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Environment Action
Alerts for
September 8 - September 15, 2002
from Animals & the Environment September 10, 2002
The U.S. Congress is putting together their final energy bill
right now, and you have a chance to make it cleaner
before Congress sends it to the President on September 16.
Sadly, the current bill calls for increased dependence on oil
and does nothing to encourage fuel efficient vehicles.
In fact, the bill allows trucks to be exempt from future
fuel efficiency standards, EVEN THOUGH 76% of pickup drivers
favor increasing the average miles per gallon of pickup trucks!
We only have a few more days until your representatives send off
the bill:
http://www.care2.com/go/z/2716
Urge your representatives to support STRONG, not weaker,
fuel economy laws. Americans want clean, energy efficient
cars and trucks, and we want a clean environment.
Urge your representative to support a bill that:
* DECREASES our dependence on oil
* IMPROVES fuel economy standards to SAVE us TIME and MONEY
at the pump!
* REJECTS loopholes allowing trucks to be exempt from fuel
economy standards, as well as any improved future standards.
Sign the petition today -- comments only accepted until
Sept. 16th!
http://www.care2.com/go/z/2716
Other things you can do:
* Fuel your car in early morning or after dark. Excess gas creates
excess ozone when it combines with sunlight.
* Bike or walk on one additional errand per week to save gas
and decrease pollution.
Thank you for signing up to receive important alerts about the
environment at ThePetitionSite.com.
Gwen Tyler
ThePetitionSite.com
from Alaska Rainforest Campaign September 10, 2002
TONGASS THREAT GONE FOR NOW, BUT “LAWLESS LOGGING” AMENDMENT THREAT STILL LOOMS!
Thank you to everyone who called their Senators! The most recent version of Senator Larry Craig’s “fire” amendment no longer includes the provision limiting further public input on wilderness protections for the Tongass National Forest. We'll keep you posted on whether it sneaks back into Senate debate.
That's the good news of a bad situation. The "lawless logging" amendment is still a threat to our wild forests.
Senator Craig is not giving up and has introduced his fire legislation as an amendment to the Interior Appropriations Bill. The Senate will continue debating the bill later this week and possibly into next week.
We need to keep the momentum going! If you haven’t called your Senators and asked them to OPPOSE THE CRAIG FIRE AMENDMENT, please do so! (U.S. Capitol Switchboard, 202-224-3121). Or visit the Senate website (ate.gov/contacting/index.cfm) to contact your Senators online.
The Craig amendment amounts to a timber give-away and does little to protect homes and communities from forest fires! Instead it will suspend environmental laws on public lands; remove public participation from public land management; provide incentives for the timber industry to log healthy forest areas in the backcountry, miles away from at-risk communities; and allow logging “without-laws” in mature and old-growth forests.
Again, no matter what forest conservation issue that you care about - whether it is Alaska wilderness designation, roadless area protection, forest and watershed restoration, wild fish, or old growth protection - the pending vote on the Senate Interior Appropriations Bill could impact your ability to protect and defend your forest.
****
For more information on these issues, please contact Laurie Cooper, Alaska Coalition, Forest Outreach Director (laurie@alaskacoalition.org), Tel. (202) 544-0475.
If at anytime you wish to unsubscribe please visit http://www.akrain.org/howtohelp/default.asp where you can easily remove yourself from the list.
Thanks for your support.
Alaska Rainforest Campaign Staff.
from Donna Bettinger September 12, 2002
Good Morning,
Just got this information. This is good news but because of their
location, outside of the "wolf zone" I am concerned.
Thank you.
Donna
-------------article follows---------------
Family additions for Osterdalen wolves
Two pairs of wolves in the Osterdalen area have in all
likelihood had cubs.
Experts are not sure how many new arrivals there are but are convinced
that tape recordings have captured the howls of young.
Wolf expert Petter Wabakken at Hedmark College is convinced that a newly
formed wolf pair in Koppangkjolen has had offspring this summer.
"On at least three sequences I am sure that cubs can be heard along with
adults. We can only be sure of the number when the first snow shows us
tracks," Wabakken said.
The wolf family faces an uncertain future as they are currently outside
of the so-called wolf zone, which makes them vulnerable to culling by the
Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management.
Wabakken also believes that it is probable that other of Norway's
remaining wolf pairs have reproduced over the summer. Wabakken indicates likely
cubs in the Gr=E5fjell area and near Halden, but is more uncertain about a
pack near Moss.
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article.jhtml?articleID=3D397496
from Greenpeace September 13, 2002
After weeks of travel on the high seas, the British Nuclear Fuels plutonium shipment is nearing its destination at the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing facility.
A flotilla of ships has now left harbour to protest this extremely dangerous shipment through the Irish sea.
For more information, see:
http://archive.greenpeace.org/~nuclear/bnfl/news_l3_pr_020912.htm
The Irish sea virtual flotilla, launched to support the real flotilla, now has 1749 virtual ships. You can watch the growth of this flotilla here:
http://maps.greenpeace.org/maps/vf/maps/vf3/front_page.html
Thank you to everyone who has joined the Irish sea virtual flotilla so far.
If you haven't yet joined this virtual flotilla by sending a letter to UK Foreign Minister Jack Straw, you can do so here:
http://act.greenpeace.org/ams/e?a=vf3&s=vf
VISIT THE CYBERCENTRE
Please don't forget to visit the Greenpeace Cyberactivist Community at:
http://act.greenpeace.org
from American Lands September 13, 2002
To: All Activists
From: Steve Holmer
Date: September 13, 2002
Debate on Craig Lawless Logging Rider Resumes on Tuesday
The Senate continues to negotiate on Sen. Craig's (R-ID) lawless logging
rider and on Sen. Bingaman's (D-NM) alternative. When the Senate
resumes on Tuesday, there could be a vote on Sen. Craig's amendment,
followed by a vote on Sen. Bingaman's amendment. Details of both
proposals remain fluid and have not been finalized. Monday may be our
last opportunity to influence this process so your calls are urgently
needed.
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Max Baucus (D-MT) appear to be
shuttling between Sen. Craig and Sen. Bingaman to see if a bi-partisan
compromise remains possible. Sen. Craig is demanding limits on judicial
review and his current language so harmful, we hope that this doesn't
happen.
Key issues being discussed include limits on judicial review and
injunctive relief, waivers on cumulative impacts, and whether funding
targeted for the ½ mile community protection zone should also be allowed
to be spent in key watersheds.
Please contact your Senators at 202/224-3121 and urge them to:
1) Oppose the Craig Amendment
2) Oppose any restrictions on judicial review or injunctive relief
3) Oppose any waivers on cumulative impacts analysis
4) Support a community protection alternative that focuses fuel
reduction projects near homes and communities (not across the entire
landscape or in watersheds) without weakening environmental standards or
citizen participation.
McInnis Introduces Lawless Logging Bill, H.R. 5319
Rep. Scott McInnis (R-CO) has introduced legislation, H.R. 5319 that
would substantially weaken environmental regulations and citizen
involvement to allow for logging in backcountry areas and the cutting of
old growth. It is a bill the offers communities protection from fire in
name only and represents a rollback of thirty years of environmental
progress.
Rep. Inslee Introduces Community Protection Bill, H.R. 5358
Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) has introduced a Community Protection bill, H.R.
5358, that would provide the agencies firm direction to avoid
controversy by focusing fuel reduction projects within 1/4 mile of homes
and communities. It would also authorize significant funding to help
create defensible space around homes and to fire proof structures.
Please contact your Representative at 202/224-3121 and urge him/her to:
1) Cosponsor the Inslee Community Protection Bill, H.R. 5358.
2) Oppose the McInnis bill, H.R. 5319, and the President's Healthy
Forest Initiative which propose to weaken environmental laws and citizen
participation in land management decisions.
