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Action Deadline: by the end of May 9, 2002
We urgently need your help to protect one of the world's most precious
remaining rain forests. Years of hard work to stop millions of
hectares of habitat loss due to logging in rain forests in Peru may be
undone tomorrow by the Peruvian Congress. The Congress is considering
a measure that would completely undermine long-standing efforts to
make logging in Peru sustainable.
PLEASE FOLLOW THE SIMPLE STEPS BELOW TO SEND A FREE MESSAGE URGING KEY
MEMBERS OF THE PERUVIAN CONGRESS TO REJECT THE DAMAGING MEASURE.
**********************TAKE ACTION NOW!****************
To send the message below to key members of Peru's congress,
hit "reply" to this email and then "send." We will automatically send
the messages for you, translated into Spanish.
Note: You can take action only by following these instructions. This
action is not posted on the World Wildlife Fund Conservation Action
Network Web site.
If you have any questions or problems with taking action, contact us
at actionquestions@takeaction.worldwildlife.org for help.
***************************LETTER TEXT*************************
Dear (names of key members of Peru's Congress will be inserted here):
I write to urge you to oppose Congressman Jorge Chavez Sibina's motion
that would undermine the Peruvian Forestry Law (27308).
Congressman Sibina's motion would halt long-standing efforts to make
logging in Peru sustainable. It would end the process of awarding
forest "concessions" to those loggers who will manage the forest
sustainably. This concession process is already underway and is
expected to result in 12 million acres being sustainably managed.
In addition, the proposed measure seeks to defend the interests of a
widespread network of corruption and informality headed by two
principle logging companies that export 94 percent of all of Peru's
illegally-harvested mahogany. These companies engage in other forest
crimes resulting in extensive habitat degradation and deforestation.
The forests that would be affected by this measure contain some of the
richest and largest tracts of intact tropical rain forest in the
world. They harbor threatened species of high commercial value such
as mahogany and cedar, and also provide habitat for wildlife such as
the highly threatened jaguar, the harpy eagle, and the giant river
otter.
The Peruvian Forest Law was designed to encourage sustainable forest
management, overcome illegal logging, combat extensive corruption, and
stop degradation and unsustainable harvesting, particularly of
mahogany. If it is allowed to work, the law has the potential to
transform Peru's forest sector into a global example of social equity,
economic sustainability, and environmental leadership.
Supporting Congressman Sibina's motion would imperil Peru's invaluable
natural heritage as well as the socio-economic well-being of its
population in the long term. Please oppose the motion.
Sincerely,
Your name and address
will be
inserted here
***********************END OF LETTER TEXT*********************
"The money king is only an illusion. Capitalism
is blind and barbaric.
It buys consciences,
governments, peoples, and nations. It poisons the
water and the air. It destroys
everything. And to the U'wa, it says
that we
are crazy, but we want to continue being crazy if it means we
can continue to exist on our dear mother EARTH."
- U’wa communique May 7,
2002
* *
* * *
Place: Cubará - Boyacá,
Colombia
Date: May 7,
2002
From: The Traditional
Authorities of the U'wa Association
Re: Statement to the national and international public
on the withdrawal of Oxy from U'wa sacred
territory Kera Chikara
The millennial and historic U'wa Indigenous People of
Colombia situated
in the departments of Casanare,
Arauca, Boyacá, Santander and Norte de
Santander,
through this statement would like to express thanks from our
hearts for the total and unconditional support that we have
received
from the following national and international
organizations in defense
of life, culture and the
environment.
National
Organizations: Social Sectors and la Junta de Personeros from
the department of Arauca; of Cubará, Guicán, Sogamoso, Tunja
in Boyacá;
from the areas of Gibraltar and Samoré,
Toledo local authority in Norte
de Santander;
Bucaramanga in Santander; Censat Agua Viva, Siempre Viva,
Bacata Comité Colombia es U´wa, Organización
Nacional Indígena de
Colombia-ONIC-, Colectivo de
Abogado José Alvear Restrepo, Minga;
Comisión Colombiana de Juristas, students of the Universidad
Nacional,
la Defensoria del Pueblo in Bogotá,
Ecos Hijos de la Tierra in Calí.
The magistrate Ciro
Angarita Q.E.P.D., indigenous senators Lorenzo
Muelas,
Jesús Enrique Pinacue, Francisco Rojas Birry, Alegría Fonseca in
Colombia.
International Organizations: Project Underground,
EarthJustice, Goldman
Environmental Foundation, Abya
Yala, Amazon Watch, Oil Watch, Amazon
Coalition, Pacha
Mama, Amazon Alliance, Green Space, Rainforest Action
Network, Rainforest Foundation, Cultural Survival
Conservancy, Menominee
Community, family and friends of
Terence Freitas, Ingrid Washinawatok,
and Lahenae
Gay from the United States; Watu and, the Prince of
Asturias in Spain; Proyecto Norte Sur and Alan Cassani in
Geneva; Vía
Campesina, Derechos Humanos Daniel
D'Gillard, Paul Emil and his wife,
the European
Parliament, in Belgium; Ana Vivas, France Liberté, in
Paris, the city of Valencia and José Bove in France; Basta
Ya in
Germany; The Italian Green Party, the local
authorities of Bari,
Toscana, Masa, Roma, the
Universities in Italy; Acción Global de Los
Pueblos in
Holland; indigenous communities of Ecuador, Peru, Chile,
Bolivia in South America; Mexico, Guatemala, San José de
Costa Rica en
Central America, Finland etc.
We want to thank all of these
people and organizations and others that
we didn't have
present in our memories who contributed in a direct and
indirect way and we recognize with all our heart and spirit
the total
and unconditional support that we received in
the most difficult moments
of this process of defending
culture, territory and autonomy. Since 1996
when our
brother Terence Freitas arrived in our territory, we were given
the spiritual strength and shown the path along which the
U'wa Peoples
should walk in their fight against the
diabolical multinational oil
company Occidental of
Colombia OXY that came and violated our most
sacred
right: "Violation of the sacred body of our mother earth," their
stabbing was felt some feet (12,500) below the earth's
surface and she
cried. She asked us to defend
her and to tell the world what she was
feeling. We did that and we will continue to do
that. This is only
known by the U'wa people
and our allies because of our permanent contact
with
her.
Our cultural principles
include the defense of the right to a dignified
life,
respect for mother earth and the environment, essential and sacred
elements that we should leave as an inheritance to our
children,
grandchildren and their descendents. We want
to thank all for their
moral, spiritual, human and
economic support, particularly our friends
near to our
lands such as the social sectors of the department of Arauca
who once again felt state violence. However,
convinced of our just and
noble cause, they accompanied
us at all times day after day, night after
night, they
were always by our side sharing difficult moments, seeing
and feeling the contempt of the company and those enemies of
life and
the environment who attacked not only the life
of Terence, Ingrid and
Lahena'e, but also the source of
life, "mother earth."
Today we
invite all of our brother and sister children of the earth to
tell the world that mother earth is alive, that the U'wa are
alive, that
the coming together of many voices, hands,
cries, writings, meditation,
feet, thoughts etc make
people free from aggressors and destroyers.
We also want to remember the deaths of our leaders who gave
their lives
for the defense of the world's life, our
U'wa and Guahibo children who
lost their lives defending
during brutal operations of the security
forces as they
went ahead with the eviction of our lands, all to fulfill
the strict orders of the invading oil company OXY and the
Colombian
government. They went down on their
knees for outside interests and
took homes from us, the
homeowners, and denied us our clear rights.
"THE MONEY KING, 'DEATH AND DESTRUCTION' SHOULD RULE OVER
LIFE," that's
what enemies of life think.
We insist that our protests,
demonstrations and other actions were
carried out to
demand our legitimate rights as established in national
and international laws, and for that reason anyone who
attacks this
should be reprimanded and removed from
their job. We will continue to
demand
punishment for those responsible. In particular, we want to
condemn one more time the actions and omissions of the
Minister of the
Environment Juan Mayr Maldonado and his
followers who came to our lands
and deceived us, always
behaving in bad faith. They handed over to us a
Resolución de Resguardo (Land Rights Resolution) and then
gave OXY an
environmental license to begin their assault
on the U'wa People. But
the saddest thing is
that he said he was a friend of nature, mother
earth,
Indians, and the question is: Which Indians?
We want to remind our friends and brothers and sisters
around the world
that our fight continues, that the
government should return lands that
they took through
violence, cancel all oil, mining, and environmental
projects, immediately hand over the sum of $18.000'000.000
(Colombian
pesos) the cost of land titling for the
United U'wa Reserve, compensate
us for the
death of our children and leaders, compensate the families
of the three supporters of indigenous rights that gave their
lives to
defend our legitimate rights, and the social
sectors for their human,
moral and economic losses. The
U'wa will show the government that we are
dignified and
fair, that we are not asking for anything that isn't ours,
that mother earth and her children are sacred.
We all belong to the divine creation
SIRA and as such we deserve
respect. Mother earth,
despite being violated, silently continues
feeding us,
sustaining us. She doesn't feel envy. She talks but very
few listen to her voice. She insists through
cries but everything
continues the same. This
worries us, but we the U'wa and friends of the
U'wa of
Colombia and the World will continue to defend her with our
voice, our sacred fasts, our songs, our faith.
Our brothers and sisters, the air,
water, sun, moon are contaminated and
they are being
destroyed. This too worries us because if humanity wants
to continue to live we should start to take decisions to
prevent our
self-destruction. No one destroys
man. Man destroys himself. We want
to
continue reflecting to avoid the destruction of the world because the
U'wa want to continue to live.
The money king is only an illusion. Capitalism is
blind and barbaric.
It buys consciences,
governments, peoples, and nations. It poisons the
water and the air. It destroys
everything. And to the U'wa, it says
that we
are crazy, but we want to continue being crazy if it means we
can continue to exist on our dear mother EARTH.
The government should recognize that
we are people who are part of that
word "State." It
should respect our forms of life, our thinking, our
laws
of origin and of our elders. It should respect universal human
rights and international treaties because we are people-- we
too feel.
Brother and sisters of
the world, the U'wa will continue defending
mother
earth. We invite you to continue accompanying us. Thank
you for
believing in us.
A special greeting to Kevin, Atossa, Leslie, Abby,
Elizabeth, Ana Maria,
Martín, David, Shannon, Giussepe,
Carlos deocon, Alan, Paola, Laura,
Patricia Borraz,
U'WA
TRADITIONAL AUTHORITES
Dear Members of Global Response's "Quick Response Network:"
Take a few minutes to celebrate
with the people of Costa Rica! Yesterday,
Costa Rica's
Minister of Environment upheld the decision of the government's
technical review panel (SETENA), which found off-shore oil
development on
Costa Rica's Caribbean coast to be
"environmentally unviable." On her last
day
in office, Minister Elizabeth Odio rejected appeals filed by the oil
companies. The incoming Minister pledged to
uphold her decision.
Global
Response initiated an international campaign in support of the Costa
Rican anti-oil coalition ADELA in March
2001. Over the last year, Global
Response
members in 86 countries sent four waves of letters to the Costa
Rican president, the Minister of Environment and
Houston-based Harken Energy
Company. Hundreds of school
children sent letters with drawings of the
tucuxi and
bottlenose dolphins whose habitat was threatened by the oil
development. Other international organizations including
Natural Resources
Defense Council and International Fund
for Animal Welfare joined the
campaign.
MUCHAS GRACIAS to everyone who
participated in this tremendously successful
campaign!
We expect to hear more from the Costa Rican anti-oil coalition
(ADELA), which is taking its successful campaign a huge step
further: it is
drafting legislation that would prohibit
oil and gas development throughout
the country.
Here's the message we just received
from ADELA. I have not sent the
attachments
mentioned, but if you would like to see them (in Spanish)
request them at action@globalresponse.org. To
read Global Response's Action
Alert on this issue,
please see
http://www.globalresponse.org/gra_index/gra0201.html -Paula
Dear friends
and partners of ADELA,
We are so
happy to let you know that we have had another great victory in
our campaign to save Talamanca and the Caribbean coast from
the severe
threat of oil development. We have just found
out (informally) that the
outgoing Minister Elizabeth
Odio signed yesterday afternoon, in her final
hour, the
dismissal of the oil company Harken Holdings Costa Rica appeal to
overturn the SETENA resolution rejecting the offshore oil
platforms as
environmentally non-viable. This
decision has not been transferred or
notified to the
parties as of yet and it will be up to the incoming
administration to officially notify the parties, but we have
met with the
new Minster of the Environment and he
firmly supports our campaign and
assures us that his
staff defends SETENA's decision and will do so in any
potential litigation to come.
Today in Costa Rica we have the transfer of power form the
outgoing
administration to the new. In his inaugural
speech, the president elect Abel
Pacheco made several
important references to our campaign and his commitment
to assure that CR becomes "an ecological leader, not an oil
encalve", that
"the true oil and gold for CR are water
and oxygen produced by our forests"
I have attached his
speach and highlighted some of the relevant sections.
I am also attaching the editorial
written by Rodrigo Alberto Carazo, who
also has assumed
his new position as member of the National Assembly (he was
almost elected president of the congress). This article is
in response to
some of the articles that have come out
iagressively in favor of oil
development.
I will follow up this note with a
more detailed memo but wanted to urgently
share with you
our feelings of celebration and great gratitude to all of you
who have stuck by us and accompanied us through out the
tense and difficult
phases of the campaign and now the
happier moments.
MUCHAS GRACIAS
Y VAMOS GANANDO-
TALAMANCA FREED FROM OIL DEVELOPMENT
AND
COSTA RICA SOON TO BE FREE FROM OIL DEVELOPMENT!
best regards,
Emily Yozell
International Liaison
ADELA
www.cosmovisiones.com/adela
********************************
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.
In this Post :
#1. WORKING ASSETS
CITIGROUP E-MAIL ZAP ON CAMISEA
#2. MULTINATIONAL
MONITOR ISSUE FOCUSES ITS SIGHTS ON CITIGROUP
#3. OCP
ECUADOR UPDATE
#4. RAN HIRING GLOBAL FINANCE ORGANIZING
POSITION
#5. INCREDIBLE VICTORY: OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM
PULLS OUT OF U’WA LAND
#6. STATEMENT BY THE U’WA PEOPLE
* * * *
*
#1
WORKING ASSETS CITIGROUP
E-MAIL PHONE ZAP ON CAMISEA
Working Assets is hosting an E-mail and phone zap for its
customers to tell
Citigroup to stop profiting off of
destructive projects like Camisea in
Peru. Be
one of the tens of thousands of notes to fill Sandy’s e-mail
box.The further we pass this on the louder the voices for
social and
environmental justice will echo! So, pass on
the link far and wide.
<http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/action.cfm?itemid=13271>
An independent assessment
of the project was completed last month which
demonstrates that the drill site and the pipeline do not
adhere to World
Bank Standards, threaten one of the most
pristine ecosystems in the Amazon
Basin, and have run
roughshod over indigenous rights. Despite this,
Citigroup continues to act as financial advisor on this
renegade project.
According to a study by the
Smithsonian Institution, the Camisea project
will affect
one of the world’s most biologically diverse regions. The
project has already proven deadly for the Nahua. During
preliminary
exploration in the Camisea region in the
1980s, Shell exposed the Nahua to a
whooping cough and
influenza epidemic that killed off an estimated 50
percent of the tribe’s population. Shell and Mobil, both
original partners
in Camisea, later withdrew from the
project after investing more than $250
million. The
project has been on hold since 1998, due in part to strong
opposition from human rights, environmental, and indigenous
groups around
the world.
* * * * *
#2
MULTINATIONAL MONITOR FOCUSES ON CITIGROUP
This month’s Multinational Monitor
focuses the entire issue on the multitude
of abuses of
Citigroup. A centerpiece article by RAN’s global finance
campaigner, Ilyse Hogue, explores the cost of living richly
on the
environment and indiegnous rights. Other articles
cover such topics as
predatory lending, sexual
discrimination, and Citigroup’s meddling in
government
affairs. Check out the work profiled by front line activists Jake
Lewis, Antonia Juhasz, Pamela Martens, Al Giordano and Hugh
Kaufman.
You can order a copy or read the issue at:
<http://multinationalmonitor.org/>
********
#3 OCP ECUADOR UPDATE
OCP immediately has filed a criminal
lawsuit against all of the arrested
accusing them of
“sabotage on a public work”. Funds are greatly needed to
cover the legal costs as this trial continues.
and a quote -
“Our silence over the
last month has been a time of rest, reflection and
regrouping for us as a small local group taking on global
issues. That in no
way means we are finished with our
struggle. Instead, we have new energies,
fresh
perspectives and more motivation than ever to continue protecting the
Mindo-Nambillo cloud forest and the rights of its human and
non-human
residents. “ Accion por la Vida
******
April 26, 2002
Accion Por La Vida
Update
Mindo, ECUADOR
It has been one month and one day since Special Forces
national police
raided the peaceful protest camp in
Cerro Guarumos and all activists were
arrested,
including some foreign tourists and students. The weeks after the
arrests were very busy for us as we worked hard with Accion
Ecologica in
liberating the innocent activists and
organizing various protests in Quito
as well as here in
Mindo. The same day that the activists were detained, the
town of Mindo rose up to protest the wrongful arrests and
closed off the
main highway for over 6 hours. At this
time, two OCP trailers transporting
the tubes for the
pipeline were also detained and driven down into the town
of Mindo where they were parked in the middle town with
their tires
deflated. This was a message to OCP that
Mindo is not ready to give up the
fight. Several days
later, the Special Forces police came to Mindo,
surrounded the trucks and inflated the tires in order to
remove them from
Mindo. Knowing that any man trying to
interfere would be immediately
arrested, the women of
Mindo, mothers, daughters and grandmothers alike, put
up
a brave struggle as they laid their bodies across the bridge at the exit
of town to stop the trailers from leaving. The women were
picked up, one by
one, by four policemen for each woman
and physically restrained until the
trucks had passed.
After the direct action in Mindo, the group traveled to
Quito to demand the
liberation of the wrongfully
arrested activists. The hearing was on Monday
April 4th
with the mayor of Quito, Paco Moncayo. A group of protestors
stayed outside and picketed teaching the public of the
recent injustices
through songs, music and dramatic
demonstrations, while another group
entered the meeting
to listen to the testimonies of the detained activists.
After a full week of imprisonment, the five Ecuadorian
activists from Accion
Por La Vida were liberated, free
of charges due to wrongful arrest, the
foreign tourists
and students were immediately deported. We could now
breathe a sigh of relief, celebrate, and rest. During the
week that the
activists were imprisoned, there were
constant shifts of volunteers bringing
food and supplies
to the detained (in Ecuador a prisoner is not guaranteed a
meal and a place to sleep) and Accion Por La Vida together
with Accion
Ecologica worked around the clock with
lawyers, family members and
ambassadors to secure the
liberation of each and every detained activist.
Since we
are a relatively small group, we were very tired and stripped of
energy and motivation. We could relax knowing that our
partners were out of
that pathetic and disgusting jail
but, keeping us on our toes, OCP
immediately filed a
lawsuit against all of the arrested accusing them of
“sabotage on a public work”. Funds are greatly needed to
cover the legal
costs as this trial continues.
Accion Ecologica has provided an incredible amount of
logistical, legal,
emotional and financial support
during the protest and we continue working
together in
the struggle against the pipeline. Now that things had settled
down a little, it was time for a little rest and reflection
on all that we
have achieved since the formation of our
grassroots group Accion Por La Vida
two years ago. For
this reason Accion Ecologica put together a day-long
workshop here in Mindo for members of Accion Por La Vida to
think about and
assess the recent events and put
together a new plan of action. It was great
to get
together and map out all that we have done as a group since the
beginning of the protest two years ago; developing strong
relations with
national and international NGO’s and
other environmentalist groups,
maintaining a consistent
and effective resistance against the OCP project,
managing national and international press visits to the
area, etc. A trip to
Guayaquil to attend a conference
and participate in an Earth Day march was
also planned.
On Thursday, April 18 a group of six members of Accion
Por La Vida left for
the long trip by bus to Guayaquil.
The following day there was a forum held
in the
municipal building in downtown Guayaquil. There were various groups
present such as Accion Ecologica, Accion Por La Vida and
other environmental
groups from Guayaquil. The meeting
was held to discuss the environmental
impacts of the OCP
route and to involve other national groups and
organizations. Efrain Toapanta participated in the forum as
the spokesperson
for Accion Por La Vida and spoke about
the socio-economic impacts of the
pipeline on the town
of Mindo. On Earth Day, Monday April 22, in downtown
Guayaquil four tree-climbers from Accion Por La Vida,
including two of the
detained activists Wilfrido Vaca
and Edwin Villota, demonstrated the art of
climbing to
those attending the Earth Day march by climbing two buildings
and hanging an anti-OCP banner between the two buildings.
So, as this update shows, Accion Por La Vida has
continued to protest the
OCP pipeline route and will
fight until the project is stopped or the route
is
changed. However, in order to continue with these actions, funds are
necessary for such costs as transportation, communications
(internet,
computer supplies, telephone) and supplies.
With the help of Rettet den Regenwald (Save the
Rainforest) in Germany,
Accion Por La Vida has been able
to come up with the initial down payment to
purchase
1200 acres of primary could forest. We are working with various
international groups such as Amazon Watch from the states,
Rettet den
Regenwald from Germany, Rain Forest
Information Centre in Australia and
World Bank Reform
Campaign in Italy to fundraise the amount that is still
owed to the original owner. Anybody interested in receiving
a copy of the
land purchase proposal or in donating to
the land trust fund please contact
me for more
information (contact information below).
Our silence
over the last month has been a time of rest, reflection and
regrouping for us as a small local group taking on global
issues. That in no
way means we are finished with our
struggle. Instead, we have new energies,
fresh
perspectives and more motivation than ever to continue protecting the
Mindo-Nambillo cloud forest and the rights of its human and
non-human
residents.
Donations can be made to
contact:
Kevin Koenig
Amazon Watch
115
Topanga Canyon Blvd, Ste. E
Topanga, CA
90290
USA
office: 310-455-0617
Fax:
310-455-0619
kevin@amazonwatch.org <mailto:kevin@amazonwatch.org>
Please feel
free to contact me if you have any questions or comments:
Molly Brown
International
Spokesperson
Accion Por La Vida
molly@mindo-mundo.com <mailto:molly@mindo-mundo.com>
Tel: (593)(2)2765-471
Thank you for your support and
concern.
Molly Brown
International Spokesperson
Accion
Por La Vida
* * * * *
#4
JOB OPENINGS FOR CITI CAMPAIGN
RAN is hiring for an exciting position of organizer for the
Citigroup
campaign. Join the visionary team to take on
the worlds’ largest financial
institution and demand
social and environmental accountaiblity. Job
description
is below and application procedures are below.
GLOBAL FINANCE ORGANIZING POSITIONS
Supervisor: Campaigns Director
Salary: Exempt, full-time, salaried
Location: San Francisco
Compensation: DOE
Deadline: Extended
to May 17, 2002
Position
Summary:
Rainforest Action Network (RAN) works to
protect the world’s rainforests and
the rights of their
inhabitants through education, grassroots organizing,
and non-violent direct action. RAN operates hard-hitting
campaigns designed
to challenge the global financial
industry to incorporate modern social and
environmental
standards into their everyday business practices. Beginning
with Citigroup, we aim to expose the world’s largest banks
for their
destructive investments in the oil, gas,
mining, and logging industries. By
transforming
Citigroup and reorienting the global financial architecture, we
can help to drive these extractive industries out of the
world’s last
remaining old growth forests and reverse
the impacts of climate change.
RAN’s Global Finance
Organizer will work as part of a campaign team with the
Global Finance Director and Campaigns Director to expose the
egregious
investments by Citigroup and the rest of the
banking industry.
Qualifications:
We’re looking for someone who can be, alternately, a
campaigner, an
organizer, a teacher, and a motivator.
The Finance Organizer must have
experience in grassroots
organizing, working with activists, and conducting
grassroots organizing trainings in fundraising, media
skills, coalition
building, campaign strategy, and
non-violent direct action. Prioritizing
tasks, volunteer
coordination, and the ability to empower and motivate
grassroots activists in carrying out campaign tactics are
necessary. The
position requires good decision-making
skills, professional initiative, and
results-oriented
behavior. Necessary components of this work are enthusiasm,
experience organizing with diverse communities, and a
commitment to
long-term social change. The Finance
Organizer must be able convey RAN’s
mission and
campaigns to both novice and seasoned activists alike, and to
work as part of RAN’s campaign team to develop strategy and
outreach
opportunities. Must be willing and able to
travel frequently. Spanish
language skills preferred.
Responsibilities:
Consistently
apply pressure on campaign targets in order to expose
destructive policies and force creative solutions;
Strengthen RAN campaigns by working with campaign staff to
mobilize
grassroots activists on key forest and climate
change issues;
Strengthen, broaden, and diversify the
network of grassroots indigenous
rights, rainforest
conservation, and climate change activists and groups;
Build capacity within the movement and support grassroots
efforts with
organizing advice, resources, materials,
and campaign strategy;
Respond to inquiries from
community members interested in getting involved
with
efforts to preserve rainforests and combat climate change;
Coordinate the annual Rainforest Action Chautauqua, the
annual gathering of
climate change and rainforest
activists;
Represent RAN at environmental conferences
and provide motivation and tools
to grassroots
constituencies. Act as a public spokesperson for RAN as
needed;
Direct and facilitate
regional/national organizing and campaign training
sessions;
In coordination with the
Volunteer and Intern Director, supervise interns
and
volunteers working on campaign activities, including research, execution
of outreach, etc.
Participate in
RAN’s organizational planning and training sessions;
Report to Campaigns Director regularly on accomplishments
and plans of
action;
Participate
in quarterly performance reviews with Campaigns Director as well
as weekly campaign team meetings.
Share office responsibilities to maintain a healthy and safe
workplace.
To apply:
Please send
cover letter, résumé & references to HR/GFO, RAN, 221 Pine
Street, Suite 500, San Francisco, CA 94104 or
rainforest@ran.org
<mailto:rainforest@ran.org> . No phone calls, please.
Rainforest Action Network is an equal opportunity employer.
RAN does not
discriminate based on race, color, creed,
national origin, gender, age,
disability, marital
status, sexual orientation, or citizenship status.
* * * * * *
#5
CELEBRATING VICTORIES, REMAINING VIGILANT
Victories are few and far between in
the work, so it is important to
celebrate them when they
come along. Though the struggle of the U’wa people
is not directly related to the Citigroup campaign, it’s
important to
celebrate this victory in recognition of
the activists and indigenous
peoples who have
sacrificed their lives. This struggle mirrors hundreds of
struggles occurring around the planet. From Peru to
Indonesia to Africa,
traditional people are putting
their lives on the line to saves their
culture from the
omnipresent threats of logging, mining, and fossil fuel
extraction. Let’s look forward to a day where there are many
more victories
like the U’wa and the forests no longer
need the vigilence of activists.
Below is a message from
Patrick Reinsborough describing the remarkable
victory.
Patrick has spent years working on the U’wa Campaign and is a free
lance global justice organizer:
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 ˆ OXY OFF OF U’WA LAND! -
are coming
true!
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.
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.”
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. 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.
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!
In solidarity for the earth,
Patrick
Reinsborough
********
#6
STATEMENT FOR THE U’WA
Place
Cubará - Boyacá, Colombia
Date
May 7, 2002
From
The
Traditional Authorities of the U’wa Association
Re:
Statement to the national and
international public on the
withdrawal of Oxy from U’wa
sacred territory Kera Chikara
The
millennial and historic U’wa Indigenous People of Colombia situated
in the departments of Casanare, Arauca, Boyacá, Santander
and Norte de
Santander, through this statement would
like to express thanks from our
hearts for the total and
unconditional support that we have received from
the
following national and international organizations in defense of life,
culture and the environment.
National Organizations: Social Sectors and la
Junta de Personeros from
the department of Arauca; of
Cubará, Guicán, Sogamoso, Tunja in
Boyacá; from the
areas of Gibraltar and Samoré, Toledo local authority in
Norte de Santander; Bucaramanga in Santander; Censat Agua
Viva,
Siempre Viva, Bacata Comité Colombia es
U´wa, Organización Nacional
Indígena de Colombia-ONIC-,
Colectivo de Abogado José Alvear
Restrepo,
Minga; Comisión Colombiana de Juristas, students of the
Universidad Nacional, la Defensoria del Pueblo in
Bogotá, Ecos Hijos de
la Tierra in Calí. The magistrate
Ciro Angarita Q.E.P.D., indigenous
senators Lorenzo
Muelas, Jesús Enrique Pinacue, Francisco Rojas Birry,
Alegría Fonseca in Colombia.
International Organizations: Project Underground,
EarthJustice, Goldman
Environmental Foundation, Abya
Yala, Amazon Watch, Oil Watch, Amazon
Coalition, Pacha
Mama, Amazon Alliance, Green Space, Rainforest Action
Network, Rainforest Foundation, Cultural Survival
Conservancy,
Menominee Community, family and friends of
Terence Freitas, Ingrid
Washinawatok, and Lahenae
Gay from the United States; Watu and, the
Prince of Asturias in Spain; Proyecto Norte Sur and Alan
Cassani in
Geneva; Vía Campesina, Derechos Humanos
Daniel D’Gillard, Paul Emil
and his wife, the European
Parliament, in Belgium; Ana Vivas, France
Liberté, in
Paris, the city of Valencia and José Bove in France; Basta Ya in
Germany; The Italian Green Party, the local authorities of
Bari, Toscana,
Masa, Roma, the Universities in Italy;
Acción Global de Los Pueblos in
Holland; indigenous
communities of Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Bolivia in South
America; Mexico, Guatemala, San José de Costa Rica en
Central America,
Finland etc.
We
want to thank all of these people and organizations and others that we
didn’t have present in our memories who contributed in a
direct and
indirect way and we recognize with all our
heart and spirit the total and
unconditional support
that we received in the most difficult moments of
this
process of defending culture, territory and autonomy. Since 1996
when our brother Terence Freitas arrived in our territory,
we were given the
spiritual strength and shown the path
along which the U’wa Peoples
should walk in their fight
against the diabolical multinational oil company
Occidental of Colombia OXY that came and violated our most
sacred right:
“Violation of the sacred body of our
mother earth,” their stabbing was felt
some feet
(12,500) below the earth’s surface and she cried. She asked
us to defend her and to tell the world what she was
feeling. We did that
and we will continue to
do that. This is only known by the U’wa people and
our allies because of our permanent contact with her.
Our cultural principles include the defense of the right to
a dignified
life,
respect for
mother earth and the environment, essential and sacred
elements that we should leave as an inheritance to our
children,
grandchildren and their descendents. We want
to thank all for their moral,
spiritual, human and
economic support, particularly our friends near to
our
lands such as the social sectors of the department of Arauca who
once again felt state violence. However,
convinced of our just and noble
cause, they accompanied
us at all times day after day, night after night,
they
were always by our side sharing difficult moments, seeing and feeling
the contempt of the company and those enemies of life and
the environment
who attacked not only the life of
Terence, Ingrid and Lahena’e, but also the
source of
life, “mother earth.”
Today we invite all of our brother
and sister children of the earth to tell
the
world that mother earth is alive, that the U’wa are alive,
that the coming
together of many voices, hands, cries,
writings, meditation, feet, thoughts
etc make people
free from aggressors and destroyers.
We also want to
remember the deaths of our leaders who gave their lives
for the defense of the world’s life, our U’wa and Guahibo
children who lost
their lives defending during brutal
operations of the security forces as
they
went ahead with the eviction of our lands, all to fulfill
the strict orders
of the
invading oil company OXY and the Colombian
government. They went down on
their knees for
outside interests and took homes from us, the homeowners,
and denied us our clear rights. “THE MONEY KING,
‘DEATH AND DESTRUCTION’
SHOULD RULE OVER LIFE,” that’s
what enemies of life think.
We insist that our protests,
demonstrations and other actions were
carried out to
demand our legitimate rights as established in national and
international laws, and for that reason anyone who attacks
this should be
reprimanded and removed from their
job. We will continue to demand
punishment
for those responsible. In particular, we want to condemn one
more time the actions and omissions of the Minister of the
Environment
Juan Mayr Maldonado and his followers who
came to our lands and
deceived us, always behaving in
bad faith. They handed over to us a
Resolución de Resguardo (Land Rights Resolution) and then
gave OXY
an environmental license to begin their assault
on the U’wa People. But
the saddest thing is
that he said he was a friend of nature, mother earth,
Indians, and the question is: Which Indians?
We want to remind our friends and brothers and sisters
around the world
that our fight continues, that the
government should return lands that they
took through
violence, cancel all oil, mining, and environmental projects,
immediately hand over the sum of $18.000’000.000 (Colombian
pesos)
the cost of land titling for the United U’wa
Reserve, compensate us for the
death of our
children and leaders, compensate the families of the three
supporters of indigenous rights that gave their lives to
defend our
legitimate rights, and the social sectors for
their human, moral and
economic losses. The U’wa will
show the government that we are
dignified and fair, that
we are not asking for anything that isn’t ours,
that
mother earth and her children are sacred.
We all belong to the divine creation SIRA and as such we
deserve respect.
Mother earth, despite being violated,
silently continues feeding us,
sustaining
us. She doesn’t feel envy. She talks but very few listen
to her
voice. She insists through cries but
everything continues the same. This
worries
us, but we the U’wa and friends of the U’wa of Colombia and the
World will continue to defend her with our voice, our sacred
fasts, our
songs, our faith.
Our
brothers and sisters, the air, water, sun, moon are contaminated and
they are being destroyed. This too worries us
because if humanity wants
to continue to live we should
start to take decisions to prevent our
self-destruction. No one destroys
man. Man destroys himself. We want
to
continue reflecting to avoid the destruction of the world because the
U’wa want to continue to live.
The
money king is only an illusion. Capitalism is blind and
barbaric. It
buys consciences, governments,
peoples, and nations. It poisons the
water
and the air. It destroys everything. And to the U’wa, it
says that
we
are crazy, but we
want to continue being crazy if it means we can continue
to exist on our dear mother EARTH.
The government should recognize that we are people who are
part of that
word “State.” It should respect our forms
of life, our thinking, our laws of
origin and of our
elders. It should respect universal human rights and
international treaties because we are people-we too feel.
Brother and sisters of the world, the U’wa will continue
defending mother
earth. We invite you to
continue accompanying us. Thank you for believing
in us.
A special greeting to Kevin,
Atossa, Leslie, Abby, Elizabeth, Ana Maria,
Martín,
David, Shannon, Giussepe, Carlos deocon, Alan, Paola, Laura,
Patricia Borraz,
U’WA TRADITIONAL
AUTHORITES
 |
|
May 2002
***************************
NEW THIS MONTH:
ACTION NETWORK AT WORK! SUCCESS STORIES AND
UPDATES: VICTORY! Oil Drilling in Arctic Refuge Defeated...for
now Since last year, Environmental Defense Action Network activists have sent over 100,000 messages supporting more federal funds to help farmers protect water and wildlife on their land. Unfortunately, Congress passed a Farm Bill that instead boosts subsidies for the biggest farmers while failing to make enough money available for conservation programs. Congress had a chance to reform federal agriculture policies, and they failed. Read more about the Farm Bill.
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WHAT YOU ARE SAYING "Dear Senator Domenici, I write in regards to your
vote in favor of opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to
oil drilling. Strong opposition to oil drilling, including messages from
over 70,000 Environmental Defense Action Network activists like myself,
helped sink this effort. This is a big victory for the environment, the
wildlife that call the Arctic Refuge home, and for future
generations. My question to you Senator is, would you so
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SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT ACTION NETWORK
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|
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Visit the web address below and tell your friends about Environmental Defense Action Network!  Tell-a-friend! |
To: All Activists
From: Steve Holmer & Jeanette Russell, National Forest
Protection
Alliance
Date: May
10, 2002
11 Forest Protection
Internships - KY, IN, 2 OR. 3 DC, 3 MT, NC
The National Forest Protection Alliance offers internships
through our
national network of organizational members.
Please contact the
sponsoring organization directly if
you are interested in an
internship. All positions
listed below have immediate openings.
1. Forest Monitor - Kentucky Heartwood. (KY)
2. Grassroots Organizer, Editor, Administrator - Heartwood
(Bloomington,
IN)
3. Forest
Watch - Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project (Fossil, OR)
4. Congressional Internship - Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney
(D-GA) -
Washington, DC
5.
Executive Assistant - National Forest Protection Alliance -
Washington, DC
6. Forest Policy
Intern - American Lands Alliance - Washington, DC
7.
Network Coordinator Assistant - National Forest Protection Alliance -
Missoula, MT
8. Nontimber Forest
Products Researcher - Western Montana Mycological
Association- Missoula, MT
9. 10
Endangered Forests Report Researcher/Organizer - National Forest
Protection Alliance - Missoula, MT
10. Pisgah National Forest Monitor- Southern Appalachian
Biodiversity
Project - Asheville, NC
11. Public Outreach Assistant - ReThink Paper, San Francisco
or
Portland, OR
INTERNSHIP POSITION: Forest Monitor
SPONSOR: Kentucky Heartwood
LOCATION: Kentucky
TIME: Summer 2002
Overview: Kentucky Heartwood is
looking for a motivated individual to
help monitor
illegal Off-Road Vehicle (ORV)
use on the Daniel Boone
National Forest in Kentucky. Kentucky Heartwood
is a
volunteer grassroots citizen
organization that watchdogs
the Forest Service's management of the
Daniel Boone
National Forest. We work to
end commercial exploitation
and destructive industrial recreation on the
diverse
680,000-acre forest and
encourage ecological restoration
of the forest's scarred landscape.
Responsibilities: traveling to different parts of the
National Forest,
independently walking trails and
documenting
illegal ORV abuse. This information will be
used in a publicity and
litigation campaign to pressure
the Forest Service
to instate a total ban on ORV use in
the Daniel Boone.
Application
Process: Contact Perrin de Jong, Kentucky Heartwood, P.O.
Box 90, Olympia, KY 40358
Phone:
(606) 768-3805 Email: sandinolives@yahoo.com
INTERNSHIP POSITION: Grassroots Organizer, Editor,
Administrator
SPONSOR: Heartwood
LOCATION: Bloomington, IN
TIME:
On-going
Overview: Heartwood, a
regional forest protection organization, is
seeking
interns for the summer and fall
semesters. Interns will
have the opportunity to work for one of the
leading
forest protection organizations in the
Eastern United
States.
Responsibilities: We
have many positions to fill, including:
administrative/office intern, newsletter editor,
researcher, and network support intern. Hours are flexible
between
Monday through Friday and interns generally
work 10-15 hours per week. Interns will work out of the
Heartwood office
in Bloomington, IN.
Application: If interested please
e-mail info@heartwood.org for the
application or call
(812) 337-8898 for more
information.
INERNSHIP POSITION: Forest Watch
SPONSOR: Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project
LOCATION: Rural Eastern Oregon, in the mountains above
Spray, Oregon
DATE: Late May through the end of
September (or any amount of time
within that timeframe
-- a minimum of 2
weeks commitment preferred)
Project overview: The Blue Mountains
Biodiversity Project has been
modifying and stopping the
majority of the
most destructive timber sales on the
Umatilla National Forest (NF) and
the Malheur NF since
1993 and the Ochoco
NF since 1998 in Eastern Oregon and
now helps with the Deschutes NF
also. This is high
desert country with
fragile rocky soils, little rainfall
and short growing seasons, making
these forests
especially vulnerable to impacts
from logging,
livestock, roading, and mining. Species at risk include
Lynx, Wolverine, Northern goshawk, American
marten, Peregrine falcon, Pileated woodpecker, Chinook
salmon, Steelhead
trout, Bull trout, and a variety of
rare
plants and micro-fauna.
Internship responsibilities: As a BMBP intern, you will
learn forest
monitoring skills, field-check timber sales
(involving hiking and camping) and help with office
tasks such as
filing, research, comment writing and
mailings.
The longer you stay, the more you learn and
the more wildlife you will
experience.
Interns must be self-sufficient in food, pocket money,
hiking and
camping gear. Interns live on our 40 acres in
the
mountains (no electricity) and are expected to help
with routine chores
(dishes, etc.)
Application: Contact Karen Coulter
(541) 468-2028. Messages: (541)
385-9167 Mailing
Address: 27803 Williams
Lane, Fossil, OR 97830
INTERNSHIP POSITION: Congressional
Internship
SPONSOR: Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney
LOCATION: Washington, DC
TIME:
Year-round
Overview: The office
of Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney is seeking
motivated
individuals who are interested in
gaining a hands-on
experience working in Congress to End Commercial
Logging. Our internship program offers
students and non-students the opportunity to work on
promoting the
National Forest Protection and Restoration
Act (NFPRA) in Congress. Congresswoman McKinney is the
most active
Member of Congress on the issue of forest
protection. This internship is an excellent opportunity
for individuals
interested in both environmental
protection
and legislation.
Responsibilities: Interns will work towards the overarching
goal of
protecting public lands from commercial
exploitation. Interns should expect to work at least 15
hours per week.
Responsibilities will vary as new issues
and
challenges arise in Congress, but will include:
- Public outreach
- Media
coordination
- Recruiting Cosponsors of NFPRA
-Educating Congressional Staff about ECL
Qualifications: Applicants need to
be self-motivated, passionate about
forest protection,
posses effective
communication and writing skills and
follow through with internship
commitments. Applicants
should be creative,
and be able to work on multiple
tasks with minimal supervision.
Compensation: Although we are unable to pay interns, most
students may
receive academic credit. Interns should
inquire with their college about how to receive credit for
internships
or independent study.
Application: For more information on
this internship, please contact
Eric Lausten,
eric.lausten@mail.house.gov,
202-225-1605.
INTERNSHIP POSITION: Executive
Assistant
SPONSORING ORGANIZATION: National Forest
Protection Alliance
LOCATION: Washington, DC
DATE: Year-round
Project Overview: The National Forest Protection Alliance
(NFPA) is the
nation's leading grassroots environmental
network working to end commercial logging on our
national forests and
other federal public lands. NFPA is
currently working to secure new sources of funding for
our work, which
is the primary focus of this summer
project.
Responsibilities: The intern will assist the Executive
Director (E.D.)
in the following activities:
1. Fundraising: Assist E.D. in all aspects of fundraising,
including
extensive research and writing and submitting
grant proposals.
2. Administration: Assist E.D. with
office management tasks, including
maintaining filing
systems, responding to
information requests, fielding
calls, etc.
Qualifications:
Qualified candidate will have excellent research,
writing, interpersonal communication and internet
skills. Must be self-motivated, solution oriented and
reliable. The
intern is expected to commit to 10-20
hours per
week. Training / Compensation: The intern will
work directly with NFPA's
E.D. in our Washington, DC
office. The
E.D. will work with the intern to develop an
on-going work plan that
includes concrete goals and
timelines. This is
not a paid internship, but credit is
available at most Universities
(please talk to your
advisor about how to receive
independent study credit or
internship credit).
Application: Please contact Tom
Weis, NFPA's Executive Director, at
twgreenfire@earthlink.net or call (202)
879-3195.
INTERNSHIP POSITION: Forest Policy Intern
SPONSORING ORGANIZATION: American Lands Alliance
LOCATION: Washington, DC
DATE:
Year-round
Project Overview:
America's wildlife and wildlands continue to be
threatened by logging, road building grazing, off
road vehicles and mining. American Lands is comprised of a
broad
coalition of activists and organizations
dedicated to protecting our forest heritage and restoring
ecological
integrity to the landscape. Each year
Congress appropriates money to the U.S. Forest Service and
other
agencies along with riders and directions on
how the money should be spent. One billion dollars is
currently being
spent to log our National Forests each
year
at a loss to taxpayers of at least $500 million.
Sound like a good deal?
Timber companies love it, but we
get to
clean up the mess.
Internship Responsibilities: As an American Lands policy
intern you will
not only learn the political process but
also
be a part of the substantive research required to
run a national
campaign. Some issues that the policy
intern will
work on include the misuse of off road
vehicles on our public lands,
destructive National
Forest timber sales, and
many other ecologically
deleterious programs and projects that occur on
American's public lands. The intern will
work on the Congressional Appropriations process, help draft
action
alerts and other grassroots messages, and
assist in other administrative duties. The policy intern may
also assist
in other projects such as conducting
research, writing, coalitions building, and other
administrative duties
for the Climate Change and Forests
Program
and the International Trade and Forest Program.
Skill Requirements: American
Lands is looking for a person with a strong
commitment
to protecting our public
lands. Computer savvy,
especially web updating and design, are pluses.
The
intern will work with a variety of
activists
representing every region of the United States thus good
organizational and people skills are crucial.
Interested applicants should contact
Steve Holmer, Campaign Coordinator,
American Lands
Alliance 202-547-9105
or
mailto:wafcdc@americanlands.org.
INTERNSHIP POSITION: Network Coordinator Assistant
SPONSORING ORGANIZATION: National Forest Protection Alliance
LOCATION: Missoula, MT
DATE:
Year-round
Project Overview: The
National Forest Protection Alliance formed in 1999
as a
response to the forest protection
community's desire to
empower the public lands movement through the
creation
of a nationally unified, democratic
alliance. In this
capacity, NFPA provides communications and resources
for
organizations and citizens who work on
the Campaign to
End Commercial Logging on Public Lands (ECL). The NFPA
is offering a hands-on learning
opportunity for individuals interested in supporting our
national
network.
Responsibilities: The intern will assist the Network
Coordinator in
Missoula, Montana with the implementation
of our
key programs. The intern will play a critical
role in administering the
network and supporting
programs. This is a
very hand's on program and specific
responsibilities include the
following:
1. Grassroots Organizing: Engage and activate our membership
via phone,
email and mail; participate on monthly
planning calls; engage membership in national events and
actions.
2. Membership Development: Work to increase
individual and
organizational membership base.
3. Help organize two national conferences: Assist with the
promotion,
program development, logistics, and overall
planning of both conferences (National Convention and
Fire Summit).
Qualifications:
Candidates will exhibit a strong interest in forest
protection and grassroots organizing. The intern
will be self-motivated, reliable and posses good
communication and
writing skills. Interns are expected
to complete
the hours required and to alert the
supervisor about changes to the work
schedule. Training
provided.
Training /
Compensation: Jeanette Russell, NFPA's Network Coordinator,
will supervise the internship. Jeanette will
support the intern in successful completion of the project
and supply
the intern with the necessary materials and
information required. Jeanette will work with the intern
to develop an
on-going work plan that includes goals and
timelines. Although this is not a paid internship,
credit is available
at most Universities. Hours: 6-12
hours/week.
Talk to your advisor about how to receive
independent study credit or
internship credit.
Application: Please contact our
Missoula office at 542-7565, to arrange
an interview
with Jeanette Russell.
INTERNSHIP POSITION: Nontimber Forest Products Researcher
& Ethical
Harvesting Advocate.
SPONSORING ORGANIZATION: The Western Montana Mycological
Association
LOCATION: Flexible, or Missoula, MT
DATE: Year-round
PROJECT OVERVIEW: The Western Montana Mycological
Association, a
federally registered nonprofit, is
interested
in your help evaluating nontimber forest
products (NTFP). This is a new
and upcoming issue in
forest management,
as mushrooms and other NTFP have been
shown to contribute more to local
economies than
logging, making this a
powerful economic argument
against more clearcuts. On the other hand,
irresponsible
plant poachers have
decimated rare wild plants to near
extinction. Education and better
understanding is needed
to prevent the loss of
species and habitat due to
ignorance.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
1.The intern would
be responsible for researching existing and
forthcoming
documents and reports about NTFP
around the US and
around the west especially. We have a substantial
existing data base which you would have
access to and add to. This can be done from your present
location, or in
western Montana.
2. Organize information about NTFP and raise NTFP issues by
writing
comments for upcoming proposed timber
sales, and other projects requiring an Environmental Impact
Statement or
Environmental Analysis, and to respond
to federal scoping letters.
3.
Develop outreach for NTFP issues and contribute to the WMMA website,
www.fungaljungal.org. Reply to
requests for information regarding NTFP issues and ongoing
studies.
4. Perform outreach to, and encourage
organization of, commercial
wildcrafters and develop
guidelines for ethical
harvesting of NTFP.
COMPENSATION: This position offers
compensation of up to $1200 per year,
to be paid in
monthly increments or
as per agreement by the intern and
the WMMA staff. Tent housing is
available if travel to
Montana is a personal
objective of yours. Talk to your
adviser about how you can receive
independent study
credit or internship credit for this position.
APPLICATION: Learn about our organization by visiting the
website above.
To arrange an interview, please
contact Larry Evans at fungus@selway.umt.edu or write
INTERNSHIP, PO Box
7306, Missoula, MT 59807
INTERNSHIP POSITION: 10 Endangered
Forests Report Researcher/Organizer
SPONSORING
ORGANIZATION: National Forest Protection Alliance
LOCATION: Missoula, MT
DATE:
Year-round
Project Overview: The
National Forest Protection Alliance is seeking an
intern
to work on the 10 Most Endangered
National Forest
project. The purpose of the project is to provide a
factual depiction of what is happening on the
national forest system by highlighting 10 national forests
and threats
they face from timber sales, roadbuilding
projects, grazing, mining, oil and gas leasing and
industrial tourism.
NFPA will produce a report that will
outline
each forest and its extractive resource programs
and document what
impacts these commodities are having a
social, economic and environmental perspective. We will
also coordinate
various outreach events throughout the
nation in conjunction with the release of the report.
Internship Responsibilities: The
intern will be work with NFPA's
Campaign Coordinator,
Jake Kreilick, and the 10
Endangered National Forest
Project Coordinator, Andrew George to:
1. Research.
Follow-up on research and compile information from all
nomination forms received.
2.
Network Coordination: Work with NFPA member groups, and other
organizations whose national forests were
selected, to coordinate media and public events.
3. Events Facilitation: Help to facilitate the organization
of events
surrounding the release of the 10 Endangered
report.
Compensation: Although we cannot pay for this position, most
individuals
can receive academic credit. Talk to
your adviser about how you can receive independent study
credit or
internship credit.
Application: To arrange an interview, please contact Jake
Kreilick,
Campaign Coordinator of the National Forest
Protection Alliance at 406-829-6353 or e-mail at
jkreilick@wildrockies.org.
About the National Forest Protection
Alliance: The NFPA is a national
alliance of citizens
and organizations
dedicated to protecting public lands
from commercial exploitation, and
in particular,
protecting federal public lands
from commercial logging.
INTERNSHIP POSITION: Pisgah National Forest Monitor
SPONSORING ORGANIZATION: Southern Appalachian Biodiversity
Project
LOCATION: Asheville, North Carolina
DATE: Year-round
Project Overview: The Southern Appalachians contain some of
the most
consolidated and unfragmented
ownership of public lands in the East, with over 6 million
acres of
federal land. Though still recovering from past
abuses, these lands nonetheless form a green oasis in a
sea of private
development, providing refuge for at
least
210 globally rare plants and animals. In the past
year, federal courts
in the Southeast have upheld the
United
States Forest Service's (USFS) obligation to
protect rare and threatened
species in National Forests.
The USFS is
required to include adequate species
analysis in environmental impact
statements for timber
sales, herbicide
spraying, and roadbuilding activities
on public lands. Although this
duty is unambiguous and
essential for the
protection for threatened species and
pristine watersheds, significant
oversight by public
interest groups is
needed to monitor activities proposed
by the US Forest Service in
national forests. The
Southern Appalachian
Biodiversity Project (SABP) is
actively engaged in enforcing regulations
for logging,
roadbuilding, and herbicide
spraying in fifteen national
forests in seven southeastern states. SABP
seeks an
intern to assist scientific and
legal staff in the
review of USFS proposals for the Pisgah National
Forest
in western NC. Potential topics of focus
include
Proposed, Endangered, Threatened and Sensitive (PETS) species
data, wetlands and buffer
restoration/mitigation, forest economics analysis, and
related topics.
Responsibilities: Specifically, the intern will have direct
experience
in assisting SABP staff in some of the
following
activities: analyzing USFS regulations;
monitoring and commenting on
proposed management
activities on the
Pisgah National Forest; conducting
wildlife, aquatic, and botanical
surveys for PETS
species; media development;
working with SABP's partner
organizations on these issues; preparing
materials for
advocacy at public hearings on
proposed management
activities; and authoring a report on a specific
logging, roadbuilding, or herbicide spray
which SABP intends to disseminate to the public.
Qualifications: The best candidates
for an internship with SABP will
exhibit a familiarity
with natural resources
policy, government and budgetary
processes. The intern will also be
familiar with
environmental sciences to the
degree that he or she can
understand land protection issues and
recommend criteria
for prioritizing resource
protection projects. The
intern will also have excellent written and
oral
communication skills, be self-motivated,
and have
excellent organizational skills.
Training / Application: Marty Bergoffen, SABP Campaign
Coordinator, will
supervise the internship. He can be
reached at 828/ 258-2667. Marty will support the intern
in successful
completion of the project and supply the
intern with necessary materials and information. Marty
will also work
with the intern to determine a timetable
and
work plan. Much of the work for this internship will
be performed in
SABP's office in downtown Asheville.
INTERNSHIP DESCRIPTION: Public
Outreach Assistant
SPONSORING ORGANIZATION: ReThink
Paper
LOCATION: Portland or San Francisco
TIME: Year-round
Overview: ReThink Paper is a non-profit organization
dedicated to
preserving forests, biodiversity and human
health by promoting the use of clean manufacturing and
non-wood fiber
resources for paper production, and
encouraging strategies that reduce paper consumption.
ReThink Paper's
goals include:
o
target non-wood fiber alternatives for use as feedstock in pulp &
paper manufacturing;
o increase
demand for non-wood fiber paper to reduce cost and improve
economies of scale;
o eliminate the
use of chlorine as a bleaching agent in wood-based
manufacturing facilities;
o
influence paper procurement policies of government, universities,
businesses and other large purchasers;
o advocate for paper reduction and increased paper
efficiency to help
ease paper demand
o maintain the website for providing timely, strategic
information to
consumers, businesses, government
entities,
students,
industry
representatives and the rest of the public; and,
o
develop regional nodes to implement the RTP ideals on a local level.
Responsibilities: Interns will work
towards the overarching goal of
protecting forested
lands from commercial
logging by encouraging the use of
alternatives to wood-based paper.
Internships will
either be based in Portland,
Oregon or San Francisco.
Responsibilities will vary according to the intern's
qualifications and
interest, but areas of focus will
likely include:
* Grassroots organizing / public
outreach
* Education Program
*
Outreach/Media coordination
* Membership development
* Fundraising
* Administration
Application: Oregon Contact: Nancy
Hurwitz 503-668-5123
rtp@earthisland.org, San Francisco
Contact: Jeanne
Trombly 415-561-6546 jtrombly@igc.org
Steve Holmer
Campaign Coordinator
American Lands
726 7th Street SE
Washington,
D.C. 20003
202/547-9105
202/547-9213 fax
mailto:wafcdc@americanlands.org
http://www.americanlands.org
To: All Activists
From:
Jeff Juel, The Ecology Center, Inc.
Date: May
10, 2002
Comments Needed to Stop
Destructive Post-Burn Salvage Project on Lolo
National
Forest
Friends,
Here is a link to a new website
http://www.wildrockies.org/teci/lolo-post-burn/ containing photographs
taken May 1
in the Post-Burn Project (Lolo National Forest fire
"salvage") area.
The photos and accompanying text help to illustrate the
inadequacies of
the Forest Service's management of the
forest, both before and after the
fires of 2000.
Although "restoration" is the stated goal of the project,
it takes a back seat to timber production, as is typical of
too many
Forest Service initiatives.
Please take the time to look at
these images. I hope they'll make it
easier for you to
type out some comments on the Draft EIS--due next
Monday, May 13. In fact, the website contains a link so you
can easily
email your concerns to the Forest Service.
Thank you VERY MUCH for taking
the time to help protect your national
forests.
-jEFF
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Jeff Juel
The Ecology Center,
Inc.
801 Sherwood Street, Suite B
Missoula, MT 59802
406-728-5733
fax: 728-9432
mailto:jeffjuel@wildrockies.org
Visit the Ecology Center website at: http://www.wildrockies.org/teci
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
May 10, 2002
Dear colleague,
As you know, more than 350 civil society organizations
(CSOs) from more
than 50 nations have signed onto a
Treaty Initiative to Share the Genetic
Commons. We believe that this initiative is the
critical next step in
assuring that the genetic
information encoded in microorganisms, plants,
animals
and humans does not become the intellectual property of global life
science companies.
A few individuals have voiced concerns about the substance
of the Treaty
Initiative. While they oppose
all patents on life, they champion the right
of
countries and indigenous people to enter into exclusive bilateral
bioprospecting agreements with life science companies,
allowing the
companies the sole right to exploit the
genetic information of the microbes,
plants and animals
covered in the agreements.
The
problem is that granting exclusive bioprospecting rights legitimizes
the entire process of reducing genetic information to
“exclusive commercial
property.” It is
inconsistent to declare, on the one hand, that a country
has the right to sell the exclusive bioprospecting rights to
exploit the
genetic information of a particular microbe,
plant, animal or human, and on
the other hand, to oppose
patents on life on the grounds that no company or
institution should be able to claim genetic information as
“exclusive
commercial property.”
The fact is, the granting of
exclusive bioprospecting rights goes
hand-in-hand with
claims on genetic information as intellectual property.
Both parties accept the notion that genetic information can
be monopolized
in the form of exclusive commercial
property. Indeed, securing an exclusive
bioprospecting agreement assures companies a monopoly over
the exploration
of that genetic information - an
essential prerequisite for later making
patent claims on
that information. Why would any company ever enter into an
exclusive bilateral bioprospecting agreement with a country
or an indigenous
community unless it could secure a
patent on the valuable genetic
information it
discovers? Life science companies and foundations like the
Rockefeller Foundation are only too happy to accept the idea
of establishing
exclusive bioprospecting agreements
between countries and life science
companies. The token financial arrangements that
ensue are considered well
worth the expense as the
agreements bolster the corporate claim that genetic
information is reducible to exclusive commercial property
either by
governments, indigenous peoples, or companies.
Our Treaty Initiative to Share
the Genetic Commons reflects the important
distinction
between sovereign rights and responsibilities of management over
genetic resources versus the illegitimate claim to enter
into commercial
arrangements to monopolize the earth’s
genetic information, either in the
form of exclusive
bilateral bioprospecting rights or securing patents on
genes.
The
three guiding principles that have inspired the Treaty Initiative are:
The earth’s genetic endowment is a
collective legacy and shared trust.
Every community and country has the right and
responsibility, assisted if
requested by the
international community, to manage that portion of the
earth’s genetic endowment that lies within its territory.
While communities and countries
have sovereignty over the terms by which the
genetic
materials they hold in trust are shared with the world, that genetic
information cannot be legitimately claimed as monopoly
property in the
marketplace. Selling
exclusive bioprospecting rights or claiming genetic
information as exclusive intellectual property is a
violation of the spirit
of biodiversity.
Further, we believe that when host
countries receive compensation for
exclusive
bioprospecting rights, a framework is created for a new and
dangerous form of high-tech biocolonialism. Host
countries, especially in
the developing world, will be
given token financial compensation for the
right to
exploit their domestic genetic resources and then be forced to buy
back patented products from seeds to drugs at exorbitant
prices, further
deepening the divide between the “haves”
and “have-not” nations.
Furthermore, the notion of selling exclusive bioprospecting
rights and
securing a monopoly in the form of patents on
genetic information runs
counter to the very principles
of shared responsibility for the earth’s
biodiversity
espoused by the countries that signed the Biodiversity
Convention Treaty. Sustainable global development
is an unrealizable goal
in a world where countries and
corporations can enter into exclusive
monopoly
agreements to profit off of the genetic blueprints of millions of
years of biological evolution on Earth.
We believe that the earth’s gene
pool is a collective legacy and a shared
trust and
should not be reduced to negotiable commodities that can be
monopolized in the global marketplace. At the
same time, we agree with the
principle affirmed at the
Rio summit that communities and countries are
responsible for managing and stewarding genetic resources
within their
borders. There is a difference,
however, between the sovereign right to act
as a trustee
- to be responsible for sustaining that part of the earth’s
biodiversity that lies within one’s national or community
boundaries - and
the illegitimate act of entering into
exclusive monopoly arrangements with
commercial
institutions to profit off of the earth’s genetic legacy. The
gene pool exists apriori to and independent of any
contemporary political or
commercial
institution. It is therefore not reducible to monopolies in the
hands of governments or companies.
We would like to emphasize that the
Treaty Initiative to Share the Genetic
Commons does not,
in any way, preclude existing commercial and trade
arrangements between countries and companies to buy and sell
agricultural
commodities and other biologically derived
products in the global
marketplace. The
Treaty Initiative is designed only to ensure that the
genetic information from living organisms does not become
the exclusive
monopoly of countries or companies.
It is critically important that CSOs
not play into the hands of life science
companies by
legitimizing the notion that genetic information can be
reducible to monopoly arrangements in the form of both
exclusive
bioprospecting agreements and patents.
Regards,
Jeremy Rifkin
President of the
Foundation on Economic Trends in Washington, DC
(jrifkin@foet.org)
--------------------
Greenpeace's Positive Energy Newsletter
May 5 - 12, 2002
v 2.16
Time for Greenpeace’s CLEAN ENERGY
NOW! campaign’s weekly
good news update!!!
Inside this edition:
- Stop the CPUC from Killing the Renewable Energy Industry
- Use Auto Lobby's Own Free Service to Curb Global
Warming
- G8 Gathering: What’s Going on Behind the
Closed Door?
+ + + + +
Stop the CPUC from Killing the Renewable Energy Industry
Help stop the California Public
Utilities Commission (CPUC)
from killing the renewable
energy industry in California!
The CPUC is currently
discussing the possibility of
charging "exit fees" to
"departing load" customers. This
means that the CPUC are
debating whether or not to charge
people who invest in
renewable energy systems for their
homes and businesses
an extra $0.04-$0.06 per kilowatt
hour. These extra
charges would derail the renewable energy
market at the
retail level in California, which is just now
starting
to boom.
Send a fax now to the
commissioners telling them not to
kill renewable energy
in California, by going to:
http://www.cleanenergynow.org/bin/takeaction.fpl?action_id=127
+ + + + +
Use Auto Lobby’s Own Free
Service to Curb Global Warming!
The auto industry’s smear campaign of deception has reached
a new low. Bill AB1058, which passed the Senate and is
now
headed back to the Assembly for concurrence, will
require
California’s Air Resources Board to adopt
regulations that
achieve maximum feasible reduction of
global warming
emissions by passenger vehicles. But not
if the auto
industry lobby has its way!
Recently, there has been a full-page
advertisement running
in major newspapers featuring auto
dealer, Cal Worthington,
claiming he is scared to death
of the bill. The ad makes
completely false claims about
bill AB1058. But we can turn
the tables and use their
dirty tactics against them.
Simply call their toll-free
number, 1-800-988-2588, and follow the automated instructions or bypass them by
saying your assembly member’s name. You will be connected to your
legislator’s office, whereby you can tell the person
answering the phone that you want your assembly member to
vote for AB 1058. You can also call back and ask to be
connected to Governor Davis’ office to ask him to
support
the bill. Remember that this is the auto lobby’s
toll-free
number, so they will thank you for calling to
oppose the
bill, but really, thanks should go to them
for supplying an
easy way for supporters of the bill to
communicate that
support to their local representatives.
To learn more about bill AB1058,
visit:
http://www.bluewaternetwork.org
+ + + +
+
G8 Gathering: What’s Going on Behind the Closed Door?
Energy ministers from the G8
nations – the Group of Eight:
Japan, France, the United
States, Great Britain, Germany,
Italy, Canada and Russia
-- convened last week during a
two-day summit with a
focus on energy policies. This
gathering took place in
Detroit, the home base of auto
giant General Motors.
Although, Loyola de Palacio, the
European Commissioner
for Energy, urged all the policy-
makers to ratify the
Kyoto Protocol, G8 members continued
to ignore a report
issued by its own task force last year
to be more
aggressive in developing non-polluting renewable
energy
sources. Rather than investing heavily in clean
energy
now, he agreed with other members that along with other renewable energy
sources, there’s a need to use more nuclear energy in order to enhance the
security and stability of our energy supply. Ironically, even though he stated
that "we cannot simply drill our way
out of oil
dependency," in a separate statement, G8 members
were
urged to refill their nations’ emergency supply. On a
better note, the G8 members emphasized the need to make the
latest "clean and efficient" energy technologies
available
to developing nations.
To sign the global petition asking
governments to choose
clean energy over nuclear energy
and the mining, drilling,
damming and pillaging of the
Earth’s resources, go to:
http://www.cleanergynow.org
Articles
on this summit can be found at
http://www.washtimes.com
and
http://www.reuters.com
---------------------------------------
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.
XEarthNet News
... a project of the
Center for Environmental Citizenship
http://www.envirocitizen.org
----------------------------------------------------------------------
May 10, 2002
----------------------------------------------------------------------
EarthNet thinks of Mom this week
as we look at Martha
Stewart's not-so-green ways. Also,
read about glamorous
California in GLIMMER OF HOPE.
6 BILLION STRONG & GROWING looks
at how what we consume
consumes us. Plus, if you haven't
applied for the coolest
political skills training in the
country, you better
hurry over to
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/udqAAaF1mq-2/TRAINING
--Zachariah Silk, EarthNet Editor
mailto:earthnet@envirocitizen.org
----------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENT
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Corporate Corner: Martha
'Steward' She Ain't
2. Quote of the Week
3. 6 Billion Strong & Growing: Life, Liberty & the
Pursuit of What?
4. Glimmer of
Hope: Kudos to Cali
5. Green Reading: Get the Grist
6. Jobs and Internships
7.
Conferences and Gatherings
8. Activist Phone Book &
EarthNet News Info
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Corporate Corner
----------------------------------------------------------------------
MARTHA 'STEWARD' SHE AIN'T
CLICK HERE to tell Martha to go
PVC-free.
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/m7qAAaF1mq-X/MARTHA_ACTION
Thinking about buying your mom something from Martha
Stewart for Mother's Day? Well, you might want to think
twice after viewing a new documentary.
With humor and hope, filmmakers
Judith Helfand and
Daniel B. Gold travel to America's
vinyl manufacturing
capital and beyond in search of
answers about the nature
of polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
The filmmaker's constant
run ins with this seemingly
benign cure-all for many
consumers spark a toxic odyssey
with twists and turns
that most people never dare to
take. The result is
a humorous but sobering and uniquely
personal exploration
of the relationship between
consumers and industry.
The HBO films documents the
hazards of vinyl (PVC),
and you've probably heard
already that PVC is something
you want to avoid.
You might get it, but Martha Stewart
doesn't. She's
using PVC all over the place. Items of
Martha's Everyday
line at Kmart come in PVC bags, and
others, such as
shower curtains, storage bags and
beverage containers,
are made from PVC. Greenpeace is
urging Martha Stewart
to get rid of her toxic PVC
packaging and products.
They are asking activists to
tell Martha to become
an environmental "Steward" and
eliminate PVC.
TAKE ACTION NOW:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/mdqAAaF1mq-B/MARTHA_ACTION
Tell
Martha to go PVC-free.
FOR MORE
INFO:
**Greenpeace
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/mpqAAaF1mq-4/GREENPEACE
**On
Judge Smith
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/EdqAAaF1mq-f/BLUE_VINYL
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Maguire: I just want to say
one word to you. Just
one word.
Benjamin: Yes, sir.
Mr. Maguire: Are
you listening?
Benjamin: Yes, I am.
Mr. Maguire: Plastics.
-- Calder Willingham, U.S. screenwriter, The Graduate
----------------------------------------------------------------------
6 BILLION STRONG & GROWING
----------------------------------------------------------------------
LIFE, LIBERTY & THE PURSUIT
OF WHAT?
We're gobbling up tons
of resources to feed our appetites
and churning out new
generations of comfort consumers
-- did you ever wonder
how Mother Nature's dealing?
Check out this article on
the hefty hidden costs of
our affluent ways.
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/m1qAAaF1mq-c/
Read about Population & The
Environment at our exclusive
Issue in Focus site.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
GLIMMER OF HOPE
----------------------------------------------------------------------
KUDOS TO CALI
Last week the California state
Senate approved a controversial
bill that aims to limit
greenhouse gas emissions, one
that automakers believe is
aimed at cutting down sales
of SUV's through its tighter
standards of fuel economy.
Quite possibly the best thing
to come out of California
since Leonardo DiCaprio, the
bill would require the
state's Air Resources Board to
embrace regulations
that obtain "maximum feasible
reduction" in emissions
of greenhouse gases by cars and
light-duty trucks by
2009. SUV's, which make up 47
percent of all auto sales
in California, fall into the
latter category. Because
its Air Resources Board was
created before the EPA
came into existence in 1970,
California is able to
impose its own air quality
standards, independent of
federal regulatory agencies.
Kudos to Cali for putting
out such a plan -- maybe the
EPA can learn a thing
or two from you.
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/u1qAAaF1mq-N/NEWS
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/E7qAAaF1mq-v/NEWS
----------------------------------------------------------------------
GREEN READING
----------------------------------------------------------------------
GET THE GRIST
Straight from Grist Magazine...
http://www.gristmagazine.com
It's one
thing for a company to claim to be environmentally
friendly; it's an entirely different matter for them
to take steps toward actually doing so. In his Dear
Me column, Grist Magazine's Todd Paglia writes of a
man known simply as "Bill," who pulls a Tom Cruise
and infiltrates office retailer Staples, Mission Impossible
style. Sort of. Was Staples able to back up their big
claims of environmental consciousness? Your mission,
should you choose to accept it, is to hit the Grist
Magazine website for more.
READ IT HERE:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/E1qAAaF1mq-r/GRIST_MAGAZINE
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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/jdqAAaF1mq-3/
Job Title:
Program Director
Organization: The Ruckus Society
Location: Berkeley, CA
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/j7qAAaF1mq-e/
Job Title:
Research Intern
Organization: Pew Wilderness Center
Location: Portland, OR
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/jpqAAaF1mq-d/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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/upqAAaF1mq-s/
Event:
North American Indigenous Mining Summit
Location:
Crandon, WI
Date: 6/12/2002 - 6/15/2002
FOR MORE INFO:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/j1qAAaF1mq-x/
Event:
"Imagine If..." Green Building Workshop
Location:
Telluride, CO
Date: 5/29/2002
FOR MORE INFO:
http://actionnetwork.org/ct/u7qAAaF1mq-w/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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=kpqAAaF1jP-T
If you received this message from a friend, you can
sign up for Student Action Network at:
http://actionnetwork.org/san/join.html?r=kpqAAaF1jP-TE
***********************
* WildAlert
* Saturday, May 11, 2002
***********************
Dear WildAlert Subscriber,
Thousands of folks within the WildAlert community have taken
action to
help keep Yellowstone free of
snowmobiles. Your letters are
enormously
helpful. If you haven't yet participated in this campaign,
it's not too late. You can send a letter to the
Park Service, urging
a phase out of snowmobiles, at:
http://www.wilderness.org/takeaction/?step=2&item=1092
or, ask your Representative to support long-lasting
protection by
co-sponsoring the Yellowstone Protection
Act:
http://www.wilderness.org/takeaction/?step=2&item=1429
This issue of WildAlert contains news and updates on:
-- California Wild Heritage Act
--
Energy legislation and Arctic Refuge drilling
-- Powder
River Basin
*************************
CALIFORNIA
WILD HERITAGE ACT
Next week, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
is expected to introduce the
"California Wild Heritage
Wilderness Act of 2002," designating 2.5
million acres
of Wilderness and 400 miles of Wild & Scenic Rivers.
During the past several years The
California Wild Heritage Campaign, a
statewide coalition
of over 200 organizations and businesses, have
inventoried the state's unprotected wilderness and wild
rivers and
have been building support from local, state
and federal elected
officials and within rural
communities.
Among the special
areas that would gain permanent protection:
--The King Range of Northern California, the longest
undisturbed
coastline in the country.
--The Ventana Wilderness Additions, home to the California
Condor.
--The White Mountains of the Eastern Sierra, the
2nd largest
roadless area in the US and home to the
oldest living trees in the
world.
--The Avawatz Mountains in the California Desert, a
spring-watered
stronghold for desert bighorn sheep.
--The Upper San Diego River, one of the most remote areas in
Southern California, and key to protecting water quality
for San
Diego.
Future Wildalerts will keep you posted about how you can
help
advance this campaign. In the meantime,
learn more about the
California Wild Heritage Campaign
at:
http://www.californiawild.org/coalition.html
*************************
ENERGY
BILL AND ARCTIC REFUGE DRILLING
Citizens' outcry helped
to keep the Senate Energy Bill (passed a few
weeks ago)
free of measures to open the Arctic Wildlife Refuge and
other wild and sensitive areas in the lower 48 to oil
drilling. But
the House bill **did** include
such measures, so threats remain to
both the Arctic and
places like the Rocky Mountain Front in the
American
West. (For more on threats to the lower 48 states, see: Big
Oil's Energy Plan, a report by The Wilderness Society, at:
http://www.wilderness.org/eyewash/energy/index.htm )
The
Senate and House bills now must be "reconciled" in Conference
Committee. House Conference Committee members
have not yet been
announced, but Senate Conference
Committee members are:
Sens.
Baucus (D-MT); Bingaman (D-NM); Breaux (D-LA); Craig (R-ID);
Domenici (R-NM); Grassley (R-IN); Hollings (D-SC); Jeffords
(I-VT);
Kerry (D-MA); Lieberman (D-CT); Lott
(R-MS); Murkowski (R-AK);
Nickles (R-OR);
Reid (D-NV); Rockefeller (D-VA) and Thomas (R-WY).
The Conference Committee is unlikely to meet until after the
Memorial
Day recess. A future WildAlert will
have a call to action urging
conferees to keep energy
legislation clear of drilling within
America's special
wild places, so stay tuned.
*****************************
Powder
River Basin
Your comments on the Bureau of Land
Management's proposals to
dramatically increase oil and
natural gas drilling in the spectacular
Powder River
Basin of Wyoming and Montana are making a huge
difference. To date, at least 17,000 comments have been sent
regarding
the Wyoming environmental impact statement,
and well over 11,000 have
been sent regarding the
Montana impact statement.
Due to
this outpouring, BLM was forced to extend the comment deadline
on the Wyoming EIS by a month, to May 15. Another
factor in BLM's
decision to extend the comment deadline
was the fact that EPA has
preliminarily given the
Wyoming impact statement its worst possible
rating,
which may delay -- and hopefully will modify -- this
destructive project. Since the Senate rejected
oil drilling in the
arctic wilderness, attention has
shifted to the Rockies, and places
like the Powder River
Basin has become ground zero in the energy
debate.
You can still take action on this
at:
http://www.wilderness.org/takeaction/?step=2&item=1375
************************
For if one link in nature's chain might be lost, another
might be
lost, until the whole of things will vanish by
piecemeal. -Thomas
Jefferson
***************************************************************
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
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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
========================================
NRDC's EARTH ACTION:
The Bulletin
for Environmental Activists
May
13, 2002
========================================
Special Alert for New York Earth
Activists: Urge Governor Pataki to
reduce global warming
pollution from New York's power plants
Take action now
at
http://www.nrdcaction.org/index.asp?step=2&item=1200
======================================================
Last summer, Governor George Pataki
declared his intention to make New
York a leader in
combating global warming, and created the Greenhouse
Gas
Task Force to study how to accomplish this goal. The task force
has many sensible and cost-effective options to consider
that would
help reduce global warming pollution, but
setting a carbon limit (or
"cap") on power plant
emissions is one of the best.
In New York and across the nation, power plants are the
biggest
individual sources of carbon dioxide, the
heat-trapping gas primarily
responsible for global
warming. Currently, however, there is no limit
to the
amount of carbon dioxide that power plants can emit. Simply
modernizing the combustion equipment at New York's largest
power
plants would significantly reduce these emissions.
Exploiting the
state's considerable untapped energy
efficiency and renewable energy
resources (wind, solar,
and biomass) would take us even further toward
a better
environmental balance. A cap on carbon dioxide emissions
would spur these kinds of investments.
The task force is due to issue its
report and recommendations in June.
== What to do ==
Urge Governor
Pataki to demonstrate real leadership in working toward
a smarter, cleaner energy future by capping carbon dioxide
emissions
from power plants.
== Contact information ==
You can
send a message to Governor Pataki directly from NRDC's Earth
Action Center at
http://www.nrdcaction.org/index.asp?step=2&item=1200
Or use
the contact information and sample letter below to send your
own message, and be sure to include your own reasons why we
ought to
reduce global warming pollution in New York.
Governor George E. Pataki
Governor's Office
State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224
Fax: 518-474-1513
== Sample letter ==
Subject: Cap CO2 emissions from New York's power
plants
Dear Governor Pataki,
I urge you to cap carbon dioxide
emissions from power plants in New
York to 30 percent
below 1990 levels by 2017.
Carbon dioxide is the greenhouse gas most responsible for
global
warming, and power plants are the largest
individual sources of carbon
dioxide emissions. Global
warming is projected to cause sea level in
New York to
rise as much as three feet and reduce the state's maple
forests by 50-70 percent. Global warming will also lead to
more
frequent and intense severe weather events, expand
the areas at risk
of Lyme and other diseases, and leave
the state's $3 billion-a-year
agriculture industry
vulnerable.
Capping carbon
dioxide emissions from power plants is one of the best
ways to guarantee that we reduce global warming pollution
now and in
the future, and must be the cornerstone of
New York's global warming
policy. Combining a carbon cap
with investments in energy efficiency
and renewable
energy would have the added benefit of helping us lower
the state's electric
bill.
Last summer you pledged to make New York a leader in
reducing global
warming pollution. Capping carbon
emissions from power plants is an
essential step toward
fulfilling that promise, and I urge you to take
that
step before the end of the year.
Sincerely,
[Your name and address]
==================================================
To update your email address or
other information, go to:
http://www.join.nrdcaction.org/profileeditor To unsubscribe from
Earth Action,
send an email message to earthaction@nrdcaction.org with
REMOVE in the subject line.
==========
About NRDC
==========
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a nonprofit
environmental
organization with over 500,000 members
nationwide and a staff of
scientists, attorneys and
environmental experts. Our mission is to
protect the
planet's wildlife and wild places and ensure a safe and
healthy environment for all living things.
For more information about NRDC or
how to become a member of NRDC,
please contact us at:
Natural Resources Defense
Council
40 West 20th Street
New
York, NY 10011
212-727-4511 (voice) / 212-727-1773 (fax)
General email: nrdcinfo@nrdc.org
Earth Action email: 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
Please help protect the world's rarest marine dolphin from
the threat
of fishing. The population of New
Zealand's North Island Hector's
dolphin is currently
less than 100 individuals. In a recent one-year
period, six dolphins are known to have
drowned. The dolphin is headed
for extinction
unless the government of New Zealand acts quickly to
protect it.
Last year, New Zealand's minister of fisheries banned
commercial and
recreational "set netting" (a form of
gill netting) within most of the
dolphin's
range. However, following a challenge by fishers, the
commercial ban was overturned. On May 1, the
government proposed new
management measures, but they
are flawed and insufficient to save the
dolphin.
PLEASE FOLLOW THE SIMPLE STEPS BELOW
TO SEND A FREE MESSAGE URGING THE
NEW ZEALAND FISHERIES
MINISTER TO PROTECT THE NORTH ISLAND HECTOR'S
DOLPHIN.
*************************TAKE ACTION
NOW!****************************
To send the message below, as is, to the New Zealand
fisheries
minister, hit "reply" to this email and then
"send." World Wildlife
Fund will
automatically send the message for you.
However, we urge you to greatly increase your impact by
adding your
own thoughts to your
message. Personalizing your message only takes a
minute; see below for details.
ADD YOUR OWN THOUGHTS AND INCREASE YOUR IMPACT
Log in to your "Personal Action
Center" at the World Wildlife Fund
Conservation Action
Network Web site --
http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org/login.asp -- with your email
address
(alerts@earthhopenetwork.net) and your password. (If you have
forgotten your password, follow the instructions on the
log-in page to
have a new password emailed to you.)
Once you are in your Personal Action
Center, click on "Protect the
World's Rarest Marine
Dolphin" and follow the instructions for adding
your own
thoughts to your message. If you have any questions or
problems with taking action, contact us at
actionquestions@takeaction.worldwildlife.org for help.
Please urge your friends and
colleagues to visit the WWF Conservation
Action Network
Web site at http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org/ to
take this action.
*****************************LETTER
TEXT*****************************
Hon. Pete Hodgson
Minister of
Fisheries
Parliament
Wellington
New Zealand
Dear Mr. Hodgson:
I write to urge you to do all you can to save the critically
endangered North Island Hector's dolphin, the world's
rarest marine
dolphin.
In the last year alone, six dolphins
are known to have drowned. With
fewer than
100 individuals left and a naturally slow breeding rate,
their population can only sustain one human-induced death
every five
years and still be able to
recover. Urgent action is needed to
prevent
the dolphin from heading towards extinction.
Entanglement in fishing gear kills more whales and dolphins
worldwide
than any other threat, and too little is being
done to address this
global problem. New
Zealand has an opportunity to set an example for
the
rest of the world by taking immediate action to save the North
Island Hector's dolphin.
The following are the minimum steps
necessary to ensure the dolphin's
survival:
* an enforced ban on
commercial and recreational set netting
throughout the
dolphin's entire range
* the establishment of a marine mammal sanctuary
* 100 percent
observer coverage on trawlers operating within the
dolphin's range
* development and implementation of a species
recovery plan.
New Zealand
should be proud of the North Island Hector's dolphin; it
is found nowhere else on Earth. It would be a tragedy for
New Zealand
and the rest of the world if it should be
lost to us all through a
lack of decisive action.
Sincerely,
Your name and address
will be inserted here
***********************END OF LETTER
TEXT*********************
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The roughly 100 remaining North Island Hector's dolphins
live close to
the shore of the northwest coast of New
Zealand's North Island in
small family groups, rarely
swimming more than 30 kilometers (19
miles) from their
place of birth. Fishing nets are currently the
major threat to the dolphins, compounded by other
human-induced
threats such as pollution, collisions with
boats, and effects on their
food sources.
Please act now to show New Zealand's
fisheries minister that there is
overwhelming
international support for protecting the North Island
Hector's dolphin.
You may receive an automated response from the minister of
fisheries.
The ministry has asked that you please not
respond to this message.
_____________________________________________________________________
Direct any questions about the WWF Conservation Action
Network to
actionquestions@takeaction.worldwildlife.org
______________________________________________________________________
The Conservation Action Network is sponsored by World
Wildlife Fund-
US. Known worldwide by its
panda logo, WWF is dedicated to
protecting the world's
wildlife and the rich biological diversity
that we all
need to survive. The leading privately supported
international conservation organization in the world, WWF
has
sponsored more than 2,000 projects in 116 countries
and has more than
1 million members in the United
States. WWF calls on everyone --
government,
industry, and individuals -- to take responsibility by
taking action to save our living planet.
World Wildlife Fund
1250 Twenty-fourth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037
http://www.worldwildlife.org
http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org
XTo: All Activists
From: Steve
Holmer
Date: May 13, 2002
More Original Sponsors for Roadless Bill Needed - Deadline
This
Wednesday, May 15
We are making rapid progress building support in Congress to
codify the
National Forest Roadless Area Conservation
Rule in legislation to be
introduced by Reps. Jay Inslee
(D-WA) and Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY).
Over
130 offices have indicated that they will be original sponsors in
just four weeks time. Now we would like to
reach 150 before the bill
is introduced next week.
Please contact your Representative
at 202/225-3121 and urge him/her to
become an original
sponsor of the bi-partisan National Forest Roadless
Area
Conservation Rule. To send your Representative faxes or emails
please see http://www.congress.org If the staff indicates that they
have already signed on, please thank them. Here
are some talking
points:
1. Conserving National Forest Roadless Areas protects clean
water
supplies, provides important habitat for fish and
wildlife and
recreational opportunities for the public
and will ensure a forest
legacy for future generations.
2. The Forest Service currently
has a road maintenance backlog of $8
billion
dollars. It doesn't make sense to continue building new roads
when the agency cannot take care of the current system.
3. The Roadless Area Conservation
Rule is strongly supported by the
public. The
rulemaking process saw a record number of comments (1.6
million), the overwhelming majority (95%) of which spoke out
for strong
roadless area protection.
4. The Roadless Area Conservation
Rule is not being implemented by the
Bush
Administration. As a result, the Forest Service is now planning a
large number of new logging and roadbuilding projects which
are
inconsistent with the Rule and that threaten
roadless areas.
A copy of the
Dear Colleague letter is available at
http://www.americanlands.org/dear_colleague.htm Also, a sample letter
that you can send to your Representative to encourage them
to sign on as
a cosponsor is available at
http://www.americanlands.org/sample_letter.htm For more information
please contact me or see 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
To: All Activists
From: Sierra
Club Responsible Trade Program
Date: May 14,
2002
Stop NAFTA's Corporate Lawsuits!
Urge your Senators to Support the Kerry
Amendment
to Fast-Track
Legislation
Dial 877-611-0063
toll-free
In the next few days,
the Senate will vote on "fast track" trade
legislation
that would jeopardize all the hard-won laws that protect our
land, water, and air. This fast-track bill denies
Congress its
constitutional power to strike
anti-environmental provisions from trade
agreements made
by the President. But the Bush administration plans to
use it to expand provisions in NAFTA that allow foreign
corporations to sue
taxpayers for billions if our
environmental laws interfere with
business.
TAKE ACTION
Please call your US Senators
NOW!
Urge them to support the Kerry Amendment
to Fast Track!
Dial 877-611-0063 toll-free
(courtesy of the AFL-CIO).
TALKING POINTS
I am calling to urge the Senator to support the Kerry
Amendment to fast
track. The Bush
administration plans to use this fast track bill to
expand provisions in NAFTA that allow foreign corporations
to sue US taxpayers
for billions if our environmental
laws interfere with their businesses.
If fast track passes in its current form, Congress will be
virtually
helpless to stop the expansion of NAFTA's
corporate lawsuits to many
more countries. Lawsuits
against our own environmental laws and costs to
taxpayers will skyrocket if this happens.
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) is sponsoring
an amendment to help fix these
dangerous fast-track
corporate lawsuit provisions. His amendment would
ensure that foreign corporations never have greater rights
than those
provided to US citizens under US
law. That standard will both protect
legitimate property rights and safeguard our environment.
FOR MORE INFO
visit http://www.sierraclub.org/trade
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
To: Northeast Activists
From: John
Demos
RE: Roadless Bill
5/14/02
COSIGNERS UP TO 135!!
The number of cosigners on the
Boehlert (R-NY) and Inslee (D-WA) National Forest Roadless Area Conservation Act
is at 135. I believe Sanders (I-VT), McCarthy (D-NY), and McNulty
(D-NY) should be on the bill momentarily. Still to many New Yorkers are missing.
The following NY and New England
Representatives have still not signed on. This bill will simply
codify the Roadless Policy the Clinton Administration instituted that Bush is
blocking. Please see if your Rep is not on yet and give them a call.
The close-out date is tomorrow.
John Larson D CT 1 (202) 225-2265 Charles F. Bass
R NH 2 (202) 225-5206
John Sununu R NH 1 (202) 225-5456
NY
Felix Grucci R NY 1 (202)
225-3826 Vito
Fossella R NY 13 (202) 225-3371
Benjamin A. Gilman R NY
20 (202) 225-3776 Amo Houghton R NY 31
(202) 225-3161
Peter King R NY 3 (202)
225-7896 John
J. LaFalce D NY 29 (202) 225-3231
Nita M. Lowey D NY 18
(202)
225-6506 John
McHugh R NY 24 (202) 225-4611
Gregory Meeks D NY 6 (202)
225-3461 Major
R. Owens D NY 11 (202) 225-6231
Jack Quinn R NY 30 (202)
225-3306 Thomas
Reynolds R NY 27 (202) 225-5265
John Sweeney R NY 22
(202)
225-5614 James
T. Walsh R NY 25 (202) 225-3701
ALSO NEED HELP IN DC ON JUNE 2-7
American Lands Lobby week will focus on the Roadless Bill
and Amendments to the Interior Appropriations Bill.
Cheap airfares need to be reserved
by this Saturday. We will help with expenses (see below).
Register for the Forest Protection
Week June 2 - 7
Environmentalists have had a few wonderful victories
recently on public
land and native forest
protection. Everyone has heard about the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge but we also scored big on the Farm
Bill last week.
Two very harmful
provisions for forests (biomass and stewardship logging)
were dropped at the last moment. This was more
than we could have hoped for!!
We also have 150 cosponsors, as of today, on a bill that
will codify the
National Forest Roadless Policy. This
bill, and the entire Interior
Appropriations bill will
be before Congress soon.
WE NEED
ACTIVIST HELP IN DC JUNE 2-7 TO PRESS FOR NEEDED REFORMS!!
This year, we know that much is at
stake. The Forest Service is moving
rapidly
to dismantle the roadless conservation rule while it is tied up in
court and is pushing forward new roadless area timber
sales. Without action
by Congress, these
areas will remain at risk and now the action has begun
with Reps. Inslee and Boehlert announcing their roadless
area protection
bill. This year will be an
all-out blitz to pass permanent legislation
protecting
roadless areas and stopping Forest Service rollbacks.
Fire and restoration funding and
policy have dominated the Interior bill the
last several
years and we expect a major fight once again to reign in the
abuse of restoration and hazardous fuel treatment funds
being diverted for
commercial
logging. We are also may be fighting provisions to increase
subsidies for biomass from the National Forests.
Lack of enforcement of off-road
vehicles and the agencies failure to monitor
their
impacts is allowing for unacceptable damage to the public lands. This
year, we will ask Congress to start tackling this
problem by asking for
additional funding for monitoring
and requiring a portion of the law
enforcement budget to
be spent policing off road vehicles.
Register for the Forest Protection Lobby Week
To attend the Forest Protection
Week, please e-mail the below registration
form to me at
demos@americanlands.org .I will coordinate with you to
schedule meetings on Capitol Hill.
Scholarships
Travel scholarships are available for half the cost of your
airfare (up to
$200) for those with financial
need. In order to receive a stipend
activists
must lobby for three full days. Other travel scholarships may
also be available (e.g. gas and bus ticket for Eastern
activists). Please
contact the organizer in
you region below if you wish to receive a travel
scholarship.
Housing
Free
housing options are limited. However, there is a low cost housing
option available at the Penn House, which is located on
Capitol Hill. The
rate is $35 a night, which
includes a breakfast. For reservations call the
Penn House at (202) 543-5560. For more
information see
www.quaker.org/pen-house/lodging.htm. For other
low cost housing options
please see http://www.americanlands.org/dc_hotels.htm
Issue Briefing / Lobby Training
Please plan to arrive in Washington D.C. on the evening of
Saturday June 1,
2001 or in the early morning on Sunday
June 2, 2001. On June 2nd there will
be an
issue briefing and lobby training from 12 p.m. - 5 p.m. Location to
be announced.
Lobby Week Schedule
From June 2 - 7 activists will lobby Members of Congress and
their staff.
To coordinate Hill meetings contact the
American Lands organizer in your
region. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evening at
5 p.m. we ask everyone to
join us for a debriefing
meeting so we can give you updates, share
information
from our meetings. Location to be announced. You will receive
meeting locations, directions and other important
information by early May.
Registration Form
Please fill out the registration form and email it the
organizer in your region.
FOREST
PROTECTION LOBBY WEEK REGISTRATION FORM
NAME:
ORGANIZATION (If any):
ADDRESS:
PHONE:
EMAIL:
STATE:
CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVE:
DO YOU NEED TRAVEL ASSISTANCE:
DO YOU NEED A HOME STAY (THESE ARE LIMITED)?
AMERICAN
LANDS ALLIANCE ORGANIZERS
MA,
NH, VT, NY, RI, CT, MASS, NJ: contact John Demos, Northeast
Organizer, at 207-384-0175 or mailto:demos@americanlands.org
John
Demos
Northeast Organizer
American Lands Alliance
59 Rodier
Rd.
South Berwick, ME 03908
207-384-0175
demos@americanlands.org
Dear Members of Global Response's "Quick Response Network:"
In his inaugural address last
week, the newly elected President of Costa
Rica declared
a new era of "peace with the environment" and specifically
rejected oil drilling and mining as the basis for Costa
Rica's future
development.
Let's let President Pacheco know that world citizens applaud
Costa Rica's
rejection of oil development on the
Caribbean coast (see Global Response
Action # 2/01 at
http://www.globalresponse.org/gra_index/gra0201.html). His
administration will surely be
under pressure from political and corporate
sectors to
expand mining, gas and oil development; it's important for him to
hear from world citizens who support his bold vision for a
future based on
clean energy.
Feel free to use the model letter
below, drafted by the Costa Rican
coalition against oil
development (ADELA), or send your own fax or email.
Following the model letter are translated excerpts from the
incoming
president's inaugural address, also provided by
ADELA.
We write a lot of "please
don't do this" letters; it's great to be able to
give
positive reinforcement when we can!
MODEL LETTER:
Dr. Abel Pacheco de la Espriella
Presidente de la República de Costa Rica
Fax: Int'l code + (506)253-9078
Email: presidente@casapres.go.cr
cc:
Dr. Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, Ministro del Ambiente y Energía
Email:
cmrodri@catie.ac.cr Fax: Int'l code + 506 2570697
cc: ecologismoprofundo@hotmail.com
cc: adelatala@racsa.co.cr
Dear President Pacheco,
I write to congratulate you for your very progressive and
enlightened
environmental policies expressed in your
inaugural address. With your
commitment to
have Costa Rica establish itself globally as an ecological
power, you will surely bring more prosperity to the Costa
Rican nation.
We were also
delighted to learn of your environmental agency’s rejection of
the Harken oil development project for the Caribbean
coast. Your valuable
marine coastal
resources, including internationally recognized RAMSAR
wetlands, coral reefs and mangroves, are vital to the
survival of extensive
biodiversity and a breeding area
for many endangered species. We fully
support
you in your efforts to capitalize upon your extraordinary natural
treasures which also merit your protection as a UNESCO World
Heritage site.
We wish you and
your administration a most successful mandate in your
efforts to maintain Costa Rica as an ecological leader
globally.
Sincerely yours,
-------------------------------------------------------
Excerpts from the Inaugural Address of the President of the
Republic of
Costa Rica, Dr. Abel Pacheco of the
Espriella, May 2002-Mayo 2006
COSTA RICA DECLARES PEACE FOR NATURE
We will be competitive without
destroying nature because, beyond the events
of the
moment, our rich biodiversity will always be a great wealth and we
will preserve it.
Before becoming an oil enclave, before becoming a land of
open pit mining,
I plan to initiate a sustained effort
to transform Costa Rica into an
ecological power.
The true fuel and the true gold of
the future will be water and oxygen;
they are our
aquifers and our forests.
In the
past, we declared peace among ourselves and we declared peace among
all nations; now we should declare peace with nature.
Costa Rica does have a future. As
part of the effort to guarantee this
promising future, I
announce that I have adopted a proposal from a group of
young environmentalists that was
transmitted to me by Gabriel Quesada, grandson of Víctor
Quesada, drafter
of our Social Guarantees, and by my son
Fabián, and that I will press
forward decisively to incorporate a Chapter on
Environmental Guarantees
into the political Constitution of the
Republic .
As part of this new
Chapter to the Constitution, we will guarantee absolute
protection for primary forests so that not a single tree
there is cut;
absolute protection for the aquifers and
the rivers; absolute protection
for the coral
ecosystems, for the mangroves and the wetlands; absolute
protection of wild fauna and flora.
We will create legal mechanisms so
that deforested areas will be reforested
with native
species and to make clear that we will not be an oil enclave or
land of open pit mining.
At the same time we will incorporate in this new Chapter of
the
Constitution all that is necessary to ensure
appropriate processes for
treatment of solid waste; to
begin a systematic process of recycling and to
foster
the vigorous development of organic agriculture.
Furthermore, we will guarantee Costa Ricans have the
technological
developments, including the genetic
advances, made in harmony with the
nature.
The inclusion of Social Guarantees,
moved forward by Dr. Calderón
Guardia, gave us social
peace; the inclusion of the Chapter of
Environmental
Guarantees will give us sustainability and survival.
I
call on all Costa Ricans, especially the youth, to help me with this
initiative, to contribute with their ideas, to reinforce it
with their
proposals as their right to make of this
country a sanctuary for nature and
for humanity.
Costa Rica has future and we will
assure it.
********************************
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.
Take action to protect the waters, wildlife and cultural
heritage of the Northwest Hawai'ian Islands.
You can take action on this alert
either via email
(please see directions below) or via
the web at:
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/nwhi_1/wk8bxn225dmi
Spread the
word!
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/nwhi_1/forward/wk8bxn225dmi
We encourage you to take
action by May 17, 2002
Protect
the NW Hawai'ian Islands
----------------------
***************************
Action Network from Environmental Defense
finding the ways that work
***************************
* First of three NWHI alerts *
Establish a Strong Northwest Hawai'ian Island (NWHI)
Sanctuary, based on a Strong NWHI Reserve
Instructed by Congress, the federal
government has
proposed establishing a NWHI Sanctuary,
which by law
is supposed to add to the protections of
the existing
NWHI Reserve. The NWHI Reserve was created
in December
of 2000 by Executive Order of President
Clinton after
strong support from the public and
thousands of Environmental
Defense Action Network
activists. The NWHI Reserve
is mandated to protect this
1,200-mile stretch of coral
islands that are home to
over 7,000 species of coral,
fish, birds and marine
mammals, including the endangered
Hawaiian monk seal,
threatened green sea turtle and
the endangered
leatherback and hawksbill turtles. They
also have great
cultural and spiritual significance
to Native Hawaiians
with linkages to early Polynesian
culture.
The NWHI Executive Orders
specify that the proposed
overlapping Sanctuary must
"complement or supplement"
existing Reserve protections.
However, there appears
to be a move to utilize the
Sanctuary as a "Trojan
horse" which may act to undo NWHI
Reserve protections.
This truly unique and special area
still needs your
support.
In April 2002, the Department of Commerce convened
"scoping/visioning" meetings throughout Hawai'i to
seek public opinion about how to establish the NWHI
Sanctuary. Over 900 people participated, demonstrating
once again the tremendous support for safeguarding
these remote and fragile reaches of the Hawaiian
Archipelago.
THREATS TO THE
NWHI:
The NWHI are threatened on several fronts. In
Congress,
the fishing industry, backed by fishery
management
councils, has introduced the Right to Fish
Act, which
would undermine protections in the NWHI and
gut the
Sanctuary Act. Other concerns include efforts to
open
commercial aquarium fish collection in the NWHI,
access
by mega-cruise ships, dubious "research"
activities,
and attempts by the Western Pacific Regional
Fishery
Management Council to begin coral harvesting.
TAKE ACTION:
As we get closer to achieving a true pu'uhonua, or
refuge in the NWHI, your written comments to the Department
of Commerce are needed to counter industry pressure
to weaken protection measures established as law by
the NWHI Executive Orders. Please comment on the Sanctuary
designation process below and express your support
for the strongest possible protections for the NWHI
Sanctuary.
For more information on efforts to protect the NWHI,
please visit:
http://www.environmentaldefense.org/hawaii
Mahalo nui
loa,
Stephanie Fried, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist
----------------------
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/nwhi_1/wk8bxn225dmi
INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPOND VIA EMAIL:
Just choose the "reply to sender" option on your email
program, and edit the letter below as you wish. Do
not delete "-YOU MAY EDIT THE LETTER BELOW-" and "-END
OF LETTER-". Please do not add your name and address
to your letter. Our system automatically does this
for you.
We STRONGLY encourage you to make edits directly to
our sample letter below, and put the alert talking
points into your own words. An individualized letter
is worth ten computer generated letters. Of course,
hundreds of unedited letters will still create a large
impact, so please reply even if you don't have time
to personalize the letter.
Your letter will be addressed and sent to:
Mr. Robert Smith
-------YOU MAY EDIT THE LETTER
BELOW---------
I support the
strongest possible protections for the
proposed NWHI
Sanctuary, which must be designed to
protect the waters,
wildlife and cultural significance
of this unique reef
ecosystem. In particular, I support
the NWHI Executive
Orders, which are law, and which
clearly state that the
proposed NWHI Sanctuary must
"supplement or complement"
the existing NWHI Reserve
protections. Regulations for
the implementation of
the NWHI Executive Orders must be
developed in close
consultation with the Reserve
Advisory Council, released
for public comment, and put
in place immediately. The
principal purpose of any NWHI
Sanctuary must be strong,
long-term conservation of the
NWHI in their wild state,
resource protection using a
precautionary approach,
and the prevention of further
degradation of the NWHI
ecosystem.
Sanctuary protections must include
all of the protections
embodied in the NWHI Executive
Orders and the following
further protections:
* Permits should be required for all activities in
the Sanctuary.
*
Research, educational, scientific, commercial, recreational
activities should be allowed only if they do not harm
the ecosystem, are independently monitored, and meet
conservation goals as determined by a permit review
committee consisting of ecologists who have worked
in the NWHI, conservation representatives, and Native
Hawaiian representatives.
* All
State waters in the NWHI should be incorporated
into the
NWHI Sanctuary at strict levels of protection,
mirroring
protections in federal waters.
* A Kapu Zone should be
established, running the length
of the Sanctuary, closed
to commercial activity with
the exception of fishers
grandfathered under the NWHI
Executive Orders.
* Native Hawaiian cultural, religious and subsistence
access must be guaranteed.
* Strong
enforcement of Reserve and Sanctuary rules
is needed.
Without adequate enforcement, protection
efforts will
fail.
* Twenty-four hour automatic Vessel
Monitoring Systems
must be required on all boats
accessing the NWHI Reserve/Sanctuary,
independent
dock-side inspection of returning vessels,
and
significant penalties for Sanctuary violations.
* Clear steps must be taken to ensure that the Sanctuary
designation process itself, does not lead to increased
human impact on fragile ecosystem as result of
Reserve/Sanctuary
designation
*
Military activities in the NWHI should be limited
to the
clean-up and clearing of military structures,
dumpsites,
toxins, and debris.
* "Eco-tourism" activities should be
limited to Midway.
* Cruise ship access to the fragile
NWHI Reserve and
Sanctuary should be prohibited.
The following activities represent
substantial threats
to the integrity of both the NWHI
Reserve and the proposed
NWHI Sanctuary and should not
be allowed:
-- Lobster Fishing
-- Coral Harvesting
-- New fisheries
and transfer of fishing permits
-- Aquarium fish
collecting
-- Bio-prospecting
-- Dredging or construction
--
Dumping (vessel sewage, ballast water, CO2, etc.)
--
Ocean mining or exploration
-- Research that does not
follow the Executive Order
mandate of conservation
Other threats to the NWHI include:
-- Shipwrecks/vessel groundings
-- Anchor damage to coral reefs
--
Poaching
-- A campaign against NWHI protections by the
Western
Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council,
targeting
federal and state officials and enforcement
agencies
Again, I urge you to
establish the strongest protections
for the NWHI
Sanctuary based on and adding to the protections
of the
NWHI Executive Orders. Thank you for the opportunity
to
comment.
-------END OF
LETTER-------------------------
Critical issues that affect our Environment on the PetitionSite.com ...
One of the most important, yet often forgotten environments
is your indoor
environment -- indoor air
quality in your home, at restaurants, bars, and more.
Did you know that tobacco smoke
contains over 4000 chemicals,
including 50 carcinogens
that are released when a cigarette is smoked.
Some are
found naturally in the tobacco leaf, and others are created
through combustion or burning. If you are a non-smoker,
exposure to
second-hand smoke increases your chance of
lung cancer by 25% and heart
disease by 10%. In the year
2000, an estimated 900,000 children under
the age of 12
were regularly exposed to second-hand smoke in the home
from cigarettes, cigars or pipes.
Eliminating smoke from our local
environments is one of the simplest
ways to help improve
air quality. It might not be feasible to end
smoking now
for all smokers, but we can certainly take action
immediately to help reduce the number of future smokers by
keeping our
children smoke free today!
Today, 5000 kids will try their
first cigarette. Another 2000 will
become regular, daily
smokers, one-third of whom will die prematurely
as a
result.
You can help protect
America's kids from Big Tobacco.
Send a FREE letter to
the President,
Click here: http://www.care2.com/go/redirect/2/4220
After decades of marketing to kids, Philip Morris is
changing its name
to sound socially responsible, but it
isn't changing its deadly habits.
The fact is, more kids
smoke "Altria's" Marlboros more than all other
brands
combined.
It only takes a minute
to help. Click here to send a FREE letter and
protect
America's Kids from Big Tobacco:
http://www.care2.com/go/redirect/2/4220
And once you have done your part,
please forward this message to your
friends and family.
Thank you for your help,
Your Friends at Care2, ThePetitionSite.com &
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
We need
you to contact the Environmental Protection Agency today and tell
Administrator Whitman that you want her to support clean air in our
National Parks. Please take a moment to send your FREE FAX NOW!
To
protect our national parks and clean up haze from power plants click on
the
link at the end of this e-mail or go to: www.environet.org/grassroots
THE PROBLEM:
Our parks are shrouded in haze. The same haze that
kills over 30,000
Americans each year.
THE SOLUTION:
EPA
Administrator Whitman must immediately finalize stringent Best
Available
Retrofit Technology (BART) rules to improve air quality in our
nation's
parks and wilderness areas. These pollution clean up safeguards
will restore
clean air to America's favorite parks, like the Great Smoky
Mountains, Grand
Canyon, Big Bend and Acadia.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Send a FREE FAX to EPA
Administrator Whitman urging her to clear the air in
America's national
parks. Just click on the "Compose Fax" button, below, or
visit http://www.environet.org/grassroots
Sincerely,
Andrew Katkin
e-Outreach Coordinator
The
National Environmental Trust
Global Warming | Children's Environmental
HealthHeritage Forests |
Marine Conservation
As you may recall from
our "Breaking News" e-mail on 4/18, messages from over 70,000
Environmental Defense Action Network email activists helped derail a
measure in the US Senate in April to open the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge in Alaska to oil drilling. Good work! WHAT'S
NEXT? The U.S. House of Representatives, which passed an energy bill last
fall that would open the Arctic Refuge to oil drilling, will work with the
Senate throughout the year to craft a compromise Energy
package. Meanwhile the oil industry will continue its push for
new oil drilling in the Arctic. Rest assured that we will alert
you to protect this pristine wilderness when the time is
right. In the meantime, find out how 
