home of the wildlife conservation environmental and freedom activist

Can You Help the Star Wars Arrestees?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A special appeal to our US cyberactivists

After a test of US President George W. Bush's Star Wars system on July 14, 15 Greenpeace activists were arrested for opposing the test. Also arrested were 2 independent journalists covering the event.

All 17 arrestees are facing charges that could result in a sentence of up to 6 years in prison.

The 17 arrestees are now awaiting trial in temporary accomodation in the Los Angeles area. They need a variety of support ranging from office supplies to transportation to organizing outings for some or all of the arrestees.

Among the arrestees are ten foreign nationals who have no photo ID, Californian or otherwise, just photocopies of their passports and in some case a driving licence with photo from where they are living.

This makes even the simplest of things such as joining the local library very difficult.

We have set up an action group on the website of the international Cyberactivist Community. If you are from southern California and are willing to help out, please join the action group using this link:

http://act.greenpeace.org/ag/joinGroup?group_id=8

You can get more information from the home page of the action group at:

http://act.greenpeace.org/ag/groupSpace?g=8

Whether or not you live in southern California, please don't forget to send a letter opposing Star Wars to your members of Congress from:

http://www.greenpeaceusa.org/takeaction/starwarsfunding.htm

Yours,
Kevin

Kevin Jardine
Greenpeace International

VISIT THE CYBERCENTRE

Please don't forget to visit the Greenpeace Cyberactivist Community at:
http://act.greenpeace.org

To: All Activists
From: Steve Holmer
Date: August 16, 2001

Bush Rollback Plan Puts Roadless Areas at Risk - Comments Needed by September 10

The Washington Post reported yesterday that the Bush Administration will
be deciding the fate of the roadless area protection rule in the next
several months.  This decision will be based on public comments received
by Sept. 10 and behind the scenes input from "local" people (i.e. the
timber industry).  

It doesn't look good folks.   Only an overwhelming repudiation of this
attempted rollback in both the official comments and in the media can
protect these areas from the Forest Service.  The progress toward better
stewardship the agency made under the leadership of Michael Dombeck has
already been lost along with some 1.6 million public comments calling
for total protection of all roadless areas.  

The agency's new mantra is more logging and roadbuilding for
restoration, fire-prevention, wildlife enhancement, watershed
improvement etc. etc. etc.  To stop this attack on National Forest
roadless areas there are a series of actions that can make a huge
difference at this critical time:

1.  Submit your comment by Sept. 10 to the Forest Service and try to
generate as many additional comments from friends, family and supporters
as possible.   See
http://www.americanlands.org/forestweb/new_roadless_comments.htm for a
comprehensive comment letter prepared by Brian Vincent, American Lands'
California Organizer.  Talking points to address the ten scoping
questions can be found at
http://www.americanlands.org/forestweb/10_talking_points.htm  

Comments should try to answer to the ten scoping questions and must be
sent to: USDA Forest Service-CAT, Attention: Roadless ANPR, P.O. Box
221090, Salt Lake City, Utah 84122, mailto:roadless_anpr@fs.fed.us

2. Include as much place specific information as possible in your
comments.  Chief Bosworth said that these kinds of comments will receive
additional weight by the agency.   Please consider including a list of
every single roadless area on your nearby National Forest along with a
brief description about the important values found in each one.

3.  Send copies of your comments to your Senators and to your
Representative.  It is essential we keep Congress fully involved in this
process.  Also please send a copy to American Lands to help in our
public education efforts on the Hill and with the media.  Comments can
be mailed to your Rep., U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.
20515 or to your Senators, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510.

4.  Please ask your Senators and Representatives who support forest
protection to submit an official comment in support of protecting all
roadless areas.  

5.  Organize protests against President Bush and the Forest Service.

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

http://www.iatp.org/

GE Food Alert 3 (ge-food-alert-3@iatp.org)    Posted: 08/16/2001  By  jvogt@iatp.org
============================================================

Action Alert!
Stop Pesticide Plants!

***Please contact the EPA today and tell the agency to end the registrations
for Bt crops!  Comments due by August 31, 2001***

The EPA is considering whether or not to continue allowing genetically
engineered pesticide plants to be grown.  Known as Bt corn, cotton and
potatoes, these pesticide plants have been spliced with bacterial DNA to
produce proteins that are toxic to some insect pests and butterflies.

Genetically engineered pesticide plants should not be approved because they:

*  May pose serious long term risks to butterflies such as Monarchs and the
endangered Karner Blue.  Lab and field studies show that at least one type
of pesticidal corn kills Monarch butterfly larvae when they consume pollen
that drifts to milkweed, their only source of food.  Long-term studies are
lacking for other varieties of pesticidal corn.  Bt pollen may also threaten
endangered butterflies like the Karner Blue.

*  May cause allergic reactions.  While the EPA no longer permits pesticidal
StarLink corn to be grown due to concerns about its allergenic potential,
the Agency has refused to subject other Bt corn varieties to similar
scrutiny.  This is unacceptable, especially in light of an EPA-sponsored
study which detected antibodies consistent with allergic reactions in
farmworkers exposed to Bt sprays.  Consumers shouldn't be guinea pigs in an
experiment to find out whether genetically engineered corn - in particular
Bt sweet corn - is allergenic.

*  Contaminate organic and conventional crops.  Organic and conventional
corn farmers have lost valuable markets because of contamination with
genetically engineered (GE) corn.  Contamination occurs when GE corn pollen,
often carried for miles by the wind, pollinates regular corn.  The EPA's
analysis has not considered the significant economic impacts of Bt corn on
the organic and non-GE farm sectors.

*  Will inevitably lead to the loss of Bt spray for organic pest control.
Insects develop resistance to Bt pesticidal plants much more quickly than to
Bt sprays, long an invaluable tool used by organic farmers to control
insects.  The EPA's schemes for controlling development of resistance are
fatally flawed because doses of Bt toxin are too low to kill some pests
(which can then become resistant) and growers often don't follow the rules.

***Please contact the EPA today and tell the agency to end the registrations
for Bt crops!  Comments must be in by August 31, 2001***

Send e-mails to opp-docket@epa.gov, with OPP-00678B in the subject line.
Or, you can send a prewritten message to the EPA by visiting http://www.gefoodalert.org/ .

Better yet, send a letter referencing Docket No. OPP-00678B to:

Ms. Christine Todd Whitman, Administrator
Public Information and Records Integrity Branch
Information Resources and Services Division (7502C)
Office of Pesticide Programs
Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20460.

Rainforest Action Network - Monthly Email Newsletter
August 2001

Welcome!  Thank you for being a partner in Rainforest Action Network's
campaigns.  Read on to get the latest news and learn how you can help
save the world's rainforests.

In this issue:

1.) Highway Threatens Chile's Rainforest *Action Needed*
2.) Protesters Target Boise Cascade, Defend Free Speech
3.) U'wa Victory! OXY Fails to Find Oil

___________________________________________________________
Highway Threatens Chile's Temperate Rainforest

The Chilean government recently announced that it will continue
construction of a coastal highway through southern Chile's Valdivian
Rainforest. The project, which threatens to destroy one of the world's
last remaining frontier temperate rainforests, had previously been
suspended due to widespread local and international opposition.
The Valdivian Rainforest is the world's second largest temperate
rainforest, and the only major temperate rainforest in South America.
The forest contains outstanding biodiversity and high levels of
endemism, meaning that many of its species are found nowhere else on
Earth. Ninety-five percent of the region's tree species are considered
endemic. The region is also home to many unique animal species,
including the Andean deer or Huemul; a marsupial known as the "mountain
monkey;" South America's largest woodpecker; and the world's smallest
deer, the endangered pudu. Thirty-eight of the region's tree species and
forty of its mammal species are listed as endangered, vulnerable, or
rare.

Construction of the Southern Coastal Highway will open the last intact
stretch of the Valdivian Rainforest to logging and conversion to
plantations. The highway may also encourage resuscitation of other
exploitative projects in the region, such as Boise Cascade's Cascada
Chile chip mill. Slated to be the world's largest chip mill and Oriented
Strand Board (OSB) facility, the Cascada Chile project would have
doubled the rate of deforestation in the region. The project was
cancelled earlier this year due in part to intense local and
international pressure.

The highway would also open the region's forests to exploitation by
foreign investors such as Citigroup, the world's largest bank and the
number one financer of large-scale projects in Latin America.
Citigroup's involvement in the forestry sector includes the 1998
acquisition of Chile's Santa Fe pulp mill and forestry operation. Santa
Fe turns temperate rainforests into wood chips and then replants the
forest with eucalyptus.

The World Wide Fund for Nature, using a science-based ranking of the
Earth's most biologically outstanding habitats, has identified the
Valdivian Rainforest as one of the highest priority conservation areas
on the planet. The Central Bank of Chile has found that, at current
rates of exploitation, Chile's unprotected native forests may be
completely gone within twenty years. Construction of the Southern
Coastal Highway will accelerate destruction of Chile's unique temperate
rainforest at a time when preservation of the country's native forests
should be a top priority.

What You Can Do

Write Chilean President Ricardo Lagos and let him know that you are
concerned about the impact the coastal highway will have on southern
Chile's temperate rainforest. Ask him to halt construction of the
highway and to promote conservation measures and economic planning that
ensure long-term forest protection and sustainable economic development.
Write to: Presidente Ricardo Lagos, Palacio de la Moneda, Santiago,
Chile. (A standard letter from the United States to Chile requires
eighty cents postage.)
Dear President Lagos,
I am deeply concerned about the construction of the Southern Coastal
Highway through Chile's native temperate rainforest. The Valdivian
Rainforest has been identified as one of the highest priority
conservation areas on the planet. The second largest temperate
rainforest in the world, this forest contains outstanding biodiversity
and high levels of endemism.
Construction of the highway will open the last intact stretch of the
Valdivian Rainforest to logging, conversion to plantations, and other
forms of exploitation. The Central Bank of Chile has already estimated
that, at current rates of deforestation, Chile's unprotected native
forests may be completely gone within twenty years.
I urge you to immediately halt construction of the highway and to
promote conservation measures and economic planning that will ensure
long-term forest protection and sustainable economic development for the
region.

__________________________________________________________________
Protesters Target Boise Cascade, Defend Free Speech

More than thirty celebrities and environmental and social justice
leaders, including music legend Bonnie Raitt, former Doors drummer John
Densmore, and environmental hero Julia "Butterfly" Hill, came together
on July 25 to protest Boise Cascade's attempts to silence critics of its
old growth logging practices. The demonstration, held at Boise Cascade
Office Products' headquarters in Itasca, Illinois, culminated in the
arrest of twenty people following a symbolic act of non-violent civil
disobedience.

Boise Cascade is the largest logger of U.S. public lands and a top
distributor of wood products from endangered forests around the world.
Boise Cascade was also the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit that helped to
overturn the popular U.S. Forest Service Roadless Policy, a measure that
would have protected 58.5 million acres of wild, pristine national forest.

In 2000, RAN launched a campaign targeting Boise Cascade to raise
awareness about the company's continued old growth logging and
destructive operations around the globe. In response, Boise Cascade, in
alliance with the anti-environment groups Center for the Defense of Free
Enterprise and Frontiers of Freedom Institute, launched a campaign to
discredit RAN. Boise Cascade has contacted RAN's funders and attempted
to link RAN to acts of eco-sabotage. The anti-environment coalition has
also called on the Internal Revenue Service to revoke RAN's non-profit
tax status.

The demonstration was attended by directors from Greenpeace, Alliance
for Democracy, American Lands Alliance, International Rivers Network,
Center for Environmental Health, Program on Corporations, Law and
Democracy, and V.O.T.E, as well as dozens of other celebrities and
leaders.

______________________________________________________________
U'wa Victory! OXY Fails to Find Oil

Occidental Petroleum (OXY) announced last month that it has failed to
find oil at the Gibraltar 1 well site on the U'wa tribe's ancestral land
in Northeastern Colombia. The company has begun removing equipment from
the site, signaling a victory for the U'wa people, who have waged a
nearly decade-long campaign to halt OXY's oil project.
OXY's announcement came as thousands of U'wa were on a traditional
spiritual retreat for fasting, meditation, teaching, singing, and
prayer. For months, the U'wa Werjayas (spiritual leaders) and Karekas
(medicine people) have been praying and using traditional rituals to
"hide the oil" from OXY.

The U'wa called the development a "cultural triumph," but noted that
their ancestral land is still threatened by oil exploration. "This is a
battle that we have won, but the war continues," said Roberto Perez,
President of the U'wa Traditional Authority.

The U'wa's resistance to oil exploration on their territory has inspired
an international solidarity movement. The U'wa and their supporters have
used a range of non-violent tactics to halt OXY's project, including
blockades at the drill site, lawsuits, shareholder resolutions,
demonstrations, and letter writing.

_________________________________________________________________
If you'd like to give an additional donation you may do so online at:
https://secure.bluemandala.com/ran-secure/give/donate.html

As always, we welcome your comments regarding this newsletter.  Email
ranmembers@ran.org.

AOL Links

<a href="www.ran.org ">RAN's website</a>
<a href="www.rainforestweb.org">rainforestweb website</a>
<a href=" https://secure.bluemandala.com/ran-secure/give/donate.html
">make a donation</a>


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Rainforest Action Network
221 Pine Street, Suite 500
San Francisco, CA  94104
tel: 415-398-4404
fax: 415-398-2732
URL: http://www.ran.org/

The Nation
http://thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010820&s=weinberg

COMMENT | August 20, 2001

Bio-Piracy in Chiapas

This past March, the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) made
history with a march on Mexico City from its jungle stronghold in the
poor southern state of Chiapas, demanding acceptance of its peace plan,
the San Andrés Accords [see Al Giordano, "Zapatistas on the March,"
April 9]. But within six weeks, the accords--constitutional amendments
recognizing the autonomy of Mexico's indigenous peoples--were gutted by
federal legislators, causing the rebels once again to break off
dialogue. At the heart of the debate over the plan is the question of
who will control the fate of the Chiapas rainforest, the Selva
Lacandona--where real indigenous autonomy has been in place ever since
the 1994 Zapatista uprising.

The UN-recognized Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve holds the Selva's
last, threatened heart of virgin forest. Despite President Vicente Fox's
pledges to withdraw troops from Zapatista territory, many military
positions remain in the Selva. Barred by the cease-fire from attacking
the Zapatistas, the troops are ostensibly policing Montes Azules against
drug traffickers and protecting it from deforestation. But the Selva's
Maya inhabitants, the Zapatista base communities, say that--in defiance
of both UN guidelines and the San Andrés principles--Montes Azules is
not being protected for the resident indigenous peoples but for
transnational biotech corporations that hope to profit from the region's
genetic wealth.

In 1998 the California firm Diversa signed a three-year
"bio-prospecting" deal with the Mexican government. Diversa, which has a
similar deal with the US government for Yellowstone National Park, is
granted access to Mexico's biodiversity in exchange for $5,000 to train
and equip personnel from the National Autonomous University of Mexico,
who are to collect the samples; $50 per sample; and royalties of between
0.3 and 0.5 percent of net sales on products derived from them. In
contrast, Yellowstone National Park got $15,000 of equipment, royalties
of from 0.5 to 10 percent--and $100,000.

The terms of both deals had been secret. Environmental groups went to US
federal court to try to get the Yellowstone terms released--but they
were eventually reported in the Salt Lake Tribune. The terms of the
Mexican deal were leaked to the daily La Jornada, which lambasted them
as "bio-genetic plunder."

The University of Georgia, the Britain-based company Molecular Nature
Ltd. and El Colegio de la Frontera Sur have launched a similar five-year
project. This one, titled Drug Discovery and Biodiversity Among the Maya
of Mexico, specifically targets Chiapas. Tapping the vast reservoir of
Maya herblore, the program will receive $2.5 million from the
International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups (ICBG), a consortium of US
government agencies, including the National Science Foundation and the
Department of Agriculture. The Chiapas Council of Traditional Indigenous
Midwives and Healers (COMPITCH) is urging Indians not to cooperate with
the researchers, charging that "the pact was developed without notifying
or informing indigenous communities and organizations." The US program
has developed its own partnership with local Indian communities, called
ICBG-Maya. Director Brent Berlin of the University of Georgia told the
Associated Press that the project has received the consent of nearly
fifty communities and forged profit-sharing deals with them. But Berlin
said he warned them that financial windfalls were a long shot.

Since 1993 the ICBG has awarded eleven bio-prospecting grants totaling
$18.5 million worldwide. Commercial partners include GlaxoSmithKline,
Dow Agroscience, American Cyanamid (recently acquired by BASF) and,
until recently, Monsanto Searle. The revenues at stake contrast sharply
with the agonizing poverty of Chiapas villages. A unique geyser-dwelling
microbe collected from Yellowstone in 1966 was the source for enzymes
widely used in DNA research and sold to Hoffman-LaRoche for $300
million. Rather than bring wealth to impoverished villages, new patents
may impose economic burdens by requiring farmers to pay royalties to
foreign corporations to grow their own indigenous maize. The Mexican
government has expressed concern over DuPont's recent patenting of all
corn varieties with certain oleic acid levels, including many
originating in Mexico.

Beth Burrows of the Seattle-area-based Edmonds Institute, one of the
litigants in the Yellowstone case, is still waiting for a court-ordered
impact study on the bio-prospecting program there. Says Burrows: "To
privatize living organisms, whether it is Mexican maize or Yellowstone
microbes, may serve corporate interests, but it does not serve our
social contract or our duties to steward the land and support farmers.
Farmers all over the world save seeds and trade them with neighbors. But
Monsanto has taken farmers to court for violating their property rights.
Farmers have to go to the corporations like to masters on the manor."

This system is now supported by the "trade-related intellectual property
rights" provisions--or TRIPs--of NAFTA and the WTO, instating
international recognition of patents on life. In contrast, the United
States still resists ratifying the Biodiversity Treaty, unveiled at the
1992 Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit, which would recognize indigenous
peoples' intellectual property rights. Adds Burrows: "We're creating a
social disruption which I'm not sure people are seeing."

Some people are seeing it. In April representatives from more than 100
Chiapas Indian communities held a Maize Meeting in the highlands city of
San Cristóbal de Las Casas, vowing not to plant bio-tweaked corn. In
mid-June COMPITCH held an international anti-bio-piracy Forum for
Biological and Cultural Diversity, in San Cristóbal. And on June 24,
when the Biotechnology Industry Organization met in San Diego, Diversa's
hometown, activists held their own "BioJustice" counterconvention.

The San Andrés Accords would create a formidable obstacle to corporate
designs on Mexico's Indian lands: uncooperative Indian communities with
greater control over their turf. Which is why peace is likely to remain
illusory in southern Mexico as long as the government remains beholden
to corporate globalization. But the issues raised by the Zapatista
autonomy demands have implications for indigenous peoples, farmers and
environmentalists worldwide.

BILL WEINBERG
___________________________________________________________________________
DISTRIBUTED BY THE WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISTS E-GROUP
List Owner: Asia Pacific Forum Of Environmental Journalists(APFEJ),
PO Box26,434/3-Sri jayawardenapura,SRI LANKA.<http://www.oneworld.org/slejf>
phone:(+94-1)873131/827810 Fax:(+94-1)883187 Email:<afej@sri.lanka.net>  

Greetings NET e-Activists!

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!

First, thank you to everyone who took action previously by e-mailing
Administrator Whitman and asking her to publish the Clean Air in the
National Parks, Best Available Retrofit Technology (BART) rulemaking.
Because so many of you took action the BART guidelines have been published
in the Federal Register and we are one step closer to clearing the air in
our national parks.

In order to ensure that clean air in our national parks becomes a reality
we need you to write Administrator Whitman once again requesting that she
accept and finalize the BART guidelines.

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:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Christine Whitman
must immediately finalize stringent Best Available Retrofit Technology
(BART) guidelines 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. To send your fax NOW, click on the link at the
end of this e-mail or visit: http://www.environet.org

Sincerely,
Andrew Katkin

Web Manager, NET

This e-mail has been sent to you because you elected to receive action
alerts from the National Environmental Trust. To be removed from this
mailing list, please send an e-mail to netinfo@environet.org.

Care2's alerts newsletter features important steps YOU can quickly
take to help make the world greener, such as sending letters to
political representatives or doing something to green your home. We're
pleased to share with you a special action opportunity from Care2's
nonprofit partner, the National Parks Conservation Association.

I. NEW ALERT: Help Clear the Air in America's National Parks.
Many U.S. national parks are affected by regional haze -- caused by
the emissions of sulfur dioxide from old, inefficient power plants -- that
threatens park resources and values, as well as the health of park visitors.
Your public comments are needed by September 18 to insure that we have
tough air pollution laws. To take action, click here:
http://www.care2.com/go/redirect/2/2288

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently published
national park visibility protection guidelines. A strong, final rule will
require power plants and industrial polluters to reduce emissions that
contribute to haze in our national parks and unhealthy air in our communities.
It is critical that EPA hear from you now. To help, click here:
http://www.care2.com/go/redirect/2/2288

Our national parks deserve and demand the strongest possible clean air
protection!

II. ACTIVIST TIPS
* Encourage native birds to nest in your yard. Put out a birdbath and a supply
of bird food specifically for natives in your area.

* Visit Care2's pet channel for information on how to reduce fleas naturally --
with no toxic chemicals. It's better for you and the environment!
Click here: http://www.care2.com/channels/lifestyle/pets

III. INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE
"I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a
whole human being." - Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

--------------------------------------------------------------------
To SUBSCRIBE, e-mail:     care2-alerts-subscribe@australia.care2.com

I have planted gardens since I was a young boy.  I've been cultivating
my present garden for four years.  this year I decided to grow some
vegetables and enrich my soil with some of Scotts' products.

I bought "Garden Soil".  I used it in several areas of my garden, mixing
about one to one with my own dirt.  Nothing grew in this medium very
well.  Some things died, nothing thrived.  I decided to read the package
of this "Blend of quality ingredients".  "We recommend wearing gloves
when handling this material."  "Keep out of reach of children".
"Information on metal content can be found on this web site...".  "Not
recommended for potted plants or as a potting soil".  "Do not grow
anything directly in this medium".  In the state of Washington it is
illegal to use more than 130 bags of this stuff on an acre of land in
one year.  ILLEGAL!!

I thought I was buying dirt!!

I called Scotts.  The person who answered the phone tried to read me the
package label when I asked this garden soil is.  When I told her I
wanted to know what this stuff was made from she put me in touch with a
supervisor.  After some attempted smoke and mirrors I was able to pin
the super down and get her to tell me that "biosolids" is in the
package.  I already knew what biosolids are but asked her to tell me.
"Municipal waste" was the answer.  I asked her if any of Scotts products
did not have biosolids, she said they ALL have biosolids.  She further
stated that all makers of this type of material use biosolids.

I was shocked!  None of my many friends knew.  Wal Mart, where I
purchased the product, didn't know.  None of the gardening centers I
have asked knew.

Does anyone know how this happened?  Where would be a good place to
start complaining?  Can I get Scotts to come and take this "soil" out of
my garden?  Does Public Citizen have any information in its archives
about this?

Sincerely,
Michael Polidori
910 424-3693

<michael0156@earthlink.net>  

Please circulate. 
From Public Citizen www.citizen.org


Action Alert!
Tell Your Senator: Don't Give Tax Breaks to Burn Filthy Cow & Hog Waste!
August 15, 2001 

Sen. Charles Grassley, Republican from Iowa, has proposed legislation to
provide tax credits for electricity produced from hog and cow manure and
other related waste. Public Citizen opposes this legislation for three
reasons: because incinerating the waste is bad for public health and the
environment; allowing hog and cattle farms to burn their waste will
encourage increased production at these animal factories, further
compounding the environmental hazards; and because government should not
be doling out corporate welfare to the hog/cattle farm industry. 

What the Legislation Does
>S. 1219 was introduced by Iowa Republican Senator Charles Grassley on July
>23, 2001. The bill amends the "Section 45" renewable energy electricity
>production income tax credit to include manure from hogs and cattle as
>"renewable energy sources". Section 45 was originally intended to only
>provide incentives for traditional renewable energy, such as wind power.
>But a 1999 law included chicken feces as an eligible fuel to generate
>electricity. The chicken provision, however, is set to expire in January 2002.
>
>Section 45 provides a tax credit of 1.7 cents for every kilowatt hour of
>electricity produced (this amount increases each year with inflation).
>Grassley's bill will include hog and cattle manure (but not chickens) as a
>qualifying fuel for the credit from 2002 through 2007. The tax credit
>would reduce income taxes for hog and cattle factories by hundreds of
>millions of dollars.
>
>Why This Bill Is Bad
>While supports claim that burning hog and cattle manure is a "renewable"
>form of electricity production, studies show that burning this waste is
>just as polluting as burning coal. Research shows that nitrogen oxides,
>hydrogen chloride and mercury emissions from burning manure equal that of
>burning coal, and sulfur dioxide emissions are nearly equal that of coal.
>
>These pollutants emitted by burning animal waste are extremely hazardous
>for public health. Mercury is a neurotoxin which is especially damaging to
>children and can cause developmental disorders in fetuses. Sulfur dioxide
>causes acid rain and can also impair breathing and aggravate existing
>respiratory diseases. Nitrogen oxides create acid rain and damage lung
>tissue, create ground-level ozone (a poison), and contribute to global warming.
>
>Providing hundreds of millions in taxpayer subsidies to hog and cattle
>factory farms will increase the public health hazards produced by storing
>and burning huge amounts of animal manure. Rather than spend hundreds of
>millions of taxpayer dollars on this dirty process, money could more
>wisely be spent on bonafide renewable technologies like wind and solar.
>
>What You Can Do To Stop It
>Contact the 21 Senators on the Senate Finance Committee and tell them
>"vote no on S 1219".
>
>Senators on Finance Committee
>
>Frank Murkowski (R)  Alaska
>Blanche Lincoln (D)    Arkansas
>Charles Grassley (R)   Iowa
>Olympia Snowe (R)    Maine
>Trent Lott (R)    Mississippi
>Robert Torricelli (D)     New Jersey
>Kent Conrad (D)   North Dakota
>Tom Daschle (D)           South Dakota
>Phil Gramm (R)    Texas
>James Jeffords (I)        Vermont
>Craig Thomas (R)          Wyoming
>Jon Kyl (R)       Arizona
>Bob Graham (D)        Florida
>John Breaux (D)        Louisiana
>John Kerry (D)           Massachusetts
>Max Baucus (D)  Montana
>Jeff Bingaman (D)       New Mexico
>Don Nickles (R) Oklahoma
>Fred Thompson (R)       Tennessee
>Orrin Hatch (R) Utah
>John Rockefeller IV (D)   West Virginia
>
>Contact information for a letter to your U.S. Senator:
>
>The Honorable (full name)
>United States Senate
>Washington, DC 20510
>
>Dear Senator (last name):
I urge you to vote no on S 1219. Incinerating animal waste is bad for
public health and the environment. Research shows that nitrogen oxides,
hydrogen chloride and mercury emissions from burning manure equal that of
burning coal, and sulfur dioxide emissions are nearly equal that of coal.

Furthermore, allowing hog and cattle farms to burn their waste will
encourage increased production at these animal factories, which are already
environmental hazards.

Finally, the U.S. government should not be doling out corporate welfare to
the hog/cattle farm industry. The tax credit would reduce income taxes for
hog and cattle factories by hundreds of millions of dollars. Instead,
federal funds should be directed to promoting renewable technologies like
wind and solar, both of which are already adding income to existing farms.

Yours truly,

-=-=-
>Telephone: Call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask for your
>Senator by name.
>
>To reach the Senate Finance Committee on the Internet go to
>www.senate.gov/~finance/

TO:        ALL TRADE AND ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISTS
FROM:      JASON TOCKMAN, AMERICAN LANDS
DATE:      AUGUST 20, 2001

IMF/WORLD BANK PROTESTS OFFER FORUM FOR FOREST PROTECTION

-- Mobilization provides opportunity to highlight agencies' impact on
forests worldwide
-- Come to Washington September 28 to October 4 to express your concerns
over impact of agency's programs

As Washington D.C. police double the estimated size of the upcoming
protests against the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank
activists are fine-tuning plans and strategies for pushing for an end to
the agencies' programs that devastate forests worldwide. Through
promoting the export of natural resources, loans conditioned on cutting
budgets of environmental programs, and large-scale development projects,
the IMF and the World Bank are responsible for environmental
catastrophes around the globe.

IMF policies threaten forests by (1) promoting increased export of
natural resources;  (2) encouraging foreign investment, particularly in
natural resources sectors; (3) encouraging reductions in government
spending on environmental programs; and (4) increasing poverty.

Meanwhile, the World Bank has never effectively implemented 1991
measures aimed at heightening consideration of forest protection in its
lending schemes. According to the Forest Peoples Programme, "the main
failure was in the lack of staff compliance..." and "...the Bank's
relationship with borrower countries." The Bank is now considering
relaxing these policies, including the ban on direct financing of
logging in primary moist tropical forests. While there has been much
debate (and some action) regarding the World Bank's impact on forests
and ecosystems, problems associated with IMF practices have been
relatively unaddressed.

The IMF conditions loans on fundamental reforms to government policies.  
The conditions come in the form of Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs)
designed to decrease domestic spending and increase government income.  
The policy prescriptions are designed to promote exports (frequently
natural resources, i.e. forests), reduce government spending and the
government's role in the economy, increase taxation and devalue
currency.  Governments meet these requirements by reducing spending in
many areas, including environmental protection, health care, education
and other basic services and reducing worker protections such as minimum
wages and benefit packages

The U.S. has the greatest influence over IMF policy because it supplies
the greatest level of funding. As a result, the U.S. also wields veto
power over the IMF's most important decisions.

HOW DOES THE IMF IMPERIL FORESTS?

Export-led growth:
In order to increase government income, the IMF encourages countries to
develop export industries, rather than industries producing for domestic
consumption. Exports allow countries to reach a larger market and
provide governments with the foreign currency they need to pay back the
IMF.

Forests are present in most IMF loan recipient nations, and the IMF
encourages the liquidation of these forests in order to increase
exports. Between 1990 and 1995, forest loss for the 41 most heavily
indebted and poor countries globally significantly exceeded the rate of
forest loss for the world. Approximately 75 percent of these countries
had an IMF loan at some point during this time period. Two of these
countries, Nicaragua and Honduras, lost almost 12 percent of their
forests, over seven times greater than the world average.

Increased foreign investment:
The IMF encourages governments to prioritize the attraction of foreign
investors above important social and environmental objectives.  This
often results in the reduction of environmental protections and an
increase in concessions for foreign timber companies, accelerating
unsustainable logging practices.

Increasing poverty:
In promoting the reduction of government funding for social programs,
the IMF has contributed to the exacerbation of poverty in many of the
world's poorer countries. Combined with the pattern of transnational
corporations displacing peasant farmers onto more marginal farmland,
these policies have forced many rural communities to turn to primary
forests as the sources of wood for fuel and homebuilding materials.

Please join us in protesting the IMF and World Bank programs responsible
for global deforestation! There will also be workshops and panels
available to learn more about the agencies' programs and their social
and environmental impacts. Come to DC from September 28 to October 4,
2001, and make your voice heard. For more information on planned
activities, contact:

American Lands Alliance: Jason Tockman (740) 594-5441,
mailto:tockman@americanlands.org
50 Years Is Enough Network: Soren Ambrose, mailto:wb50years@igc.org,
http://www.50years.org
Mobilization for Global Justice: http://www.globalizethis.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: Cascadia Wildlands Project & Steve Holmer
Date: August 21, 2001

Legacy of the Salvage Logging Rider Continues - Critical Time to Stop
Replacement Volume Timber Sales

Several thousand acres of ancient forest in western Oregon are still at
risk due to the Salvage Logging Rider of 1995.  Elected officials, the
Forest Service and Allyn Ford, owner of Roseburg Forest Products are
receiving lots of public pressure to halt Salvage Rider "replacement
volume" timber sales, including the North Winberry, Slap, East Devil,
Silver-Sturgis and Blodgett sales.  

These sales were offered by the Forest Service as replacement volume for
other Salvage Rider sales that were halted because of endangered
species.  But instead of offering "like kind" -- second growth in return
for second growth as required by the Rider -- the agency is doing the
opposite and offering classic old growth to replace much younger second
growth forests.

This Friday, please join activists from around the state in calling Sen.
Ron Wyden (D-OR), Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), and Regional Supervisor
Harv Forsgren and tell them to CANCEL THE NORTH WINBERRY, EAST DEVIL,
SLAP,  SILVER-STURGIS, PEAK, AND BLODGETT TIMBER SALES.  Let them know
that trading old-growth forests for second-growth forests is
unnaceptable.   

Please call or fax something any time during the day.  As always, the
idea is to generate a massive volume of calls.  In our experience,
emails are not that effective because they can be ignored..   Letters to
these folks are also greatly appreciated.

Senator Ron Wyden,  717 Hart Office Bldg.,  Washington, D.C. 20510-3703,
(503) 326-7525, , (541) 431-0229,  (541) 431-0610 (Fax)   Senator
Wyden's office in Medford 541/858-5122.

Rep. Peter DeFazio, 2134 Rayburn Bldg., Washington, D.C.  20515,
Eugene.(541) 465-6732,  (541) 465-6458 (Fax), 1-800-944-9603
  
Harv Forsgren, Regional Forester, Region 6, P.O. Box 3623, Portland, OR
97208, 503-808-2200,  503-808-2210 (fax)

Also please call Allyn Ford also to politely ask him to refuse these old
growth "replacement volume" timber sales that his company Roseburg
Forest Products (RFP)/Scott Timber Co. is being offered by the Forest
Service.   Allyn Ford, RFP President and Chairman of Umpqua Bank,  
541-679-3311

For more information contact Cascadia Wildlands Project, P.O. Box 10455,
Eugene, OR  97440, 541.434.1463, mailto:cascwild@efn.org,
http://www.cascwild.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

========================================
NRDC's EARTH ACTION:
The Bulletin for Environmental Activists

August 22, 2001
========================================
In This Issue:

--Action alerts--

ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
Hold your representative accountable for his/her Arctic Refuge oil
drilling vote

=============
Action alerts
=============

ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
Hold your representative accountable for his/her Arctic Refuge oil
drilling vote

On August 2nd the House of Representatives passed a grossly unbalanced
energy bill that, among other things, would open Alaska's Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling. Congress is on
recess this month, but after Labor Day the fight will move to the
Senate. In the meantime, you can hold your rep accountable for his/her
vote.

== What to do ==
Go to NRDC's Earth Action Center at http://www.nrdc.org/action. There
you can find out whether your representative voted to protect or
pillage the Arctic Refuge, and send an appropriate message in
response. Do it today!


==================================================
About Our Bulletins/How to Subscribe & Unsubscribe
==================================================

NRDC distributes three bulletins by email. To subscribe to any or all
of them or to join our activist networks, go to:
http://www.join.nrdcaction.org/subscribe.asp.

If you already subscribe and want to change your subscriptions or
update your email address or other information, go to:
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EARTH ACTION is sent biweekly and calls out urgent environmental
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send an email message to earthaction@nrdcaction.org with REMOVE in the
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LEGISLATIVE WATCH is sent biweekly when Congress is in session and
tracks environmental bills moving through the federal legislature. To
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legwatch@nrdcaction.org with REMOVE in the subject line.

The CALIFORNIA ACTIVIST NETWORK ACTION ALERT is distributed monthly to
members of NRDC's California Activist Network and provides action
tools to Californians and others concerned with protecting the state's
natural resources and the health of its citizens. To unsubscribe, send
an email message to wildcalifornia@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
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http://www.nrdc.org

Also visit:
BioGems -- Saving Endangered Wild Places
A project of the Natural Resources Defense Council
http://www.savebiogems.org

===========

Dear Members of Global Response's "Quick Response Network:"

Please help a coalition of Russian and international environmental
organizations prevent logging in the Russian Far East -- critical habitat
for wild salmon, the Siberian tiger and the Himalyan black bear, and
traditional hunting and fishing territory of the Udege people.  The
following Action Alert is being circulated by Pacific Environment.  Thanks
for sending a letter or fax to Russian officials (see addresses below).

********************************************************

Help Save the Samarga Watershed in the Russian Far East!

The Samarga watershed is located in the northeastern corner of Primorsky
Region in the Russian Far East.  This pristine, roadless 2-million-acre
watershed contains some of the last large areas of unprotected wilderness in
Russia's biodiverse Sikhote-Alin mountains.  The Samarga is an important
refuge for wild Pacific salmon populations and is one of the last
strongholds for the rare Japanese cherry salmon.  The Samarga provides
habitat to species including the Amur (Siberian) tiger and Himalayan black
bear.

The forests of the Samarga are also the traditional hunting and fishing
grounds for the Udege people - about 200 of whom live in the remote village
of Agzu, halfway up the Samarga watershed.  For years, the Udege have fought
to protect their forests as an officially recognized "Territory of
Traditional Natural Resource Use," which would guarantee their right to have
a voice in natural resource use.  The Udege worked with environmental groups
to develop sustainable economic development plans that were based on
fishing, hunting, ecotourism, and use of non-timber forest products and that
would protect the forests from logging.  While the Udege were able to
guarantee their rights to wildlife resources, the regional government -
interested in the Samarga's timber resources -- blocked efforts to designate
the Samarga as a Territory of Traditional Nature Use.

Now, the situation has taken a turn for the worse.  Earlier this year, the
Primorsky Regional government auctioned logging rights to more than 1
million acres of the Samarga watershed to the Russian timber company
"Terneiles" without informing or receiving the consent of the local
community. The auction was completed without any environmental review - even
though this is a violation of Russian law.

The native community "Agzu" (Samarga watershed), Bureau for Public Regional
Campaigns (Vladivostok), Pacific Environment, and Friends of the Earth-Japan
are asking for your urgent help!  Faxed letters to the new governor of
Primorsky Region and to the chair of the regional Duma (legislature) can
help change this situation.  International pressure can help convince the
regional government to annul the auction and to guarantee indigenous rights
to the watershed in the form of a Territory for Traditional Nature Use.

Please act now!  A sample letter to fax is attached.  Please print the
sample letter on your letterhead and fax or mail it to Russia as soon as
possible!  Please also send a copy of your letter to Pacific Environment at
510-251-8838 or info@pacificenvironment.org.

For more information, please contact:

David Gordon, 541-345-9924, dkgordon@pacificenvironment.org
Dave Martin, 510-251-8800 x 306, dmartin@pacificenvironment.org
Xenia Soubotin, 510-251-8800 x 303, xsoubotin@pacificenvironment.org

*********
SAMPLE LETTER

Sergei Mikhailovich Darkin
Governor, Primorsky Region
Svetlanskaya 22
690110 Vladivostok, Russia
Fax:  +7-4232-223800

Sergei Viktorovich Zhekov
Chair, Primorsky Region Duma
Svetlanskaya 22
690110 Vladivostok, Russia
Fax:  +7-4232-223570

Dear Sergei Mihailovich:
Dear Sergei Viktorovich:

We are writing to address the worrisome situation that has developed in the
Samarga River watershed (Ternei District, Primorsky Region), traditionally
used by the indigenous Udege people.  The ancient, pristine forests of the
Samarga River watershed were protected from large-scale logging in 1989,
when Soviet plans for Cubans to log the watershed were prevented through
decisive action of the leadership of the Primorsky Region and the public.
Later, in 1991, the Primorsky Regional Legislature decided to reserve the
territory within the framework of a proposed "System of Protected Natural
Territories" and identified it as part of a special conservation fund held
in reserve until such a time as the Samarga is approved with the status of
an indigenous territory.

This pristine, roadless 2-million-acre watershed contains some of the last
large areas of unprotected wilderness in Russia's biodiverse Sikhote-Alin
mountains.  The Samarga is an important refuge for wild Pacific salmon
populations and is one of the last strongholds for the rare Japanese cherry
salmon.  The Samarga provides habitat to species including the Amur
(Siberian) tiger and Himalayan black bear.

In October 1999, a group of environmental organizations worked together with
the Udege community of Agzu, the district administration, and foreign
experts to develop strategy for comprehensive sustainable use of the natural
resources of the Samarga watershed without logging.  The experts
demonstrated that well-organized local hunting and fishing, together with
access to markets and modern processing and storage technology for the
region's non-timber forest products, can provide employment to the local
population and stable revenue to the district and regional budgets without
destruction of natural forests.

Despite these long-term efforts to develop sustainable natural resource use
in the Samarga watershed and protect the region's pristine forest ecosystem,
the Committee of Natural Resources and the regional administration auctioned
off the Samarga watershed's forest resources to the "Terneiles" timber
company in February 2001 without informing or receiving the consent of the
local community.  This decision was made after the previous governor had
already left office but before the election of the current governor.  This
auction violated the rights of a local indigenous community that depends on
the Samarga for hunting and fishing.  The auction also violated Russia's own
laws that require an environmental impact review (ekspertiza) prior to the
auction of a large area of forests.

The environmental and social injustice seen in the current decision-making
on the use of Samarga's forest could even undermine the reputation and
competitiveness of Primorsky Region's timber products in the international
timber market, and among consumers in major importing countries like Japan.

We are asking you to focus your attention on this threat to the pristine nat
ural ecosystems and ancient forests of the Samarga watershed - the most
intact watershed in the coastal Sikhote-Alin -- and to act to avoid its
destruction.  We ask you to immediately annul the auction results and
instead begin a process that will ensure that the Samarga is protected as a
Territory of Traditional Natural Resource Use.

Sincerely,

YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS

****************
PLEASE NOTE NEW E-MAIL ADDRESS:  dkgordon@pacificenvironment.org

Protecting the living environment of the Pacific Rim...

David Gordon
Pacific Environment
Tel:  541-345-9924
Fax:  801-606-7241
E-mail:  dkgordon@pacificenvironment.org
www.pacificenvironment.org

********************************
Paula Palmer, Executive Director
Global Response
PO Box 7490
Boulder CO 80306
Tel. 303-444-0306
Fax. 303-449-9794
Website: www.globalresponse.org

Mission:  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 values and skills for global citizen
cooperation and earth stewardship.

NEW!  Now you can make donations online at: http://www.globalresponse.org .

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