home of the wildlife conservation environmental and freedom activist

***************************************
GLOBAL RESPONSE ACTION ALERT #4/01
Stop Gold Mine Expansion / Peru
Sept-Oct 2001
***************************************

"We will defend this water with our lives.”
   -- Julio Marin, President, Regional Coordinator
            of Watersheds Affected by Mining in Cajamarca (CORECAMI)


In less than ten years, a rural agricultural and dairy producing region in
northern Peru has been overwhelmed by a multinational mining operation whose
four open-pit gold mines are the most profitable in all of South America.
Spread across 25,000 hectares (63,000 acres) of mountaintops, the Yanacocha
Mine is already the world’s second-largest gold mine, and it intends to keep
growing. The joint-venture company owns mineral rights to an additional
125,000 hectares including Mount Quilish, the main source of water for the
city of Cajamarca.

At the mine sites, huge piles of low-grade ore are soaked in a toxic cyanide
solution that leaches out the gold and silver (see box).  Although Yanacocha
managers claim cyanide and other toxic metals cannot escape the mine site
into the watershed, mining expert Dr. Robert Moran says, “all the sites I’ve
ever worked at experience some degree of leakage.”  Mine contamination has
already resulted in three major fish kills in area rivers and trout farms.

“People are troubled about their future and a heavy cloak of anxiety and
profound concern darkens the spirit of the place and threatens any
meaningful sense of well-being….There is general agreement that the current
situation in Cajamarca is unsustainable from a social, economic, and
environmental perspective,” states the report of an expert mission sent to
the region by the Ombudsman’s Office of the International Finance
Corporation (IFC), the private lending arm of the World Bank.  The expert
team visited Cajamarca in response to two formal complaints filed by
Cajamarca citizen groups.

The first complaint demands investigation and reparations for mercury
poisoning that affected up to 300 villagers in June 2000.  The mercury
leaked from a Yanacocha Mine truck, contaminating a 40-km. section of
highway, including three villages. The second complaint demands company
accountability for many negative social, economic, health and environmental
impacts on the community. Demands include higher prices for land purchases,
public access to monitoring of water and air quality, ecosystem
preservation, health services, and citizen participation in all these
activities. Number One among these demands is no further expansion.

Saving Mount Quilish (keeLEESH) is the greatest concern for the city of
Cajamarca.  Its 130,000 residents (plus 300,000 in the surrounding areas)
depend on water from Mount Quilish for drinking and agriculture.  The
Yanacocha Mine already owns almost all of Mount Quilish and refuses to
relinquish its right to mine the mountain.  The IFC, which owns 5% of shares
in the Yanacocha Mine and provides additional loans, also refuses to define
Mount Quilish off-limits; it only says that Peruvian and IFC standards for
environmental impact studies and public consultation will be applied.

For Cajamarca citizens who are already embattled against the huge, powerful
mine, this is insufficient assurance.  They know the terrifying history of
toxic spills at gold mines around the world, including the Romanian spill
this year that killed fish along 250 miles of the Danube River and
tributaries.  They know that similar indigenous communities in Indonesia,
Nevada, Southern California and the Philippines are protesting environmental
and human rights abuses of Newmont Mining Corporation, the major shareholder
in the Yanacocha Mine.

REQUESTED ACTION:  A coalition of community defense committees in the
Cajamarca region is asking Global Response members to write to the IFC and
Newmont Mining Corporation, urging them to declare Mount Quilish off-limits
for mining, and to establish policies requiring the participation and
consent of affected communities.

**********************
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
**********************

CYANIDE HEAP LEACH MINING – This toxic technology makes it possible to
recover gold from very low-grade ores. Using massive equipment, the miners
dig huge open pits and crush the rock. Then the ore is heaped on a liner and
sprayed with a dilute cyanide solution.  The cyanide bonds to gold. Miners
recover the gold and recycle the cyanide solution to the next ore heap.

HOW DANGEROUS IS IT? – Cyanide poisoning can occur through inhalation,
ingestion, skin or eye contact.  In solid form at the size of a grain of
rice it is lethal to humans; small concentrations kill fish, birds and
mammals.  In the leaching process, cyanide also dissolves toxic metals such
as arsenic, lead, zinc, uranium, mercury, and cadmium, allowing them to
contaminate water and soils. Toxic metals accumulate in living tissue and
are passed through the food chain, causing a host of illnesses in animals
and humans, including cancer.  Acid drainage from mines continues to
contaminate water decades after the mines are closed.

COMMUNITIES SAY NO – Citizens are starting to chalk up successes in their
battles against irresponsible mining.  In 1998, the state of Montana, USA,
passed a ban on all new open pit cyanide process gold mines. The same year,
the Turkish Supreme Court found in favor of citizens who claimed that a gold
mine violated their right to a clean environment. In Canada, citizens
successfully blocked the Windy Craggy gold mine, and in the USA they stopped
the New World Gold Mine near Yellowstone National Park and the Crown Jewel
Mine in Washington state. As in Peru, water quality was the primary
consideration in these successful citizen battles.

WHAT'S THAT ON YOUR FINGER? – Jewelry comprises about 85% of the gold
market.  To produce one gold ring, five or six tons of ore may be dug up,
crushed, soaked in cyanide, and dumped into tailings pits, threatening
plant, animal and human life for miles downstream and downwind.

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

REQUESTED ACTION:  Please send polite letters to partners in the Yanacocha
mine: Newmont Mining Corporation and the International Finance Corporation
(the office of the World Bank that provides loans to the private sector).

· Urge them to commit to Cajamarca citizens’ demand for no mining operations
on Mount Quilish, the main source of drinking water for Cajamarca and the
surrounding agricultural region;

· Demand that both Newmont and the IFC establish policies requiring the
participation and consent of affected communities in decisions about new
mine sites and mine expansion.  They must comply with the Rio Declaration on
Environment and Development which states: “…each individual shall have
appropriate access to information concerning the environment that is held by
public authorities, including information on hazardous materials and
activities in their communities, and the opportunity to participate in
decision-making processes” (Principle 10).

ADDRESSES:
Wayne Murdy, CEO Peter Woicke
Newmont Mining Corporation Executive Vice President
1700 Lincoln Street International Finance Corporation
Denver, CO 80203 USA 2121 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
FAX: 303 837-6100 Washington, DC 20433 USA
FAX: 202  974-4359


This Global Response Action was issued at the request of and with
information provided by the Northern Peru Federation of Women’s
Organizations, the Regional Coordinator of Watersheds Affected by Mining in
Cajamarca, the Cajamarca State Federation of Women’s Organizations, the
Cajamarca State Coordinator of Villages Affected by Mining, Oxfam America,
Mineral Policy Center, and Project Underground. Special thanks to George
Blevins for his drawing.  For excellent information about mining and citizen
action campaigns, see these websites: www.mineralpolicy.org ;  www.moles.org ;
www.newmont.com ; www.ifc.org/cao ; www.oxfamamerica.org ;
www.globalresponse.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 .

EarthNet News
...a project of the Center for Environmental Citizenship

September 20, 2001  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
As we continue to sort out our complicated emotions following last Tuesday's
tragic events, here at EarthNet we follow the nation's lead and do our best to
return to normalcy.  For me, that's cyber-organizing to make the world a better
place.  This week, stop a pipeline that would wreak havoc on the Amazonian
rainforest and urge your Representatives to support the Salmon Planning Act --
long may they spawn.  (The fish, that is, not the politicians!)  

Also, in the wake of the September 11 attacks, the World Bank and IMF announced
they would not hold their annual meetings in Washington, DC, scheduled for the
end of this month.  Subsequently, most of the organizations that were planning
to protest the meetings have cancelled their corresponding marches and
demonstrations.

--Susie Gorden, EarthNet Editor
mailto:earthnet@envirocitizen.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Shadow Congress:  Caught in the Act
2. Corporate Corner: Pipe Dreams
3. Quote of the Week
4. My Bad
5. Eco-Exposure
6. Jobs, Conferences and Gatherings
7. Activist Phone Book & EarthNet News Info

SHADOW CONGRESS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back in the days of Lewis and Clark, as many as 15 million wild salmon made the
annual journey from the Pacific Ocean back to the spot where they were born to
spawn. Today, a meager 10,000 salmon return home to the Snake River.  You can
help ensure their survival when you voice your support for the Salmon Planning
Act, introduced by Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) this summer.  The Act would ensure
that comprehensive "back-up" plans are in place if the 2000 federal salmon plan
fails to restore salmon to the Snake River basin, and it authorizes the General
Accounting Office to conduct studies.

Already 44 co-sponsors have signed on.  But they'll need more than that if
Congress is to successfully save the salmon!  

TAKE ACTION NOW:  Urge your Representatives to cosponsor the Salmon Planning
Act at http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet

FOR MORE INFO: http://www.wildsalmon.org;
http://www.waterchat.com/News/Federal/01/Q3/fed_010726-02.htm


CORPORATE CORNER
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Plans are moving ahead on a controversial pipeline known as the OCP --
Oleoducto de Crudos Pesados -- that would threaten 11 protected areas in the
Ecuadorian rainforest.  Current efforts to derail the disastrous pipeline focus
on the Westdeutsche Landesbank, which is a primary financial backer of the
plan.  The Ecuadorian government closed public hearings on this issue only 27
days after the release of the Environmental Impact Survey -- clearly not enough
time to investigate the devastating consequences this would have on the
country's cloud and rainforests, its indigenous communities, and several
threatened bird species.  

TAKE ACTION NOW:  Use the EarthNet Action Center at
http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet to let the backers know this pipe dream would
be a nightmare.

FOR MORE INFO: http://www.amazonwatch.org/;
http://www.leastimpact.org/index.shtml; http://rainforestweb.org/pages/ocp.php



QUOTE OF THE WEEK
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This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and animals, despise riches,
give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote
your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have
patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known
or unknown ... reexamine all you have been told at school or church or in any
book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a
great poem and have the richest fluency.
-- Walt Whitman, author, in preface to Leaves of Grass


GLIMMER OF HOPE
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back in March, we wrote about General Electric (GE) and its toxic legacy of
dumping more than a million tons of PCBs into the Hudson River in New York.
GE's actions destroyed 200 miles of river and created the largest Superfund
site in the country.  Well this summer, EPA Secretary Christine Todd Whitman
announced that GE would have to pay for dredging the Hudson River.  This is
another example of how your efforts work.  Even when the big guys spend
millions to shirk their responsibilities, concerted citizen action can make a
difference.   So keep on taking action at Corporate Corner!


ECO-EXPOSURE
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
You've got a vision of an ecologically sustainable future and the National
Wildlife Federation's Campus Ecology Fellowship Program offers an opportunity
to pursue it. Students -- under or grad level -- are eligible to apply for the
fellowship, which provides practical experience in the conservation field, as
well as a grant and national recognition.The next deadline for apps is November
15 -- apply online at http://www.nwf.org/campusecology/fellowships/apply.html


MY BAD
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Two editions past, I announced the dates for the upcoming ECOnference as
September 19-21.  The correct dates are OCTOBER 19-21.  Sorry for the mix-up.
FOR MORE INFO: http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/events/detail.asp?id=883

Want to get something off your chest?  Send your letters to
mailto:earthnet@envirocitizen.org
We reserve the right to edit for length, clarity, and purpose.


JOBS AND INTERNSHIPS
------------------------------
These are a sampling of the over 200 environmental and activist jobs and
internships listed at www.envirocitizen.org/enet/jobs/index.asp!

Clean Water Action seeks a Community Organizer in Houston, TX.  Find the job
description at http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/jobs/detail.asp?id=3426

The Desert Research Station is looking for a Research Station Intern near
Barstow, CA.  Find the job description at
http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/jobs/detail.asp?id=3419

The National Wildlife Federation is hiring a Population and Environment
Specialists in Ann Arbor, MI.  Find the job description at
http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/jobs/detail.asp?id=3403


CONFERENCES, GATHERINGS AND VIEWINGS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
All events listed at http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/events/index.asp

WHAT: Leadership Skills Training
WHERE:  Boston, MA      
WHEN:  September 29, 2001
FOR MORE INFO: http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/events/detail.asp?id=913

WHAT: Brownfields 2001 Conference
WHERE: Chicago, IL
WHEN:  September 24-26, 2001
FOR MORE INFO: http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/events/detail.asp?id=889

WHAT: 16th Annual Wild Rockies Rendezvous
WHERE:  Missoula, MT    
WHEN:  September 27-29
FOR MORE INFO: http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/events/detail.asp?id=901


ACTIVIST PHONE BOOK
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
U.S. Capitol Switchboard: 202.224.3121
White House Comment Line: 202.456.1111
EarthNet Action Center: http://congress.nw.dc.us/cec
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
**Look up e-mail addresses in a comprehensive congressional directory at
http://congress.nw.dc.us/cec/congdir.html or http://www.vote-smart.org/ce

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Write your own short articles for submission to EarthNet. We are particularly
interested in articles about student activism on your campus. The email
accounts for EarthNet News are:
For general comments: mailto:earthnet@envirocitizen.org
For article submissions or ideas: mailto:submissions@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.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
To subscribe to our listserv, EarthNet News, go to
http://www.envirocitizen.org/subscribe.html, or send an email to
mailto:earthnet-request@earthsystems.org with the subject subscribe

September 19, 2001

Dear NRDC Earth Activist,

Our hearts go out to those of you in our extended family of 600,000
Members and online activists who have suffered the loss of loved ones
or colleagues in the terrible events of September 11th.

As you may know, NRDC is headquartered in New York City, with one of
our field offices in Washington, D.C. Thankfully, our staff and
immediate families are all safe and accounted for. But we have friends
who are missing, and we share in the grief that has stricken all
Americans in the aftermath of this tragedy.

I wanted to share a few thoughts with you about the work that lies
ahead for NRDC. With your ongoing help, we are determined to put our
unique expertise to work for the common good in this time of crisis.

As Americans, we must now join together in shaping a strong response
to terrorism. For NRDC that means advocating policies that will
immediately begin reducing our nation's dependence on oil, whether
imported or domestic. That is the single most important thing that we,
as environmentalists, can do to ensure America's national security and
environmental security.

America's unchecked consumption of oil has become a national Achilles
heel. It constrains our military options in the face of terror. It
leaves our economy dangerously vulnerable to price shocks. It invites
environmental degradation, ecological disasters, and potentially
catastrophic climate change.

Don't be surprised in the days ahead to hear some in Washington call
for a massive increase in domestic oil drilling in order to achieve
national security. They ignore one crucial fact: our nation simply
doesn't have enough oil reserves to drill our way to self-sufficiency
or to affect oil prices, which are set on the world market. We control
only 3 percent of the world's oil reserves -- a mere drop in the
bucket -- but we consume a staggering 25 percent of the world's oil
supply.

Even if we developed every potential oil deposit in America --
including the Arctic Wildlife Refuge -- we'd still be importing oil,
still be paying worldwide prices for domestic oil, and still be
leaving ourselves vulnerable to supply disruptions.

Is there an alternative? Yes. We can reduce our out-of-control
appetite for fossil fuels. We can rely on smarter and cleaner ways to
power our economy. For 30 years, NRDC has been proving that energy
efficiency and alternative energy technologies can save billions of
barrels of oil, while benefiting our health, our pocketbooks and our
environment.

I want you to know that, in the months to come, NRDC will be a leading
advocate for an energy future that reduces this dangerous addiction to
oil and increases our reliance on cleaner alternatives spawned by
American ingenuity. That is our very best hope -- our only hope --  
for getting us on a self-reliant energy path toward lasting national
and environmental security.

In the meantime, I hope you are able to take extra time with those you
love, and to begin the healing we all so urgently need.
Sincerely,
John H. Adams
President
NRDC


==========
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

CTo:      All activists
From:    Randi Spivak, Executive Director
Date:    September 20, 2001

Subject: Conservation In a Time of Crisis  

While Congress and the Administration mobilize to address terrorism,
both the Congressional leadership and the Administration have signaled
that they intend to complete FY 2002 "non emergency" business.  The
schedule is still fluid, but work on the Interior Appropriations bill
which funds the Forest Service and the Farm Bill will likely be
considered in mid October.  However, important decisions about these
bills are being made now.

The September 11th tragedy is still fresh and painful. Citizens are
giving support - emotionally, financially and physically - to help with
relief efforts.   Still, within just the next few weeks, Congress also
will be making decisions that affect wildlands.  It is imperative that
the conservation community have a strong voice in these decisions.

Amid the talk of national defense and preparedness, the Administration
or members of Congress could use Tuesday's tragedy to advance an anti-
environmental agenda in the name of national security. Some lawmakers
may be tempted to use current events as a rationale for justifying
President Bush's domestic energy policy.  An energy policy that proposes
to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil by suspending environmental
laws, accelerating construction of biomass plants fed by trees logged to
reduce hazardous fuels and drilling and mining in environmentally
sensitive areas.  Congress may also try to pass Fast Track authority in
the name of national security and maximum flexibility for the
Administration.

Similar attempts were made in WWII when timber interests pressed
Congress to open up the Olympic National Park in Washington State to log
giant Sitka spruce to manufacture military aircraft. Conservationists
rose up against exploiting this national treasure. Then Interior
Secretary Harold Ickes challenged the War Production Board about the
necessity of logging the Olympic before all other alternatives were
exhausted.  Ultimately, the War Board could not prove that the Sitka
spruce was needed and Olympic National Park was saved.  

We strongly believe that it remains our responsibility as activists to
speak out for wildlands and against proposals that could destroy them in
the name of national security or meeting domestic energy needs.  
Conservation is likely the quickest, most efficient way to address our
dependence on foreign oil.  And while it is important to unite as a
nation, it is important to speak out about appropriate and inappropriate
responses to Tuesday's terrorist attacks.

We encourage you to call your representative and share your views.  
Please also respectfully request their the leadership to maintain
protections for forests and wildlands, ensure that Fast Track authority
does not get pushed through, and oppose any other policies that
undermine environmental protections and labor rights in the name of
energy production or national security.  In the past, we made the right
choice.  We do not have to destroy our country's greatest assets to meet
our national security needs. Conservation and renewable energy sources,
not increased fossil fuel production, is the key to America's long term
security.  Regrettably the current Congress has so far been unwilling to
chart that course.  This is their and our second chance.

The love of this country's wild rivers, mountains and forests are also
reflections of the enduring values that Americans hold dear.

Randi Spivak, Executive Director
American Lands Alliance
mailto:randispivak@earthlink.net
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

********************************
* WILD ALERT
* Thursday, September 20, 2001
********************************

In response to our WildAlert last Friday, we've received an outpouring
of messages, some tragically sad, others offering assistance.  What is
clear to us is that, like many others across the country, the
WildAlert community is deeply affected by this tragedy.

It is a time for mourning and grieving, but also a time for healing
and unity.  Indeed, we are proud of the way in which citizens and
elected leaders alike have come together in a common purpose of
helping each other through this national crisis.   

ARCTIC NEWS
As some of you may be aware, some oil industry lobbyists have been
trying to link the issue of arctic oil to our national security,
cynically using the attacks on America as an excuse to open the Arctic
Refuge to oil drilling.  

But yesterday Sen. Frank Murkowski, the chief proponent of Arctic oil
drilling in the Senate, announced in a statement that he would **NOT
** attempt to add an Arctic oil drilling provision to the Defense
Authorization bill.  It is still unclear whether the Senate will bring
up energy legislation this fall, however, Sen. Murkowski has pledged
to try to attach Arctic drilling language to such legislation.  

Drilling for oil in the Arctic Refuge will do little or nothing to
ensure America's energy security.  The U.S. Geological Survey
estimates that there is little more than a six-month supply of oil in
the Refuge.  More importantly, it will take nearly 10 years before the
oil begins to flow.

These facts aside, this is not the time for Congress to take up
controversial political issues that threaten to unravel the remarkable
and inspirational outpourings of courage and purpose that unite our
nation.  There will be another time - a better time - for Congress to
debate the nation's energy future.  However, that time is not today.

Sincerely,

Bill Meadows
President
The Wilderness Society

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

***************************************************************
WildAlert is an email action alert system brought to you by The
Wilderness Society to keep you apprised of threats to our wildlands --
in the field and in Washington.  WildAlert messages include updates
along with clear, concise actions you can take to protect America's
last wild places.  You are welcome to forward Wildalerts to all those
interested in saving America's wildlands.

FEEDBACK: If you need to get in contact with the owner of the list,
(if you have trouble unsubscribing, or have questions about the list
itself) send email to <action@tws.org>.

TO SUBSCRIBE: If you have been forwarded this message and would like
to subscribe to the list, visit
http://www.wilderness.org/forms/subscribe.htm or send a message to
wildalert@tws.org with 'SUBSCRIBE' in the subject line.

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

Positive Energy
September 17th - 23rd
v1.13

Time for the highlight of your week - Greenpeace's
Clean Energy Now Campaign Weekly Good News
update - "Positive Energy"


>> California Power Authority Invests In Dirty Energy!?!

In the name of "firming" up their new purchases of green
power, the California Power Authority announced it will
move forward with intentions to purchase 2000 MW of gas
fired peaker plants to be online for the summer of 2002.  

The Authority also intends to bring 1000 MW of renewable
energy online, mostly in the form wind and bio-mass plants,
but it has further issued a new request for bids.

Greenpeace is committed to making sure the ratio reverses
to a mix of renewables ahead of gas.  

October 5th is your next chance to tell the CPA in person
that we can't afford any more global warming gases, at a
public hearing in San Francisco, so join Greenpeace in the
fight for our future!

Send a fax to the Authority explicitly demanding sunshine
planning and clean energy!

Take Action Now:
http://www.cleanenergynow.org/takeaction/cpa.html


>> UPEX '01 : The Photovoltaic Experience Conference

The Solar Electric Power Association's annual Expo will
take place in Sacramento from September 30th through
October 4th.  This is a great opportunity to learn more
about the future of photovoltaics, energy efficiency, and
renewable power in residential, commercial, and government
settings from some of the industry leaders.  The Expo is
open to the public on Sunday the 30th from noon until 5 pm,
including public workshops from 1pm to 4pm.  There will
also be a tour of SMUD, Cal Solar, and the PVUSA site on
Wednesday.

For more information visit
http://www.SolarElectricPower.org


>> The 7th Annual San Francisco Cancer Industry Tour

Join the Toxic Links Coalition in highlighting the links
between dirty power and our health on their annual cancer
causing industry tour, Wednesday, October 3rd.  

The tour will target PG&E's polluting of local communities;
Bechtel, for international nuclear pollution and their bid
to privatize water supply worldwide;
Chevron, for polluting refineries in Richmond as well as
environmental and human rights violations in Nigeria;
and Solem & Associates, the public relations firm that
works to hide their messes.  

Help the Toxic Links Coalition expose this filth and
make a case for clean, renewable energy.

Rally begins at 12pm at PG&E Corporate Offices
77 Beale Street
(Between Market & Mission, Embarcadero BART/Muni).  

Sponsored by the Toxic Links Coalition
(510) 601-4040 ext. 302 or
(415) 243-9301 ext. 14

ULSTER GREEN ACTION

EMAIL UPDATE
Friday, 01/09/21 Autumn Equinox

1) I have been struggling to clearly and publicly express my
thoughts and feelings, in measured words, regarding the WTC
attack and the aftermath.

Mostly the aftermath. Particularly the rush to judgment,
hatred, and revenge -- with the media and politicians beating
the war drums incessantly -- with nary a voice speaking up for
peace, reason, understanding, or patience.

Surely, regarding the attack itself -- were we not all UNITED in
shock, disbelief, horror, fear, sorrow, frustration, concern,
sympathy, pain, depression, and, eventually, overload and
numbness? But to say, or accept, that all America stands united
regarding what to DO NOW, or how we all FEEL about the
juggernaut to war, has me most distressed and feeling helpless,
as if NOTHING I could say or do could, or would, stop the blind,
headlong, impetuous inevitability -- the forgone conclusion --
that we were ALREADY in "America's New WAR," as CNN trumpeted
within mere days, as if the Constitution had granted to THEM,
and not Congress, the power to declare war!

I watched the TV from 9 AM, Tuesday morning, 9/11, almost
continuously, (or listened to the radio while in the car) and
kept hoping for some voices of wisdom and context. But there was
NO explanation or discussion of the many seething grievances
people have against us; of atrocities done in OUR name over
decades that have killed or wounded MILLIONS of innocents around
the globe; of the forces of repression and rapine we have
unleashed ourselves; of tin-horn dictators we've propped up
against popular and democratic aspirations. (Fortunately,
there's the internet and the many independent and alternative
voices one can find there, and radio shows such as "Democracy
NOW... in exile," that convinced me I was not alone in my
opinions.) Or even that there may be another way out of this
quagmire of endless fear and hatred. Up until Friday, I heard
none of this on the mass TV frenzy, only wrenching tabloidism,
chauvinistic breast-thumping, and "sober analysis" from old,
white men with blood on their own hands. That is when the
National Cathedral service was held in DC.

Now, normally, the only thing that irks me more than politicians
wrapping themselves in the flag is when they wrap themselves in
religion, or, more accurately, religiosity. For Bush to call a
"day of prayer" and a national service at noon struck me as just
so much more pandering and ass-covering. And yet, here, and ONLY
here, was one voice after another calling for love and
forgiveness rather than hate and vengeance, for justice and
patience rather than retaliation and haste. Priests, imams,
rabbis, ministers -- even Billy Graham -- invoking the Bible,
Koran, and quoting saintly men, warning about the descending
spiral of violence and hate, that we must not become the evil we
would overcome.

Surely Bush, who calls himself a Christian, and claims Jesus as
his "most influential philosopher," would be swayed by this
consistent call to higher consciousness and righteous action!
Wasn't that the reason all these persons of the cloth were
invited, to help guide us AND the Resident of the White House to
the more noble path? Why else were we being exhorted to resist
hate and embrace forgiveness? Or was this merely a craven
subterfuge, using more emotionalism and spiritual endorsement to
wrap a burning Bush in a cloak of moral righteousness? What do
YOU think? (Hint: is Bush walking the path of peace, or taking
the road to war?)

That evening, here in Ellenville, there was to be a candle vigil
at 7 PM. Following the receipt of emails calling for people to
go outside their house or car at 7 PM (originally Pacific time)
to light a candle, a school board member and former teacher sent
out emails and flyers urging locals to meet in the heart of our
village, Liberty Square, AS a community. But was this going to
be a community coming together in peace and sorrow, or in anger
and jingoism? What would it mean to bring and wave a flag? Who
was going to speak and what would they say? Was this going to be
a call to reflect... or a call to arms?

Minutes before I left the house, I printed out a copy of
something Martin Luther King Jr. had said that summarized my
concerns:

"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending
spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of
diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may
murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish
the truth. Through violence, you may murder the hater, but you
do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So
it goes. Returning violence for violence multiples violence,
adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate
cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

Between one and two hundred persons showed up with candles,
flags, ribbons, and wearing red/white/blue clothes. The school
board member explained why he'd organized this on the fly, then
introduced the mayor and the town supervisor, who broached the
line of "taking care of business" and "standing tall"
flag-waving; I fingered the King paragraph in my pocket, ready
to insist that I be allowed to read it if this kept up.
Fortunately, a black baptist minister spoke next, and covered
the concerns I (and King) had; for this speaker only did I
applaud loudly, to show, I hoped, that THIS was what we should
be standing united FOR. (An invited rabbi couldn't make it as it
was already after sundown and he was conducting services.)

Next, an American Legion honor guard, in uniforms, brought the
flags up, and taps was played. "God Bless America" was sung. I
felt a part... and I felt apart. Why couldn't there ALSO be an
honor guard made up of a fireman, teacher, paramedic,
minister... representing healing and helping instead of martial
uniformity? Why couldn't we sing "Imagine" by John Lennon, a
song for EVERYONE, for a world that could "be as one" instead of
just singing more about being US against THEM?

When we were done, people left their lit candles around the
fountain and stairs. I talked to a few persons who seemed to
agree with me about the horrible way this was careening, as if
by playbook, toward more innocent lives being taken, and a
clueless and incompetent "leader" taking HIS marching orders
from the military-industrial complex that bought his
"selection." I KNOW I wasn't the only one who felt this way, but
I KNEW I wasn't in the majority; most people were willing to be
manipulated -- letting their emotions be the leash by which they
would agree to support more killing, erosion of civil liberties,
profits for munitions makers and oil suppliers -- and would
grunt and rally behind an illegitimate faux prez eager to cover
up a sinking economy and doofus persona.

Now, with a Republicrat Congress almost unanimously giving this
least-qualified sock-puppet cowboy Resident unprecedented powers
and money (only one rep, Barbara Lee of Berkeley, dissenting) to
wage unspecified war against unspecified enemies for an
unspecified time under the incredibly offensive title of
"Operation Infinite Justice" (to be changed, it seems, now that
Muslim clerics have pointed out that only GOD can dispense
infinite justice!), and Bush even calling it a "crusade" --
another remark from the history-challenged Shrub that must be
giving Muslims everywhere even more reason to be skeptical, if
not downright defensive -- what is left for us to do but wait
for the other shoes to drop?

Cruise missile shoes. "Smart bomb" shoes. Incendiary shoes.

One phrase of Dubya's has convinced me that he is not merely a
feeble-minded Elmer Fudd, but is a fully-certifiable raving
megalomaniac of global proportions: he has publicly said "we
will rid the world of evildoers!" Even Superman or Batman
wouldn't have made such an outrageous boast! NO, only someone
with messianic delusions would make such a claim... and I don't
recall even Jesus making it. The brother of a Brit who died in
the WTC heard Bush's speech and said "This man should be caged!"

And does this thief of an election really believe that this
attack was done because somebody hates and envies our freedom
and democracy? Does anyone think this AWOL National Guard
fratboy would have the balls to fly into a building for
something HE believed in? Does anyone think that this illiterate
ninny, who called the residents of Greece "Grecians" and who has
to be muzzled by his handlers to avoid more such outrages, is
competent to negotiate the subtle and frightful strategic
minefield before us? (There are, in fact 10 million real mines
IN Afghanistan, 10% of the world's total, many left behind by a
humiliated and demoralized Soviet Army, forced to return to a
crumbled Soviet empire. Oh, and WE financed and trained the
Afghans who did that, and Bin Laden is one of them.)

I will not fly or mount the US flag, because I don't know what
it means anymore to do so; will it be interpreted to mean the
opposite of what I want it to? I may want it to stand for being
united in the face of adversity, but won't it be seen as
jingoistic posturing, along with guttural grunts of "USA! USA!"?
I would rather fly a whole-earth-seen-from-space flag (many,
many hundreds of the WTC missing were NOT U.S. Americans, but
Brits, Japanese, Chileans, Canadians, Pakistanis, Germans,
Turks, Israelis, Colombians, and other nationals), or a picture
of Gandhi or a dove.

I am currently running for county legislator and know that to
stand up for the cause of non-violence, justice, democracy, and
ecology (the Green four pillars) may not be "politic" in a
Wag-the-Dog time of "rallying around our leader, whoever he is"
and "America under Attack... on Alert... United... Rising!" But
what can be more important than to resist mindless and pumped-up
leaps over the precipice? Am I the only one who recalls being
lied to with the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution? THAT phony drum beat
led to hundreds of thousands of US casualties, and millions of
Vietnamese. Did Desert Storm restore "democracy" to Kuwait? Or
did we mostly just manage to kill at least a million innocent
Iraqis, over half being kids? How many Sudanese did we kill by
bombing a pharmaceutical factory in a vain attempt to torment
Bin Laden?

NONE of this justifies what happened in NYC and DC, but does
anyone believe that there aren't people who sincerely DO believe
that WE are the greatest purveyors of terrorism, arms sales,
repression, and death worldwide? Who believe it enough to kill
themselves and others to make the point? Or was THAT point even
mentioned by the media and pols since 9/11? No, these were
"inhuman madmen," "faceless cowards," "enemies of humanity." And
thus we can blithely ignore their motivations and the root
causes that LEAD to such actions... or OUR role in maintaining
the cycles of fear, anger, and hatred. Root out the terrorists
responsible, and bring them to justice, of course... but root
out the reasons FOR such actions and apply justice there as
well.

I fear that Prince George will lead us down an endless, mindless
path: of more Americans killing and being killed; of having our
rights curtailed; of having LESS security and LESS freedom.
Fools rush in where wise men fear to tread; I will not follow an
ignorant and incompetent fool into his delusional "crusade." I
will point out his folly, and demand that this NOT be done in MY
name... in OUR name. NOW is not the time to shrink back and let
the yelping dogs of war keep us from our turn at the public
lectern. As the Talmud says, "Who can protest and does not, is
an accomplice in the act."

Is it still possible, even at this late hour, to wage peace? Can
reason and understanding prevail? Can enough of us become the
living instruments of peace to stop the ultimate descent into
madness?

(I would be interested in hearing YOUR thoughts on this matter,
and will place some of your replies in future posts, with your
permission.)


2) My brother, Al, sent me his latest "Orlando Weekly" column
last week for me to edit and tweak:

The chickens have come home to roost. But these birds had teeth.
And with them, they bit deep into the core of the American
psyche. They had long silver wing spans that sliced through our
prideful postures and woke us from our cozy somnolence. And they
had claws that plucked us, dazed and bleeding, out of our myopic
isolation and into a frightening new world of terror and lost
innocence.

The images of destruction are endlessly repeated in a slow
motion montage. They segue into scenes of the weary and
desperate diggers -- hands slowly grubbing through the wreckage,
hoping without hope to discover an evanescent breath still
lingering beneath the dusty tomb where thousands lay. The story
has a title now -- "Attack on America" -- and even a musical
soundtrack. It's the latest miniseries for a nation that is used
to watching history unfold from the safety of its couches and
dens. Only now, no room is safe.

A stunned and uncomprehending citizenry wonders how this could
happen. How can anyone hate us so much to sacrifice so many
lives, including their own, to further some dim and confusing
political agenda? Having spent decades satisfying its glut of
recreational pursuits -- gazing only inward... its attention
span, short... its diets, profligate and unyielding -- it
staggers around in disbelief, like a punch-drunk fighter,
oblivious to the last fifty years of American repression abroad.

All the brutal dictators we've propped up, the selfish regimes
we've strengthened -- in Cuba, Panama, Nicaragua, El Salvador,
Honduras, Haiti, Chile, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines,
Iran, Saudi Arabia. All the suffering our leaders have meted out
in our name, or in which they've been complicit -- in Iraq, the
Sudan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Cambodia, Angola, Algeria, Lebanon,
Palestine. Terror? Surely not us! Why, we believe only in peace
and democracy. No, my dear American brethren. The sad truth is:
we, too, have blood on our hands. We've made many enemies on the
farm. The only real question is -- why have the chickens waited
so long?

But, last week, they struck back. Make no mistake, there is no
excuse for what these mad fowl have done. There never can be for
brutality in any form -- whether it's a vicious attack upon
innocent civilians with flying bombs, or the slow bleeding to
death of the voiceless and powerless through savage economic and
political policies. But our people have never been known for
thoughtful or historically-contextual ruminations upon the
complexities of international relations. We're the Oprah
nation... we're only concerned with our feelings. And now we
feel angry and we want to lash out.

So, sound the tocsins of war! Bomb the barnyard! Overrun the hen
house! Root the chickens out! The old, familiar cants return: us
versus them; good versus evil; God is on our side. The flags
unfurl. The candles glow. The patriotic songs are sung. The
aging warriors return to the scene -- arm in arm and shoulder to
shoulder -- united in rage, clamoring for righteous retribution.
The alarms are rung. The fever grows. An inept and
intellectually-stunted president talks in cliched and
unsophisticated half-sentences: "They can run... they cannot
hide..."

Ah, but they can, Mr. President, they can! They've been doing so
all along, and they will continue to do so. Go ahead... bomb
Afghanistan back to the stone age. It hasn't very far to go,
anyhow. But they'll turn up somewhere else, you see. In Germany,
or Canada, or East Africa, or maybe even the small towns of
Florida's golden coasts. Where else will your bombs have to
fall, then?

And they won't be chickens next time, anyway. They'll be
weasels, burrowing under cities in subways and tunnels, waiting
for rush hour to unleash their vials of deadly pathogens.
They'll be sharks, swimming patiently at sea, until the time is
right to poison the coasts with lethal, toxic chemicals. They'll
be foxes, skipping across the borders at night, armed with
nuclear devices which they'll calmly detonate beneath the shadow
of the Capitol dome.

No, Mr. President. Put away the tools of war. They will only sow
more of the same. Haven't hundreds of years of human misery --
in Ireland, the Middle East, the Balkans -- taught us anything
at all? The cycle of violence is an endless loop. By all means,
locate the guilty and try to right this horrible wrong. But do
it patiently. Be restrained. Use only legitimate and appropriate
means.

Remember: if we want justice, we must practice being just. If we
want peace, we must be peaceful. If we want help from the
community of nations, we must help the poor and ignorant out of
their poverty and darkness. There is no "them" and "us" anymore.
There is only one planet. And the chicken and the eagle have
only one option left in this new and perilous age. In the end,
they must both become doves. All else is madness.


3) Subject: letter from grieving parents

Not in our son's name
(letter of parents of son missing at World Trade Center)

Saturday, Sep 15, 2001 8:35pm

[Phyllis and Orlando Rodriguez's son Greg is one of the Trade
Center victims. They have asked that people share these letters
this copy of letter sent to NY Times as widely as possible.]

Not in Our Son's Name

Our son Greg is among the many missing from the World Trade
Center attack. Since we first heard the news, we have shared
moments of grief, comfort, hope, despair, fond memories with his
wife, the two families, our friends and neighbors, his loving
colleagues at Cantor Fitzgerald / ESpeed, and all the grieving
families that daily meet at the Pierre Hotel.

We see our hurt and anger reflected among everybody we meet. We
cannot pay attention to the daily flow of news about this
disaster. But we read enough of the news to sense that our
government is heading in the direction of violent revenge, with
the prospect of sons, daughters, parents, friends in distant
lands dying, suffering, and nursing further grievances against
us.

It is not the way to go. It will not avenge our son's death. Not
in our son's name.

Our son died a victim of an inhuman ideology. Our actions should
not serve the same purpose. Let us grieve. Let us reflect and
pray. Let us think about a rational response that brings real
peace and justice to our world. But let us not as a nation add
to the inhumanity of our times.

Copy of letter to White House:

Dear President Bush:

Our son is one of the victims of Tuesday's attack on the World
Trade Center. We read about your response in the last few days
and about the resolutions from both Houses, giving you undefined
power to respond to the terror attacks.

Your response to this attach does not make us feel better about
our son's death. It makes us feel worse.
It makes us feel that our government is using our son's memory
as a justification to cause suffering for other sons and parents
in other lands.

It is not the first time that a person in your position has been
given unlimited power and came to regret it.
This is not the time for empty gestures to make us feel better.
It is not the time to act like bullies. We urge you to think
about how our government can develop peaceful, rational
solutions to terrorism, solutions that do not sink us to the
inhuman level of terrorists.

Sincerely,
Phyllis and Orlando Rodriguez

4) If you have Macromedia Player 5, here is an animation that
puts it simply:

http://www.alternet.org/break_cycle.html

5) There are some press releases from the Green Party of the
United States, the War Resistors League, and some other groups
and individuals who MUST resist the mad dash to war, on
principle. I will post some of these in the next few postings.


Steve Krulick
s@krulick.com
http://krulick.com
845-647-8809
Ellenville NY 12428-130727

http://wawarsinggreens.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WawarsingGreens

http://ulstergreens.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GreenActivity_UlsterCounty
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UlsterNYgreens

http://dem101.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Democracy101

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"Nothing can stop
the power of
an informed citizenry
when it is
empowered, organized, and
motivated." (Ralph Nader)
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