go "green" as
well.
More and more, we, at
Greenpeace, hear from kids who want
to get involved, and
we would like to remind our readers
that Greenpeace does
have a Volunteer Network in the
San Francisco/Bay Area.
There are plenty of opportunities
for people of all ages
to work with other Southern
California activists and
political teams or along side
Greenpeace campaigners in
our San Francisco office.
If interested, please contact Ashby Smith, our Outreach
Coordinator, by phone at:
(415) 255.9221 x 314
or via email
at:
ashby.smith@sfo.greenpeace.org.
---------------------------------------
The "Positive Energy" newsletter and our website, http://www.cleanenergynow.org, will give you good news
about ways to achieve clean air, climate justice, and renewable energy solutions
to our ongoing energy crisis.
DEN Alert:
Help Protect Our Oceans from Overfishing
A U.S. House committee is about to consider legislation to
stop the
overfishing of our oceans. America's ocean fish
are at serious risk.
Nearly half of all federally
managed U.S. fish populations are at
dangerously low
levels. The fishing industry now has the capacity
to
catch and kill more fish than the oceans can produce. For every
pound of shrimp caught in the Gulf of Mexico, for example,
four
pounds of fish and other marine life are discarded,
dead or dying.
What's more, dredged or bottom-trawled
each year are areas roughly
150 times as large as all
the forests clear-cut worldwide. That is
damaging and
destroying essential fish habitat.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Please send your representative a
FREE fax and tell them there is a
solution - the
Fisheries Recovery Act of 2001 (H.R. 2570) This
legislation is good for the fish, other ocean wildlife,
fishermen,
and fishing communities because it promotes
long-term sustainable
fishing practices. The bill may be
considered as early as MAY 2,
so please send your fax
TODAY. Thanks for helping to protect our
precious marine
resources.
INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPOND VIA THE WEB:
If you have access to the web,
simply click on the link below which
will take you to
the DEN Action Center web site:
http://www.denaction.org
SAMPLE LETTER:
Dear Representative:
I am writing to urge you to
co-sponsor the Fisheries Recovery Act
of 2001, H.R.
2570. Our country's ocean fish are in crisis because
of government mismanagement. Nearly half of all
federally managed
U.S. fish populations are at
dangerously low levels. We now have
the fishing capacity
to catch more fish than the oceans can produce.
This, coupled with damaging fishing practices, has put more
than
30 federally managed fish species at risk of
extinction.
Instead of managing
our ocean resources primarily for extraction,
we must
put conservation first. The Fisheries Recovery Act of 2001
can help fix many of the problems with current
management. It
requires an end to overfishing
reduces the killing of ocean life
such as turtles, sea
birds and sharks, and will protect fish
habitats from
damaging fishing practices. H.R. 2570 also directs
fishery managers to consider the overall health of ocean
ecosystems
while making management decisions.
The future of America's fishing
communities, and our ocean
resources, depends on your
leadership. Please co-sponsor the
Fisheries
Recovery Act of 2001. Thank you for considering my
comments.
Sincerely,
___________________________________________________________
To SUBSCRIBE to DENlines, visit
Defenders' website at:
http://www.defenders.org/den or send an e-mail to
DEN@defenders.org and put the word SUBSCRIBE in the
subject line, and your name and address in the text
area.
___________________________________________________________
DENlines is a biweekly
publication of Defenders of Wildlife, a
leading national
conservation organization recognized as one of
the
nation's most progressive advocates for wildlife and its
habitat and known for its effective leadership on saving
endangered species such as brown bears and gray wolves.
Defenders
advocates new approaches to wildlife
conservation that protect
species before they become
endangered. Founded in 1947, Defenders
is a nonprofit
501(c)(3) organization with more than 480,000
members
and supporters.
Defenders
of Wildlife
1101
14th Street, NW, Suite 1400
Washington,
DC 20005
http://www.defenders.org
http://www.kidsplanet.org
Copyright
(c) 2002 by Defenders of Wildlife
Dear Members of Global Response's "Quick Response Network:"
(NOTE: If an ad appears at the
top of this message, we are as displeased as
you are.
We've asked Topica to stop this practice.)
Thanks to all who have sent letters to Kenyan government
officials
supporting Kenyan environmental and indigenous
organizations who are
struggling to save Kenya's
remaining forests. There's good news from
Nairobi: a court order halting the Kenyan government's plans
to excise some
70,000 hectares of forests, including
forest areas occupied by the
indigenous Ogiek
people. The order is temporary, but it is welcomed with
great relief by environmentalists in Kenya and around the
world.
For background on the
struggle and Global Response's Action Alert from
January
2002, please see
http://www.globalresponse.org/gra_index/gra0102.html.
For the good news, see IRIN
article dated 24 April, 2002, at
Http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=27444
********************************
Paula Palmer, Executive Director
Global Response
P.O. Box 7490
Boulder CO 80306
USA
TEL: 303-444-0306
FAX: 303-449-9794
Email: paula@globalresponse.org
Website: www.globalresponse.org
Global Response empowers people of all ages, cultures, and
nationalities to
protect the environment by creating
partnerships for effective citizen
action. At
the request of indigenous peoples and grassroots organizations,
Global Response organizes international letter-writing
campaigns to help
communities prevent environmental
destruction. Global Response involves
young
people as well as adults in these campaigns, to develop in them the
skills for global citizen cooperation and earth stewardship.
********************************
Paula Palmer, Executive Director
Global Response
P.O. Box 7490
Boulder CO 80306
USA
TEL: 303-444-0306
FAX: 303-449-9794
Email: paula@globalresponse.org
Website: www.globalresponse.org
Global Response empowers people of all ages, cultures, and
nationalities to
protect the environment by creating
partnerships for effective citizen
action. At
the request of indigenous peoples and grassroots organizations,
Global Response organizes international letter-writing
campaigns to help
communities prevent environmental
destruction. Global Response involves
young
people as well as adults in these campaigns, to develop in them the
skills for global citizen cooperation and earth
stewardship.
America's ocean fish are at serious risk because of
government mismanagement. We now have the capacity
to catch and kill more fish than the oceans can produce.
On May 2, a key subcommittee in the House of Representatives
will review draft fishery management legislation. We
need your help again to ensure strong fish management
reform and ocean protection measures receive the adequate
attention. Please let your Representative know you
care about the plight of our ocean fish and urge his/her
co-sponsorship of the Fisheries Recovery Act.
You can take action on this alert
either via email
(please see directions below) or via
the web at:
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/oceanfish/wkxwk74278xdjb
Visit the web address below and
tell your friends to
take action on this important
campaign!
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/oceanfish/forward/wkxwk74278xdjb
We encourage you to take action
by June 30, 2002
Act Now to Save
America's Ocean Fish
----------------------
America's ocean fish are at serious risk because of
government mismanagement. We now have the capacity
to catch and kill more fish than the oceans can produce.
In too many cases, federal fisheries managers react
to overfishing and other wasteful fishing practices
after it occurs, which increases the likelihood that
fish populations will remain depleted for years to
come.
The
House Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife
and Oceans will hold a hearing on legislative proposals
on fisheries management on May 2. With congressional
attention focused on fisheries management legislation,
we need your support to ensure that conservation of
ocean fish populations and ecosystems is our nation's
highest priority.
Consider these facts:
- 31 ocean
fish species have been so mismanaged that
they may go
extinct.
- The extent of our ocean fish problem is
largely unknown
because federal fisheries managers don't
even know
the status of 78% of our ocean fish
populations.
- For every pound of shrimp caught in the
Gulf of Mexico,
4 pounds of fish and other marine life
are discarded,
dead or dying.
-
An area roughly 150 times the size of the forests
clear-cut worldwide is dredged or bottom trawled each
year. This activity damages and destroys essential
fish habitat.
There is a solution - The Fisheries Recovery Act of
2001, H.R. 2570. The bill was introduced by Representative
Sam Farr of California. Sixty six other members of
Congress have signed on in support. This bill will
stop the overexploitation of our fish and put conservation
first. H.R. 2570 is good for the fish, other ocean
wildlife, fishermen, and fishing communities because
it promotes long-term sustainable fishing practices.
HR 2570 will:
1. stop overfishing
2.
reduce the killing of non-target fish and other
ocean
life
3. protect essential fish habitats from
damaging fishing
practices
4. require consideration of ecosystem needs when making
management decisions
5.
fund improved research and reporting
This is an important time to weigh in with your support
for fisheries management reform. Please let your
Representative
know you care about the plight of our
ocean fish and
urge his/her co-sponsorship of the
Fisheries Recovery
Act.
----------------------
INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPOND VIA THE WEB:
If you have access to a web browser, you can take action
on this alert by going to the following URL:
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/oceanfish/wkxwk74278xdjb
INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPOND VIA
EMAIL:
Just choose the "reply to sender" option on your
email
program, and edit the letter below as you wish. Do
not delete "-YOU MAY EDIT THE LETTER BELOW-" and "-END
OF LETTER-". Please do not add your name and address
to your letter. Our system automatically does this
for you.
We STRONGLY encourage you to make edits directly to
our sample letter below, and put the alert talking
points into your own words. An individualized letter
is worth ten computer generated letters. Of course,
hundreds of unedited letters will still create a large
impact, so please reply even if you don't have time
to personalize the letter.
Your letter will be addressed and sent to:
Representative Maurice Hinchey
-------YOU MAY EDIT THE LETTER
BELOW---------
Our nation's
ocean fish populations are under tremendous
stress. In
2000, a record-high number of ocean fish
stocks (107)
were overfished or experienced overfished
conditions. A
recent scientific report showed that
31
federally-managed ocean fish species are at risk
of
extinction. The nation's ocean environment, fishing
industry, and culture are at risk unless we seriously
take actions to ensure fish populations are sustainable.
Representative Gilchrest, the
chairman of the Fisheries,
Conservation and Ocean
Wildlife Subcommittee, is holding
a final hearing on
fish management legislative proposals
on May 2. With the
conclusion of the hearing process,
congressional
attention on fisheries management will
elevate.
As my U.S. representative, I ask you
to co-sponsor
H.R. 2570 - the Fisheries Recovery Act of
2001. This
bill will strengthen federal management of
our ocean
fisheries by addressing many of the problems
that have
contributed to fish population declines and
habitat
loss. It will improve basic fishery science by
involving
fishermen in a cooperative data gathering
approach,
stop overfishing, encourage use of fishing
gear that
does not damage habitats, and reduce the catch
of non-targeted
wildlife such as birds and turtles. Your
support of
H.R. 2570 will greatly help the effort to
make ocean
conservation a priority.
Ocean fisheries have played an
integral role in our
culture and economy for the entire
history of our nation.
The continued decline and
collapse of many historically
productive fisheries are
reminders that fish management
has not kept pace with
our capacity to exploit it.
We have a responsibility to
protect and manage our
fisheries so that the stocks
remain healthy and sustainable
fishing can continue into
the future. Thank you for
your consideration.
-------END OF
LETTER-------------------------
Sincerely yours,
Don’t Dump Waste in Our Waters
The Bush administration is about to change a Clean Water Act rule to give the Army Corps of Engineers the ability to issue permits allowing industries to dump waste materials into our nation’s waters, destroying many streams, rivers, lakes and wetlands.
The rule change is motivated by the Bush administration’s desire to promote mountaintop removal coal mining, where coal companies blow the tops off of mountains to reach seams of coal, then dump millions of tons of waste into nearby streams, burying them and killing all the animals and plants that live there. The new regulation would also allow hardrock mining operations and other industries to bury waters with their wastes.
Urge the President to uphold the Clean Water Act’s goal of protecting our nation’s waters and stop this rule change.
May 2002 Edition
In This Issue:
The full issue of EnviroAction is available at: www.nwf.org/enviroaction We look forward to receiving your feedback. Please email us at info@nwf.org or call us at 1-800-822-9919. To unsubscribe to NWF's EnviroAction newsletter,click here. Sign up here to receive NWF Action alerts and be notified when your help is most needed on critical conservation issues. click here. Click here to support NWF conservation efforts.  (c) 1996-2001 National Wildlife Federation. All rights reserved. Read more About NWF and Your PRIVACY. |
ETC Genotype
1 May 2002
www.etcgroup.org
ETC group responds to Purdue
University's recent efforts to promote genetic seed sterilization - or
Terminator -- as an environmental protection technology. The full response is
available on the ETC group website: http//www.etcgroup.org
Background:
An article by Purdue Agriculture Communications (distributed
by AScribe Newswire on April 19) quotes Purdue University professors and one
University of Oklahoma law professor who unabashedly promote Terminator
technology - claiming that it was developed as an environmental protection tool.
It is revisionist history, and a
cynical strategy, to suggest that Terminator was developed as a biosafety tool.
Civil society organizations and
farmers worldwide are alarmed and insulted by the campaign to promote Terminator
as a biosafety mechanism. It is unacceptable and dangerous to suggest that
agriculture is dependent on genetic seed sterilization as a method for
minimizing genetic pollution from genetically modified plants.
The promotion of Terminator seeds as
a "green" solution to GM pollution is the Trojan Horse of biotechnology. If
Terminator
technology wins market acceptance under the
guise of biosafety, it will be used as a monopoly tool to prevent farmers from
saving and re-using seed.
Most
of the over 800 million malnourished people on this planet live in rural areas
and depend upon farm-saved seed for their survival. Member nations of the Food
and Agriculture Organization should follow the leadership provided by FAO’s
Ethics Panel and its Director-General and pass a resolution condemning
Terminator technology.
To: All Activists
From: Steve
Holmer
Date: May 1, 2002
Harmful Stewardship Contracting and Biomass Provisions
Dropped from Farm Bill
First
of all, many thanks to all those who made calls or sent faxes or
emails to stop the stewardship contracting and biomass
provisions in the
Farm bill - it made a real
difference.
Second, sorry about the lame ads. Topica started
doing this without my
permission. I've asked
it to be stopped, but if they won't, we will be
moving
our list elsewhere and would recommend that all other non-profits
do the same.
House and Senate conferees were not able to reach agreement
on most of
the forest related language in the Farm
bill, and as a result, these
provisions including
stewardship contracting and biomass subsidies were
dropped from the bill. A vote on final
passage on the Farm bill could
occur as soon as
tomorrow.
This is a very
positive development, but we are expecting that the
stewardship contracting and biomass language could reappear
in the
coming months as a rider on the Interior
appropriations bill. So the
fight is
probably just beginning. We will continue tracking this issue
and will keep you posted on any new
developments.
For
now, many thanks are owed to Senate conferees who concluded that due
to the controversial nature of this program, it was
premature to change
its status from a pilot program
into permanent authority until the
existing pilots can
be fully reviewed and analyzed. Please fax a brief
note (on your organization's letterhead if possible)
thanking the
following Senators for their support and
hard work on the Farm bill to
protect the National
Forests.
Senator Fax Number
Sen. Tom Daschle 224-7895
Sen.
Tom Harkin 224-9287
Sen. Patrick Leahy 224-3479
Also please thank the following
Senators for their support for
responsible safeguards
in the stewardship program which were rejected by
the
House conferees.
Sen. Jeff
Bingaman 224-9026
Sen. Barbara Boxer 415-956-6701
Sen. Ron Wyden 228-2717
And once again, me deepest gratitude for all of your
outstanding work to
stop this dangerous
legislation.
Steve
Holmer
Campaign Coordinator
American Lands
726 7th Street SE
Washington, D.C. 20003
202/547-9105
202/547-9213 fax
mailto:wafcdc@americanlands.org
http://www.americanlands.org
Natural Resources Defense Council's
LEGISLATIVE WATCH
May 2, 2002
******************************
Please do not reply to this message. See the instructions
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Contents:
1) Legislative Watch
2) About Our Bulletins/How to Subscribe & Unsubscribe
3) About NRDC/How to Contact Us
The information in this bulletin
is also available on our website at
http://www.nrdc.org/legislation/legwatch.asp. The web
version links to
the text of bills and congressional
web pages. To take action on these
and other
environmental issues, visit NRDC's Earth Action Center at
http://www.nrdc.org/action, where you can use our
online activism
tools or subscribe to Earth Action, our
biweekly activist bulletin.
1)
LEGISLATIVE WATCH
This is a
status report on congressional action on the environment. To
make new or updated sections easy to find, we've
highlighted them
with:
= N O T
E ! =
5/2/02
The Senate passed its much-debated
energy bill, after defeating
amendments to open the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil
drilling. The
Senate is also beginning debate on trade legislation
that lacks protections for U.S. environmental laws. The
House will
soon take up a bill to designate Yucca
Mountain, Nevada, as the sole
repository for the
nation's high-level radioactive waste. The House is
also working on the Defense Authorization bill, which
currently
includes language that would exempt the
military from some
environmental laws.
...
Budget/Appropriations
On 3/20, on a party-line vote, the House passed a
Republican FY '03
budget resolution (H. Con. Res. 353)
that backs the Bush
administration's proposed cut of
$14 billion from environmental
programs over the next
five years. House Democratic leaders opposed
the cuts
in environmental priorities and offered amendments restoring
this funding in committee, but their efforts were defeated.
On 3/21,
the Senate Budget Committee considered a
Democratic resolution that
would restore and increase
environmental and natural resources funding
levels well
above those requested in the administration's budget
proposal. As the House and Senate are not likely to close
the gap
between their competing resolutions by mid-May,
they will likely pass
separate budget plans to guide
their work for the rest of the year.
See NRDC's analysis of the Bush budget.
http://www.nrdc.org/legislation/abudget03.asp
For a step-by-step guide to our
annual odyssey through resolutions,
reconciliations and
appropriations, see NRDC's budget process fact
sheet.
http://www.nrdc.org/legislation/fbudg.asp
...
Clean Air and Energy
= N O T E ! =
On 4/25, the Senate
passed the Energy Policy Act of 2002 (S. 517)
after
rejecting, on 4/18, amendments from Sen. Murkowski (R-AK) and
Sen. Stevens (R-AK) to open the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge to oil
drilling by votes of 46-54 and 36-64,
respectively. As originally
written, the energy bill
would have improved energy efficiency and
expanded the
use of clean renewable energy sources. But amendments on
the Senate floor altered the bill dramatically, gutting
vehicle fuel
economy improvements, exempting certain
oil and gas industry
operations from federal drinking
water protections, and extending
government protection
against liability to the nuclear industry.
Additional
amendments in the final days of debate further weakened the
bill by removing a strong energy efficiency standard for
air
conditioners, allowing incineration of garbage to
qualify as a
renewable energy source, and including
language to shield renewable
fuel producers from legal
challenges if their gasoline additives are
later found
to be harmful to public health or the environment. The
Senate dealt an additional blow to efforts to increase
vehicle fuel
efficiency when it rejected, by a vote of
57-42, an amendment by Sen.
Carper (D-DE) and Sen.
Specter (R-PA) that would have directed the
Department
of Transportation to cut the amount of oil passenger cars
and light trucks consume by one million barrels per day by
2015.
= N O T E ! =
The House and Senate energy bills differ significantly,
most notably
in that the House bill (H.R. 4) would
allow oil drilling in the Arctic
refuge. Unlike the
House bill, the Senate includes a provision
increasing
the use of renewable fuels -- mostly ethanol -- in gasoline
by five billion gallons by 2012. [Note -- The last edition
of
Legislative Watch incorrectly referred to five
billion 'barrels,'
instead of 'gallons,' of renewable
fuel. NRDC regrets the error and
apologizes to our
readers for any confusion.] The Senate bill also
would
ban MTBE (a gasoline additive that has contaminated drinking
water), require companies to report their emissions of
greenhouse
gases, and require electric providers to
produce 4-5 percent of their
energy from new, renewable
resources. The House bill includes over $33
billion in
tax incentives that are largely for the oil, coal, and
nuclear energy industries. The Senate bill includes $15
billion in
incentives, about half of which would be
available to improve energy
efficiency in vehicles,
appliances, and buildings, as well as to
increase the
use of solar, wind, and other cleaner alternative energy
sources. House and Senate conference committee members will
likely
need several months to negotiate a compromise
bill.
= N O T E ! =
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee expects
to consider
S. 556, a bill co-authored by committee
chair Sen. Jeffords (I-VT) and
Sen. Lieberman (D-CT),
at the end of May. The bill seeks to reduce
four types
of power plant emissions by imposing mandatory cuts in
carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and mercury
emissions.
No action has been taken on the House
companion bill (H.R. 1256),
which was introduced on
3/27/01 by Rep. Waxman (D-CA) and Rep.
Boehlert (R-NY).
The Bush administration opposes regulating carbon
dioxide emissions, arguing that the costs on the economy
would be too
high. The administration has announced a
proposal that would regulate
only three of the four
worst power plant pollutants, reversing a Bush
campaign
promise to regulate carbon dioxide, a key greenhouse gas that
contributes to global warming.
NRDC has detailed an energy policy that would provide a
secure energy
future without destroying wilderness or
rolling back environmental
safeguards in reports
including Dangerous Addiction: Ending America's
Oil
Dependence
(http://www.nrdc.org/air/transportation/oilsecurity/securityinx.asp)
and A Responsible Energy Policy for the 21st Century
(http://www.nrdc.org/air/energy/rep/repinx.asp).
...
Clean Water
= N O T E ! =
On 4/24, the House
Resources Committee approved H.R. 3908, Rep.
Hansen's
(R-UT) bill to reauthorize the North American Wetlands
Conservation Act, which has served to restore and preserve
wetlands
throughout the United States, Mexico, and
Canada since 1989. The bill
includes two amendments
from Rep. Gilchrest (R-MD) -- one would
increase
funding for the act's programs from $250 million to $325
million over five years, while the other would shift about
20 percent
of funding from projects outside the United
States to those within the
country.
= N O T E ! =
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee postponed
a session
to consider The Water Investment Act of 2002
(S. 1961), a bill
introduced on 2/15 by Sens. Graham
(D-FL), Jeffords (I-VT), Smith
(R-NH), Warner (R-VA),
and Crapo (R-ID), that would authorize
significant
increases in funding for cleaner water. Environmental
groups are seeking to ensure that the bill provides
incentives for
states and cities to fund water quality
projects that are good for the
environment, such as
stream buffers, wetlands protection, stormwater
controls, and smart growth initiatives. The bill may be
taken up on
5/2. On 3/20, the House Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee
considered the House companion
bill, The Water Quality Financing Act
of 2002 (H.R.
3930), sponsored by Rep. Duncan (R-TN). This bill would
increase the level of funding available to states for clean
water
projects under the Clean Water Act by $1 billion
per year, up to a
total of $6 billion in 2007. The
White House objects to the cost of
these bills,
claiming that it needs the money to fund the war on
terrorism.
...
Climate Change
On 4/17, the House Science Committee held a hearing to
address the
funding and direction of federal climate
science and technology
programs. Rep. Boehlert (R-NY),
committee chair, addressed the
administration's
proposal to create and fund two new research
programs,
the Climate Change Research Initiative and the National
Climate Change Technology Initiative, voicing concern that
the
programs are not yet clearly defined. Researchers
testifying at the
hearing stressed the need for better
coordination between the
scientists who conduct climate
change research and develop related
technologies and
consumers, policymakers, and industry.
...
Endangered Species
On 3/20, the House Resources Committee held a hearing on
two bills
that would modify the Endangered Species Act,
making it harder for the
government to protect
endangered and threatened species. Rep. Walden's
(R-OR)
H.R. 2829 and Rep. Pombo's (R-CA) H.R. 3705 would impose a
higher burden on federal agencies to obtain additional
scientific
information on species and mandate
additional review of that data,
resulting in delay and
additional hurdles before protections could be
put in
place.
...
International Environmental
Protections
= N O T E ! =
On 4/26, the Senate began debate on H.R. 3009, a bill to
lower tariffs
imposed on some products from South
American nations. The bill is
expected to expand into a
larger trade measure that will include
language
granting "fast track" authority to the president to negotiate
new trade agreements. Sen. Kerry (D-MA) plans to offer an
amendment to
the bill that would strengthen its
environmental and public health
protections. On
12/6/01, after intense lobbying by the White House and
House Republican leaders, the House, by one vote, passed a
corresponding trade authority bill (H.R. 3005)
introduced by Rep.
Thomas (R-CA). Democratic leaders,
as well as environmental, consumer,
social justice, and
labor groups, opposed H.R. 3005 because it fails
to
ensure adequate environmental and labor standards and could
undermine current protections.
...
Lands
= N O T E ! =
House and Senate negotiators reconciled the final
differences between
the House and Senate versions of
the farm bill, H.R. 2646 and S. 1731,
respectively, on
5/1. The final bill would encourage farming on
ecologically fragile lands, allow hundreds of projects that
would
expand logging in national forests, and authorize
up to $450,000
apiece in taxpayer subsidies to factory
farms, whose waste management
practices pose
environmental and health threats (environmentalists had
called for stronger limits on these subsidies). Overall,
funding for
conservation programs totaled $17.1 billion
of the $73.5 billion bill.
The House and Senate are
scheduled to debate and vote on the final
bill today.
On 3/20, the House Resources
Committee approved, on a mostly
party-line vote of
23-18, H.R. 2114, Rep. Simpson's (R-ID) National
Monument Fairness Act. The bill is opposed by Democrats on
the
committee because it would restrict the president's
authority to
create national monuments under the
Antiquities Act by requiring
congressional consent
within two years after a president designates
any
national monument over 50,000 acres, thereby preventing quick
presidential action to protect significant and
environmentally
sensitive public lands and resources.
Also on 3/20, the House
Resources Committee approved, along another
nearly
party-line vote of 23-18, a provision in H.R. 3853 offered by
Rep. Radanovich (R-CA) that effectively overturns a Clinton
administration policy banning recreational jet skis in
national parks
by delaying the deadline for the ban for
two years.
...
Nuclear
= N O T E ! =
On 4/25, the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved
by a vote of
41-6 a resolution to designate Yucca
Mountain, Nevada, as the sole
repository for the
nation's high-level radioactive waste. On 4/8,
Nevada
governor Kenny Guinn (R) vetoed the Bush administration's
recommendation of the site, beginning a 90-day window
during which
Congress can override the veto. The House
subcommittee on Energy and
Air Quality voted to
override Gov. Guinn's veto on 4/23 by a vote of
24-2.
Floor debate is expected in the House next week. Opponents of
the selection of Yucca Mountain, 90 miles from Las Vegas,
believe that
the proposed facility would not adequately
protect the public and the
environment from radiation
contamination.
...
Public Health
On 3/21, Sen. Clinton (D-NY) and
Sen. Reid (D-NV) introduced the
National Health
Tracking Act (S. 2054), a bill to protect children's
health by tracking data on local, regional, and national
causes of
chronic health conditions. Rep. Pelosi (D-CA)
introduced a companion
bill, H.R. 4061, on 3/20 in the
House.
...
Toxic Waste
On 3/10, Sen. Boxer (D-CA) held a
hearing on the federal Superfund
program to address the
slowing pace of cleanup and the Bush
administration's
proposal to shift cleanup costs from polluters to
taxpayers. The administration's FY '03 budget request for
the EPA does
not reauthorize the current "polluter
pays" tax for toxic cleanups,
and would shift the $700
million cost to taxpayers.
...
Wilderness and Wildlife
Protection
= N O T E ! =
On 4/25, the House Subcommittee on Military Readiness
approved by a
voice vote the Defense Authorization
bill, H.R. 4546, including
provisions that give the
Department of Defense broad exemptions under
the
Endangered Species Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The bill
moved to the House Armed Services Committee on 5/1, where
language was
approved that would transfer control of a
large portion of Utah public
lands from the Bureau of
Land Management to the Defense Department.
Democratic
leaders and environmentalists argue that the exemption
provisions have not received adequate review, that
stakeholders have
not been allowed to comment on the
provisions, and that language in
existing laws already
provides flexibility for the Defense Department
to seek
exemptions on a case-by-case basis.
...
For
information on the environmental voting records of members of
Congress, see the League of Conservation Voter's National
Environmental Scorecards at http://www.lcv.org/scorecard/index.asp
...........
2) About Our Bulletins/How to
Subscribe & Unsubscribe
NRDC distributes three bulletins by email. To subscribe to
any or all
of them or to join our activist networks, go
to
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EARTH ACTION is sent biweekly and calls out urgent
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LEGISLATIVE WATCH is
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unsubscribe from Legislative Watch, send an email message
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The CALIFORNIA ACTIVIST
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...........
3) About NRDC/How to Contact Us
The Natural Resources Defense
Council is a nonprofit environmental
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over 500,000 members nationwide and a staff of
scientists, attorneys and environmental experts. Our
mission is to
protect the planet's wildlife and wild
places and ensure a safe and
healthy environment for
all living things.
For more
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please contact us at:
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General information: nrdcinfo@nrdc.org
Email subscription questions: nrdcaction@nrdc.org
http://www.nrdc.org
Also visit:
BioGems -- Saving
Endangered Wild Places
A project of the Natural
Resources Defense Council
http://www.savebiogems.org
Dear Members of Global Response's "Quick Response Network:"
NOTE ABOUT ADS: At our
request, Topica agreed to screen the ads it is now
placing at the top of our QRN messages. We're working on
finding an ad-free
alternative. Please bear with us in
the meantime. Thanks, --GR.
Global Response has long been concerned about Chinese
government projects
like the Three Gorges Dam and its
policy of turning Tibet into a
resource-extraction
colony with terrible consequences for the environment
and the Tibetan people. We are very glad to join
International Rivers
Network and Students for a Free
Tibet in a campaign to pressure the Morgan
Stanley company to stop helping China finance such
environmentally
destructive projects. Please
exercise your consumer power in this campaign!
*****************************************************
GLOBAL RESPONSE ACTION #3/02
Stop
Financing Environmental Destruction/ Tibet-China
May-June 2002
*****************************************************
“The company, its management and
directors are very much committed to a
safe, clean and
enduring environment.”
– Philip Purcell, CEO of Morgan
Stanley, at shareholders meeting March 19,
2002
"We'll see if Mr. Purcell
turns these words into actions. We've proved
Morgan Stanley’s involvement in some of the most
environmentally and
socially destructive projects in
the world.”
– Doris Shen, International Rivers Network
The Chinese government
continues to mount industrial development projects
on a
colossal scale, with huge environmental and human costs. As human
rights and environmental activists living outside China,
one of our main
points of leverage in China is through
the western corporations and
financial institutions
that invest in these destructive projects. In recent
years, the World Bank has been pressured into refusing
participation in
ventures like the Three Gorges Dam and
the Chinese colonization of Tibet
because of human
rights and environmental concerns. Other financial
institutions have also committed to investment guidelines
for social and
environmental sustainability.
Morgan Stanley, however, continues
underwriting bonds for the China
Development Bank and
the People’s Republic of China, without applying any
environmental or social safeguards. The largest
securities company in the
U.S., Morgan Stanley’s
business also includes the Discover credit card,
which
is used in 40% of American households. If you’ve got a Discover card
in your wallet, you are linked to some of the most
environmentally
destructive activities in China and
Tibet, including:
Three Gorges
Dam:
Close to 2 million people will lose their homes,
land and livelihoods when
the world’s longest reservoir
(350 miles) is filled. Chinese critics of the
dam have
been beaten and jailed (Amnesty International is currently seeking
release of four prisoners of conscience who spoke out
against Three Gorges
Dam). The U.S.
Export-Import Bank and the World Bank both refused to
finance Three Gorges, but Morgan Stanley has no such
scruples. It manages
and owns 35% of the
China International Capital Corporation, which serves as
the Three Gorges Project Corporations’ advisor for raising
overseas capital.
Morgan Stanley also underwrites bonds
for the China Development Bank, whose
top loan
commitment is the Three Gorges Dam.
Resource Extraction in Tibet:
Morgan Stanley’s underwriting supports China’s “Go West
Campaign,” building
railroads and oil/gas pipelines to
facilitate resource extraction in Tibet.
Since China’s
1949 invasion of Tibet, more than 1.2 million people have died
due to political persecution, imprisonment, torture,
execution and famine;
over 6,000 nunneries and
monasteries were destroyed.
The environmental toll has been devastating.
Under Chinese occupation,
almost half of
Tibet’s forests have been logged, causing severe erosion and
decimating wildlife. The Tibetan plateau is now gravely
contaminated by
uncontrolled mining, industrialization
and nuclear waste. Water
contamination in
Tibet flows downstream in rivers that sustain an incredible
47% of the world’s population, according to research by the
Tibetan
Government in Exile.
Morgan Stanley underwriting
supports two monumental infrastructure
projects: 1)
PetroChina’s gas extraction in Tibet and the construction of a
pipeline that will carry Tibet’s gas to the industrialized
cities in eastern
China, and 2) the Gormo-Lhasa
Railway, which raises serious concerns about
further
environmental degradation of the Tibetan plateau; the railroad will
also facilitate further colonization and
militarization of Tibet.
Morgan Stanley also helped raise $450 million from American
investors for
Chalco, China’s largest aluminum company.
Chalco’s aluminum processing plant
in Tibet releases
toxic smoke laden with fluorides, which destroy the area’s
crops and kill Tibetan nomads’
livestock. Chalco’s IPO prospectus admits
its Tibet plant exceeds airborne emission limits.
REQUESTED
ACTION: Morgan Stanley says that by June 30 it will announce an
environmental policy. Timely letters can
pressure Morgan Stanley to adopt
and implement strong
and effective guidelines for sustainable development,
as recommended by the World Commission on Dams and the
Tibetan Government in
Exile. For a stronger
impact, we can boycott Morgan Stanley's services,
including asset management, Discover insurance, and the
Discover credit
card.
***************************************************
BACKGROUND: GUIDELINES FOR SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT
WORLD COMMISSION
ON DAMS – The WCD report, Dams and Development: A New
Framework for Decision-Making, was released in 2000. It
draws on
internationally recognized norms including the
Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, the UN
Declaration on the Right to Development, and the Rio
Declaration on Environment and Development. It emphasizes
the participation
and the rights of affected
populations in project planning, implementation
and
management. See www.unep-dams.org. For an evaluation of
the Three
Gorges Dam according to some of the WCD
guidelines, see “Rogue Traders,” at
www.boycottdiscover.org/index2.html. For the
International Rivers Network
Three Gorges Dam campaign,
see http://www.irn.org/programs/threeg/.
GUIDELINES FOR INTERNATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS AND SUSTAINABLE INVESTMENT
IN
TIBET – The Tibetan Government in Exile’s guidelines aim to enhance the
capacity of the Tibetan people to fully participate in the
development of
their land and to control the use of
their natural resources. See
www.tibet.com/aidTibet.html.
*********************************************************
REQUESTED
ACTION: Please write a polite letter to the CEO of Morgan
Stanley.
· Express your dismay that Morgan Stanley directly and
indirectly helps
China raise money to finance
environmentally destructive projects that also
undermine human rights. These projects include
the PetroChina pipeline, the
Gormo-Lhasa Railway,
Chalco’s aluminum processing plant in Tibet, and the
Three Gorges Dam.
· Urge Morgan Stanley to adopt and implement environmental
and social
policies that govern core business
operations including underwriting.
Specifically
recommend adoption of the guidelines of the World Commission on
Dams and the Tibetan Government in Exile.
· Tell Mr. Purcell that until his
firm adopts such guidelines and can
demonstrate that no
funds secured by Morgan Stanley support the Gormo-Lhasa
Railway, the Three Gorges Dam and other harmful projects,
you will boycott
Morgan Stanley's services, including
asset management, Discover insurance,
and the Discover
credit card. If you currently hold a Discover card, tell
him you will not use your card until your concerns are
satisfied, and you
will actively encourage others to do
the same.
(Note: other credit
cards may also be linked to financial institutions with
troubling investment portfolios. You can help raise
consciousness by asking
your credit card company to
screen its portfolio for environmentally and
socially
destructive projects.)
ADDRESS: Philip J. Purcell, CEO
Morgan Stanley
1585 Broadway, Floor 39
New York City, NY 10036
U.S.A.
FAX: Int’l code + 202-761-0058
Email: Phil.Purcell@morganstanley.com
CC email to: threegorges@irn.org
NOTE RE. IMPACT: A
personal letter from you, mailed with a stamp, will have
the most impact on decision makers. Second in
impact is a personal fax.
Third is a personal email.
Thanks for doing the most you can to make this a
successful campaign!
This Global Response Action was issued at the request of
and with
information provided by Students for a Free
Tibet (www.tibet.org/sft) and
International Rivers
Network (www.irn.org). For information on Tibet, see
www.tibet.com and www.tew.org/. For updates on the Morgan
Stanley boycott,
see
www.BoycottDiscover.org. Also see www.morganstanley.com.
********************************
Paula Palmer, Executive 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
Global Response empowers people of
all ages, cultures, and nationalities to
protect the
environment by creating partnerships for effective citizen
action. At the request of indigenous peoples and
grassroots organizations,
Global Response organizes
international letter-writing campaigns to help
communities prevent environmental
destruction. Global Response involves
young
people as well as adults in these campaigns, to develop in them the
skills for global citizen cooperation and earth
stewardship.
Greetings,
Please call your representative TODAY or FRIDAY, May
2-3, and urge them to become original cosponsors of
the "National Forest Roadless Area Conservation Act!"
You can call the Capitol switchboard toll free at
888-223-4066
or at 202-224-3121 and ask for your
representative
or call their offices directly.
WE CAN TELL YOU YOUR
REPRESENTATIVE AT OUR ACTION CENTER.
See the bottom of
this message.
------------------------------------------------
BACKGROUND:
Representatives Jay Inslee (D-WA) and Sherwood Boehlert
(R-NY) have drafted a bill to legislate the National
Forest Roadless Area Conservation Rule that was finalized
by the previous administration on January 12, 2001.
The roadless rule is the most significant forest
conservation
legacy in decades, as it prohibits new
road construction
and nearly all logging on 58.5
million acres of wild
forests. These areas are
particularly important as
sources of clean water, fish
and wildlife habitat and
quality recreation.
Unfortunately, the Bush administration
has worked to
undermine the roadless rule and aided
efforts that have
resulted in delaying its implementation
since last May.
Hence, we are calling on Congress to
protect these wild
forests. The original cosponsor
drive is off to a great
start, but we want to get as
many original cosponsors
onto the bill as we can in
the next few days. Please
call your Representative
and any other representatives
from your state who you
think would be interested in
cosponsoring the bill
and ask them to sign on in order
to represent the wishes
of the American people who want
to protect our last
wild places. If your Representative
turns out to be
already on the bill, they always
appreciate a word
of thanks. Please call TODAY or
FRIDAY, May 2-3, and
urge your friends and colleagues
to call as well.
-----------------------------------------------------
SAMPLE RAP
(please
adjust this as you see you fit):
Hi, my
name is _____ and I'm a constituent calling
from
_______ (city or town). I'm calling to ask Representative
_______ to become an original cosponsor of the National
Forest Roadless Area Conservation Act. This bill would
simply codify the roadless rule that was shaped by
the greatest outreach in federal rulemaking history,
including the more than 2.2 million comments submitted
by the American public. Because the administration
has worked to undermine the rule and aided delays in
its implementation, we are looking to Congress to protect
our last wild places. Will Representative _______ sign
on before May 8th? (If the staffer says the Member
is already on, just say thank you.) Thanks!
---------------------------------------------
TO LEARN YOUR REPRESENTATIVE
1. Go
to the Earthjustice Action Center at: http://ga0.org/pvtm/index.tcl?nkey=w5niwb2h78xw86
2. This will take you to your subscription management
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“ . . . our Mother Earth is suffering, she will soon die
and at that
moment we will be left without a mother,
without food, without heat,
without cold, without the
moon and without the sun. Only then will they
look for an U’wa to seek an explanation, but will they find
one? We
make an urgent, international call
to all our supporters, asking for
their help in defense
of the U’wa culture." - - U’wa Statement 4/16 (see
below)
IN
THIS POST:
1. U’WA DC TRIP
REPORT
2. U’WA STATEMENT: PETROLEUM – “BLOOD OF MOTHER
EARTH”
3. WASHINGTON POST 4/20: An Unnatural Journey
for Nature's Cause
4. URGENT ACTION THIS FRIDAY 5/3:
PROTEST OXY SHAREHOLDER MEETING IN
LOS ANGELES!!
1.First, a heartfelt thanks to the
thousands who came to Washington DC
last week in what
was a truly empowering few days in solidarity with the
victims of Bush’s “war on terrorism” both at home and
abroad!! We filled
the streets, workshops, teach-ins,
and the halls of Congress to demand
peace, justice, and
an end to US military aid to Colombia and around the
world!
After being detained by Customs agents at the Miami airport
for two
hours (despite having had all the proper
documentation), the U’wa began
their trip at a press
conference for the Colombia Mobilization to
denounce US
military aid to Colombia. The conference also exposed the
devastating toll of fumigation on the peoples and
ecosystems of the
Amazon and highlighted the social,
cultural, and environmental violence
suffered by
indigenous peoples, Afro-Colombians, labor leaders and other
sectors of civil society. The following day,
Roberto Perez, President
of the U’wa Traditional
Authorities joined a 9/11 victim, a Korean War
veteran,
and a member of the Black Radical Congress for a press
conference held at the Japanese-American Memorial to make
an urgent call
for peace and justice for those innocent
civilians suffering from Bush’s
open-ended “War on
Terrorism.” On Saturday, close to 100,000 people
took this message to the streets—demanding justice and
peace from
Colombia to Palestine. Meanwhile,
at the Colombia Mobilization
Teach-in, the U’wa joined
other Colombian indigenous leaders in sharing
some of
the stories and struggles of the country’s 84 different
indigenous nations. In the afternoon, Mr. Perez
joined representatives
of the Coca Cola union to expose
the corporate interests behind Plan
Colombia and US
military aid and the way in which corporations are using
the conflict to boost their profits. The U’wa also spoke to
thousands of
people rallying Sunday morning in front of
the World Bank as part of the
Mobilization for Global
Justice. Police prohibited the march from
passing by OXY’s DC headquarter as planned.
The U’wa also garnered significant
media coverage, doing interviews for
Pacifica’s “Our
Americas,” NPR’s Latino USA, the Washington Post, La
Jornada, The Nation, in addition to coverage on CNN and
CBS. The U’wa
also brought their message to
Capital Hill, where in personal meetings
with aides and
a Congressional briefing, the U’wa told of their life and
death struggle to protect their land and culture, and their
fears that
more military aid to OXY’s pipeline will
only exacerbate the existing
conflict. But,
in a testimony to OXY’s aggressive lobbying efforts, the
U’wa were informed by each aid they met with that OXY had
paid a visit
just two weeks earlier.
For the U’wa, this trip
represented a first step in what they are
calling their
second wave of resistance to OXY’s oil project and US
military aid, or “Plan Washington,” as Mr. Perez has called
it. The
U’wa have since returned to
Colombia, inspired by the determination,
dedication,
and creativity of all the activists who continue to stand
beside them and lend their voices to the cry of hundreds of
thousands in
Colombia calling for peace and an end to
US-sponsored violence in their
country. Both
U’wa leaders who traveled to the US are currently in a
ten-day period of meditation, fasting, and prayer with
community elders.
2. U’WA
STATEMENT: April 16, 2002
PETROLEUM - Ruiría “Blood of Mother Earth”
I. Petroleum,
Militarization and Human Rights
II. Petroleum and Economic Impacts
III. Petroleum, Environment and Territory
IV. Petroleum and Regional Development
I.
PETROLEUM, MILITARIZATION AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Among the Universal principals that mark U’wa culture is
the respect of
the basic right to life for humans and
all living beings that exist on
this Mother Earth.
Contrary to the theoretic concept
that the white man teaches respect for
both human and
natural life and how to achieve a balance between them,
we know, as U’wa, through our responsibility in defense of
the universe,
that sacred elements cannot be
negotiated. PETROLEUM AS A SACRED
ELEMENT
CANNOT BE SOLD IN THE MARKET BECAUSE IT IS PRICELESS. To sell
this precious liquid is to sell our lives and the lives of
future
generations. Do we have the right to make
decisions on the lives of our
future generations?
By being a precious and sacred
liquid, its simple existence implicates
wealth. But this is only a material and
temporary distraction because
what we really find in
the petroleum-rich regions is a society castrated
of
all its rights-- social, political, economic, cultural,
environmental-- and the sovereignty of its
people. This is why the
petroleum-rich
regions are the richest regions, and at the same time the
poorest regions. This concept is indisputable
because the true wealth
made off petroleum stays in the
hands of the multinational corporations
and in the
developed countries, while in our regions we only find
extreme poverty and violence is the daily bread of life.
In the U’wa case, up until the
present day, the Colombian government has
not allowed
us the legitimate right to make a cultural objection,
allowing us to define true “development” for Indigenous
Peoples. This
is how institutional trickery
is carried out--by passage of
anti-indigenous laws and
the repression by the army. The last example
was carried out using the pretext of keeping citizens safe,
but what it
really does is safeguard the economic
capital of the multinational
petroleum corporations
while limiting Universal Human Rights and
violating the
international human rights. Today, without this
recognition, we are forced to be refugees in our own lands.
The social crisis that is
present in our region is the result of the
abundance of
petroleum where the armed actors are in a continuous
battle, where the civilian population- including indigenous
people- find
themselves in the crossfire, feeling fear
and disoriented, everything
around them is
unexplainable. The only sure thing is that many more
indigenous people will die and then will be able to rest
peacefully on
the breast of our Mother
Earth. Others of us are committed to defending
our rights until our death, as it is better to die with
dignity,
defending what is ours, defending all within
the universe, and not be
silenced and become a silent
participant in our own destruction.
The right to live in peace is a fundamental constitutional
right, but
continues being only a “right” which never
materializes into reality.
PETROLEUM: BLACK GOLD OR EXCREMENT OF THE DEVIL?
Another negative effect that
petroleum brings us is the infamous PLAN
COLOMBIA whose mission is not to fight the drug
war, nor to fight the
guerilla groups, but instead to
guarantee the stability of the
exploitive multinational
companies in indigenous lands. In other words,
PLAN COLOMBIA IS THE SAME AS THE INVASION BY PETROLEUM
COMPANIES OF
INDIGENOUS LANDS (GENOCIDE, ETHNOCIDE AND
ECOCIDE). We U’wa ask, do the
Colombians
that support this famous PLAN COLOMBIA really understand the
irreparable damage being done to Colombia? We
U’wa clearly understand
the consequences that accompany
this project. This is why our highest
authorities consistently reject this PLAN
COLOMBIA. They say: EVERY
PERSON THAT
SUPPORTS OR BENEFITS FROM THIS PROJECT IS AN ENEMY OF HUMAN
LIFE AND NATURE, AND IS A MAN OF WAR, OF DEATH AND OF LIES.
II. PETROLEUM AND ECONOMIC
IMPACTS
The economic base of
the U’wa is agriculture, meaning that the fertility
of
the earth is the necessary condition to feed our families. Ruiría
(petroleum) is a substance that nourishes the
earth. Today this
substance finds itself in
crisis, and our efforts to stabilize our
nutritional
base ends up being only good intentions because the earth no
longer produces. We are in a food crisis, the
malnutrition of our
People is imminent, and all of
this, because of this sacred substance
that today
contaminates our lives, the water, the soil, the air and the
heart of humans, etc.
At the same time, we are surprised to find ourselves
without the legal
and institutional expertise needed to
fulfill our responsibility as U’wa
to TAKE CARE OF OUR
MOTHER EARTH, OUR LAND, AND OUR SACRED TERRITORY,
because it is life itself. To deny this right is
to ignore our history,
the U’wa world, our health and
our education. In other words, to ignore
the
difference of our culture is like burying us alive by taking away
our right to protest this unconsulted and forced
annihilation. We can
say that the children
of the earth are left without mother and without
father, not because our gods chose it to be this way, but
because it is
the wish of the multinational
corporations and the Colombian government,
because they
understand and apply the teachings of economic capital as a
starting and ending point for human development without
taking the
humans into account.
On the other side, if we look at
the negative economic effects that are
left by the
petroleum projects, these also affect our economy for the
following reasons:
- Increased
price of the land, not allowing us the right to have
collective or individual ownership to this property
- We are only able to see from afar the products of the
market, because
we cannot afford them. We
are simply not beneficiaries of the petroleum
industry. We do not serve a purpose in the
workforce or social market,
and are only granted the
right to be silent, to watch and accept all
that the
foreigner says and offers us.
III. PETROLEUM, ENVIRONMENT AND TERRITORY
In 1995, as ancient U’wa
indigenous people, we protested officially in
front of
the Colombian government, to the multinational petroleum
company, OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM OF COLOMBIA, OXY, and to the
world. We
protested and rejected all
petroleum activity in our sacred U’wa
territory.
We rejected, and continue to
reject, the presence of the petroleum
companies
(ECOPETROL, OXY, SHELL, TEXACO, REPSOL, AMOCO, etc.) in the
lands of our Sikuani (Guahibo) relatives in the Arauca
department, and
in our lands, that only generate an
environmental, social, cultural and
land
crisis.
We
denounce the direct impact that we U’wa have faced. We see the lack
of water in our communities. We see that
everyday the volume of this
precious liquid diminishes
and every summer is harder and harder to get.
Meanwhile
the general increase in climate has affected our crops, the
animals we raise and the wild animals as well.
Because of all of the activities
that are conceived and carried out in
the exploration,
extraction, transportation and commercialization of
this product, the environment in our region is in crisis
today.
Contaminated rivers, destroyed
vegetation, displaced indigenous
communities,
annihilation of flora and fauna, polluted air, etc. The
State, through its legal and political institutions,
everyday continues
to invade sacred lands of indigenous
people. They do not understand, nor
will they
understand, that we, as U’wa, are the true caretakers of the
environment because it is a part of our lives, and is
inherent to our
existence. Therefore, to
destroy the environment is to self-destruct
ourselves.
We inform Colombia and the
world that we U’wa- by laws already long in
existence-
have the absolute right to all soil and subsoil rights,
recognized by the Spanish Crown and ratified by article 332
in the
Constitution of 1991. Therefore we
manifest that we are not willing to
cede, and much less
are we willing to renounce our territorial rights.
On the contrary, we ask the MINISTRY OF ENERGY AND MINES,
ECOPETROL AND
OXY AND THE OTHER ASSOCIATED CORPORATIONS
TO CANCEL THE ASSOCIATED
SIRIRI CONTRACT THAT IS FOUND
WITHIN THE JURISDICTION OF OUR LEGALLY
RECOGNIZED U’WA
TERRITORY. At the same time, we take this opportunity
speaking about petroleum to once again demand ANDRES
PASTRANA ARANGO-
the head of the Colombian government-
order the $18,000,000,000 pesos
that are due to
complete the saneamiento (effort to purchase the
remaining lands held by farmers within U’wa territory) as
ordered by the
INCORA (Colombia Institute of
Agricultural Reform) in 1999.
IV. PETROLEUM AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Because of the explanations above,
we U’wa say that petroleum is not an
ingredient in
regional or national development. On the contrary, it is a
factor that has destroyed our culture, has ignored our
right to this
earth, our right to life, our right to be
different. It has negated and
continues to negate our
right to live in a healthy environment and live
in
peace.
We make an urgent,
international call to all our supporters, asking for
their help in defense of the U’wa culture. We
will continue to oppose
any petroleum project in our
territory, because it will hurt, ignore and
violate our
maximum, fundamental right to life (cultural integrity), our
culture, peace, a healthy environment, our territory, and
the
sovereignty of the
People. Colombian brothers and sisters, our Mother
Earth is suffering, she will soon die and at that moment we
will be left
without a mother, without food, without
heat, without cold, without the
moon and without the
sun, only then will they look for an U’wa to seek
an
explanation, but will they find one?
U’WA TRADITIONAL AUTHORITIES
3. An Unnatural Journey for Nature's Cause
Leaders of Colombia's U'wa Tribe See Protests as a Fight
for the Simple
Life
By Steve Twomey
Washington Post
Staff Writer
Saturday, April 20, 2002; Page B03
Armando Tegria Vincunada has not been made bug-eyed by the
sights or
skittish by the cacophony of Washington, even
though this is his first
visit to the United States,
even though he dwells in Colombia's outback,
where his
people measure distance in days of foot travel, where there
are no cars, phones or TVs. He has no wish to play tourist,
dine well or
shop till he drops. He thinks Washington
is nothing but man's things,
not nature's. He doesn't
care for it.
Tegria arrived Tuesday. With him was
Roberto Perez Gutierrez. They are
diminutive men who,
every so often, open a plastic bag and withdraw a
snack
in the form of dried, green leaves they carried from the U'wa
lands on the flight from Bogota to Miami to here. Tegria is
treasurer of
the U'wa people, and Perez is president.
The U'wa number 5,000 and live
in the wrong place, in the sense that
their corner of
Colombia -- a place of cloud-shrouded mountains, brawny
rivers and fertile plains in the northeast, near Venezuela
-- is being
probed for oil and has been ensnared in
violence between government
forces and leftist
guerrillas.
With expenses
underwritten by the U'wa Defense Working Group, a
coalition of U.S. groups that support the tribe, Tegria and
Perez have
come as part of this weekend's mass protests
and seminars in Washington,
some of which are aimed at
U.S. military aid for Colombia. They will
tell anyone
they can that the U'wa, who are agrarian, are threatened by
the oil companies and by the fighting around them. They
feel the world
closing in. Coming to the United States
was difficult, Tegria said, but
he must tell Americans
"that we are not going to stand for this."
He was sitting in a Lilliputian studio at WPFW (89.3 FM) in
Adams
Morgan, where he and Perez had just been
interviewed for Pacifica Radio,
a translator rendering
their Spanish into English. Tegria, who is 29 and
has a
daughter back home, wore slacks and a vivid lime green,
long-sleeved shirt; Perez, who is 50 and has 10 children,
wore a black
T-shirt and pants. Tegria was dressed more
Western than he would be at
home because, he said,
"we're respecting your culture."
He did not seem
particularly curious about the radio equipment, the
elevator that took him to the second floor or anything else
about the
city around him. But then, the U'wa know
about modern life and have been
exposed to it within
Colombia and, in Perez's case, on previous trips to
the
United States. The U'wa just don't like it.
"They very clearly have chosen not to assimilate," said
Patrick
Reinsborough, a spokesman for the U'Wa Defense
Working Group.
To Tegria and Perez, a city is literally
unnatural. Washington may be a
goal for millions of
tourists, but its roads, architecture and vehicles
replaced God's things. "Everything's been changed," Tegria
said.
"Everything."
"A real interesting thing for me," he said, "is an
untouched forest."
The U'wa feel a special bond with
the Earth, so much so that at one
point, the entire
tribe promised to commit suicide if oil exploration
persisted, a vow since withdrawn. "We call ourselves the
caretakers of
all natural resources," Perez said.
Tegria has noticed that in a city,
"you have to rely on money for
survival," whereas the
U'wa don't. "You rely on the land." If he wishes
to
drink, he drinks. There are rivers. But here, people seem to have to
pay for things to drink. And they seem to have to pay to
get from one
place to another. At home, Tegria said, "I
can travel four, five, six
days, and it doesn't cost me
anything." Walking never does.
Outsiders have tried to entice the U'wa into accepting the
coming of oil
companies by dangling modernity before
them. "They want to buy our
consciences," Perez said,
"our way of thought." It's a strategy that has
worked
with other indigenous tribes in Colombia, he said. "But not the
U'wa."
That's why Perez and Tegria are not being tourists. What
Washington is,
they don't want to become, they said.
They want to lobby for the right
to live simply, they
said, to raise beans and corn, get water from the
tap
of a river and dwell in basic structures.
To be left
alone, in other words?
"Exactamente," Tegria said.
© 2002 The Washington Post Company
4. SAY NO TO OXY'S OIL WAR IN
COLOMBIA!!
PROTEST OCCIDENTAL
PETROLEUM'S ANNUAL SHAREHOLDER MEETING!!
Friday May 3,
2002
STAND UP FOR LIFE, LAND,
AND CULTURE FOR THE U'WA AND ALL COLOMBIANS!
DON'T LET THE U'WA BECOME THE NEXT COLATERAL DAMAGE
IN BUSH'S WAR ON TERRORISM!
WHAT: Demonstration, Music, Speakers, Street Theater
WHEN: 8:30 AM - 10:30 AM, Friday May 3, 2002
WHERE: St. Regis Hotel 2055 Avenue of the Stars, Century
City, CA. (Free
three-hour parking available at Century
City Shopping Center. Enter on
south side
near Macy's off of Constellation Blvd.)
WHY: While the U'wa indigenous community of Colombia and
thousands of
other innocent civilians suffer from OXY's
Colombian operations and the
armed actors that the
company funds, shareholders are again gathering
behind
closed doors to tout profits and celebrate the morally bankrupt
company's record year. They'll also be patting
themselves on the back
for their hijacking of
US-Colombia policy, which resulted in Bush's
proposed
$98 million corporate welfare package to protect the company's
Cano Limon pipeline under the guise of the "war on
terrorism."
The U'wa have made
headlines around the world for their decade of
peaceful
resistance to OXY's exploratory drilling on their sacred
homelands. The U'wa have long warned that OXY's
project will destroy
their culture, devastate the
environment, and escalate the violence to
their
homeland-a prediction that is rapidly becoming a reality. But
stopping OXY's oil operations in Colombia is not only a
matter of life
and death for the U'wa, but for all
Colombians. In efforts to protect
their
controversial operations in the war torn northeast region of
Colombia, OXY has financed all armed actors in the bloody
civil conflict
for close to twenty years-trapping
thousands of innocent civilians in
the crossfire.
COME STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE
U'WA AND VOICES FROM ALL OVER COLOMBIA
AND TELL OXY TO
STOP FUELING TERROR IN COLOMBIA!
For more info contact:
kevin@amazonwatch.org 310-420-8245
www.amazonwatch.org
OR IF YOU ARE AVAILABLE TO HELP WITH ORGANIZING EFFORTS
CONTACT:
BRETT DORAN, ACTION RESOURCE CENTER
310-392-7656
Sponsored by :
AMAZON WATCH ACTION RESOURCE CENTER ¨ RAINFOREST ACTION
NETWORK ¨ PROJECT UNDERGROUND
---------------------
This is an
annoucement only listserve. If you would like to be on an U'wa discussion list
please go to http://igc.topica.com/lists/uwa-int
TO: ACLU Action Network Members
FR: Jared Feuer, Internet Organizer
DT: May 2, 2002
Oppose Federal Funding of Abstinence-Only Education!
On April 9th, Rep. Fred Upton
(R-MI) introduced HR 4122, a bill that authorizes the continued use of federal
funds for "abstinence-only" programs. By law, any program that also
teaches about contraception use or STD prevention is not eligible for these
funds.
The overwhelming weight
of evidence suggests that programs that include messages about both abstinence
and contraception are most effective in delaying sexual activity among young
people. Despite this evidence, opponents of "comprehensive" programs
argue that that they do nothing but encourage promiscuity. This is
inaccurate since comprehensive programs appropriately stress abstinence as the
only foolproof way to avoid pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
Because of an increased focus on
abstinence-only education, comprehensive and medically accurate sex education is
becoming the exception rather than the rule. As a result, more
students lack basic information that they need to protect their health.
Take
Action! Abstinence-only programs endanger the well-being of
youth and must not be given the support of federal funding. You can
read more and send a FREE FAX to your Representative, asking that they oppose HR
4122 from our action alert at:
http://www.aclu.org/action/abstinence107.html
**********
Help Strengthen the ACLU's Voice in Congress...
Click Below to Become a Card-Carrying Member today!
http://www.aclu.org/action/joinaclu.html
Dear Members of Global Response's "Quick Response Network:"
Sorry! The correct email
address for Philip Purcell, CEO of Morgan Stanley,
is
philip.purcell@morganstanley.com. We were just a little too informal
calling him Phil.
********************************
Paula Palmer, Executive 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
Global Response empowers people of
all ages, cultures, and nationalities to
protect the
environment by creating partnerships for effective citizen
action. At the request of indigenous peoples and
grassroots organizations,
Global Response organizes
international letter-writing campaigns to help
communities prevent environmental
destruction. Global Response involves
young
people as well as adults in these campaigns, to develop in them the
skills for global citizen cooperation and earth
stewardship.
Greenpeace's Positive Energy Newsletter
April 29 – May 5, 2002
v 2.15
Time for Greenpeace’s CLEAN ENERGY
NOW! campaign’s weekly
good news update!!!
Inside this edition:
- Governor Davis: What’s Your Plan?
- Join the U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory Program
List-Serve.
- South Africa Ratifies the Kyoto Protocol!
+ + + + +
Governor Davis What’s Your Plan?
On the local and city level,
Californians are using
their voting power to show their
support for
renewable energy development. The passage
of propositions
B and H in San Francisco, and the
recent decision by the
Los Angeles Community Colleges
District to commit to
investing in solar power and
green buildings, proves
that the people are rising up,
and working together to
diversify California’s energy
portfolio. California needs
leadership on the state
level that will mirror the wishes
of the people of
California. What’s Governor Davis doing
about
California’s energy crisis?
Davis has consistently turned a blind eye to the needs
of the people of California and the environment, locking
the state into a gas-based energy supply. What can we
do
about it? The election for the governorship this
November
is a perfect opportunity to call on Governor
Davis to show leadership on climate protection and make
climate/energy concerns a key issue in his gubernatorial
race this year.
Take action!
Urge Gov. Davis to
show leadership by supporting clean
energy development
and climate protection!
http://www.cleanenergynow.org/bin/takeaction.fpl?action_id=122
+ + + + +
Join the U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory Program List-Serve
In the U.S., there is
increasing interest by individuals,
businesses, and
governments alike, to perform surveys
that monitor
greenhouse gas emissions, to help facilitate emissions reductions. The EPA has
recently
established a message list on their website
for posting
information related to inventories of
greenhouse gas
emissions with a focus on technical
information. The goal
of the list is to provide a forum
for those who wish to
share data and methodologies on
how to help stop global
warming.
For information on how to
subscribe, go to:
http://www.epa.gov/globalwarming/publications/emissions/list-serv.html
To learn more about
California’s Climate Action Registry
visit:
http://www.energy.ca.gov/global_climate_change/
+ + + + + +
South Africa Ratifies the Kyoto Protocol!
On March 13, 2002, Environmental
and Tourism Affairs
Minister Mohammed Valli Moosa
announced the ratification
of the Kyoto Protocol by
Parliament. Jan Pronk, Special
Envoy to the
United Nations and Secretary General for the
World
Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), who was
instrumental in the development of the Kyoto Protocol,
was present at the historical passage. By ratifying the
Protocol, the country will develop a legal instrument
through which greenhouse gas emissions can be monitored
and reduced. South Africa’s ratification is particularly
important because the country will be hosting the WSSD
in
Johannesburg later this year. At the
WSSD, Greenpeace
will be highlighting the fact that
providing renewable
energy for all, particularly the 2
billion people
currently living without power, will
help slow global
warming and will have not have the
devastating affects on
poorer communities that drilling
and mining often do.
To learn
more, go to:
http://www.choose-positive-energy.org
and sign the petition in support of the
Choose Positive Energy Campaign.
---------------------------------------
The “Positive Energy” newsletter and our website, http://www.cleanenergynow.org, will give you good news
about ways to achieve clean air, climate justice, and renewable energy solutions
to our ongoing energy crisis.
The "Positive Energy" newsletter and our web site,
http://www.cleanenergynow.org, will give you good news
about ways to achieve clean air, climate justice, and
renewable energy solutions to our ongoing energy
crisis.
Want to do
more? Become a Greenpeace Member!
http://www.greenpeaceusa.org/join2/cen.htm
A Bi-weekly Update from Defenders of
Wildlife:
Working to Save Wildlife and Wild Lands
WAR ON WOLVES:
Killings threaten lobos in Rocky Mountains
IN THE OIL
PATCH: Condor chick is covered with crude
THERE THEY GO
AGAIN: Norton's Interior tries to stop critical
report
ABOVE THE LAW?
Pentagon pushing for exemptions from environmental
laws
BUSINESS AS
USUAL: Congress crafts flawed energy and farm bills
SUCCESS STORIES:
Winning new protections for wildlife
SAVE OUR WHALES: Help
stop the slaughter
| 1. WAR ON WOLVES: Killings
threaten lobos in Rocky Mountains
A spate of killings is
threatening the comeback of endangered gray wolves in To help protect wolves, go to www.savewolves.org, and spread the word about the threat to wolves by sharing this edition of DENlines with friends. 2. IN THE OIL PATCH: Condor chick is covered with crude Just when it was
beginning to flap its stubby wings and become less vulnerable to ravens
and crows, the first California condor brooded and hatched in the wild in
18 years faces a man-made threat to its survival. The chick?s father stuck
his head into a pool 3. THERE THEY GO AGAIN: Norton's Interior tries to stop critical report Secretary Norton's top deputy -- J. Steven Griles, a former energy industry lobbyist ? tried to quash a report from the Environmental Protection Agency that criticized plans to drill for gas in Wyoming's Powder River Basin, home to eagles, falcons, pronghorn antelope, and the last herds of plains elk. The EPA gave the project the worst rating possible, saying it ignored increases in air pollution and groundwater salinity that would result from drilling. According to the Washington Post, Griles responded by saying, "Those comments can't go out." To help protect the Powder River Basin, go to www.denaction.org and click on Alert #148. 4. ABOVE THE LAW? Pentagon pushing for exemptions from environmental laws The Pentagon is pushing to exempt itself from some of our nation?s most important laws protecting the environment and imperiled species, migratory birds, whales and dolphins. The exemptions aren't necessary to protect national security. The president already has the power to waive environmental rules for national security. But when national security is not at stake, no government agency should be above the law. A new Zogby poll, in fact, finds that an overwhelming majority of registered voters ? 85 percent ? do not want any government agency to be placed above the law. To speak out on this issue, go to www.denaction.org and respond to Alert # 155. 5.BUSINESS AS USUAL: Congress crafts flawed energy and farm bills The energy bill that finally emerged from the Senate last week could lead to an environmentally damaging compromise with the House, which passed its version of the legislation last summer. "Senate energy legislation began as a promising vehicle for meeting our nation's energy needs, but has been commandeered by special interests and severely weakened by amendments," Defenders of Wildlife President Rodger Schlickeisen said. Click here: www.defenders.org/releases/pr2002/pr042602.html to read more." Also on Capitol Hill, congressional negotiators have produced a major rewrite of federal farm policy that shortchanges family farmers and wildlife. To read Schlickeisen's statement on the farm bill, click here: http://www.defenders.org/releases/pr2002/pr042602b.html 6. SUCCESS STORIES: Winning new protections for wildlife Together, we have scored a number of important victories for wildlife in recent weeks. We stopped federal agents from launching a massive campaign to poison foxes, badgers, coyotes and ravens in Idaho, won new protections for the endangered silvery minnow and Southwestern willow flycatcher in New Mexico, and convinced the United States government to stop shipments of mahogany illegally cut from vanishing Brazilian rainforests. Successes like those explain why Worth magazine named us one of America's best charities. To learn more about what we're accomplishing for wildlife, read our annual report by clicking here: http://www.defenders.org/annualreport/annualreport.html 7. SAVE OUR WHALES: Help stop the slaughter
 DENlines is
a bi-weekly update of Defenders of Wildlife, a leading national
conservation organization recognized as one of the nation's most
progressive advocates for wildlife and its habitat. It is known for its
effective leadership on endangered species issues, particularly predators
such as brown bears and gray wolves. Defenders also advocates new
approaches to wildlife conservation that protect species before they
become endangered. Founded in 1947, Defenders is a nonprofit 501(c)(3)
organization with more than 400,000 members and supporters. To
unsubscribe, send an e-mail to denlines@defenders.org and put the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line. Defenders of Wildlife Copyright Defenders of Wildlife 2002 |
EarthNet News
... a project of the
Center for Environmental Citizenship
http://www.envirocitizen.org
----------------------------------------------------------------------
May 03, 2002
----------------------------------------------------------------------
This week in EarthNet, find
out why we should care
about that often-ignored third
branch of government
-- the judiciary. Plus, read about
another blow to
Bush's big energy plan in GLIMMER OF
HOPE.
And check out a new
section focused on population and
the environment, 6
BILLION STRONG & GROWING.
--Zachariah Silk, EarthNet Editor
mailto:earthnet@envirocitizen.org
----------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENT
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Shadow Congress: Here Comes
The Judge
2. Quote of the Week
3. 6 Billion Strong & Growing: The Root of the Problem
4. Glimmer of Hope: Bush: Drill, People: Not So Fast
5. Mercy, Mercy Me: Don't Breathe Easy
6. Jobs and Internships
7.
Conferences and Gatherings
8. Activist Phone Book &
EarthNet News Info
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Shadow Congress
----------------------------------------------------------------------
HERE COMES THE JUDGE
CLICK HERE to demand fair judges.
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/r1qAAaF1mqFt/
America's brand of democracy
relies on a delicate balance
of power between branches
of government. And enviros
spend a lot of time thinking
about legislators and
executives but just as important
are the folks who
interpret the law -- our judges. Two
of President Bush's
pending nominees for lifetime
federal judgeships have
records troubling enough for
national environmental
organizations to express serious
concerns to the Senate,
which under the Constitution
must "advise and consent"
on judicial
nominations.
The
first spooky guy is federal trial judge D. Brooks
Smith. Judge Smith endorses a view of federal authority
so limited that he'd effectively do away with our national
environmental laws. He has a long list of rulings on
access to the courts, illegal toxic dumping, and
"takings"
of private property unjustifiably threaten
environmental
and other safeguards.
The other guy, Lawrence Block, has
been nominated to
the Court of Federal Claims, which
decides "takings"
claims -- whether companies and
developers must be
paid to comply with federal
environmental and other
laws. Block has spearheaded
efforts to enact extreme
bills to redefine "takings" of
property in a manner
that would threaten a wide range
of safety, health,
and environmental protections.
Are these really the guys you want
making decisions
about our health and green spaces? You
can make a difference
on their nominations by sending
an email urging your
Senators and Senate Judiciary
Committee Chairman Patrick
Leahy (D-VT) to review the
nominees carefully before
determining whether or not to
confirm them.
TAKE ACTION NOW:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/r1qAAaF1mqFt/
Demand fair judges.
FOR MORE INFO:
**Earth Justice:
Judiciary and the Environment
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/r7qAAaF1mqFb/EarthJustice
**On Judge Smith
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/f1qAAaF1mqFO/BROOKS
**On Lawrence Block
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/rpqAAaF1mqF6/BLOCK
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Supreme Court is an
institution far more dominated
by centrifugal forces,
pushing toward individuality
and independence, than it
is by centripetal forces
pulling for hierarchical
ordering and institutional
unity.
-- William H Rehnquist, Chief
Justice of the Supreme
Court
----------------------------------------------------------------------
6 BILLION STRONG AND GROWING
----------------------------------------------------------------------
THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM
Enviro groups everywhere are
looking hard at the problems
we face. And increasingly
they are staring into 6 billion
pairs of eyes -- that
is, much of the destruction groups
are concerned about
is connected to population growth.
Check out what's
going on...
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/vpqAAaF1mqFE/POPULATION_ISSUES
Read about Population & The Environment at our
exclusive
Issue in Focus site.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
GLIMMER OF HOPE
----------------------------------------------------------------------
BUSH: DRILL, PEOPLE: NOT SO
FAST
Fresh on the heels of the
Senate ruling against drilling
in the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge, a decision
handed down by the Interior
Department on Monday put
yet another chink in the armor
of President Bush's
energy plan. The ruling states that
three coal bed
methane leases, lying on 2,500 acres in
Wyoming's Powder
River Basin, are illegal because they
were issued without
correct environmental studies under
the Clinton administration.
This swift kick in the
energy plan's rear comes just
two weeks after the EPA
ruled that the environmental
impact statement for the
project was invalid, pointing
out that such drilling
could cause farm damage by making
streams too salty to
be used in irrigation. The decision
could impact
similar wells that lie on 40 million acres
of public
land throughout the western United States,
which are
believed to have reserves of 60 trillion
cubic feet of
methane gas. Next on the agenda: how
to limit methane
emissions from livestock.
FOR
MORE INFO:
**Washington Post Article 05-01
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/51qAAaF1mqFU/WA_POST
----------------------------------------------------------------------
MERCY, MERCY ME
----------------------------------------------------------------------
DON'T BREATHE EASY
You might not know it, but right
now you are likely
breathing unnecessarily polluted
air. According to
a new study, more than half of all
Americans breathe
polluted air that can damage their
health because the
government doesn't fully enforce
clean air laws. The
sad part is that we have standards
in place to cut
back pollution, but since they are not
being enforced,
nearly 400 counties in the United
States have smog
levels above the legal limits.
"It is clearly time to get serious
about enforcing
all of the provisions of the Clean Air
Act so that
we place Americans' health above business
and political
interests," said John Kirkwood, president
and chief
executive officer of the American Lung
Association.
FOR MORE INFO:
**Reuter News via Yahoo 05-01
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/rdqAAaF1mqFg/YAHOO
TAKE ACTION NOW:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/4pqAAaF1mqF5/
Tell Bush to Keep the Air You Breathe Clean
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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: Northeast Organizer
Organization: Center for Environmental Citizenship
Location: Boston, MA
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/v1qAAaF1mqFu/
Job Title: Program Director
Organization: The Ruckus Society
Location: Berkeley, CA
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/v7qAAaF1mqFm/
Job Title: Program Director,
EcoDesign Corps
Organization: Shaw EcoVillage
Location: Washington, DC
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/vdqAAaF1mqFj/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
CONFERENCES, GATHERINGS AND VIEWINGS
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Lots more events listed at http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/events/index.asp
Event: ColoRail Spring Meeting
Location: Englewood, CO
Date:
5/18/2002
FOR MORE INFO:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/fdqAAaF1mqFW/
Event: North American Indigenous
Mining Summit
Location: Crandon, WI
Date: 6/12/2002 - 6/15/2002
FOR
MORE INFO:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/f7qAAaF1mqFI/
Event: Mother's and Families for
Peace
Location: Asheville, NC
Date: 4/27/2002 - 5/12/2002
FOR
MORE INFO:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/fpqAAaF1mqF7/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Write your own short articles
for submission to EarthNet.
We are particularly
interested in articles about student
activism on your
campus.
For general comments:
mailto:earthnet@envirocitizen.org
Submit Jobs/Internships/Volunteer
listings at:
http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/jobs/add.asp
Submit Events at:
http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/events/add.asp
--------------------------------------------------
Visit the web address below and
tell your friends about
this important issue!
http://actionnetwork.org/join-forward.html?domain=san&r=WpqAAaF1jP-q
If you received this
message from a friend, you can
sign up for Student
Action Network at:
http://actionnetwork.org/san/join.html?r=WpqAAaF1jP-qE
****************************
*
WILDALERT
* Friday, May 2, 2002
****************************
Dear WildAlert Subscriber,
Thanks to all of you who asked the Park Service to uphold
its
decision to phase out snowmobile use on Yellowstone
and Grand Teton
National Parks. Just this week, the
Environmental Protection Agency
echoed your comment and
released its statement supporting the phase
out.
Although a final decision by the Park Service will not be made
for months, Reps. Rush Holt (D-NJ) and Chris Shays (R-CT)
are
working to ensure that your comments are heard by
introducing
legislation to ban recreational snowmobile
use in the two parks.
Contact your own Representative
and ask them to cosponsor the
Yellowstone Protection
Act to safeguard these national treasures
once and for
all from snowmobile damage:
http://www.wilderness.org/takeaction/?step=2&item=1429
BACKGROUND:
In November 2000, after a three-year public process that
included 22
public hearings and over 65,000 public
comments, the National Park
Service issued a decision
to phase out snowmobiles in Yellowstone
and Grand Teton
national parks over a four-year period. The
decision --
based on a decade of scientific studies by university
researchers and government agencies -- found that
snowmobiles are
damaging the parks' wildlife, clean
air, natural sounds and quiet,
as well as the unique
experiences that Americans expect to find in
their
national parks.
However, at
the urging of snowmobile industry, Interior Secretary
Gale Norton directed the Park Service to reconsider its
decision,
claiming that science and technology had not
been adequately studied
in the original decision. The
resulting Supplemental Environmental
Impact Statement
[SEIS] contains no new scientific or technological
information. In fact, the SEIS itself points out
that the
snowmobile industry failed to provide the Park
Service with any
significant evidence that was not
already part of the original
decision to phase out
snowmobile use in Yellowstone and Grand Teton
national
parks.
This week, the
Environmental Protection Agency reasserted its
statement of three years ago by contending that phasing out
snowmobiles "would provide the best available
protection to human
health, wildlife, air quality,
water quality, soundscapes, visitor
experiences and
visibility."
THE YELLOWSTONE
PROTECTION ACT
The Park Service is expected to make a
final decision on the SEIS in
November. But in the
meantime, Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) and Rep. Chris
Shays
(R-CT) are introducing legislation, named the Yellowstone
Protection Act, to reinforce the desire of many Americans
by making
the ban on snowmobiles a law in Yellowstone
and Grand Teton.
TAKE ACTION:
Ask your
Representatives to consider cosponsoring the Yellowstone
Protection Act by sending your comments from our web site:
http://www.wilderness.org/takeaction/?step=2&item=1429
Or contact your Representative directly and urge
them to consider
cosponsoring the Yellowstone
Protection Act with Rep. Holt and Rep.
Shays because:
** Americans want Yellowstone
and Grand Teton to remain peaceful
places in winter
where bison, elk, and other wildlife are not
harassed
by noisy vehicles.
**
Snowmobiles in the two national parks continue to cause
pollution, make rangers sick, and prevent visitors from
hearing the
eruption of Old Faithful or enjoying the
solitude that Americans
expect from their national
parks.
Send your letter to:
Rep.
__________, U.S. House of Representatives, Wash., DC 20515
U.S. Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121
If you do not know who your
Representative is, you can look it up here:
http://tws.ctsg.com/wac/legDirectory/
***************************************************************
For a full list of Action Items, visit
http://www.wilderness.org/whatcan/takeaction.htm
***************************************************************
An archive of past Wildalerts can be found at
http://www.wilderness.org/wildalert/wildalerts.htm
***************************************************************
To make a gift online to The Wilderness Society, click
here
https://secure-net.com/tws/join.asp
***************************************************************
WildAlert is an email action alert system brought to
you by The
Wilderness Society to keep you apprised of
threats to our wildlands -
in the field and in
Washington. WildAlert messages include updates
along with clear, concise actions you can take to protect
America's
last wild places. You are welcome
to forward Wildalerts to all
those interested in saving
America's wildlands.
FEEDBACK:
If you need to get in contact with the owner of the list,
(if you have trouble unsubscribing, or have questions about
the list
itself) send email to <action@tws.org>.
TO SUBSCRIBE: If you have been
forwarded this message and would like
to subscribe to
the list, visit
http://www.wilderness.org/forms/subscribe.htm or send a
message to
wildalert@tws.org with 'SUBSCRIBE' in the
subject line and your
email address in the body of the
message.
Founded in 1935, The
Wilderness Society works to protect America's
wilderness and to develop a nation-wide network of wild
lands
through public education, scientific analysis and
advocacy. Our
goal is to ensure that future
generations will enjoy the clean air
and water,
wildlife, beauty and opportunities for recreation and
renewal that pristine forests, rivers, deserts and
mountains
provide. To take action on behalf of
wildlands today, visit our
website at http://www.wilderness.org
DEN Alert: Help Protect Air Quality in our National Parks
At Yellowstone National Park,
there are so many snowmobiles on some
winter days that
rangers have worn gas masks to ward off dizziness,
headaches and nausea from the fumes. But against the
opinion of an
overwhelming majority of citizens, the
National Park Service may be
about to reverse its plan
to ban snowmobiles from Yellowstone and
Grand Teton
national parks. That's even though the Environmental
Protection Agency said this week that exhaust from the
machines
could violate air quality laws, jeopardize
human health and pose a
risk to wildlife. The EPA is
recommending that snowmobile access
be replaced with
access by multipassenger snow coaches. Help
protect our
natural treasures from snowmobiles.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Send a FREE e-mail to the National
Park Service Director Fran
Mainella demanding that she
honor the will of the American people
and ban
snowmobiles from Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.
The deadline for comments is MAY 29, so please send your
e-mail
TODAY. Thanks for letting the Bush
administration know you support
a clean, safe national
parks.
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
If you don't have access to the Internet, please mail your
letter
to: Winter Use Draft SEIS Comments, Grand Teton
and Yellowstone
National Parks, P.O. Box 352, Moose,
Wyoming 83012 or e-mail
comments to:
grte_winter_use_seis@nps.gov
SAMPLE LETTER:
Dear Director Mainella:
I strongly support
banning recreational snowmobiling from
Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. This will
enable all
Americans to enjoy our greatest national
parks and help make them
clean, safe places where
wildlife and natural sounds are undisturbed.
Thank you
for considering my views.
Sincerely,
___________________________________________________________
To SUBSCRIBE to DENlines,
visit Defenders' website at:
http://www.defenders.org/den or send an e-mail to
DEN@defenders.org and put the word SUBSCRIBE in the
subject line, and your name and address in the text
area.
___________________________________________________________
DENlines is a biweekly
publication of Defenders of Wildlife, a
leading
national conservation organization recognized as one of
the nation's most progressive advocates for wildlife and
its
habitat and known for its effective leadership on
saving
endangered species such as brown bears and gray
wolves. Defenders
advocates new approaches to wildlife
conservation that protect
species before they become
endangered. Founded in 1947, Defenders
is a nonprofit
501(c)(3) organization with more than 480,000
members
and supporters.
Defenders
of Wildlife
1101
14th Street, NW, Suite 1400
Washington,
DC 20005
http://www.defenders.org
http://www.kidsplanet.org
Copyright
(c) 2002 by Defenders of Wildlife
========================================
Natural Resources Defense Council's
CALIFORNIA ACTIVIST NETWORK ACTION
ALERT
NRDC's California
Activist Network was formed to mobilize and provide
action tools to Californians and others concerned with
protecting the
state's extraordinary wealth of natural
treasures and the health of
its citizens.
May 6, 2002
========================================
In This Issue:
--Action alerts--
1. Urge your assemblymember to stand up to the auto
industry and
reduce global warming pollution in
California
2. Speak out to get
rocket fuel out of California's drinking water
======================================================
You will also find these alerts in NRDC'S Earth Action
Center, which
includes tools for taking action easily
online, at
http://www.nrdc.org/action
(Please do not reply to this message; see the instructions
below for
how to unsubscribe or contact NRDC with
questions or comments.)
=============
Action alerts
=============
1. Urge your assemblymember to stand up to the auto
industry and
reduce global warming pollution in
California
During the past six
months, we have been tracking the progress of and
asking for your assistance to help pass AB 1058, statewide
legislation
that would create the nation's first
restrictions on global warming
emissions from
automobiles. Motor vehicle emissions account for the
highest percentage of global warming pollution in
California (40
percent) than anywhere else in the
country.
AB 1058 would
authorize the California Air Resources Board to regulate
carbon dioxide and other global warming emissions from
passenger
vehicles (including SUVs and minivans),
light-duty trucks and all
other personal vehicles in
California, while allowing automakers
flexibility in
meeting these requirements. Scientists agree that
existing technologies can cut these emissions while
actually
*reducing* vehicle operating costs.
In April, the auto industry
launched a $3 million misinformation
campaign against
AB 1058, lobbying legislators in Sacramento and
spending boatloads of money on media advertising.
Meanwhile, the bill
has been approved by both the state
Assembly (on January 30th) and
Senate (on May 2nd).
Before the bill can be sent to Governor Davis for
his
signature, however, the Assembly must approve several amendments
that were added in the Senate that would ensure that the
regulations
provide environmental and economic benefits
without limiting consumer
choice. But the auto industry
has been turning up the pressure on key
assemblymembers
to change their original votes, so it's critically
important that we counter their efforts with pro-AB 1058
messages
before members vote later this week.
== What to do ==
Send a message *today* urging your state assemblymember to
stand firm
against industry pressure and vote Yes for
AB 1058.
== Contact
information ==
You can send a message to your
assemblymember directly from NRDC's
Earth Action Center
at http://www.nrdc.org/action/.
2. Speak
out to get rocket fuel out of California's drinking water
A dangerous ingredient in rocket
fuel is turning up in drinking water
samples throughout
California. Ammonium perchlorate damages the
thyroid
gland by interfering with the normal uptake of iodine. Even at
low levels, this type of thyroid suppression has been
linked to
delayed neurological development in children,
as well as to extremely
rare infant thyroid cancers.
Millions of children and
adults in Sacramento, Los Angeles, Orange,
Riverside,
San Bernardino, Santa Clara and Sonoma counties are exposed
to elevated levels of perchlorate. Fortunately, both the
U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency and the California
EPA are finally
taking action to regulate this
dangerous chemical. Earlier this year,
the U.S. EPA
issued a proposed rule that would allow no more than 1
part per billion (ppb) of perchlorate (which it determined
to be the
"no effect" level) in drinking water. The
California EPA, however,
recently issued a 6 ppb draft
public health goal, a level 6 times
weaker than the
U.S. EPA's proposal. CalEPA's approach did not
adequately consider perchlorate's impact on infants (who
drink formula
prepared with tap water), did not factor
in increased infant water
consumption levels, and
relied on unethical and scientifically
questionable
human volunteer studies.
==
What to do ==
Send a message urging the California EPA
to set a public health goal
for perchlorate that is at
least as strong as the U.S. EPA's proposal,
and that
would adequately protect infants.
== Contact information ==
You can
send a message to CalEPA directly from NRDC's Earth Action
Center at http://www.nrdc.org/action/. Or use the contact
information
and sample letter below to send your own
message, and please include
your own reasons why
getting this dangerous chemical out of
California's
drinking water is important to you.
Dr. Yi Wang
Pesticide and
Environmental Toxicology Section
Office of
Environmental Health Hazard Assessment
California
Environmental Protection Agency
1515 Clay Street, 16th
Floor
Oakland, California 94612
Fax: 510-622-3218
Email: ywang@oehha.ca.gov
== Sample letter ==
Subject: PHG Project:
Strengthen ammonium perchlorate protections in
drinking
water
Dear Dr. Wang,
I am concerned that OEHHA's
proposed public health goal of 6 ppb of
ammonium
perchlorate in drinking water will not adequately protect
infants and other sensitive individuals in California from
hazards
associated with this dangerous pollutant. To
adequately protect public
health, I urge you to take
the following specific steps:
1) Set an immediate standard for perchlorate in drinking
water that
would protect *all* Californians, including
unborn babies and
iodine-sensitive adults, with an
adequate margin of safety.
2)
Do not base your standard on ethically and scientifically
questionable studies in which human "volunteers" drank
perchlorate-laced water. Recognizing that such studies may
violate
international laws such as the Nuremberg
Declaration and the Helsinki
Accord, the U.S. EPA is
reconsidering its use of these studies.
3) Provide Californians with a full disclosure of the
health risks
associated with drinking
perchlorate-contaminated water and the extent
of
contamination in their communities.
4) Implement an immediate plan to further protect drinking
water
sources from contamination.
5) Require polluters to pay the
full cost of cleanup of perchlorate
contamination
throughout the state.
Again, I
urge you to act as quickly as possible to insure that
Californians are protected from the harmful effects of this
hazardous
chemical.
Sincerely,
[Your name and address]
==================================================
About Our Bulletins/How to Subscribe & Unsubscribe
==================================================
NRDC distributes three bulletins
by email. To subscribe to any or all
of them or to join
our activist networks, go to:
http://www.join.nrdcaction.org/subscribe.asp.
The CALIFORNIA ACTIVIST NETWORK
ACTION ALERT is distributed monthly to
members of
NRDC's California Activist Network and provides action
tools to Californians and others concerned with protecting
the state's
natural resources and the health of its
citizens.
EARTH ACTION is
sent biweekly and calls out urgent environmental
issues
at the national level and from around the country. To
unsubscribe from Earth Action, send an email message to
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LEGISLATIVE WATCH is sent
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To: All
Activists
From: Steve Holmer
Date: May 6, 2002
Subject: Many Thanks on the Farm Bill
Many thanks to all those who
called, faxed and emailed your Senators and
Representatives to oppose stewardship contracting and
biomass in the
Farm Bill. These
provisions were removed thanks in part to a number of
key House and Senate offices that weighed in on our
behalf. The bill
passed the House last week,
is expected to be approved by the Senate
this week and
signed by the President soon after.
Please fax a brief note (on your organization's letterhead
if possible)
thanking the following Representatives and
Senators for their support
and hard work on the Farm
bill to protect the National Forests by
removing
stewardship contracting:
Representative Fax Number
Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV) 226-4077
Rep. Eva Clayton (D-NC) 225-3354
Minority Leader Dick Gephardt
(D-MO) 226-0938
Senator Fax Number
Sen. Tom
Daschle 224-7895
Sen. Tom Harkin 224-9287
Sen. Patrick Leahy 224-3479
Sen.
Jeff Bingaman 224-9026
Sen. Barbara Boxer 415-956-6701
Sen. Ron Wyden 228-2717
Stewardship Contracting Not Needed
to Pay for Restoration
The
main argument that proponents of stewardship contracting offer is
that money is needed to pay for
restoration. However, if harmful always
logging occurs in restoration projects, the need for
restoration never
decreases, making this a very
ecologically questionable proposition. As
for the economics, conservationists have a much better
alternative to
pay for restoration. Take
money away from harmful activities like
logging and
roadbuilding and use them to fund a new ecological
restoration line-item in the budget that we would define.
Stewardship contracting
includes three new authorities that the agency
was
supposed to test out to see if it benefitted the restoration
objectives of the project. These authorities
are:
Goods for Services
Under this authority the Forest
Service can exchange trees to pay for
contracted
restoration activities. This is similar to the purchaser
road credit system that led to the over-construction of
roads on the
National Forests. There are no
limits on the volume or size of trees
that can logged
and given away.
Receipt Retention
This is a new off-budget slush fund similar to the Salvage
Fund in that
the agency gets to keep 100% of the
receipts generated within the
project
area. The Forest Service is frequently imbedding timber sale
contracts within restoration projects. So any
receipts that sale
generates is then kept by the Forest
Service to do more "restoration"
projects.
This raises the concern that
money usually spent on reforestation and
mitigation of
timber sale impacts will be diverted to simply pay for
more logging projects. The Inter-agency Salvage
Program Review which
reviewed the Salvage Logging Rider
concluded that the Salvage Fund gave
the agency an
incentive to choose projects that generate revenues over
those that don't. We can conclude that
receipt retention will create
the same powerful
incentive for logging.
Designation by Description
This authority allows the Forest Service to skip the
requirement of the
National Forest Management Act to
mark each tree to be logged. This
opens the
door to uncontrolled logging and abuse of the land by logging
companies. The agency has already told
timber operators that they
intend to use this new
authority to "sweeten the pot" to make otherwise
uneconomical projects worth bidding on.
We don't expect that the timber
industry or the Forest Service are
likely to give up
their efforts to obtain these new authorities, so a
rider fight is likely on the Interior
bill. Meanwhile, we need to
continue
building support for revamping the Forest Service budget.
American Lands Budget Sign On
Deadline Extended to May 22
American Lands has crafted an alternative budget for the
Forest Service
that proposes to redirect logging and
roadbuilding into a newly defined
ecological
restoration line-item. Over fifty groups have already
endorsed this proposal, but we would love to raise that
number of one
hundred.
Please see http://www.americanlands.org/fy_2003_budget.htm to
review the
document. To sign on, please
contact me at 202/547-9105 or
mailto:wafcdc@americanlands.org by May
22. Thanks.
Steve Holmer
Campaign Coordinator
American
Lands
726 7th Street SE
Washington, D.C. 20003
202/547-9105
202/547-9213 fax
mailto:wafcdc@americanlands.org
http://www.americanlands.org
Dear UCS Action
Network:
We would like to
thank all of you who responded to our action alerts
by
contacting your Senators in support of a clean and sustainable
national energy policy. Over 27,600 actions were
taken using the
Union of Concerned Scientists new
user-friendly email and website
action tools. Your
efforts played a significant role in demonstrating
to
Senators that their constituents support clean cars and renewable
energy.
The Senate energy bill, which was passed in late April
after six
weeks of debate, had started off with
promise. In the end, it was
severely undermined by
amendments that benefit polluting industries.
The final Senate bill represents several missed
opportunities for
energy security and environmental and
consumer protection:
* It
moves the country backward in terms of fuel economy for pickup
trucks and does nothing to improve the fuel economy of
cars, SUVs and
minivans--the single most important way
to reduce our oil dependence.
* It offers billions of
dollars in subsidies and other incentives to
increase
the domestic production of fossil fuels.
* It repeals
the Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA), which
is designed to protect consumers from unfair practices in
the
electricity market.
* It
benefits the nuclear power industry, including over $2 billion
in tax incentives and R&D funding, limits citizen
participation in
licensing and relicensing proceedings,
and re-authorizes the Price
Anderson Act, which limits
the liability of nuclear power plants in
case of an
accident.
However, the bill
does contain a few bright spots:
* The first-ever federal renewable energy standard, which
requires
that a minimum of 10 percent of all
electricity come from wind,
solar, geothermal, and
other renewable energy sources by 2020. This
should
double the amount of renewable energy that would otherwise
have been generated by 2020.
* Tax
incentives for consumers to purchase cleaner, more fuel
efficient vehicles.
* The sound
defeat of efforts to open the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge to oil drilling.
* Energy
efficiency tax incentives and renewable energy tax credits
that will encourage businesses to invest in clean energy
technology.
* Provisions for new--as well as upgrading
some existing--energy
efficiency standards for various
consumer appliances.
* A new program to replace older
dirty diesel school buses with buses
fueled by cleaner
alternatives.
The next steps:
The Senate energy bill will
soon move into House-Senate Conference to
hammer out
the differences between the two pieces of legislation.
Then the compromise legislation must pass the full House
and Senate
and the President must sign it.
We expect polluting industries to
lobby hard to remove the few
environmentally
responsible measures that remain in the Senate energy
bill and to make additional efforts to open up the Arctic
National
Wildlife Refuge to drilling.
UCS will work hard to keep the
green provisions of the Senate bill
in place as it is
conferenced with the abysmal House energy bill. We
will
need your support for responsible energy policy as the
House-Senate negotiations move forward. Stay
tuned for upcoming
action alerts and
updates.
Dear
Eco-Activist:
Care2 has been
watching urgent environmental issues to help keep
you
in the eco-loop. I bet you didn't know that Park Rangers must
wear GAS MASKS to protect themselves from Snowmobile fumes.
But
what do the animals do? Today, your help is needed
to eliminate the
destructive use of snowmobiles in our
national parks!
Click Here: http://www.care2.com/go/redirect/2/4152
**************************************************************
After years of study on
snowmobile use in Yellowstone and Grand
Teton National
Parks, the National Park Service has just released
a
new analysis of the impact of snowmobiles that supports the
original decision to phase-out these machines. The Park
Service
urgently needs to hear FROM YOU that it should
uphold its original
decision to phase out snowmobile
use and protect our national parks.
Click Here: http://www.care2.com/go/redirect/2/4152
BACKGROUND: In November 2000,
after a three-year public process that
included 22
public hearings and over 65,000 public comments, the
National Park Service issued a decision to phase out
snowmobiles in
Yellowstone and Grand Teton national
parks over a four-year period.
The existing mass
transit system would be expanded to ensure public
access to the parks. The decision - based on a decade of
scientific
studies by university researchers and
government agencies - found
that snowmobiles are
damaging the parks' wildlife, clean air,
natural sounds
and quiet, as well as the unique experiences that
Americans expect to find in their national parks.
TAKE ACTION: Public support is
important to ensure the Bush
Administration implements
the phase-out. Please support the Park
Service's
decision to phase out snowmobile use in Yellowstone and
Grand Teton national parks by sending your public comments.
Click Here: http://www.care2.com/go/redirect/2/4152
Tell them that:
* Americans want Yellowstone and
Grand Teton to remain peaceful
places in
winter where bison, elk, and other wildlife are not
harassed by noisy vehicles.
* Snowmobiles continue to cause pollution, make rangers
sick,
and prevent visitors from hearing the
eruption of Old Faithful
or enjoying the
solitude that Americans expect from their
national parks.
* The
original, science-based phase out decision is the only way
to adequately protect the nation's first
national park and
nearby Grand Teton
national park.
TAKE A MOMENT
TO HELP OUR NATIONAL PARKS!
Click Here: http://www.care2.com/go/redirect/2/4152
URGENT: Comments must be received
no later than midnight,
Mountain Time, May
29, 2002.
Thank
You,
Your Friends at
Care2
& thePetitionSite!
To: All
Activists
From: Steve Holmer
Date: May 6, 2002
Roadless Area Conservation Act Sponsor Deadline This Week
Reps. Jay Inslee (D-WA) and
Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) are seeking
original sponsors
for legislation that would codify the Roadless Area
Conservation Rule into law. So far, over 100
congressional offices have
indicated their support in
just three weeks. The deadline for original
sponsors is listed on the Dear Colleague as May
8. We expect that
sign-ons added by this
Friday, May 10 will be included.
Help build congressional pressure against the Bush
Administration's
rollback of roadless area protection
and the Forest Service's plans for
numerous new
roadless area logging projects. Please contact your
Representative at 202/224-3121 or by fax or email at
http://www.congress.org and urge him/her to be an
original sponsor of
the Roadless Area Conservation Act
of 2002.
If their staff says
that they have already signed on, please thank them.
The list of original sponsors will be released when the
bill is
introduced next week.
A copy of the Dear Colleague
letter sent by Reps. Inslee and Boehlert
and cosigned
by 10 other leading Representatives including Rep. Nick
Rahall, ranking Democrat on the House Resources Committee
and Rep. Eva
Clayton, ranking Democrat on the Forest
Subcommittee of the Agriculture
Committee, is available
at
http://www.americanlands.org/dear_colleague.htm Also,
a sample letter
that you can send to your
Representative to encourage them to sign on as
a
cosponsor is available at
http://www.americanlands.org/sample_letter.htm
Thanks for all your efforts.
Steve Holmer
Campaign Coordinator
American
Lands
726 7th Street SE
Washington, D.C. 20003
202/547-9105
202/547-9213 fax
mailto:wafcdc@americanlands.org
http://www.americanlands.org
In this
Post:
#1. VICTORY! Celebrating Victories, Remaining
Vigilant
#2. U’wa Defense Working Group Press Release
#3 NY Times May 1 Six Colombian Rebels
Indicted in '99 Killings
#4 Statement from family and
friends of Terrence Frietas
#5 Statement from family of
Ingrid Washinawatok and Lahe’ena’e Gay
#6 Washington
Post May 2 U.S. Certifies Colombian 'Progress' on Rights
* * * * *
#1
CELEBRATING
VICTORIES, REMAINING VIGILANT
It has been a dramatic week for the U’wa, their supporters
and everyone
working for peace and justice in
Colombia. Amidst several US policy
decisions
that will escalate the violence in Colombia, comes OXY’s
announcement that they are returning the Siriri oil block,
which is
located on U’wa land, to the Colombian
government. What this means is
that the
words that so many of us have written on banners, said in
press releases, and chanted at numerous demonstrations –
OXY OFF OF U’WA
LAND! - are coming true! See
#2 the UDWG press release below.
Although the U’wa are still confirming details and have 10
years of
experiences with OXY’s dirty tricks to make
them cautious, they have
received this news with great
joy. This is a major VICTORY! Despite
assuring investors for 8 years of a major oil strike now
suddenly OXY
claims there is no oil in the region.
Clearly the resistance of the U’wa
and the pressure of
the international solidarity movement demanding
peace
and justice in Colombia helped OXY finally see the light.
This surprise announcement was
made at OXY’s May 3rd shareholders
meeting in the wake
of a spirited demonstration and media held outside
the
meeting by activists from Amazon Watch, Action Resource Center and
Project Underground. As shareholders and the
financial press entered
the meeting, they were greeted
by giant OXY soldiers carrying weapons
emblazoned with
American flags and "Plan Colombia" logos. The
demonstration educated the shareholders about the deadly
link between
OXY’s operations in Colombia, US military
aid and the rising body count
of Colombia’s brutal
civil war.
This is not the
final victory for the U’wa but it is a major milestone.
Guided by the spiritual leadership of their Werjayas (wise
elders) the
U'wa struggle for survival has become a
symbol of resistance to oil
exploration and corporate
led globalization. Over the last 5 years, the
U'wa
resistance has inspired a massive international solidarity movement
that has captured headlines with hundreds of peaceful
demonstrations.
More recently, the U'wa and their
supporters have expanded their
organizing to stop U.S.
military aid to Colombia and illuminate the role
of US
energy corporations like OXY in hijacking US foreign policy in
Colombia for their own ends.
It’s an important time for all the
thousands of people who have taken
action to support
the U’wa struggle to congratulate yourself and do some
CELEBRATING! Tragically in our struggles for
democracy, justice and
ecological sanity victories are
all too rare, so don’t miss this one!
Spread the word and CELEBRATE THIS IMPORTANT VICTORY!
That said, the U’wa and all the
peoples of Colombia continued to be
threatened by the
escalating war. This week the Bush administration
turned a blind eye to the human rights crisis in Colombia
by providing
human rights certification to the
Colombian government. This
certification is
a requirement to release further military aid to
Colombia and has been widely criticized by international
human rights
groups. For full details see #6
below.
As Alex Arriaga,
of Amnesty International USA, said "It is inexcusable
for the United States to send military aid when the
Colombian government
has failed to adequately meet the
human rights conditions placed upon
U.S.
aid. In 2001, there was a dramatic increase in political violence
and attacks on human rights
defenders. Meanwhile, impunity continues to
reign for those who violate human rights, whether they are
the Colombian
military, paramilitary groups, the FARC,
or the ELN. Without progress
on meeting the
benchmarks, U.S. aid will only contribute to more human
rights violations and diminish hopes for peace."
A joint document released in
February by Human Rights Watch, the
Washington Office
on Latin America, and Amnesty International details
the
Colombian government's failure to meet the human rights conditions.
It is available on line at:
http://www.hrw.org/press/2002/02/colombia0205.htm.
In another development, sad
memories were re-kindled last week when
Attorney
General Ashcroft indicted 6 FARC guerillas for the murders of 3
U’wa supporters in March 1999. (See the NY times
article #3 below )
Terrence Frietas, Ingrid
Washinawatok and Lahe’ena’e Gay were kidnapped
from
U’wa territory by FARC guerillas and later found dead across the
Venezuelan border. The Bush administration
is clearly trying to use
these indictments to push
their agenda of expanding the so-called "War
on
Terrorism" to protect U.S. oil interests in Colombia. The
families
of the murdered victims have made statements
of concern about the Bush
administration’s exploitation
of their loved ones deaths, which are
included below.
(See #4 and #5)
So as we
celebrate this victory remember the spirits of those who have
given their lives as part of the struggle to defend the
U’wa land and
culture. Remember Terry,
Ingrid and La’he. Remember the 3 indigenous
children who were killed in February 2000 when the military
attacked
U’wa blockades. Remember the 20
non-combatants who are being murdered
in Colombia’s war
every day.
What
better way to celebrate the sacrifices of so many people than to
insure that as OXY pulls out of U’wa land we continue to
build our
movements for justice, peace and ecology. For
over 500 years communities
like the U’wa have fought to
protect their land and way of life from
waves of
invaders. Now we have the opportunity to build a new type
of
movement with the power to move towards a global
society rooted in the
values of justice, peace,
sustainability and respect for diversity and
life in
all its forms.
The
U’wa will continue to need our support and we will continue to need
their leadership and inspiring example as we show the oil
industry that
they can no longer invade pristine
ecosystems, violate the rights of
indigenous cultures
and de-stabilize the global climate. We need to let
the oil barons who have taken over the White House know
that we will no
longer tolerate wars for oil and that
U.S. military aid to Colombia must
stop!
So celebrate this victory, but
stay vigilant. Our work is not done -
but
with each milestone, each victory, each action, each celebration we
are getting closer and closer.
Keep up all the great work
everyone!
TAKE ACTION!
CALL OR WRITE YOUR SENATORS, REPRESENTATIVES, AND THE WHITE
HOUSE TODAY
AND URGE NO MORE $$$ FOR VIOLENCE IN
COLOMBIA!
The White House:
(202) 456 1414
Capital Switchboard: 202-224-3121
To find your Senators and
Representatives, go to www.senate.gov and
www.house.gov
For a thorough breakdown and
analysis of US military aid to Colombia, go
to
www.ciponline.org/colombia
* *
* * *
#2
U'WA DEFENSE WORKING GROUP:
AMAZON
WATCH * ACTION RESOURCE CENTER * PROJECT
UNDERGROUND *
RAINFOREST ACTION NETWORK
For Immediate Release
May 3,
2002 7:30pm
EDT
Contacts: Kevin Koenig-310.420.8245
Patrick Reinsborough-415.722-1846
Occidental Petroleum to Leave U'wa
Land!
Company Announces Plans to Leave Controversial
Colombia Oil Project
Los
Angeles-At its annual shareholder meeting today, Occidental
Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) announced its plans to return to the
Colombian
government its controversial Siriri oil block
(formally Samore), located
on the traditional territory
of the U'wa people. This follows a nearly
decade-long peaceful campaign by the U'wa to halt the oil
project.
"This is the news we
have been waiting for. Sira, the God of the U'wa
has accompanied the U'wa here in Colombia and our friends
around the
world who have supported us in this
struggle. Now Sira is responding to
us. This
is the result of the work of the U'wa and our friends around
the world," said an U'wa spokesperson.
The U'wa's campaign to protect
their people and land from the violence
and
environmental destruction that comes with oil projects in Colombia
has garnered international attention and created an ongoing
public
relations liability for Oxy. Peaceful U'wa
resistance to the Oxy project
has been met with several
episodes of violent repression over the years,
in one
case resulting in the death of three indigenous children during a
military break up of peaceful U'wa blockades.
The U'wa have repeatedly denounced
Occidental's oil operation, saying it
threatens their
tribe and will raise the death toll of innocent
civilians caught in the crossfire of Colombia's civil war.
Activists
noted that while Oxy's departure from the oil
block is a welcomed
development, the threat remains
that another company could take over the
area. In addition, Repsol-YPF is currently
looking to develop the
Capachos oil block, also located
on traditional U'wa land.
"Oxy's departure from the oil block will be a great victory
for the
U'wa," said Atossa Soltani, Director of Amazon
Watch. "Oxy now needs to
commit to staying
out of all U'wa ancestral lands permanently."
Last July, Oxy announced that its first exploratory well on
U'wa land
turned up dry. Today the company
cited economic reasons for
relinquishing the block,
while observers noted that the company's
continuing
public relations conflicts around U'wa issue weighed heavily
on the decision. Meanwhile, Occidental also finds itself
center stage in
the growing controversy around the Bush
Administration's military aid
proposal to hand over $98
million of U.S. taxpayers' money to defend
Occidental's
Caño Limon oil pipeline in Colombia, which runs through
traditional U'wa land.
If Congress passes the proposal, this targeted military
assistance for
the pipeline will set a dangerous
precedent of taxpayers covering
private corporations'
security expenses overseas. Critics say this is a
clear
case of corporate welfare. Based on last year's level of U.S. oil
imports from Caño Limon, taxpayers will be covering
Occidental's
security expenses at the cost of $24 per
barrel of oil. Occidental also
finds itself in the
spotlight this week with Attorney General Ashcroft's
indictment of six FARC guerrillas for the 1999 murders of
three
Americans working in Colombia with the U'wa
people. Among the activists
murdered was Terence
Freitas who founded the U'wa Defense Project.
Freitas'
family issued a statement in opposition to more military aid to
Colombia (available upon request).
The U'wa are expected to release a
full statement next week.
-END-
* * * * *
#3
NY Times
May 1, 2002
6 Colombian Rebels
Indicted in '99 Killings
By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS
WASHINGTON, April 30 - Six members
of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia, the
country's largest rebel group, were indicted today in
connection with the killing of three Americans in 1999,
Attorney General
John Ashcroft announced.
A federal grand jury in Washington
charged that Germán Briceño Suárez,
the eastern bloc
commander of the group, and five other rebels held the
Americans hostage for more than a week, then executed them
and dumped
their bodies across the Venezuelan border.
The Americans, who were in
Colombia to aid the native Uwa tribe in its
struggle to
protect its land from oil exploration, were Ingrid
Washinawatok, 41, of Brooklyn; Terence Freitas, 24, a
California native,
and Lahe'ena'e Gay, 39, of Hawaii.
Their killings, for which the
rebels claimed responsibility, led the
Clinton
administration to reject a role in peace negotiations between
the Colombian government and the rebel group, a force of
perhaps 17,000
combatants that has waged a war of
attrition for decades.
Since peace talks collapsed in February, the Bush
administration has
asked Congress to loosen
restrictions on military aid to Colombia. That
would
allow American-trained counternarcotics battalions and attack
helicopters to be used in the fight against the
rebels. All six rebels
are at large,
officials said.
The father and
girlfriend of Terence Freitas released a statement today
accusing the administration of a exploiting his killing "to
justify
further U.S. military aid to the Colombian
armed forces."
* * * * *
#4
Statement by Family and Friends of Terence Freitas, One of
the Three US
Citizens Killed by FARC
FARC
guerillas kidnapped and murdered our son, brother, and friend,
Terence Unity Freitas, in early 1999. Terence was one of
three US
citizens taken by FARC after visiting the
Colombian indigenous U'wa
community on land coveted by
US-based Occidental Petroleum. In
Washington today, a
grand jury announced the indictment of FARC
leadership
for authorizing the murders, findings that parallel a
separate grand jury investigation taking place within the
Colombian
justice system.
Today's announcement fuels the fire for President Bush's
proposed
expansion of the war on terrorism in Colombia.
We are dismayed to see
the Administration's cynical and
exploitative use of Terence's murder to
justify further
US military aid to the Colombian armed forces, aid the
President has slated for training the Colombian troops to
defend a
beleaguered Occidental oil pipeline. Terence
went to Colombia to work
with local communities
grappling with the escalation of legal and
extralegal
armed violence that Occidental's presence in the region has
wreaked over the last 15 years. To the 2 dozen social
organizations in
the Arauca region protesting US
military intervention on behalf of
Occidental, oil
equals violence. Employing Terence's death as a means to
continue perpetuating violence in Colombia grossly
contradicts
everything Terence believed in.
We deplore the use of kidnapping
and executions as political, economic,
and military
tools. We demand that those responsible in this case be
arrested, given a fair trial, and, if proven guilty,
sentenced severely,
with full respect for due process
of law in Colombia. However, we object
to twinning the
pursuit of justice for Terence's murder with the pursuit
of the war on terrorism.
As we have said from the beginning, we do not believe that
meeting
violence with violence is a legitimate means to
obtain justice and
peace. It has never worked in
Colombia before, and it is certainly not
working now.
We are distressed to see the Bush Administration
championing Terence's murder as a rallying cry for war. If
it is to be
held up as anything, we implore that it be
held up as a mirror
reflecting back to our own country
the fractured complexity of
Colombia's civil war and
our own stark complicity in it: as long as we
maintain
our addiction to oil, Colombia will not see peace.
* * * * *
#5 Statement from the Families of Ingrid
Washinawatok and Lahe’ena’e
Gay
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
May 2
002
We welcome the Grand Jury
indictments against the assassins of our
beloved Ingrid
Washinawatok and Lahe'ena'e Gay. The indictments were
announced yesterday by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.
The FARC
commanders who ordered the murders and the
henchmen who carried the out
deserve to be brought to
justice. Both Colombian or American court
systems are
acceptable as long as justice is done.
Terrorism has been going on for a very long time and in
many forms. The
terrorism that killed Ingrid
and Lahe'ena'e has long plagued Native
leaders, whether
from the Right or the Left. Just three days ago,
Guillermo Ovalle, an associate of Nobel Peace Prize winner
and Quiche'
Indian leader Rigoberta Menchú Tum, was
assassinated by unknown gunmen
in Guatemala.
In welcoming the indictments we
reiterate that we do not endorse any
actions of war,
neither by governments or countries nor by armed bands
of insurrectionists. We endorse only the strongest quest
for the truth
to be known and for justice to be done.
Ali El Issa, President The
Ingrid Washinawatok El Issa Flying Eagle
Woman Fund for
Peace, Justice and Sovereignty
John Livingstone Husband of Lahe'ena'e Gay
* * * * *
#6
U.S. Certifies Colombian
'Progress' on Rights
By Karen DeYoung
Washington Post
Staff Writer
Thursday, May 2, 2002; Page A20
Secretary
of State Colin L. Powell certified yesterday that the
Colombian armed forces have met the congressionally
mandated
requirements to suspend and prosecute alleged
human rights violators and
to sever their ties with
right-wing paramilitary forces accused of
civilian
massacres and other
rights abuses.
Certification was required before
the Bush administration could spend
any of the $104
million approved for the Colombian military in the 2002
budget. U.S. and Colombian officials had warned
in recent weeks that
they were curtailing counter-
narcotics activities in the southern part
of the
country because no money was available.
A State Department statement said that "both we and the
Government of
Colombia recognize that the protection of
human rights in Colombia needs
improvement."
Certification had been held up since early this year,
officials said, while U.S. officials worked with civilian
judicial
authorities in Colombia and pressured the
government to take more
substantive action.
The statement yesterday said that
"real progress" has been made. But
human rights groups
-- including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty
International
and the Washington Office on Latin America -- criticized
the decision, saying that the Colombian government has
failed "to take
even minimal steps to meet" the
congressional conditions.
Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), who wrote the restrictions,
commended the
State Department for urging the Colombian
government to do more. "But
the proof is in the
results," he said, "and the results are
disappointing.
. . . This certification has more to do with the fact
that U.S. aid was running out than with sufficient progress
on human
rights."
Congress required Powell to certify progress in three
areas: suspension
of armed forces members
credibly alleged to have committed gross
violations of
human rights, or to have aided or abetted paramilitary
groups; armed forces cooperation with civilian judicial
authorities in
prosecuting and punishing such members
in civilian courts; effective
measures taken to sever
military links with paramilitary forces.
Leahy and others have long been concerned that the zeal of
the U.S. and
Colombian military in combating the
6,000-troop-strong leftist
Revolutionary Armed Forces
of Colombia, or FARC, has led them to turn a
blind eye
or, in the case of the Colombian military, to collaborate with
the paramilitary United Self Defense Forces, or AUC.
Pentagon
assessments have concluded that the AUC poses
a greater long-term threat
to Colombian stability than
does the FARC.
Formed and
funded in the 1980s by landowners who charged that the
military was incapable of defending them against guerrilla
attacks and
extortion, paramilitary groups were
declared illegal by the Colombian
government in 1989.
Since then, the AUC and the FARC have become
involved
in the production and export of cocaine and heroin and have
been designated "foreign terrorist organizations" by the
State
Department. The AUC is held
responsible by the State Department and by Colombian and
U.S. human
rights groups for the majority of the
thousands of civilian killings
each year in Colombia.
The State Department estimates that the AUC has
more
than 10,000 combatants.
As
evidence of progress against the paramilitary forces, a senior
administration official told reporters that the second
highest ranking
officer in the Colombian Navy, Gen.
Rodrigo Quinones, has been
transferred to
administrative duties because of allegations of
complicity in two of the largest AUC massacres in recent
years. But
human rights organizations noted that,
despite the credibility of the
allegations, Quinones
has not been suspended from the military nor
turned
over to civilian jurisdiction. Last month, he was appointed
military attaché to the Colombian Embassy in
Israel.
========================================
NRDC's EARTH ACTION:
The Bulletin
for Environmental Activists
May 7, 2002
========================================
In This Issue:
--Action alerts--
Urgent -- House vote this week: Tell your representative
not to
approve Yucca Mountain as the country's nuclear
waste dump
--Updates on
Previous alerts--
Mining
Waste/Water Pollution
======================================================
You will also find these alerts in NRDC'S Earth Action
Center, which
includes tools for taking action easily
online, at
http://www.nrdc.org/action
(Please do not reply to this message; see the instructions
below for
how to unsubscribe or contact NRDC with
questions or comments.)
=============
Action alerts
=============
Urgent: Tell your representative not to approve Yucca
Mountain as the
country's nuclear waste dump
This Wednesday or Thursday, the
House of Representatives will vote on
a resolution to
designate Yucca Mountain, Nevada, as the nation's sole
repository for high-level nuclear waste.
The Yucca Mountain site was
recommended by energy secretary Spencer
Abraham, and
approved by President Bush, despite findings by the
congressionally designated, independent Nuclear Waste
Technical Review
Board that "the technical basis for
the DOE's repository performance
estimates is weak to
moderate." The review board also listed many
important
scientific questions about the safety of the site that
remain unresolved. Just as important, the recommendation
fails to
address the issue of transportation, which
would involve tens of
thousands of shipments of
radioactive waste through 44 states and the
District of
Columbia on trains, trucks, and barges -- potentially
exposing millions of people along the routes to radiation.
Nevada's governor, Kenny Guinn
(R), has temporarily halted the
designation approval
process by vetoing the site recommendation, but
if
Congress overrides his veto, the designation will stick. The House
has taken up the matter first (the Energy and Commerce
Committee last
week overwhelmingly passed the
resolution to override Gov. Guinn's
veto, setting the
stage for this week's floor vote).
== What to do ==
Send a message
*today* urging your representative to oppose the Yucca
Mountain designation until all the remaining safety and
environmental
issues are satisfactorily resolved.
== Contact information ==
You can email or fax your representative directly from
NRDC's Earth
Action Center at http://www.nrdc.org/action/. If you prefer to call
your representative, the Capitol switchboard number is
202-224-3121.
==========================
Updates
on Previous alerts
==========================
MINING WASTE/WATER POLLUTION
Last month we asked you to urge the Bush administration to
continue to
prohibit the mining industry from dumping
waste from mountaintop
removal mining (where the tops
of mountains in Appalachia are blown up
and then dumped
in nearby valleys) into streams and wetlands. Despite
your more than 5,000 messages to the EPA, plus bipartisan
opposition
in Congress, the administration, at the
industry's behest, on May 3rd
announced its decision to
legalize this practice, representing the
most
significant weakening of the Clean Water Act since its adoption
in 1972. The decision's impact will reach far beyond
Appalachia,
however, as the new rule allows the Army
Corps of Engineers to issue
permits for disposal of
*any* kind of industrial solid waste,
including coal
mining waste, hardrock mining waste (which often
contains toxic chemicals such as lead and arsenic), and
construction
and demolition debris, in the nation's
waters. The administration even
had the audacity to
claim that the new rule actually "enhances"
environmental protections because it prohibits dumping
trash into
waterways. In truth, this "enhanced"
environmental protection is
simply all that remains of
the previous across-the-board prohibition
on solid
waste disposal, and was added only after a draft proposal
obtained by NRDC showed that the administration intended to
allow
trash disposal as well. NRDC and other
organizations are committed to
pursuing all legal
options available to reverse the administration's
rule
change, and we'll let you know when your help is next needed. In
the meantime, thanks to everyone who took action.
==================================================
About Our Bulletins/How to Subscribe & Unsubscribe
==================================================
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==========
About NRDC
==========
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a nonprofit
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nationwide and a staff of
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Also visit:
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http://www.savebiogems.org
===========
Marine wildlife
is being threatened by imminent Congressional
action on
the important Defense Department (DoD) Authorization
Bill. Please contact your lawmakers today urging them
not to compromise marine wildlife protection for the
convenience of the DoD.
You can take action on this alert either via email
(please see directions below) or via the web at:
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/marinewildlifethreat/wkwxs54v78xdte
Visit the web address below
and tell your friends to
take action on this important
campaign!
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/marinewildlifethreat/forward/wkwxs54v78xdte
We encourage you to take
action by June 6, 2002
Marine
Wildlife Threatened by Defense Authorization
Bill
----------------------
The DoD Authorization bill, which
already contains
broad exemptions for the military from
the Endangered
Species Act and the Migratory Bird
Treaty Act, may
be amended on the Floor to also weaken
the Marine Mammal
Protection Act (MMPA). The MMPA
already provides for
the military to obtain permits to
allow for incidental
harm to marine mammals on a
case-by-case basis. But
when the U.S. House of
Representatives takes up the
Defense Authorization bill
later this week, an amendment
may be offered to weaken
the MMPA by changing the legal
definition of
"harassment." If this amendment is adopted,
it will
increase the likelihood that marine mammals
such as
whales and dolphins will be injured or killed
by DoD
activities.
Now more than ever
we all recognize the importance
of national security.
But the U.S. military is seeking
to capitalize on
widespread concerns over national
security to obtain
sweeping, unjustified exemptions
from federal
environmental statutes. These laws are
the result of
years of public discussion, debate and
compromise and
must not be weakened in such a cavalier
manner.
Votes may occur as early as
tomorrow, so please respond
immediately and let your
Representatives know that
they must not weaken
protections for marine wildlife
during House
consideration of the Defense Authorization
bill.
Thank you for your help.
----------------------
INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPOND VIA THE
WEB:
If you have access to a web browser, you can take
action
on this alert by going to the following URL:
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/marinewildlifethreat/wkwxs54v78xdte
INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPOND VIA
EMAIL:
Just choose the "reply to sender" option on your
email
program, and edit the letter below as you wish.
Do
not delete "-YOU MAY EDIT THE LETTER BELOW-" and
"-END
OF LETTER-". Please do not add your name and
address
to your letter. Our system automatically does
this
for you.
We STRONGLY encourage you to make edits directly to
our sample letter below, and put the alert talking
points into your own words. An individualized letter
is worth ten computer generated letters. Of course,
hundreds of unedited letters will still create a large
impact, so please reply even if you don't have time
to personalize the letter.
Your letter will be addressed and sent to:
Representative Maurice Hinchey
-------YOU MAY EDIT THE LETTER
BELOW---------
I urge you to
oppose any language in the Defense Department
Authorization Bill (H.R. 4546) that will weaken protection
for marine wildlife. 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.
The DoD
Authorization bill, which already contains
broad
exemptions for the military from the Endangered
Species
Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, may
be amended
on the Floor to also weaken the Marine Mammal
Protection Act (MMPA).
The MMPA already provides for the
military to obtain
permits to allow for incidental harm
to marine mammals
on a case-by-case basis. Thus, there
is no need to
weaken this important conservation law to
accommodate
the normal operations of the Department of
Defense.
I urge you to oppose any amendment that will
weaken
the MMPA.
I also urge you to support any amendments offered to
strike language currently in the bill that undermines
the Endangered Species Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty
Act by giving the Defense Department broad exemptions
from these important laws.
Please inform me of any votes you
cast on these important
conservation issues. I thank
you for considering my
views.
-------END OF
LETTER-------------------------
If you are already a WWF Conservation Action Network member, see below
for how to take action. If you received this email from a friend,
please visit the Conservation Action Network at
http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org/ to take action on
this issue.
Please don't let the U.S. military run roughshod over our
nation's
landmark wildlife laws. Later this week, the House of
Representatives
is expected to consider a bill that contains sweeping
exemptions for
Department of Defense activities under the laws that protect
endangered species, migratory birds, and wilderness.
Even without
these exemptions, military activities already have
enormous impacts on
wildlife and have in the past killed nesting
seabirds in the Pacific
Islands, desert tortoises in California, and
dolphins in the
Bahamas. To make matters worse, members of Congress
may offer
amendments adding exemptions to other natural resource
protection laws and
clean air and toxic waste regulations. Already,
military
activities contribute significantly to our nation's pollution
problems.
No federal agency should be above the law. Many of these laws
already
have specific provisions that allow requests for waivers in the
interest of national security. The proposed exemptions are being
rushed
through without adequate review and comment by the public and
affected
parties.
The good news is that an amendment to strike these damaging
provisions
is likely to be offered during the floor debate on the bill.
PLEASE FOLLOW THE SIMPLE STEPS BELOW TO SEND A FREE MESSAGE URGING
YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS TO VOTE IN SUPPORT OF REMOVING THESE DAMAGING
PROVISIONS.
**************************TAKE ACTION NOW!
************************
To send the message below, as is, to your
member of Congress, hit
"reply" to this email and then "send." We will
automatically send the
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Once you are in your Personal Action Center, click on "No
Environmental Exemptions for Military" and follow the instructions for
adding your own thoughts to your message.
Please forward
this email to your friends and colleagues and ask them
to act today.
*********************LETTER TEXT******************
Dear (your
representative's name will be inserted here):
When H.R. 4546, the
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
2003, comes to the floor,
I urge you to vote in favor of an amendment
to strike the bill's exemptions
for Department of Defense activities
under the Endangered Species Act, the
Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and
the Wilderness Act. I urge you
also to oppose any efforts to add
exemptions under other environmental and
public health laws.
The exemptions in the bill would apply to 30 million
acres of military
property that serve as habitat for more than 300
endangered or
threatened species. How the Pentagon manages these
lands has enormous
implications for the environment.
The military
also would like to exempt its lands and activities from
some pollution
control laws even though the military contributes
significantly to our
nation's pollution problems. In two recent
years, the majority of
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's
enforcement actions against
federal agencies were against the
Department of Defense.
Environmental laws already allow for waivers to address national
security interests; additional exemptions are not
necessary. These
waivers should be invoked on a case-by-case
basis rather than giving
the Department of Defense a blanket exemption to
ignore our laws. No
federal agency should be granted special
reprieve from the laws to
which individuals and businesses must adhere.
I object to the fact that this proposal is being rushed through
Congress without adequate opportunity for the public and affected
parties to review and comment. The proposed exemptions are
dramatic
changes to landmark laws and must be examined thoroughly.
Please do not exempt the military from vitally important statutes that
are supported by the majority of Americans and that protect our
nation's
natural resources for future generations.
Sincerely,
Your name and address
will be inserted here
***********************END OF LETTER TEXT*********************
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the northern Rocky
Mountains. This spring, federal agents under pressure from politicians and
ranchers have killed 16 wolves suspected of preying on livestock. That's
even though livestock losses are rare, and when predation does happen,
Defenders of Wildlife compensates ranchers. The latest killings of wolves
come as some Western states are pushing hard to strip legal protections
from these magnificent animals. Idaho's legislature passed a law this year
giving ranchers the right to kill any wolf the moment it steps onto
private property.
of crude near a newly drilled
oil well in California's Los Padres National Forest, apparently thinking
it was water. When the father flew back to his nest, the oil got on the
chick. Wildlife biologists are closely monitoring the chick because oil on
a bird's feathers can cause death by hypothermia. In Washington, Interior
Secretary Gale Norton is said to be very concerned. At the same time, the
administration is pushing for more drilling in the Los Padres forest, site
of the release of many condors. Learn more about condors:
Save whaleswww.saveourwhales.org and sign our petition. Then
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