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Environment Action
Alerts for
February 8 - February 15, 2001
from Environment News Service February 8, 2001
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE
(ENS) http://ens-news.com
"We
Cover the Earth For You"
************************************************************
BRITISH COLUMBIA BANS GIZZLY
HUNT FOR THREE YEARS
By
Neville Judd
VANCOUVER,
British Columbia, Canada, February 8, 2001 (ENS) - British
Columbia has announced
a three
year moratorium on grizzly bear hunting, to allow scientists to
establish a definitive count of the grizzlies in the
province.
For full text and
graphics, visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-08-11.html
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EUROPEAN UNION AGREES TO
CLIMATE TALKS DELAY
BRUSSELS,
Belgium, February 8, 2001 (ENS) - European Union countries have
accepted a demand by the United States and allied countries
to push back
the date of the next formal attempt to
finalize the 1997 UN Kyoto climate
protocol from May to
July.
For full
text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-08-02.html
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GLOBALIZATION WIPING OUT
LANGUAGES, NATURAL LINKS
NAIROBI, Kenya, February 8, 2001 (ENS) - Native farmers
high in the Andes
mountains grow abundant yields of
potatoes and quinoa despite floods,
frosts, and
droughts. They use a system of terraces, canals and raised
fields that evolved over 3,000 years ago.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-08-01.html
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IWC CONSIDERS RESUMING
COMMERCIAL WHALE HUNT
MONACO,
February 8, 2001 (ENS) - After a 15 year moratorium, commercial
whaling could resume under a scheme being considered by the
the
International Whaling Commission at its
inter-sessional meeting in Monaco
this week.
For full text and graphics, visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-08-10.html
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GUIDE RANKS GREENEST AND
MEANEST VEHICLES OF 2001
By
Brian Hansen
WASHINGTON, DC,
February 8, 2001 (ENS) - Shopping for a new set of wheels?
When it comes to cars and the environment, there are both
"green" models"
and "mean" models to chose from on
dealer showroom floors this year,
says a new consumer
guidebook unveiled today.
For
full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-08-15.html
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SOOT CALLED MAJOR CAUSE OF
GLOBAL WARMING
STANFORD,
California, February 8, 2001 (ENS) - Soot, the familiar black
residue that coats fireplaces and darkens truck exhaust,
may be a leading
cause of global warming. A study in
the current issue of the journal
"Nature" indicates
that soot may be the second biggest contributor to
global warming - just behind the greenhouse gas carbon
dioxide.
For full text and
graphics visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-08-06.html
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U.S. WILDLIFE REFUGES FACING
MAJOR THREATS
By Cat Lazaroff
WASHINGTON, DC, February 8,
2001 (ENS) - The National Wildlife Refuge
System is in
a state of crisis, warns the National Audubon Society. In a
new report, the group warns of dire problems facing refuges
around the
country, ranging from chemical pollutants to
invasive species, and calls
for immediate measures to
protect these natural oases and the species that
rely
on them.
For full text and
graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-08-07.html
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ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE
AMERISCAN: FEBRUARY 8, 2001
Human Viruses Found in California Coastal Waters
Washington DC Commuter Bridge
Challenged by Lawsuit
Energy
Department Seeks Projects To Improve Power Plants
Air Quality Models Need Improvement
Rockies Ecosystem Bill
Reintroduced
Turner Foundation
Funds Water Protection Projects
Alexander Skutch Honored for Costa Rican Conservation
Website Answers Climate Questions
For full text and graphics
visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-08-09.html
Copyright Environment News
Service (ENS) 2000 All Rights Reserved.
************************************************************
SEND
NEWS STORY TIPS TO news@ens-news.com
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E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS
RELEASE
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
New
Executive Appointment - Dr. Gilbert Amelio -Director/Management Consultant of
Advanced Communications Technologies Inc.
New Director Appointed to
ACT-Australia and Australon Limited (ASX: AUR)
IRVINE, CA, Feb. 8
-/E-Wire/-- Advanced Communications Technologies,
Inc.
(OTC Bulletin Board: ADVC - news; ACT-US) today announced that the
former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Apple
Computer Inc. (Nasdaq:
AAPL - news), Dr. Gilbert F.
Amelio, has agreed to join the board of
directors of
Advanced Communications Technologies Inc.
/CONTACT: Jeremy Norton, 949-622-5566/
/Web site: http://www.act-usa.net/
For Full Text
Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/08Feb0105.html
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E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS
RELEASE
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
PDC
Innovative Industries By Request Adds Larger Sterile Box to Product Mix
CORAL SPRINGS, FL, Feb. 8
-/E-Wire/-- PDC Innovative Industries Inc. (The Company) (OTCBB:PDCI - news)
announced today it will start immediately to construct a prototype
of a larger sterile box 2000 with tailored alternatives as
requested by certain medical sites,
based on reports
from Clearlake Financial Corp., President Ron Epstein at a meeting
last Thursday in Coral Springs.
/CONTACT: PDC Innovative Industries Inc., Coral
Springs, David Sowers,
954/341-0092/
/Web site: http://www.pdcinnovative.com/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/08Feb0104.html
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E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS
RELEASE
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TO BUSINESS, ENVIRONMENTAL AND
ENERGY EDITORS:
Ionic Fuel
Technology, Inc. Announces Fiscal Year 2001 Second Quarter
and
Six Months Results
Revenues
Nearly Double From Comparable Periods of Fiscal Year 2000
Positive Contribution from All
Revenue Activities Produces Gross Margin
of 28 Percent in Fiscal
Year 2001 Second Quarter
ESSEX, England, Feb. 8 -/E-Wire/-- Ionic Fuel Technology,
Inc. (OTC
Bulletin Board: IFTI) today announced that
revenues in the second fiscal
quarter ending December
31, 2000 were $332,645 as compared to $167,925
for the same period
last year, an increase of 98 percent. The gross
profit,
defined as revenues less cost of revenues, for the second fiscal
quarter of 2001 was $95,002 producing a 28 percent gross
margin. This
compares to a gross profit of $12,083
reported in the second fiscal
quarter last year. All
revenue activities, IFT Sales, IFT Rentals and
Engineering, made positive gross margin contributions.
/CONTACT: Europe - Tony Garner
of Ionic Fuel Technology,
011-44-1268-491409; or North
America - Barry Morris of Morris Capital
Markets
Communications, LLC, 212-687-9707, for Ionic Fuel Technology/
/Web
site: http://www.ionicfuel.co.uk/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/08Feb0102.html
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E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS
RELEASE
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TO ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
EDITORS:
California Power Crisis:
Impacting the Green Power Market
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA, Feb. 8
-/E-Wire/-- A national green power non-profit has pooled industry experts and
resources to provide an accurate overview of the California energy crisis and
its effect on green power choice in the state. The Center for Resources
Solutions in San Francisco has put together a striking summary of facts that
affected California's green power market and also has recruited leading energy
authorities to document events leading to the California energy crisis.
/CONTACT: The Center for Resources Solutions,
Keri Bolding, 415/561-2100, kbolding@resource-solutions.org/
/Web site: http://www.resources-solutions.org/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/08Feb0103.html
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E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
John
Turner Probable Interior Department Choice
WASHINGTON, DC, Feb. 8
-/E-Wire/-- Mr. John "Czar" Turner may be named today Deputy
Secretary of the Interior, the department's #2 position and
a post from
which he is expected to effectively control
the Interior Department's
operations.
/CONTACT: michael hardiman, lobbyist, American
Land Rights Association, 202-251-3473, mike@hardimanconsulting.com/
/Web site: http://www.landrights.org/
For Full Text
Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/08Feb0101.html
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SEND YOUR PRESS RELEASE ON E-WIRE --
1-888-764-NEWS
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from Rainforest Action Network February 8, 2001
In this post :
1. CULTURE JAMMING CONTEST! Spoof Citi's new logo
2. poem POVERTIES by Eduardo Galeano
3. Citi CEO appointed to NY Federal Reserve Bank (ie. The
fox is watching
the henhouse)
#4
APPLY NOW! Ruckus Spank the Bank Action Camp March 11-18, Florida!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1. ARE
YOU SICK OF CORPORATE PROPAGANDA? TAKE ON CITIGROUP'S NEW ADVERTISING
CAMPAIGN! CULTURE JAMMING CONTEST! (see www.adbusters.org
for more
info on culture jamming)
Send in your Brilliant spoofs of Citigroup's "Live Richly"
Slogan
Perhaps you've seen it - in newspapers, magazines,
television, billboards,
bus shelters, subway stations -
its EVERYWHERE! Citi's slick new advertising
campaign. Citi's new tag line is "LIVE
RICHLY". The ads appeal to hip
young people
to realize that there's more to life than just money and to
allow Citi to take care of all their financial needs.
"Live richly" is exactly what Citi
is doing. Citigroup reported a record
net
income of $13.52 billion in 2000. A 14% increase from 1999. And some
analysts speculate that Citi will shortly surpass
General Electric as the
world's most profitable
company. Business is booming at the world's most
destructive bank. So when they say "live richly" they really
mean it - they
just aren't telling us that they are
getting rich at the expense of the
environment, human
rights, and democratic decision making.
To add insult to injury just a few weeks ago Citigroup CEO
Sandy Weill
was appointed to sit on the board
of directors of the Federal Reserve
Bank of New
York. (See #3 below) Talk about the fox guarding the hen
house. Despite several federal
investigations into Citi's involvement
in money
laundering and Citi's horrible track record from predatory lending
to funding deforestation Sandy Weill has
recieved this powerful
appointment.
As the NY Federal Reserve Bank is the branch of the Federal
Reserve system
charged with implementing US fiscal
policy in the foreign exchange markets
it is an
incredibly lucrative place for an international banking magnate like
Sandy Weill. We must expose this notorious
corporate criminal and his incredibly
destructive
company.
The Orwellian logic of
this outrageous "live richly" PR campaign is too
blatant
for all of us to pass up. What a world we live in where the world's
most
destructive bank tries to greenwash away its
history of unchecked greed,
ruthless exploitation and
environmental destruction by attempting to subvert their
critics demands that Wall Street go beyond the
bottomline. It is a perfect
example of
Australian historian Alex Carey's analysis of the three great
political trends of the 20th century.
1. the growth of democracy
2. the growth of corporate power
3.
the growth of corporate propaganda to protect corporate power from
democracy
We'll here is our chance to bring some truth to advertising
and to
appropriate the new citi slogan so completely
that they'll regret
they every thought it
up. So send us your brilliant guerrilla
slogan ideas. We'll compile them and distribute
them back out to
everyone. And one
particularly brilliant one may even become a new
campaign sticker.
The perfect culture jam will be authoritative, witty (maybe
even funny!) and
speak not only to activists but also to
the average Citi customer.
Let
your creative juices flow! Contact RAN for some exciting stickers to
start spreading the word now!
RAN SF - Patrick organize@ran.org
415-398-4404/1-800-989-RAIN
RAN NY - Beka beka@ran.org
718-218-7566/888-840-6416
www.ran.org
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
#2
What
will it take to make the world's most destructive bank
go beyond their own public relations and hypocrisy and truly
redefine their
bottom line?
This struggle between grassroots
activists and the overlords of the
corporate global
economy is nothing less than the battle for the
conscience of modern society. As we build a
diverse and unified movement
for a democratic, just and
ecological sane economy, we must remember that not only
are we up against incredibly concentrated corporate power
but also some of
the underlying assumptions of
corporate capitalism itself.
Our work must confront the sacred mantras of consumerism
that more is better
and that wealth can be measured in
stock prices and account balances. For
this
profound work let us be guided by the poets :
POVERTIES
by Eduardo Galeano
Truly poor people have no time to
waste time.
Truly poor people have no silence and can't
buy it.
Truly poor people have legs that don't remember
how to walk any more than
chicken wings remember how to
fly.
Truly poor people eat garbage as if it were food
and pay for it.
Truly poor people have the right to
breath shit as if it were air and not
pay for it.
Truly poor people have the freedom to choose -
between one TV channel and
another.
Truly poor people live passionate dramas with their
machines.
Truly poor people are always cheek by jowl
and always alone.
Truly poor people don't know they are
poor."
from Upside down: A
Primer for the Looking-Glass World
copyright 2000
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++=
#3
Citigroup CEO Weill Elected
To NY Fed Board Of Directors
01/10/2001
Capital Markets Report
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)
NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Citigroup
Inc. (C) chairman and chief executive
officer Sanford
Weill has been elected to the board of directors of the
Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the bank announced
Wednesday.
Weill 's three-year
board term begins this month. He succeeds Walter
Shipley, retired chairman of Chase Manhattan Corp.
There are nine members of the New
York Fed's board of directors - three from
the banking
community and the rest representing business and industry,
agriculture, labor and consumers.
Other directors include: T. Joseph
Semrod, chairman of Summit Bancorp, Kraft
Foods
executive vice president Ann Fudge, and Albert Simone, president of
the Rochester Institute of Technology. Peter Peterson,
chairman of The
Blackstone Group, is the chairman of
the New York Fed's board of directors.
The board meets once a month at the New York Fed and every
two weeks via
conference call. It's charged with
recommending changes in the discount rate
as well as
selecting the president of the New York Fed.
William McDonough is currently president of the New York
Fed, a position he
has held since 1993.
-By Brian Blackstone, Dow Jones
Newswires;
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
#4 RUCKUS CAMP
APPLY
NOW! APPLY NOW! **** www.ruckus.org or www.ran.org ****
APPLY NOW!
PLEASE FORWARD AS APPROPRIATE
Are you sick of a corporate global
economy that puts profits ahead
of the environment,
democracy, workers, human rights, justice and local
communities?
Does the vacuous debauchery of typical spring break fare
bring you down?
Wanna learn to raise hell and create a
more just and sustainable future
with a couple hundred
other committed young people? If it's a yes & yes,
alright. If it's a no & no, you're missin' the boat,
friend. If it's no,
but YES, we might still figure
somethin' out...
2nd Annual Ruckus Society Alternative Spring
Break :
'Spank the Bank!' Action Camp
Co-sponsored by Rainforest Action Network
March 11-18 ,
sunny Florida Endorsed by Free The Planet!, Just Act--Youth Action for Global
Justice,
Student environmental action Coalition,
Student Peace Action Network,
Student Alliance to
Reform Corporations
'Spank the Bank!' Action Camp will be a week-long intensive
skill-share
in the strategies and tactics of nonviolent
direct action for student
organizers and activists
engaged in campus and youth organizing for
fundamental
social change. This year's theme is SPANK THE BANK! focusing
on the campaign to confront the world's most destructive
financial
institution--
Citigroup. This campaign is an effort to unite different
social movements to attack the corporate globalization
problem at its
roots - the banks! Regardless
of what issue you are working on Citi is
involved. Whether its forest destruction,
predatory lending, militarism,
fighting the prison
industrial complex, genetic engineering or the
corporate take over of our political process Citigroup is
involved.
Comprised of Citibank, investment house
Salomon Smith Barney and Traveler. s
Insurance Citi is
a global slum lord, loan shark and ecoterrorist.
The
Wall St. bully who will make a buck of anything.
Unless of course all of us get together and STOP them!
Workshops will include: The
History & Philosophy of Nonviolence, Building
Unity: Confronting Imperialism and Oppression, Nonviolent
Direct Action
Planning, Campus Organizing 101, Campaign
Strategy, Direct Action Climbing,
Blockades, Political
Theater, FTAA--Who Benefits From Trade Agreements?,
How
to Organize a Movement to Kick Wall St's Ass and Build an Ecologically
Sane, Just and Democratic Society, etc.
We will also have inspiring and
visionary panels & speakers, considerable
campfire
conspiring, and a last night graduation party that will make you
wistful when you're rocking your chair in front of the fire
in the old folks
home. We ask only a sliding-scale
donation from $75 bucks - $1million
dollars
(dare to dream) but no one's ever turned away for lack of
funds. The world
-famous roving Ruckus kitchen will
dish out yummy vegetarian meals and
juicy nuggets of
wisdom. Bring your vision of a global economy based on
social equality and ecological sanity and join in the fun!
For more information contact:
Beka Economopoulos, Rainforest Action Network -
beka@ran.org ph)
917-560-3609
Han Shan, The Ruckus Society -
han@ruckus.org ph) 510.848.9565
Apply online now at www.ruckus.org
or www.ran.org. Please fill the
application out as
completely as possible. This is not an elitist application process to
find the best, brightest, or most experienced activists.
Application
responses help us bring a diverse pool of
people together, with a diversity of
politics and
backgrounds. We hope to create a camp environment that promotes a rich
and new experience on many levels for all attending.
DON'T BE
AFRAID TO THINK BIG. OUR TIMES DEMAND IT!
from Natural Resources Defense Council February 8, 2001
Natural Resources Defense Council's
LEGISLATIVE WATCH
February 8, 2001
Contents:
1) Legislative Watch
2) About Our Bulletins/How to Subscribe & Unsubscribe
3) About NRDC/How to Contact Us
The information in this bulletin
is also available on our
website at http://www.nrdc.org/legislation/legwatch.asp. The
web version links to the text of bills and congressional
web
pages. To take action on these and other
environmental
issues, visit NRDC's Earth Action Center
at
http://www.nrdc.org/action, where you can use our
online
activism tools or subscribe to Earth Action, our
biweekly
activist bulletin.
******************************
Special Announcement: NRDC launches BioGems website to save
endangered wild places!!
BioGems are exceptional and imperiled natural treasures:
wild places like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,
the
Everglades, and British Columbia's Great Bear
Rainforest,
each threatened by corporate exploitation
or government
action (or inaction). Some are, or soon
will be, under
attack by the current administration
and/or Congress. Yet in
each case, well-focused citizen
activism can turn the tide.
Visit http://www.savebiogems.org today and help defend these
ecological jewels.
http://www.savebiogems.org
******************************
1) LEGISLATIVE WATCH
2/8/01
While the House and Senate work to complete their
organizational structures, little actual legislative
activity has occurred so far this session (House Democrats
were expected to assign committee members on 2/7, while
Senate committees continue to work out power-sharing
arrangements). Early legislative efforts are expected
to
focus on energy policy, brownfields and pipeline
safety.
Although all of President Bush's cabinet
nominees were
approved, confirmation hearings and votes
on John Ashcroft
(attorney general) and Gale Norton
(interior secretary) were
contentious.
...
Cabinet Confirmations
On 2/1, the Senate confirmed John Ashcroft as attorney
general by a vote of 58-42. Many environmental, civil
rights
and women's rights groups, including NRDC,
opposed
Ashcroft's nomination because of his poor
record on these
issues.
The Senate confirmed Gale Norton as secretary of interior
by
a vote of 75-24 on 1/30 (Sen. Dorgan (D-ND) missed
the
vote). NRDC strenuously opposed Norton's
appointment because
of her extreme anti-environmental
record.
Also on 1/30, the
Senate approved Christine Todd Whitman as
the new
administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
by
a vote of 99-0 (Sen. Dorgan missed that vote as well).
The unexpectedly large number of
"No" votes on the Ashcroft
and Norton nominations sends
a strong message that members
of Congress will
scrutinize the actions of these two new
cabinet
secretaries. Even several of the senators voting
"Yes"
expressed serious concerns about these nominees and
pledged to closely monitor their actions in office.
...
Clean Air and Energy
Energy policy has emerged as an early key issue for the
Bush
administration, with the new president expected to
push for
increases in the domestic energy supply
through oil drilling
in the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge and environmental
protection rollbacks. The
environmental community disagrees
vehemently with
Bush's policy that would place the primary
energy focus
on increasing domestic supply, rather than on
reducing
demand by increasing energy efficiency of vehicles,
appliances and buildings. Environmentalists point out that
because the United States uses 25 percent of the
world's
oil, but has only 3 percent of the world's
energy resources,
achieving energy independence through
domestic supply
increases alone is impossible.
A new NRDC report, "A Responsible
Energy Policy for the 21st
Century" (http://www.nrdc.org/air/energy/rep/repinx.asp),
outlines the components of an alternative energy policy --
one that can meet the nation's energy needs without
destroying wilderness or rolling back environmental
safeguards.
Nevertheless, Republicans in Congress, under the leadership
of Sens. Murkowski (R-AK) and Lott (R-MS), plan to
offer an
energy policy bill that stresses supply. While
this bill
will contain a few provisions to increase
energy-efficient
buildings and equipment, it also would
open up the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge to oil and
gas drilling,
effectively exempt coal power plants from
clean air
requirements and turn over federal oil and
gas leasing to
the states.
On 1/22, Sen. McConnell (R-KY) and Sen. Byrd (D-WV), from
two of the biggest coal-producing states, introduced
the
National Electricity and Environmental Technology
Act (S.
60), designed to encourage utilities to use
more coal by
waiving environmental standards that
protect air quality. S.
60 effectively repeals Clean
Air Act provisions that require
new and modified
coal-fired plants to meet tougher pollution
control
requirements and prohibit increased levels of
pollution
in or near national parks or areas that fail to
meet
air quality standards. By granting coal-fired power
plants relief from Clean Air Act requirements, the bill
could also undercut recent government enforcement actions
--
a dozen of which are still pending -- that mandate
new
pollution controls on dirty power plants and assess
penalties worth over $3.5 billion on polluters.
Sen. McCain (R-AZ) and Sen.
Bingaman (D-NM) recently
introduced S. 235, a pipeline
safety bill that does not
provide adequate
environmental protections. Sens. McCain and
Bingaman
plan to bring this bill to the Senate floor on 2/8,
despite the objections of the environmental community.
...
Public Health
On 1/31, Rep. Boehlert (R-NY) introduced H.R. 324, the same
Superfund and brownfields bill that passed the House
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee during the
last
Congress. (Superfund is the federal law that
governs
hazardous waste cleanup, while brownfields are
contaminated
sites that have been partially, but not
completely, cleaned
up.) The environmental community
objects to the bill because
it would result in lower
cleanup standards at Superfund
sites, slower cleanups
and increased litigation.
Environmentalists consider
these modifications unnecessary
because the Superfund
program has improved implementation
dramatically and is
cleaning up sites at a record pace.
Moreover,
Superfund's liability provisions are already well
defined, largely as a result of past litigation over their
meaning.
With S. 223, Sen. Domenici (R-NM) is attempting to overturn
the EPA's new drinking water standard for arsenic, a
human
carcinogen. The previous arsenic standard, which
was set in
1975 at 50 parts per billion (ppb), was
based on public
health data from 1942, and had never
been revised until this
past winter, when the EPA
finally issued the new standard
requiring that arsenic
levels in drinking water be no higher
than 10 ppb. This
new standard is based in part on a 1999
National
Academy of Sciences report that found the old 50
ppb
standard too low to protect public health.
...
Regulatory Reform
On 1/31, Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN) introduced the Small
Business Relief Act (H.R. 327), which contains overly broad
and burdensome obligations on federal agencies to
annually
compile a list of each piece of information
they have
requested from businesses. Because this
requirement would be
incredibly expensive and
time-consuming, it could be
virtually impossible for
federal agencies to comply without
severely disrupting
their operations.
...
For information on the
environmental voting records of
members of Congress,
see the League of Conservation Voter's
National
Environmental Scorecards at
http://www.lcv.org/scorecards/index.htm.
...........
2) About Our Bulletins/How to
Subscribe & Unsubscribe
NRDC distributes three bulletins by email. To subscribe to
any or all of them or to join our activist networks, go
to
http://www.join.nrdcaction.org/subscribe.asp. If you
already
subscribe and want to change your subscriptions
or update
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the
unsubscribe information below).
EARTH ACTION is sent biweekly and
calls out urgent
environmental issues requiring
immediate action. To
unsubscribe from Earth Action,
send an email message to
earthaction@nrdcaction.org
with REMOVE in the subject line.
LEGISLATIVE WATCH is sent biweekly when Congress is in
session and tracks environmental bills moving through the
federal legislature. To unsubscribe from Legislative
Watch,
send an email message to legwatch@nrdcaction.org
with REMOVE
in the subject line.
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ACTION ALERT is distributed
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of its citizens. To unsubscribe, send an email
message
to wildcalifornia@nrdcaction.org with REMOVE in the
subject line.
...........
3) About NRDC/How to Contact Us
The Natural Resources Defense
Council is a nonprofit
environmental organization with
over 400,000 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
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212-727-4511 (voice) / 212-727-1773 (fax)
General information: nrdcinfo@nrdc.org
Email subscription questions: nrdcaction@nrdc.org
from Union of Concerned Scientists February 8, 2001
********** UCS ACTION
ALERT **********
February 8, 2001
Historic Rule to Clean Up Trucks and Buses at Risk
ISSUE: In the last months of his
administration, President Clinton and the EPA
finalized
a rule requiring cleaner engines and cleaner fuel for large diesel
vehicles. This rule requires that trucks and buses be 95%
cleaner than those on
the road today and, to ensure
cleaner-running trucks, that sulfur in diesel fuel
be
reduced by 97%. This will remove some 110,000 tons of toxic soot from
the
air each year and reduce as much smog-forming
pollution as taking 67 million
cars off the road. On
the first day of George W. Bush's presidency, his Chief of
Staff, Andrew Card, issued a memorandum on the president's
behalf calling for a
postponement of the effective date
of this, and other rules, to allow for
additional
review. The oil and trucking industries are taking advantage of this
regulatory freeze to push for a weakening or rollback of
this historic clean air
rule.
ACTION:
CALL IN DAY - On February 15, 2001, call Andrew Card's
office at the White House
and voice your concern that
the new administration not weaken or rollback the
diesel rule.
And/or write to
Andrew Card, White House Chief of Staff with the same message.
(Contact information below.)
BACKGROUND: Diesel exhaust may be the most significant -
and most
under-addressed - public health threat in
urban America today. The main threats
of diesel
emissions to public health can be put in three categories: fine
particle matter (PM) or soot, nitrogen oxide (NOx) - a
smog-forming pollutant,
and toxic
compounds. Although they drive less than 6 percent of our highway
miles, diesel trucks cause 25 percent of smog-forming
emissions and over half of
the soot from all highway
vehicles. The average truck on the road today spews 22
grams of smog-forming pollution and nearly one gram of soot
every mile.
Breathing smog and diesel soot causes
respiratory and heart disease, aggravates
asthma, and
is linked to lung cancer. EPA estimates that the new rule would
prevent 8,300 premature deaths, avoid over 360,000 asthma
attacks, and 7,100
hospital emissions each year. For
more information and a copy of our report,
Rolling
Smokestacks - Cleaning up America's Trucks and Buses, go to
www.ucsusa.org.
HOW TO CONTACT: On February 15th call Andrew Card, White
House Chief of Staff at
202-456-6798 or write him at
Office of Chief of Staff - The White House, 1600
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20500.
Unfortunately, there is no public
e-mail address
available for the Chief of Staff.
QUESTIONS: If you have questions about this
action alert, please contact Miriam
Shapiro or Michelle
Robinson in UCS' Washington, D.C. office by responding to
this email or by calling (202) 223-6133.
You helped us get this important
public health rule in place last year. Thank
you for
taking the time now to ensure that this rule is implemented so that we
will finally see the end of the road for today's rolling
smokestacks.
**********
NOTE: If you send a letter, a fax,
or an email, please send us a "blind copy."
(A blind
copy simply means that you do not indicate anywhere on your letter that
you are sending a copy to us.) By regular mail
send to 1707 H Street NW, Suite
600, Washington, DC
20006-3919. By email, send to transpointern@ucsusa.org.
Fax to (202) 223-6162.
from Rainforest Action Network February 8, 2001
Rainforest Action Network - Monthly Email Newsletter
February 2001
Welcome! Thank you for
being a partner in Rainforest Action Network's
campaigns. Read on to get the latest news and
how you can help save the
world's rainforest.
In this issue:
1.) Forest Friends Forever Video
Completed!
2.) Boise Cascade Continues Dinosaur Logging
Practices.
3.) Citigroup's money in Chile.
4.) Chance to win a RAN T-shirt!
___________Forest Friends Forever Video
Completed_______________
After
two and a half years, RAN's children's educational video is
finally complete! Forest Family Forever! features a
thousand-year-old
grandfather tree having a
conversation with his sapling grandson about
the
rainforests, how they're important, why they're being destroyed, and
what people can do to help protect them. This 13-minute
state-of-the-art
computer-animated video features
rainforest footage from around the
world as well as the
lively voices of actors Ed Asner (Lou Grant; JFK)
and
Jake Richardson (Richie Rich; Honey We Shrunk Ourselves). Music was
provided by Mickey Hart (Grateful Dead; Planet Drum).
Forest Family
Forever! will be distributed to schools
across the United States for use
in the
classroom. For more information on teacher resources see
http://www.ran.org/kids_action/teachers.html
<a href="http://www.ran.org/kids_action/teachers.html">Teachers</a>
___________________Old Growth
Forest Campaign__________________
We no longer hunt whales to near extinction; nor do we
slaughter
elephants for their ivory tusks. It's now
time to end the practice of
destroying the world's last
remaining old growth forests for 2x4's and
toilet
paper.
Boise Cascade is the
country's largest logger of old growth forests in
the
United States. Boise Cascade also sells wood products that have been
ripped from the heart of the Amazon Basin, tropical
rainforests in
Southeast Asia, and British Columbia's
Great Bear Rainforest.
Sadly,
Boise Cascade's response to date to Rainforest Action Network's
campaign has been a telling example of a company in denial.
Observe the
shrill and defensive rhetoric from the
company's CEO by visiting their
website. http://www.bc.com/enviro/ran1027.html <a href="
http://www.bc.com/enviro/ran1027.html">BoiseCascade<a/>
They are also
responding to letters and emails with a
form letter response that is a
fairly typical
collection of misstatements and distortions. Here's our
response.
Please write a letter to Boise Cascade CEO George Harad
today, urging
the company to end its destructive
logging practices once and for all.
If Boise Cascade can't make such a simple commitment, what
kind of
legacy are we leaving for our kids?
Send an email to
mailto:george_harad@bc.com and use the sample letter
below or click on this link
http://www.ran.org/ran_campaigns/old_growth/boise_action.html
<a href="http://www.ran.org/ran_campaigns/old_growth/boise_action.html">George</a>
Dear
Mr. Harad:
I am surprised and
deeply disappointed to learn that Boise Cascade
continues to log and sell wood products from the world's
last remaining
old growth forests. Not only are old
growth forests ecologically
irreplaceable, but it seems
that the rest of society is moving to
preserve these
forests, not destroy them. In fact, several hundred
companies have committed to eliminate their use of wood and
paper from
old growth forests. Please understand that
values are changing among the
general public and Boise
Cascade's customer base, and that your
company's
defiance will not be accepted.
Please stop logging and selling old growth wood products
immediately!
Sincerely,
Your name
___________________Campaign for a
Sane Economy___________________
Citigroup Bankrolls Rainforest Destruction in Latin America
From the tropical rainforests of the Amazon Basin to
the temperate
rainforests of Chile, many of the Earth's
most biologically rich
ecosystems can be found in Latin
America. Four hundred groups of
indigenous people live
in the Amazon Basin alone, and the rainforests of
Latin
America are home to over half of all land-based species in the
world. These forests are recognized as a global treasure.
American banks, which often
bankroll environmental destruction in
pursuit of
profit, pose one of the greatest threats to the forests of
Latin America. Citigroup (Citi), North America's largest
bank, is the
number one financer of large-scale
projects in Latin America. In 1998
alone, Citi arranged
twenty-six deals in Latin America worth almost $2
billion.
As one of the top recipients of funds from the
taxpayer-supporter
Overseas Private Investment
Corporation (OPIC), Citi avoids much of the
risk
associated with these projects. In the event that an ill-conceived
project fails, taxpayers pick up the bulk of the tab and
Citi escapes
almost unscathed.
With Latin America's magnificent
forests disappearing at a rate of more
than fourteen
million acres a year, it is time to expose Citigroup's
record and demand that the World's Most Destructive Bank
cease funding
activities that result in the destruction
of rainforests and their
inhabitants.
What You Can Do:
Recently, Citi
announced its intention to increase its lending in Brazil
by 50 percent in 2001. Write to CEO Sandy Weill at
Citigroup Center, 153
East 53rd Street, New York, NY
10043 and demand that Citi funds not be
used in Brazil
or anywhere else to fund the destruction of precious
ecosystem and communities.
Here's a sample letter:
Sandy Weill
CEO
Citigroup Center
153 East 53rd
Street
New York, NY 10043
Dear
Mr. Weill,
I was outraged to learn that Citigroup has
used its financial influence
in Latin America to
promote the destruction of vital ecosystems. In the
past, Citigroup's involvement in this region has resulted
in the
destruction of pristine rainforests at the
expense of indigenous
communities. With the recent
announcement of increased lending in
Brazil, the home
of the Amazon rainforest, it is more critical than ever
that Citi take the lead in promoting sustainable
development around the
world. Almost 80 percent of the
world's old growth forests have been
destroyed or
degraded. Since 1980, the Brazilian Amazon has lost over
100 million acres of tropical forest. As one of the world's
largest
banks, Citi has a responsibility to set the
standard for an ecologically
sane, democratic, and just
economy. Please let me know where you stand
on this
critical issue.
Sincerely,
________________Chance to Win a
Free T-shirt_____________________
RAN is working to reduce the amount of paper we
use. You are helping us
by reading these
Action alerts via email instead of the print version.
If you have a friend or friends you'd like to help get more
involved in
the fight to save the rainforest, send us
their email(s) and we'll sign
them up for our email
updates. You could win a free RAN T-shirt in the
exchange!
Email ranmembers@ran.org with the names and electronic
addresses of
those you know would like to get more
involved.
If you'd like to
give an additional donation you may do so online at:
http://www.ran.org/scripts/ran/join_start.pl/
As always, your comments regarding
this newsletter are always welcomed.
Email
ranmembers@ran.org or call 415-398-4404.
To unsubscribe from this list,
send an email to
ran-updates-unsubscribe@igc.topica.com
*******
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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/
from Sierra Club February 8, 2001
SC-ACTION Vol. III, # 15
DEFENDING
THE ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA
February 7, 2001
Quote of the Day
"The most powerful thing the Sierra Club can do is to
educate and create
demand within members."
--A very wise SC leader
***********************************************************
I. During the first two weeks of the
Bush administration, Sierra Club
spoke out on Norton and
Ashcroft.
II. Horseshoe Crab Success
III. Roadless
***********************************************************
I. During the
first two weeks of the Bush administration, Sierra Club
spoke out on Norton and Ashcroft.
The Sierra Club opposed Bush's
selection of Gale Norton as Interior
Secretary. During the Reagan presidency, Norton
served as associate
solicitor at
the Interior Department under Interior Secretary James Watt.
In that capacity she authored and signed legal
opinions in support of
drilling the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and provided legal advice on
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's
controversial approval of Two Forks
Dam.
Watt later hired Norton as a
lawyer for the arch-conservative Mountain
States Legal
Foundation, which often represents loggers, miners, ranchers
and water developers in fights against environmental
groups. Norton is also
the founder and serves on
advisory committee of the Coalition of Republican
Environmental Advocates (CREA), which
is considered by the Republicans for
Environmental Protection (a legitimate GOP
environmental group) to be "a
transparent attempt to
fool voters who care about environmental
protection."
The Sierra Club also opposed the
appointment of John Ashcroft as Attorney
General.
Ashcroft has an exceedingly poor environmental voting record and
is openly hostile to most environmental laws.
Ashcroft voted against
additional funding
for environmental programs including the Clean Water
Action Plan and toxic waste cleanups at
Superfund sites. He also voted for
a bill to roll
back clean water protections, to prevent the EPA from
enforcing arsenic standards for drinking water,
and to allow mining
companies to
dump cyanide and other mining waste on large areas of public
lands next to mining sites.
II. Horseshoe Crab Success
The National Marine Fisheries
Service on Monday banned the harvest of
horseshoe crabs
in a newly created, 1,500-square-mile sanctuary, just off
the Delaware coast. The ban, effective March 7,
is intended to protect the
population center of one of
nature's most ancient mariners. The crabs, more
closely
related to spiders than to crabs, predate the dinosaur. The crabs
also are a vital link in the food chain for millions of
migratory
shorebirds that stop each spring along
Delaware Bay to feed on the eggs of
horseshoe crabs.
Congratulations to Mike D'Amico and friends! Great work!
III.
Roadless
From NW Field
Staffer, Kathleen Casey:
(On
Tuesday, the administration stated that it would review the roadless
plan that President Clinton announced two weeks before he
left office.
Roadless areas cover roughly 213,000 acres
of the Gifford Pinchot National
Forest in Southwest
Washington. The roadless-area protection plan includes
2,015,000 acres in Washington and 1,965,000 acres in
Oregon.)
Yesterday, Bill and I
were interviewed by KIRO news radio and KPLU (local
NPR) about the roadless plan. Holly Forrest, our
X-traordinary volunteer in
Vancouver, had this to say:
"I'm very disappointed," said
Holly Forrest, political chairwoman of the
club's Loo
Wit chapter. "I'm not surprised. The shame is that President
Bush is dragging his feet on something the American people
have clearly
indicated they want."
Barbara
Boyle, Sr. Regional Representative in CA, reported three great
editorials focused on the administration's
announcement. Editorials were
printed in the
Reno-Gazette Journal, LA Times and San Francisco Chronicle.
-------------------------------------------------------
Sierra Club Legislative Hotline - 202-675-2394
Sierra Club National Headquarters - 415-977-5500
Sierra Club World Wide Web - http://www.sierraclub.org
Sierra Club Vote Watch Website - http://www.sierraclub.org/votewatch/
White House Comment Line - 202-456-1111
White House Fax Line - 202-456-2461
George W. Bush's e-mail -
president@whitehouse.gov
Dick
Cheney's e-mail - vice-president@whitehouse.gov
White House Address - 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, DC
20500 US
Capitol Switchboard - 202-224-3121
To contact your senators - http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index.cfm
To contact your representative - http://www.house.gov/writerep
from Global Response February 8, 2001
Dear Members of Global Response's "Quick Response Network:"
Thanks for your letters to
President Gustavo Noboa of Ecuador in support of
indigenous protesters. Today, Ecuadoreans are
celebrating victory in their
negotiations with the
government, and all jailed protesters have been
released. Please see the following report,
circulated by The Development
GAP:
Thank you
for your overwhelming response to the sign-on letter to Ecuadoran
President Gustavo Noboa.
As you may have heard, a 23-point agreement was reached
yesterday afternoon
between the government and the
indigenous movement. It was signed by the
presidents of the three major indigenous organizations
(CONAIE, FENOCIN and
FEINE) and the country's
Presidente and Vice-president. The agreement was
celebrated with a march of about 5,000 indigenous people --
who had spent
10 days inside the Polytechnic University
in Quito surrounded by the military
-- who were cheered
on by many supporters on the streets of the capital.
With the agreement signed, the
government moved to lift the state of
emergency,
release all those who had been arrested during the protests and
suspend all legal actions against them, return all goods
and documents
confiscated during these actions, and
compensate the families of those
killed and wounded in
the protests. During the two-and-a-half weeks of
indigenous mobilization and protest, 5 indigenous people
were killed, 50
were wounded (including some members of
the military) and 930 were
arrested.
Among the agreements are
provisions to:
- Reduce the
price of cooking gas by 20%, freeze the price of gasoline for
at least one year and enforce half-price bus fares for
children, students,
senior citizens and the disabled.
- Restructure the National
Development Bank and make $10 million available
for
loans on preferential terms to community businesses and micro, small
and medium-scale enterprises.
- Increase the budgets of state organizations that run
development programs
for indigenous peoples.
- Recover public funds invested
during the country's banking crisis.
- Seek the participation of indigenous and other
civil-society
organizations to develop social
investment projects, with a priority given to the poorest
regions of the country, to be funded through debt swaps.
- Resolve existing conflicts
over land, water rights and natural resource use.
- Seek consensus on the reform of the social security
system.
- Refuse to allow the
regionalization of Plan Colombia or to involve the
country in a foreign conflict.
- Broaden the debate and carry out a dialogue on tax reform
prior to
approving new legislation.
- Open a dialogue based on the
document "Proposals of indigenous, campesino
and social
movements of Ecuador for a national dialogue" to reach
agreements regarding fiscal, financial, social, trade and
monetary policies.
While
indigenous peoples and many others are celebrating these agreements
as a victory, it is also clear that much will depend on
when and how these
agreements on paper are carried out
in practice. Some Ecuadorans have
pointed
out that certain agreements reflect actions that the government is
obligated to carry out but has failed to
implement. Other agreements are
very similar
to those made in the past as a result of previous protests,
reflecting the fact that they were never put into practice.
At the international level, we
clearly see that the protests in Ecuador
were a result
of policies imposed by the IMF. At the same time, some of the
agreements signed yesterday run counter to the IMF program
in Ecuador. We
would like to continue to
take further action to pressure the IMF to
refrain from
imposing structural adjustment policies in Ecuador and elsewhere, and
in the case of Ecuador, to support the agreements between
the government
and indigenous movement. We
plan to send you additional information in the
next
week with suggestions on how to pressure the IMF through Congress and the
U.S. Treasury. In this way, we hope to
contribute to helping the
indigenous and social
movement in Ecuador hold the government accountable to carry
through with its commitments.
As
we mentioned in the initial appeal, there was a protest at the Ecuadoran
Embassy in Washington, DC yesterday. A local
journalist wrote an article
about the protest that you
might find interesting. It is available at
<http://www.dc.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=7125>
.
Please circulate this note to the lists that received
the urgent action
request. We are also
sending along the final version of the letter, which
was sent yesterday to President Noboa and delivered to the
Ecuadoran
Ambassador.
Thanks again,
Karen Hansen-Kuhn
Stephanie
Weinberg
The Development GAP
--------------------------------------
GLOBAL RESPONSE is an international letter-writing network
of environmental
activists. In partnership
with indigenous, environmentalist and peace and
justice
organizations around the world, GLOBAL RESPONSE develops "Actions"
that describe specific, urgent threats to the environment;
each "Action"
asks members to write personal letters to
individuals in the corporations,
governments or
international organizations that have the power and
responsibility to take corrective action. GR
also issues "Young
Environmentalists' Actions" and
"Eco-Club Actions" designed to educate and
motivate
elementary and high school students to practice earth stewardship.
P.O. Box 7490 Phone: 303/444-0306
Boulder CO, USA 80306-7490
Fax: 303/449-9794
To receive Global Response "Actions" and "Emergency
Actions" by email:
Send a blank message to:
globresmembers-subscribe@igc.topica.com
Visit our website at: http://www.globalresponse.org
from the Audubon Society February 9, 2001
February 9, 2001 (Vol. 2001, Issue 2)
the Audubon Advisory
Audubon's Twice-Monthly Update
From Washington, D.C.
--Audubon Releases Refuge Report--
The National Wildlife Refuge
System is in a state of crisis. There are
major
threats, such as development, invasive species and water
pollution, which in a thousand different ways threaten and
kill birds
and wildlife and destroy habitat. These are
special places in America
that we have set aside to be
preserved and protected that are in serious
trouble. That was the focus of a special Audubon
news conference on
Wednesday, February 7th, as we
announced the release of our special
report "Refuges in
Crisis," and our call to action to help save our
nation's imperiled Refuge System.
Standing with U.S. Representatives
Wayne Gilchrest (R-Maryland), Nick
Rahall (D-West
Virginia), and Ron Kind (D-Wisconsin), and before a
plethora of reporters, Audubon Policy Director Evan Hirsche
released the
Report, which tells the story of ten
wildlife refuges that are major
national or
international conservation priorities. While each of these
refuges is jeopardized by imminent threats, they also are
failing to
protect bird species that are
federally-listed as threatened or
endangered or
included in Audubon's Watch List of species that could be
headed for extinction.
With over 520 Refuges in the country, the U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Services
Refuge System is not equipped to
handle the crisis, and faces a $1.6
billion backlog of
operations and maintenance needs. Hundreds of refuges
have no staff and no visitor centers, no signs, brochures
or restrooms,
and no way to serve the public. But most
impor-tantly, they have scarce
resources with which to
help the wildlife populations they were
established to
protect.
Audubon will work
with Members of Con-gress to increase funding and
resources for these ten and all refuges in the Refuge
System. After all,
these refuges are vital to birds and
wildlife. To-gether they harbor
one-third of America's
remaining wetlands, and protect more than 2,000
species
of birds and other wildlife, including 250 endangered species.
Look for more on this as legislation is introduced and
begins to move
through the legisla-tive process. Also,
please check your local papers
for coverage of this
event, and feel free to send in links and copies of
the
articles! If you would like a copy of the report, please e-mail us
today at
audubonacation@audubon.org, and ask for your copy of
Refuges in Crises.
--Norton
Gets the Nod--
On January 30,
the U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination of Gale Norton
as our new Secretary of the Interior. On a 75-24 vote,
Norton now takes
the helm of the government agency
responsible for, among other things,
managing America's
parks, wildlife refuges, national monuments, and the
birds and wildlife that make their home there. In the
coming weeks, we
will gain a better understanding of
the Secretary's agenda and goals for
the next four
years, and will report all our findings and analyses to
you in future issues of The Audubon Advisory.
Also confirmed last week for the
Bush team was former New Jersey
Governor Christine Todd
Whitman as Director of the Environmental
Protec-tion Agency and Spencer Abraham for Secretary of
Energy. You'll
recall Secretary Abraham, while Senator
from Michigan, sponsored and
pushed through the
Neotropical Migratory Bird Conserva-tion Act -
legislation that helps to protect the habitat of the nearly
300 species
of birds who winter in the Caribbean and
Latin America. Norton, Whitman
and Abraham will be
responsible for crafting the Bush Administration's
energy plans. Audubon will keep close tabs on these and all
other
developments. We'll keep you posted!
--Roadless Rule in Jeopardy--
Prior to leaving Office, President
Clinton proudly announced a ruling
that was two years
in the making: the U.S. Forest Service's Roadless
Forest Protection Rule - a regulatory ruling that protects
58.5 million
acres of pristine national forest land
across 39 states from road
building and commercial
logging.
Now Congressional
opponents seek to over-turn the Rule, and they're
using
a little-known law to try. The law is the Small Business
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act, or SBREFA. Passed in
1996, the law,
which has never been tested, gives
Congress the power to overturn regulatory rulings by
garnering a
majority vote in both the U.S. House and
U.S. Senate. The only
stipulation is they must do so
within 60 Congressional Session days
after the release
of the Rule. As the Rule was released on January 15,
2001, the clock is ticking. We could see a vote on the rule
as early as
this month.
Close to 2 million citizens called for strong wild forest
protections.
The Forest Service deliv-ered by ordering
the Roadless Rule. We now need
to make sure that
Congress does not ignore our voices - and you can
help!
Please contact your two Senators and your U.S. Representative and
urge them to OPPOSE EFFORTS TO OVERTURN THE ROADLESS FOREST
PROTECTION
RULE! Click here to immediately identify and
send a fax or e-mail to
your lawmakers through
Audubon's TAKE ACTION site:
http://www.capitolconnect.com/audubon/
--Bill Opening the Arctic
Introduced--
Bill number H.R.
39, sponsored by Alaska Republican Congressman Don
Young, seeks to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge -
com-monly
referred to as America's Serengeti - to oil
and gas drilling. Audubon
vehemently opposes this
measure, and is working with other conservation
organizations to see that Members of Congress do not fall
prey to
believing that drilling in the Arctic would
solve our nation's energy
problems. We hope to see a
bill protecting the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge
from oil and gas drilling intro-duced before both the House and
Senate in the coming days.
In the meantime, we could use your help! Please contact
your lawmakers
and urge them to oppose H.R.39 and any
other measure that would open the
pristine Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge to harmful and destructive oil
and gas drilling. To immediately identify and communicate
with your
lawmakers on this issue, please click here to
be connected to Audubon's
TAKE ACTION site,
http://www.capitolconnect.com/audubon/
And if we can ask you to do one
more thing: when you hear back from your
lawmakers,
please send us a copy of the letter or e-mail so we can
better identify where they stand on this issue - plus make
sure they are
telling you the same thing they are
telling our lobbyists!
--Juvenile North Atlantic Swordfish Still at Risk--
Late last week, newly confirmed
Secretary of Commerce Don Evans,
announced the National
Marine Fisheries Services' (NMFS) decision to
delay
implementation of the Southeast Atlantic Area Closure Rule.
This regulatory rule, announced on
August 1, 2000, sought to close
several areas in the
Atlantic ocean to longline fishing - the practice
of
setting out fishing lines up to 40 miles long with hundreds upon
hundreds of bait hooks attached to them - in an effort to
reduce bycatch
of juvenile swordfish and other species.
The planned closures were a
direct result of the
enormous amount of bycatch -the catching and
killing of
undersize or non-target fish and other marine animals during
fishing operations - generated by longline fishing gear in
these areas.
The commercial
fishing industry was granted a 30-day reprieve from
implementation of the closures after NMFS ostensibly
identified the need
to make minor technical corrections
to the rule. Delaying the rule,
however, has little to
do with technical corrections, but is rather a
direct
result of pressure from the powerful commercial fishing industry,
who apparently would rather deplete a species of fish, than
give the
species time to replen-ish itself in both size
and number. Swordfish
populations have declined
approximately 40 percent in the past twenty
years.
Reducing bycatch and bycatch mortality through implementation of
the
now delayed area closures
would help speed rebuild-ing of this
magnificent
species.
Audubon, through its
Living Oceans program, is fiercely opposed to this
postponement, and is concerned that this will be only the
first of many
delays imposed by the new Bush
Administration. Delaying implementation
of these area
closures will adversely impact the resources it was
intended to benefit, specifically saving the overfished
North Atlantic
swordfish from further decline. It would
also undermine the public's
process by which these
closures came about.
Over the
last two years, thousands of com-ments were sent to NMFS from
the general public, urging the agency to close specific
areas along the
Southeast Atlantic coast to longline
fishing. Such significant public
input resulted in NMFS
finaliz-ing the regulations to close these areas
on
August 1, 2000. After such a significant investment of time and
taxpayer dollars, we are hard pressed to under-stand why a
minor
technical correction in the boundaries of the
closed areas requires a
full month to address and why
the correction was announced less than a
day before the
closed areas were to be implemented.
Audubon and our coalition partners are working with
Congress who have
the power to stop the delay,
reinforce the closures immediately, thereby
forcing the
longliners to fish elsewhere along the Atlantic. As we're up
against a powerful foe, we need your help if we're going to
succeed.
Please contact your lawmakers and urge them to
contact Secretary Donald
Evans and demand that
the South Atlantic pelagic longline area closures are
implemented no
later than March 1, 2001. You can reach
you lawmakers by calling (202)
224-3121, or click here
to instantly identify and send a letter to your
lawmakers: http://www.capitolconnect.com/audubon/
--Family Planning Funding
Restricted--
As Audubon has
often noted, human popula-tion growth is one of the most
pressing environ-mental problems facing the world. The
failure of the
U.S. to live up to its international
family planning obligations results
in widespread
habitat destruction while imperiling the lives of women
and children in the developing world.
Each year as part of its foreign
policy, the U.S. dedicates funding to
various programs
aimed at providing educational and informational
materials and resources to families in developing nations.
Last year,
Congress appropriated $425 million for
international family planning - $40 million more than was
appropriated
in FY 2000. However, this is $100 million
less than what was
appropriated in FY 1995.
It was widely believed that
President Bush would move to cut family
planning
funding under the guise of reinstating the "global gag rule"
which bans family planning organizations that receive U.S.
funds from
using their own money to perform, advocate
or discuss abortion overseas.
The good news is that Ari
Fleischer, the President's Press Secretary,
issued a
statement that said, "The Presi-dent is committed to
maintaining the $425 million [family planning] funding
level provided
for in the FY 2001 appropriation because
he knows that one of the best
ways to prevent abortion
is by providing quality voluntary family
planning
services." This
suggests that the Bush Administration
will not use the Rule as political
cover for cutting
funding for family planning services.
Even with the full FY 2001 funding, however, the U.S. is
last among the
20 top contributing countries for
overall development assistance that
includes family
planning programs. In the coming months, it will be
important that the Bush Admin-istration
and Congress hear from Audubon mem-bers that to conserve
and protect the
environment, the U.S. should increase
its investment in, and not
restrict funding for,
international family planning programs overseas.
Stay
tuned for more on how you can help!
Questions or comments about the Advisory?
Audubonaction@audubon.org
Phone: (202) 861-2242
from the Green Party February 9, 2001
1) Press Release February 8,
2001
Contact: Theresa Amato
For
Immediate
Release
(202) 265-4000
Nader Wins Motion on Physical Exclusion from Boston
Debates;
Lawsuit Against Presidential Debate Commission
Will Go Forward
Washington,
D.C., February 8 -. A federal judge in Boston today
denied a motion by the Commission on Presidential Debates
to
dismiss Green Party presidential nominee Ralph
Nader's lawsuit
challenging the Commission's use of
police to exclude Nader's
attendance at the first
presidential debate on October 3rd at
the University of
Massachusetts. The lawsuit against the
Commission, its co-chairmen and security consultant, and
three
state police officers, alleges that the
defendants used threats
and intimidation to prevent
Nader from entering a separate
viewing auditorium
adjacent to the debate for which he had a
transferable
ticket of admittance. The lawsuit contends that
these acts occurred because of Nader's political views and
were
in violation both of his First Amendment and Equal
Protection
rights under the U.S. Constitution and of
the Massachusetts
Civil Rights Act. The defendants also
prevented Nader from
appearing at a pre-scheduled
interview with Fox News at a media
trailer at the
debate site.
U.S. District
Court Judge William Young said he was "troubled by
excluding someone because of their political views" and
ruled
that there were no grounds to dismiss the
lawsuit. The judge
denied the Commission on
Presidential Debate's motion to dismiss
and the motions
of the other defendants in the case and
"suggested
picking a trial date," according to Boston-based
Nader
counsel Howard Friedman.
Throughout the campaign, Mr. Nader exposed the unfair
practices
of the bipartisan, corporate-sponsored
Commission on
Presidential Debates and the outrageous
hurdles the Commission
had established for presidential
candidates to be allowed to
participate in broadcasts
that reached tens of millions of
citizens. Nader said he was pleased by Judge
Young's decision
and "looked forward to the discovery
process that will
illuminate this private corporation's
misuse of police power to
further the exclusionary
abuses by the Republican and Democratic
Parties who
created and control this Debate Commission."
Prior to the complaint, the Commission had refused to avoid
litigation by extending a written apology and making a
donation
to the Appleseed Center for Electoral Reform
at Harvard Law
School. The lawsuit was filed
on October 17, 2000 and announced
from the site of the
third presidential debates in St. Louis
where he was
again excluded by the Commission and where Nader
intends to bring a similar suit.
# # #
P.O. Box 18002 | Washington, DC 20036 | www.votenader.org |
202-265-4000 | fax: 202-265-0183 Paid for by the Nader
2000
General Committee, Inc.
2)
Looking for Mr. Nader
by Doug Ireland
Published in the March 5, 2001 issue of In These
Times
Since
Election Day, Ralph Has Been Missing In Action
Where's Ralph? That's what many enthusiastic supporters of
Nader's 2000 presidential campaign have been asking.
Even though
more people were paying attention to
politics during the Florida
election mess than they
were during the campaign, Nader chose
not to go to the
Sunshine State. Nor has there been a
coordinated effort
to mobilize the tens of thousands of active
Naderites
recruited during the campaign to take their energy
into
the Green Party, let alone any serious attempt to enroll
rank-and-file Nader voters as Greens. Indeed, Nader himself
is
still not a Green Party member. Nor has any
organization been
formed to give those Nader supporters
who are not prepared to
join the Greens another vehicle
for independent, issues-
oriented political action. So
what's going on?
Ask Nader,
and he maintains he has been doing a lot. "It's very
hard to get press attention, much more so than in the
campaign,"
he says. Undoubtedly true--but Nader gave no
press conferences
of his own in December or January,
and sent out only two press
releases; nor did he stage
any media events with pizzazz.
And what about Florida? "Medea Benjamin represented the
Greens
in Florida," he says, "and she did a great job."
But the Green
Senate candidate from California garnered
no national media
attention of the kind Nader might
have, given the thousands of
hours of airtime the cable
news networks devoted to the endless
squabbling over
the vote count.
As for the
Greens, Nader says he hasn't become a member because,
"I don't want to get involved in Green Party internal
disputes
and struggles--if I was a member, I'd have to
take sides."
Besides, adds Nader--who has made it
evident he almost certainly
intends to run another
presidential campaign in 2004--"we've got
to appeal to
the independent vote" that includes "tens of
millions"
whose concerns extend beyond the Greens' agenda "and
historically, I've never joined any party."
As to his invisibility during the
confirmation hearings for
Bush's cabinet, Nader says
the Democrats shut him out: "I sent
letters to [Senate
Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick]
Leahy--we even
had one hand-delivered --asking to testify
against John
Ashcroft, and he didn't even have the courtesy to
respond." He also tried to testify against Spencer Abraham
and
Gale Norton, but was refused.
Why, then, didn't Nader hold a
press conference denouncing the
spineless Senate Dems
for their token opposition to
Ashcroft--who lied
repeatedly without challenge at his
hearing--and their
failure to seriously contest the
anti-environmental
appointments of the reactionary Norton and
the
polluter-friendly new EPA head, Christie Todd Whitman? And
when the Democrats symbolized their moral bankruptcy by
choosing
notorious bagman and fixer Terry McAuliffe as
chair of the
Democratic National Committee, where were
the salvos from Nader?
"Well," he says weakly, "I've
done a lot of all this on radio."
Nader repeatedly emphasizes how preoccupied he has been
trying
to comply with the Federal Election Commission
regulations
governing campaign spending and the
transition out of campaign
mode, including restrictions
on how campaign staff can be
deployed to other
activities. (Nader's Washington campaign
office is
still open, but down to a skeleton staff.) "The
FEC-dictated process is very strict and very complicated,"
Nader
notes, adding, "did you know that it costs $5,000
a month just
to rent the software for FEC compliance?"
But as one who publicly
supported Nader's candidacy in 2000
(including in these
pages) and his symbolic non-campaign of
1996, I feel
compelled to be frank: These excuses sound to
anyone
steeped in politics like "the FEC ate my homework."
Clearly, there's more to Nader's absence from the public
scene
than he's willing to admit.
After discussions with a number of
Nader's closest advisers,
friends and staff, a clearer
picture emerges. For one thing,
Nader has received
conflicting counsel. Some of the influential
staffers
from the Nader-created skein of nonprofits,
particularly Public Citizen, have been reluctant to see
Nader
conduct a frontal assault on the Democrats just
before a
congressional election year.
But while the conventional wisdom
holds that the first off-year
election is always good
for the party out of power in the White
House, 2002
does not appear to be a banner year for the
Democrats.
They will likely lose at least three Senate
incumbents:
Louisiana's Mary Landrieu, South Dakota's Timothy
Johnson and Montana's Max Baucus. Georgia's Max Cleland,
Iowa's
Tom Harkin and even New Jersey's Robert
Torricelli could all
have tough races as well. In
contrast, unless the ailing Jesse
Helms retires or the
senile Strom Thurmond drops dead in
midterm, most of
the Republican senators up next year are pretty
safe,
with the best chance of a Democratic pick-up in New
Hampshire, where Gov. Jean Shaheen will run for lunatic
blowhard
Bob Smith's seat.
Things aren't much better in the House, since Republicans
control nearly two-thirds of the statehouses and
dominate the
legislatures in half of the states, which
must draw new district
lines in the wake of the 2000
census. The National Committee for
an Effective
Congress (the nation's oldest and most effective
liberal political action committee) has been working
flat-out on
the state-by-state redistricting process
for months. Says the
group's veteran director Russ
Hemenway of the battle for the
House: "When all the new
lines are drawn and depending on how
the courts
eventually decide expected challenges, in the end the
Democrats will do no better than break even or lose up to
20
seats."
Even though it ought to be clear to anyone with half a
brain
that Al Gore blew his chances with his smarmy,
inconsistent
flip-flopping--failing to carry either his
home state of
Tennessee or Clinton's native Arkansas,
for example--some
non-Green Naderites worry that an
all-out attack on the
Democrats now would only magnify
Nader's image with some
liberals as a "spoiler." As one
senior Nader strategist puts it:
"Most of the enviros
are mad at Ralph--some people didn't want
him to rub
salt in their wounds."
Moreover, Nader habitually has a long gestation period
(witness
the crippling late start to his 2000 campaign,
which sent out
its first direct-mail fundraising letter
so tardily that returns
didn't start to come in until
last July). "Ralph always plays
his cards close to the
vest," says one key adviser. "And after a
tough,
rigorous campaign, he needed recuperation time--he is,
after all, 66."
There's also the major problem of how to approach and deal
with
the Greens, with whom Nader has had a
sometimes-prickly
relationship. Local Green parties
vary tremendously from state
to state. The culture of
the Greens is still heavily impregnated
with what one
might call a politically vegan disdain for
electoral
politics. And in some states the leaders from this
mindset are reluctant to turn over the party apparatus to
the
scads of freshly minted Nader campaign cadres from
2000,
regardless of their enthusiasm, energy and
skills. The Greens
need to decide whether they want to
become a truly alternative
electoral force, one that
could in many places decide the
balance of power and
help discipline the Democrats into
abandoning their
money-dominated drift into corporate centrism,
and thus
begin the process of realigning American politics to
the left.
Especially with Jesse Jackson's co-optation by the Clinton
White
House and the Gore campaign, his cozying up to
Wall Street, and
his self-destruction by using
Rainbow/PUSH funds to pay off his
pregnant mistress,
Nader is still the most visible and valuable
asset of
the real left (as opposed to the "left" in the debased,
Crossfire sense of the term). And there's a real danger
that
well-meaning liberals will, in the wake of the
Florida debacle,
skew the national debate to one about
process (electronic
scanners versus chads, weekend and
computer voting, and the
like) rather than the more
fundamental one about power--the
corrupting influence
of wealth and corporate control of
governance, a
systemic critique that Nader is uniquely
positioned to
make and which was the groundbreaking hallmark of
his
national campaign.
To
galvanize an organization, one top Naderite told me, "there
either has to be an issue or the recruitment of credible
and
attractive Green candidates around whom people can
be
mobilized." Another Nader adviser says, "Ralph
really has only
two choices: shut up or build the Green
Party."
At this point, it's
obvious that Nader has not yet firmly fixed
his course.
"I've been trying to encourage the Green Party to
establish a national presence, a lobbying office, here in
Washington," Nader says, "and to help recruit hundreds
of
candidates in 2002--we had over 260 in 2000, and we
want over
1,000 in 2002." He adds: "The students have
prepared an
initiative to establish 900 campus Green
chapters--we had 900
campus coordinators last year.
I've been on six or seven
campuses since the
campaign--there's lots of energy--it's like
the '60s,
very alive."
But while Nader
says he will establish a new national
organization to
do lobbying and issue mobilization, this new
organization as yet has no name, no director, no set
agenda,
and--rather astonishingly--it will not be a
membership group.
While Nader says he has "been doing
local fundraisers for the
Greens--that's the best way
to recruit new members, and it's
easier to get local
press," in fact he has only done two of them
(in
Providence and Hartford). He says his new group will be
announced several months hence, as will his plans in
relation to
the Green Party. "Wait for the spring--the
time of rebirth," he
chuckles. He also envisions a
series of major rallies--but the
first one won't be
until July.
In the hard-nosed
real world of electoral politics and
communications,
however, timing is everything. Hamlets don't
last long
in national politics--just ask Mario Cuomo. And the
attention span of the electorate is a notoriously short
one. If
Nader does not make up his mind soon about what
he should do,
there's a real danger he will have missed
his moment, if he
hasn't already.
Steve
Krulick
kryolux@ulster.net
845-647-8809
Ellenville NY
12428-130727
http://dem101.org
http://egroups.com/group/Democracy101
--------------------------
"Nothing can stop
the power of
an informed citizenry
when it is
empowered, organized, and
motivated." (Ralph Nader)
--------------------------
from EarthNet News February 9, 2001
EarthNet News
...a project of the
Center for Environmental Citizenship
February 9, 2001
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In response to all the "So, what the hell happened?"
questions, we bring you the 2000 Year in Review, or "the final days of the
Clinton Administration." Savor the successes because we may have a
tough year ahead! Also, it's time to apply for our summer trainings
-- this year we're focusing on Environmental Justice and Environmental
Journalism.
The Washington, DC
office of CEC has moved! Check out our new digs at 200 G St. NE,
Washington, DC 20002 (near Union Station) or at http://www.envirocitizen.org/newoffice.html.
--Amy Lesser, EarthNet editor
mailto:earthnet@envirocitizen.org
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Shadow Congress: Year in Review
2. Quote of the Week
3. Corporate Corner: Year in Review
4. Summer Trainings: Our 2001 Academies
5. Letters to the Editor: readers respond
6. Jobs, Conferences and Gatherings
7. Activist Phone Book & EarthNet News Info
SHADOW CONGRESS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interior Nominee, Gale Norton: The votes are
in, and Gale Norton, the anti-environmental lobbyist and lawyer, is our new
Interior Secretary. The final tally was 75 to 24. Hold your Senators
accountable for their vote by sending an email from
http://congress.nw.dc.us/cgi-bin/alertpr.pl?dir=cec&alert=46.
Down with the
Dams: A much stronger salmon recovery plan was released Dec. 2000
after more than 200,000 letters were sent in support of the endangered Pacific
Northwest salmon. The final plan included specific goals for salmon
recovery and recommended dam breaching in five years if the goals aren't
met. In the meantime, we're still trucking salmon around the dams.
EVERglades: $1.4
billion was approved in 2000 as the first installment for a 36-year plan to
restore the Everglades. The project will be the largest environmental
restoration project in the world, and will help ensure survival of the
endangered American crocodile and Florida panther. In addition,
the Clinton administration rejected the plan to develop the former Homestead Air
Force Base in Florida into a commercial airport three days before he left
office. Yay!
Roadless Initiative: Clinton approved the new "roadless
rule" in Jan. 2001. The rule stops road building and logging, except
for "stewardship" projects, in almost 50 million acres of federal
forests. The Tongass National Forest in Alaska was included, but not
until 2004. Bush has stopped the ban for 60 days, however, and is
seeking ways to overturn the ruling through lawsuits or legislation.
Diesel Trucks: Clinton approved
the EPA's new clean air rules for heavy trucks and buses in Dec.
2000. The new rules will reduce smog 90% over the next decade by
limiting tailpipe emissions and forcing refiners to reduce the sulfur in diesel
fuel. The benefits are comparable to pulling 93% of the
diesel-powered vehicles off the road. Industry is already threatening
lawsuits and Bush can overturn the ruling if he chooses.
Stop the Joyrides: The
National Park Service issued its final plan to stop snowmobiles in Yellowstone
and (part of) Grand Teton parks. The plan phases out snowmobiles in three years
and replaces them with multi-passenger snowcoaches. The Bush
Administration has placed a 60-day moratorium on the rule, and has pledged to
re-evaluate the plan.
QUOTE OF
THE WEEK
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"It's as if they've invited the oil, coal and nuclear
industries to an all-you-can-eat buffet. This isn't a task force; it's an oil
industry dream team."
-- Adam
Kolton, Alaska Wilderness League, referring to Bush's new energy policy task
force, headed up by former oilman Dick Cheney
CORPORATE CORNER
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oxy drilling in U'wa land: The U'wa people
in Columbia have spent the last eight years working to halt Occidental's oil
drilling project, which they believe will have devastating social and
environmental repercussions for their people and their land. In Nov.
2000, Oxy began test drillling. Activists are now targeting companies
with shares in Oxy. This year, Fidelity sold 60% of its holding in
Oxy due to activist pressure. Investment firm Sanford C. Bernstein is
up next. Read about the campaign at http://www.ran.org/ran_campaigns/beyond_oil/oxy/ .
International Corporate
Right-To-Know Campaign: The campaign to hold corporate giants
accountable for behavior in the communities where they operate is heating up.
Check out Friends of the Earth's site at http://www.foe.org/act/irtk.html.
Kellogg's GE
Cereals: Greenpeace delivered a shopping cart full of 20,000 petition
signatures to Kellogg's during the holidays. Check out the photos and
story at http://www.truefoodnow.org/inside_scoop/archives/001220-tf-grinch.html.
Brazilian Barge Port:
American Commercial Barge Lines (ACBL), the largest shipper on the Mississippi,
is still planning to build a gigantic port in the Pantanal of Mato Grosso,
Brazil - the world's most important tropical wetlands ecosystem. But,
citizen pressure on both sides of the equator has stalled the project for
now. First, a public hearing to license the project was
cancelled. Then, Brazilian officials agreed with protesters that the
environmental impact needed to be studied. And, last month a judge
upheld the need for an environmental study.
Paper Companies: On
Nov. 15, 2000, students demonstrated at 75 Staples stores nationwide to protest
their use of old-growth wood for paper and their lack of 100% post-consumer
paper products. Plans are underway for a second day of action against
Staples on March 28, and protests against Boise-Cascade. A conference
for the "Tree Free Campus" Campaign is scheduled for March in
Idaho. Find out more at http://www.ran.org/ran_campaigns/old_growth/campus/index.html.
Damming the Macal
River: Duke Energy and Fortis Inc. had plans to dam the Macal River
in Belize. After 20,000 letters from activists, Duke has pulled
out. Fortis is still forging ahead. Find out more at http://www.savebiogems.org/macal/.
SUMMER ACADEMIES
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1) ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE Summer Training Academy
Tired of politicians ignoring your
community? It's time to build political power and make your voice
heard! Learn how at the 2001 Environmental Justice Summer Training Academy (EJ
STA). This June, join other community and student organizers of color who are
leading the charge to make environmental justice a priority in the 2001
elections and beyond. The EJ STA is an intensive six-day program that trains
young people in political skills to protect our communities. Through skill
sessions and campaign simulations you'll learn how to run a winning campaign,
impact critical social and public health issues, and organize online and in the
media.
Rolling
Admissions -- APPLY NOW for your best chance to get in! Apply online
and learn more about environmental justice at http://www.ejnow.org.
2) ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISM Academy
Calling all journalists! Gain hands-on
experience as you collaborate with top professionals from print, radio and the
Web to produce stories that explore environmental issues. Network
with fellow college reporters, editors and photographers from across the nation
and discover how social justice relates to urban environmental issues and public
health concerns during the Community Environmental Tour.
The 2001 Environmental Journalism
Academy will be held at American University in Washington, DC from June
14-18. $75 includes housing, food, and training. Rolling
admissions -- APPLY NOW at http://www.envirocitizen.org/news/eja/.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responses to Elizabeth Vance's letter:
I agree with you. However, I still feel we are going
backwards instead of forwards with the Bush administration. I'm sorry, but his
cabinet selection is appalling, not to mention disappointing. Many good programs
under Clinton's administration will be shunned, or worse, weakened, by the new
administration. Unfortunately, their focus is not what we hope for, and what we
hold as our treasured values. I know we have to work harder, with more vigilance
than ever, so our voices will be heard, etc. But, money is power. And who has
the most money? I watched the news last night and Tom Brokaw mentioned a few
members of Bush's cabinet and disclosed their assets... Unfortunately, these
guys are millionaires or billionaires (yes, the richest 1%). So, don't come
crying to the world if our needs aren't met.
- Jackie
Rodriguez, another disappointed Democrat
People who only vote their values do not know enough about
politics to vote intelligently. There are really only two parties in the US. It
is unfortunate that this is the case, but it is a fact. When you vote for any
third party you cannot vote for one of the main two. By voting for Nadar instead
of Gore you put Bush in the white house. That's the facts. Any thing else is
foolishness.
-- William Olkowski, Santa Barbara, CA
I also heard the quote "A vote for
Nader is a vote for Bush." I voted for Nader in hopes it would create
a catalyst movement, showing not just those of us who actually educate ourselves
on pressing environmental and world issues, but also your everyday Joe that
neither Bush nor Gore is the man for the job. With Bush in office many, many
mistakes will be made -- he has shown blatant disregard for the environment with
the cabinet he has appointed, but while doing so it has opened many eyes to the
need for an environmental revolution. So, for those people out there who feel
Nader is the reason Bush is in office, do you actually think that a corrupt Gore
would have been that much better at being the head of the United States? A
drastic change is in need for the US, and putting people and the environment
before profit is the only way that change will occur.
-- Earthdefense@aol.com
I am deeply disappointed inBush'snomination of Gale Norton.
But the way to oppose her (or anyone!) is not to try to cast them using the
extreme language of the uninformed. Calling someone an 'extremist' almost
immediately turns off the majority of listeners, even sympathetic ones! We, as
people seeking more responsible environmental stewardship, should do our best to
educate people with facts, not accusations and name-calling.Let's stick to
unsensationalized facts and we will get more respect.
-- John DiDiego, Director, Blue Ridge Outdoor Education
Center, Toccoa, GA
**Editor's
reply: EarthNet never used the word "extremist" when referring to
Gale Norton. Unfortunately, her views aren't extreme, and we like to
save the word for the real wackos -- like Ashcroft, for example.
Got something to
say? Send your letters to earthnet@envirocitizen.org. We
reserve the right to edit for length, clarity, and purpose.
JOBS AND INTERNSHIPS
------------------------------
These are a sampling of the over 100 environmental and
activist jobs and internships listed at
www.envirocitizen.org/enet/jobs/index.asp!
The Ruckus Society is seeking a Grassroots Coordinator in
Berkeley, CA. Find the job description at http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/jobs/detail.asp?id=2263.
The Clean Air Council is
seeking a paid Transportation Intern in Philadelphia, PA. Find the
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WHEN: March 3-4,
2001
FOR MORE INFO: http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/events/detail.asp?id=657
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Globalization
WHERE: Boulder, CO
WHEN: March 8-11, 2001
FOR MORE
INFO: http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/events/detail.asp?id=676
WHAT: "Progress, at what
cost?" Student Pugwash Conference
WHERE: Johns Hopkins
University, Homewood, MD
WHEN: March 9-11,
2001
FOR MORE INFO: http://www.envirocitizen.org/enet/events/detail.asp?id=673
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from Environment News Service February 9, 2001
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE
(ENS) http://ens-news.com
"We
Cover the Earth For You"
************************************************************
UNEP AIMS FOR STRONGER GLOBAL
ROLE
NAIROBI, Kenya, February
9, 2001 (ENS) - The Governing Council of the
United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has ended its latest biannual
meeting Nairobi with agreement to strengthen the agency
with a view to
developing it into a global
environmental governance body.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-09-02.html
************************************************************
CANADIAN GOVERNMENT FAILS TO
PROTECT WILD SALMON
OTTAWA,
Canada, February 9, 2001 (ENS) - In a review of British Columbia's
salmon farming industry, Canada's auditor general has
concluded that the
federal government is not protecting
the wild salmon population from farmed
fish.
For full text and graphics, visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-09-10.html
************************************************************
BAJA TOWNS STRUGGLE AFTER
SAVING WHALE SANCTUARY
MEXICO
CITY, Mexico, February 9, 2001 (ENS) - Communities surrounding
Laguna San Ignacio in Baja, Mexico, will receive money from
environmental
groups that helped stop a plan to convert
the last undisturbed nursery for
the Pacific gray whale
into the world's largest industrial salt facility.
For full text and graphics, visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-09-12.html
************************************************************
RAPTORS BETTER PROTECTED IN
UK's NORTH PENNINES
LONDON,
United Kingdom, February 9, 2001 (ENS) - The United Kingdom has
created its largest Special Protection Area to cover more
than 147,000
hectares of internationally important bird
habitats in the North Pennine
Moors.
For full text and graphics, visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-09-11.html
***********************************************************
ARGENTINA WILL POWER THE
FUTURE WITH WIND
BUENOS AIRES,
Argentina, February 9, 2001 (ENS) - A wind energy production
proposal has been presented to the Argentine government by
the Spanish
companies Endesa and Elecnor. If the
proposal is accepted, within a decade,
15 percent of
the total Argentine energy needs, some 3,000 megawatts, could
be produced by wind power.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-09-01.html
************************************************************
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE
AMERISCAN: FEBRUARY 9, 2001
Texas Citizen Suit Settled With Crown Central Petroleum
Scientists Discover New Keys to
Arctic Ozone Loss
Energy
Efficiency Could Decrease Demand by 40 Percent
California Logging Waste to Be Burned for Power
Los Angeles is Planting Trees to
Save Energy
Landfill Gas To
Energy Project Earns Award
Missouri Dam Reform Delay Ignores Endangered Species
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-09-09.html
Copyright Environment News Service
(ENS) 2000 All Rights Reserved.
************************************************************
HEALING OUR WORLD: WEEKLY
COMMENT
By Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D.
Energy Crisis or Greed Crisis?
Whatever the cause of the current
energy crisis, a major goal of the new
conservative
administration in Washington has been achieved. Air quality
controls have been suspended and the stage has been set for
massive
industrial expansion.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-09g.html
***********************************************************************
SEND
NEWS STORY TIPS TO news@ens-news.com
***********************************************************************
E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS
RELEASE
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TO FORESTRY AND ENVIRONMENT
EDITORS:
Alliance Forest Products Inc.
Receives Major National Forest Management Award
MONTREAL, Canada, Feb. 9
-/E-Wire/-- Alliance Forest Products Inc. is pleased to
announce that it received the "Forest Stewardship
Recognition Award", under
the Eastern Canadian
companies category, from Wildlife Habitat Canada. The
Company earned this award for the extensive application
since 1995 of an
innovative forest harvesting method
known as mosaic cutting.
/CONTACT: Georges Cabana, Senior Vice-President,
Human Resources and Public Affairs,(514) 954-2101/
/Web site: http://www.alliance-forest.com /
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/09Feb0106.html
***********************************************************************
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TO ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:
Without Bears and Wolves to
Hunt Them, Yellowstone Moose Have Lost Some Spring in their Step, Study Says
BRONX, NY, Feb. 9 -/E-Wire/--
As people learn to live with grizzly bears and wolves that have recolonized
areas around southern Yellowstone National Park after a 50-year absence, so too
must moose, which apparently have forgotten to recognize predators, according to
a study funded by the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
/CONTACT: STEPHEN SAUTNER (718-220-3682;
ssautner@wcs.org; JOHN DELANEY: (718-220-3275; jdelaney@wcs.org)/
/Web site: http://www.wcs.org/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/09Feb0105.html
***********************************************************************
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, TO
ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:
Experts Battle Over Global
Warming
Climate Change Policy Exposes Different
Opinions, Approach
WASHINGTON, DC, Feb. 9
-/E-Wire/-- Sharp differences on the direction of climate change policy and the
future of a controversial international treaty aimed reducing greenhouse
gas emissions were hotly debated yesterday at a National
Press Club forum
sponsored by Freedom
21. Freedom 21 is a coalition of organizations aimed
at advancing the principles of freedom in local
communities, Washington, and
throughout the world.
(www.freedom21.org)
/CONTACT: Maureen O'Brien,(202) 466-7391 ext.
1106 or mobrien@pcgpr.com/
/Web site: http://www.freedom21.org
http://www.pcgpr.com/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/09Feb0104.html
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TO ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL
EDITORS:
Global Survey Finds Wind
Energy's Explosive Expansion Continuing
Industry Added
Enough Generation in 2000 To Supply
1.3
Million California Households
WASHINGTON, DC, Feb. 9
-/E-Wire/-- The worldwide boom in wind energy slowed a bit during the year 2000,
but still remained strong, with some 3,500 megawatts (MW) being installed, or
enough to supply roughly 1.3 million California households with 3.5 million
people, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) said today.
/CONTACT: Tom Gray (802)649-2112, Christine Real
de Azua (202) 383-2508/
/Web
site: http://www.awea.org/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/09Feb0103.html
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TO ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:
Conservation Lawsuit Files to
Stop Potomac River Projects
WASHINGTON, DC, Feb. 9
-/E-Wire/-- The National Wilderness Institute (NWI), a Washington-based
conservation organization filed suit this week against five
Federal
departments and agencies, charging that they
have failed to enforce the
Endangered Species Act (ESA)
in approving Potomac River projects.
/CONTACT: Rob Gordon or Jim Streeter @ (703)
836-7404, Larry Hart (202) 547-1175/
/Web site: http://www.nwi.org/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/09Feb0102.html
****************************************************************************
E-WIRE PRESS
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Advanced Communications
Technologies to Acquire US Venture Capital Company -- Beneventure Capital
LOS ANGELES, CA, Feb. 9
-/E-Wire/-- Advanced Communications Technologies Inc. (OTCBB:ADVC - news;
ACT-USA) today announced that it had entered into an agreement with Dr. Gil
Amelio and Beneventure Capital, LLC to acquire 100% of the stock in Beneventure
Capital, LLC.
/CONTACT: Advanced Communications Technologies,
Roger May, 011.61.3.9672.8888, CEO (in Australia), Mobile: 011.61.411 189 931,
actusa2000@aol.com; Jeremy Norton, 949/622-5566 or 949/500-6288,(Vice
President of International Business Development), jeremyn@adcomtech.net/
/Web site: http://www.beneventure.com
http://www.act-usa.net/
For Full Text
Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/09Feb0101.html
************************************************************
SEND YOUR PRESS RELEASE ON E-WIRE --
1-888-764-NEWS
************************************************************
from Environment News Service February 12, 2001
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE
(ENS) http://ens-news.com
"We
Cover the Earth For You"
************************************************************
SURVEY: HOW MUCH DO U.S.
INDUSTRIES SPEND CUTTING POLLUTION?
By Donald Sutherland
WASHINGTON, DC, February 12, 2001 (ENS) - For the first
time since 1994,
the United States government is back
in the business of surveying pollution
abatement costs
and expenditures (PACE).
For
full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-12-03.html
************************************************************
DIESEL SCHOOL BUSES POSE
CANCER DANGERS
By Brian Hansen
WASHINGTON, DC, February 12,
2001 (ENS) - Children who ride on diesel school
buses
may be exposed to dangerously high levels of toxic diesel fumes inside
the vehicles, according to a new report released today by
two environmental
groups.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-12-15.html
************************************************************
WIND POWER SPLITS NORWAY'S
GREEN MOVEMENT
OSLO, Norway,
February 13, 2001 (ENS) - Norway's environmental movement has
been split by state owned power utility Statkraft's plans
to develop three
wind farms with a total production of
800 megawatts along the scenic west
coast. The wind
facilities have been authorized for Stadtlandet, Smola and
Hitra.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-12-04.html
************************************************************
VANISHING VULTURE LINKED TO
RISE IN HUMAN ANTHRAX
NEW
DEHLI, India, February 12, 2001 (ENS) - Wildlife scientists in India
suspect a resurgence in anthrax among humans may be linked
to the country's
declining population of vultures. But
government epidemiologists are not
convinced.
For full text and graphics, visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-12-10.html
************************************************************
CHESAPEAKE BAY PROTECTION
CARRIES $1.8 BILLION PRICE
RICHMOND, Virginia, February 12, 2001 (ENS) - Fulfilling
the groundbreaking
Chesapeake Bay conservation pact
signed last year could cost the tri-state
area around
Washington, DC almost $2 billion over the next decade, shows a
new report released today. "Keeping Our Commitment:
Preserving Land in the
Chesapeake Watershed," looks at
conservation initiatives in Virginia,
Maryland and
Pennsylvania and identifies the need for new funding and
programs to fulfill the goals of the Chesapeake 2000
agreement.
For full text and
graphics visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-12-06.html
************************************************************
PIGEONS NO LONGER WELCOME AT
LONDON LANDMARK
LONDON, United
Kingdom, February 12, 2001 (ENS) - They spread disease among
birds and humans, they foul the sidewalk and they distract
motorists, yet
pigeons remain one of the biggest
tourists draws to London's Trafalgar Square.
For full text and graphics, visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-12-11.html
***********************************************************
BILLIONS IN PROFITS PREDICTED
FOR RENEWABLE ENERGIES
WASHINGTON, DC, February 12, 2001 (ENS) - Now, when energy
issues top the
list on many national agendas, renewable
energy markets around the world
are set to take off,
the Global Environment Facility (GEF) concludes in a
new report on renewable energy.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-12-02.html
************************************************************
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE
AMERISCAN: FEBRUARY 12, 2001
Norton: Safe Development of Arctic Refuge Possible
Genetically Engineered 'Golden
Rice' Called Fool's Gold
Yellowstone Moose Have Forgotten to Fear Predators
Connecticut Prepares to Protect
15,400 Acres
Power Plant
Expansion Threatens California Bay
Scientists Examine Long Term Effects of Galapagos Spill
Oil Spill Rescues Highlight
Massachusetts Event
Researchers Find Pygmy Owls South of the Border
Giant Marine Toads Invade Florida
For full text and graphics
visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-12-09.html
Copyright Environment News
Service (ENS) 2000 All Rights Reserved.
************************************************************
SEND
NEWS STORY TIPS TO news@ens-news.com
***********************************************************************
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TO BUSINESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL
EDITORS:
Suncor Energy Makes Equity
Investment in Renewable Energy
CALGARY, Canada, Feb. 12
-/E-Wire/-- Suncor Energy Inc. announced today its subsidiary Sunoco Inc. has
made an equity investment of $3 million in Northern Power Systems of Waitsfield,
Vermont - a commercial developer of renewable energy including power generation
from solar and wind.
/CONTACT: Media: Lisa Falkowsky, Suncor Energy
Inc., (403) 205 6966, Hilton Dier III, Northern Power Systems, (804) 496 2955
ext. 253, www.northernpower.com;
Investor Relations:
John Rogers, Suncor Energy Inc., (403) 269 8670; To request a free copy of this
organization's annual report, please go to www.newswire.ca and click on
reports@cnw/
/Web
site: http://www.suncor.com//
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/12Feb0105.html
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
GZA
Opens New Philadelphia-Area Office
Will offer the
company's full range of environmental, engineering, and regulatory compliance
services
WAYNE, NJ, Feb. 12
-/E-Wire/-- GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc., a
leading
multidisciplinary environmental and geotechnical engineering
consulting firm, has opened a new office in the
Philadelphia suburb of Fort
Washington. Located at 500
Office Center Drive, the new operation is headed
by
John Fowler, P.G., who joined the firm recently as an Associate
Principal, and will offer the full range of GZA's
geotechnical, site
investigation and remediation,
environmental compliance, permitting and
ecological
risk assessment services for public- and private-sector clients.
It will be part of GZA's mid-Atlantic regional division,
which is based in
Wayne, N.J., and includes local
offices in Manhattan and in Hammonton, N.J.
/CONTACT: Serena Siegfried, 212/873-1944/
/Web site: http://www.gza.com/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/12Feb0106.html
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TO ENVIRONMENTAL AND STATE
EDITORS:
DRBC Leads Effort to Reduce
PCB Contamination
WEST TRENTON, N.J., Feb. 12
-/E-Wire/-- Three meetings are planned
over the next
two months to educate the public about the presence of PCBs
(polychlorinated biphenyls) in the tidal Delaware River and
Delaware Bay and
to explore ways to reduce the amount
of this toxic substance.
/CONTACT: Christopher Roberts of the Delaware
River Basin Commission,
609-883-9500 ext. 205, or
(croberts@drbc.state.nj.us)/
/Web sites: http://www.delep.org
http://www.drbc.net/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/12Feb0104.html
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Ducks Unlimited Weighs In On
Task Force Plan To Reduce "dead zone."
Programs That Restore
Wetlands Are Critical
MEMPHIS, TN, Feb. 12
-/E-Wire/-- On Friday, biologists from Ducks Unlimited, the international leader
in wetlands conservation, weighed in on the Mississippi River/Gulf of
MexicoWatershed Nutrient Task Force's plan to reduce hypoxia, known as the "dead
zone" in the Gulf of Mexico. The plan was submitted
to congress by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on January 18th.
/CONTACT: Tildy La Farge, 901-758-3859,
mlafarge@ducks.org/
/Web
site: http://www.ducks.org
http://www.ducks/news/deadzone.asp/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/12Feb0102.html
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Microtech Research:
Revolutionary Breakthrough in Municipal Solid Waste Treatment
MENTOR, OH, Feb. 12
-/E-Wire/-- Microtech Research Inc., a research and development laboratory
specializing in biodegradable plastics, has developed a process in the treatment
of raw solid municipal waste.
/CONTACT: Microtech Research Inc., Patrick
Riley, 440/975-1645/
/Web
site: http://www.mwap2000.com/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/12Feb0103.html
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TO ENVIRONMENTAL, AUTO AND
BUSINESS EDITORS:
National Arbor Day Foundation
Receives Grant From Toyota Motor Corporation
NEBRASKA CITY, NE, Feb. 12
-/E-Wire/-- The National Arbor Day
Foundation and
Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) today announced a partnership
that includes a $380,790 grant from TMC for use in
continuing youth
educational programs in tree planting.
/CONTACT: Gary Brienzo of The National Arbor Day
Foundation,
402-474-5655; Daniel Sieger of Toyota Motor
North America, 212-715-7435/
/Web site: http://www.arborday.org/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/12Feb0101.html
************************************************************
SEND YOUR PRESS RELEASE ON E-WIRE --
1-888-764-NEWS
************************************************************
from Sierra Club February 12, 2001
SC-ACTION Vol. III, # 16
DEFENDING
THE ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA
February 9, 2001
"Neither jail, nor any other
obstacle, will keep me from defending the
forests. I'll
keeping fighting from inside prison, or outside of it."
-- Rodolfo Montiel Flores, jailed
Mexican environmentalist and recipient of
Sierra Club's
Chico Mendes Award
*************** FEATURED TAKE ACTION
************************************
Tell the EPA to Regulate Greenhouse Gas Emissions from New
Motor Vehicles
*************************************************************************
I. Take Action -- NAFTA=Newt and What You Can Do About
It
II. Take Action -- Homestead Air Force Base Victory
and URGENT CALL TO
ACTION!
III. Take Action -- Mexico's President Fox Promises Review
of
Montiel/Cabrera Case
IV.
Take Action -- Protect Our Wildlands & National Forests
V. Take Action -- Stop President Bush's Attacks on Family
Planning
*************************************************************************
FEATURED TAKE ACTION -- Tell
the EPA to Regulate Greenhouse Gas Emissions
from New
Motor Vehicles
The EPA is
requesting comments on a petition to regulate the global warming
pollution that spews out the tailpipes of cars. The
petition, submitted by
a coalition of environmental
groups, requests that the agency use a
provision of the
Clean Air Act to regulate the emissions of carbon dioxide,
methane, nitrous oxide and hydrofluorocarbons from new
cars,light trucks,
and other engines.
The petition asserts that
greenhouse gases contribute to global warming,
and
should be regulated as a pollutant that will cause significant damage
to the environment and public health. Several
industry front groups,
including the American Petroleum
Institute and the Center for Regulatory
Effectiveness,
have already rallied their forces to fight the petition.
Other public comments on the petition are due to EPA by May
23, 2001. Now
is our chance to let the EPA
know that greenhouse gases will cause severe
damage to
our planet, and must be regulated as pollutants under the Clean
Air Act.
Please email comments to: A-and-R-Docket@epa.gov
For more information, visit:
http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-AIR/2001/January/Day-23/a1979.htm
or contact Alex Veitch at 202-547-1141, or
alex.veitch@sierraclub.org
**********************************************************************
I. Take Action -- NAFTA=Newt
and What You Can Do About It
Responsible Trade:
How NAFTA =
Newt
and What You Can do About It
Nothing is more vital to a healthy
life than clean air and safe water.
Yet to benefit
global corporations, the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) contains provisions that jeopardize our hard-won
environmental
safety laws. NAFTA actually
contains provisions similar to those in Newt
Gingrich's
Contract with America that would allow corporations to sue
governments if environmental laws get in the way of
profits. Under these
NAFTA rules,
governments could be intimidated out of adopting important
environmental laws and taxpayers could be forced
to pay billions of
dollars to corporate polluters to
keep our air and water clean.
Already, a Canadian chemical company has used these NAFTA
provisions to sue
the United States for $1 billion
because California banned a carcinogenic
gasoline
additive made by the company that is leaking from gasoline storage
tanks and poisoning the state's drinking water.
The Bush administration now wants
to expand NAFTA's environmental peril by
creating a
Free Trade Area of the Americas, covering the entire Western
Hemisphere. Yet the FTAA has been
negotiated in total secrecy. Please
write to
your congressional representatives to urge the Bush administration
to "release the text" of the FTAA so the public can
understand its terms.
Addressing Correspondence:
To a
Senator: To
a Representative:
The Honorable (full
name) The
Honorable (full name)
United States
Senate United
States House of
Representatives
Washington, DC
20510 Washington,
DC 20515
For more information, write to dan.seligman@sierraclub.org
**********************************************************************
II. Take Action -- Homestead
Air Force Base Victory and URGENT CALL TO
ACTION!
On January 16, the U.S. Air Force
sided with the environmental community by
deciding that
the former Air Force Base at Homestead can never be used as a
commercial airport. In its decision, the Air Force offered
700 acres of
surplus property at Homestead AFB to
Miami-Dade County, for mixed-use
development. But there
is still some concern that Florida politicians are
not
supporting this decision.
Florida Governor Jeb Bush needs to publicly support the
recent Air Force
decision prohibiting commercial
aviation at the former Homestead Air Force
Base. The
proposed airport would have hosted more than 630 flights per day
at low altitudes over Everglades and Biscayne National
Parks and the
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
Ask Governor Bush to now
publicly support the Air Force decision which
provides
economic benefits and protects the Everglades, subject of a $7.8
billion restoration.
THIS CALL is CRITICAL!
HABDI, the
company seeking to build an airport, has filed a lawsuit, and
Miami-Dade County, led by Mayor Alex Penelas is considering
legal actions
against the Air Force.
How to reach the Governor:
Governor Jeb Bush, 850-488-4441 ph. (M-F, 9 am - 5 pm EST)
You can also fax him a letter, especially important
from organizations, to
850-487-0801 (fax) or e-mail to:
jeb@jeb.org (there's no need to cc: us)
**********************************************************************
III. Take Action -- Mexico's
President Vicente Fox Promises Review of
Montiel/Cabrera Case
This week, the Sierra Club presented Mr. Montiel with the
Chico Mendes
Award, our highest international honor
given to individuals and
nongovernmental organizations
for extraordinary courage and leadership in
defending
the environment. We were honored to have noted human rights
advocate Ethel Kennedy join Stephen Mills and Alejandro
Queral of the
Sierra Club's International Program in
Mexico to present the award to Mr.
Montiel in Mexico.
The trip and award generated a great deal of press
including stories in the New York Times, LA Times, Houston
Chronicle, AP,
Reuters, and numerous other press hits
in Mexico.
During the trip,
Mrs. Kennedy and the Sierra Club were successful in
scheduling a face to face meeting with Mexico's new
president Vicente Fox.
President Fox promised to launch
a new investigation into Mr. Montiel and
Mr. Cabrera's
case and to take appropriate steps to find justice. We are
grateful to President Fox for making time to meet with us
and for making
his public commitments to this matter.
Take Action for Mr. Montiel
and Mr. Cabrera:
We think that
this is a very critical time and would like to encourage all
interested parties to write a letter to the editor of your
local newspaper
encouraging US President George Bush to
bring up the case with Mexico's
President Fox when he
visits Mexico late next week. Mr. Montiel and Mr.
Cabrera are innocent of all crimes except the "crime" of
caring about the
environment. Please emphasize our
continued view that Mr. Montiel and Mr.
Cabrera should
be released immediately and unconditionally. (Visit our Web
site at www.sierraclub.org/human-rights for more
information)
**********************************************************************
IV
. Take Action -- Protect Our Wildlands & National Forests
A. Help
Protect Our Wild Forests -- Write your Representative
Last year
thousands of Sierra Club members wrote letters, attended hearings
and spoke out to protect our Wild
Forests. Because of your good work the
Wild
Forest Protection Plan was signed and will protect 60 million acres
from road construction and commercial
logging. Now we need your help to
defend
Wild Forests from attacks by the Bush administration. Please take a
moment to write your Senators and Representatives and
urge them to stand up
to attacks on our Wild
Forests. You can call your Members of Congress
through the Capitol Hill switchboard at (202)
224-3121. Urge them to
oppose all efforts to
derail the Wild Forest Protection Plan!
B. Protect and Restore Our National Forests Commercial
logging destroys
wildlife habitat, degrades recreation
opportunities, impacts our clean
water sources and
wastes taxpayer money. It is time to stop the subsidies
of forest destruction and invest in forest
restoration. Please write a
letter to your
local newspaper and urge your friends and neighbors to do
the same. You can find a sample
letter on the Sierra Club website at
www.sierraclub.org/takeaction/logging For more information
call Mitzi
Emrich at (202) 547-1141.
**********************************************************************
V. Take Action -- Stop
President Bush's Attacks on Family Planning
Only two days his inaugural
address, President George W. Bush reinstated
the global
gag rule on international family planning. The global gag rule
bars international family planning organizations that
receive a single
dollar of U.S. funds from using their
own money to talk about abortion with
their patients,
provide abortion services, or lobby to change abortion laws
in their countries. Under this rule, overseas
organizations cannot use
their own revenue for these
purposes. If they do, they may be barred from
receiving U.S. humanitarian aid that goes to help maternal
mortality and
child survival programs. In
reality, U.S. law has prevented U.S. taxpayer
dollars
from paying for abortions overseas since 1973.
Reinstating the global gag rule
will hurt women and the environment. This
policy will ultimately impact all efforts to protect the
environment.
Because rapid population growth
exacerbates every environmental problem, it
is
intimately linked to all our efforts to protect the environment. By
limiting access to information and services that help
families to decide
the timing and spacing of their
children, President Bush is making it more
difficult to
protect the natural resources that are under pressure from the
demands of rapidly increasing population.
TAKE
ACTION: Let President Bush know that you disagree with the
reinstatement of the global gag rule and that you
disapprove of this
blatant attack on women and the
environment. This should not be one of
Bush's first acts as President. Contact the
White House, the Secretary of
State, the National
Security Advisor, your Senators and Representative to
state your disapproval of this action.
President George W. Bush
1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20500
202-456-1414
comment line
202-456-2461 fax president@whitehouse.gov
Secretary of State Colin Powell
202-647-4000, 202-261-8577 fax
National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
202-456-9481
U.S. Capitol
Switchboard: 202-224-3121
For further information: Contact Laurie Mignone, Global
Population &
Environment Program,
laurie.mignone@sierraclub.org.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sierra Club Legislative Hotline - 202-675-2394
Sierra Club National Headquarters - 415-977-5500
Sierra Club World Wide Web - http://www.sierraclub.org
Sierra Club Vote Watch Website - http://www.sierraclub.org/votewatch/
White House Comment Line - 202-456-1111
White House Fax Line - 202-456-2461
George W. Bush's e-mail -
president@whitehouse.gov
Dick
Cheney's e-mail - vice-president@whitehouse.gov
White House Address - 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, DC
20500
US Capitol Switchboard - 202-224-3121
To contact your senators - http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index.cfm
To contact your representative - http://www.house.gov/writerep
from Defenders of Wildlife February 13, 2001
DENlines Issue #33
Defenders Electronic Network (DEN)
Friday Feb. 9, 2001
1. SAVE ARCTIC REFUGE: Half-million responses to on-line
petition drive
2. ENERGY SOLUTIONS: Conservationists
offer better plan
3. ROAD WARRIORS: Defenders fights
attack on roadless initiative
4. SPEAKING OUT: You sent
message against exploitation of public lands
5.
SPECIAL WOLVES: Famed Algonquin pack faces threat
6. ADOPT A WOLF: Send the perfect Valentine's Day
message
7. CREATURE FEATURE: Meet the Snowy
Owl
1. SAVE ARCTIC REFUGE: Half-million responses to on-line
petition drive
In only the
first two weeks of Defenders of Wildlife's on-line
petition drive to protect the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge from
oil drilling, supporters sent 500,000
e-mails and faxes to President
Bush and Congress from
our Web site http://www.SaveArcticRefuge.org
"This phenomenal response shows that people are
overwhelmingly
against exploitation of America's
Serengeti," Defenders President
Rodger Schlickeisen
says. "It's quickly mushrooming into the largest
Internet petition campaign ever." BP Amoco and other
multinational
oil giants would destroy the habitat
that's home to a rich diversity
of wildlife . including
caribou, polar bears, wolves, muskoxen and
millions of
migratory birds . all for a 180-day supply of oil that
would take 10 years to bring to market. "Obviously, that
won't solve
our energy problems," Schlickeisen says. If
you help only one
environmental cause this year, make
it this one.
Click here to
join our massive on-line petition drive -- and don't
forget to forward the petition to your friends:
http://www.savearcticrefuge.org
2. ENERGY SOLUTIONS:
Conservationists offer better plan
With opposition building, Sen. Frank Murkowski of Alaska,
the
Republican chairman of the Senate Energy and
Natural Resources
Committee, is introducing his energy
bill next week to allow
drilling in the Arctic refuge.
But this week, the Natural Resources
Defense Council
offered a common-sense, forward-looking policy that
protects the refuge. Key recommendations include raising
fuel
economy standards for new cars to 39 miles per
gallon over the next
decade. That would save 12 billion
barrels of oil by 2020, 30
billion by 2035 and 50
billion by 2050, experts say. The U.S.
Geological Survey estimates that the Arctic refuge, on the
other
hand, would produce only about 3 billion barrels,
less than what
the country uses in six months.
3. ROAD WARRIORS: Defenders fights
attack on roadless initiative
Defenders of Wildlife went to court this week with a
coalition of
organizations to fight for the U.S. Forest
Service's new rule
preserving pristine wildernesses.
The coalition is opposing two
lawsuits seeking to
overturn the rule, which protects nearly 60
million
acres of forest lands nationwide from road construction and
commercial logging. Those lawsuits were filed last month by
the
state of Idaho, off-road vehicle groups and others.
At the same time,
the Bush administration has delayed
the effective date for the
popular rule by 60 days
until May. "We're fighting to protect the
country's
last unroaded forests for all Americans to enjoy and for
the wildlife that need them to survive," Defenders'
President Rodger
Schlickeisen says.
4. SPEAKING OUT: You sent message
against exploitation of public lands
Thanks for speaking out against Gale Norton's appointment
as
Interior secretary. From the "SayNoToNorton.org" Web
site, you
joined concerned citizens who sent more than
100,000 e-mails and
faxes to senators to express their
opposition to her appointment.
While the Senate has
confirmed Norton's nomination, because of
your actions, 24 senators stood up and voted against her --
that's
more "no" votes than have ever been cast against
any nominee for
Interior secretary. Although Norton was
confirmed, you sent the
loud-and-clear message that
Americans will not tolerate opening our
public lands to
oil, mining and timber industries. At the same time,
you exposed Norton's extremist record and forced her to
disavow many
of her most controversial views. She's on
notice that Congress is
watching her closely to make
sure that she keeps her pledge to
enforce laws
protecting our natural heritage.
Click here to see how your senators voted on Norton's
confirmation:
http://www.defenders.org/newsroom/nortonvote.html
5.SPECIAL WOLVES: Famed Algonquin
pack faces threat
Ontario's
Algonquin Park, considered the "Yellowstone of Canada,"
is home to a special pack of 150 wolves. Scientists think
the
Algonquin Park wolves are a genetically unique
species similar to
the endangered red wolf in the
southeastern U.S. But while Algonquin
wolves are
protected within the park's boundaries, they are hunted
and trapped in surrounding townships. As many as 40 wolves
are
killed each year. Defenders of Wildlife is urging
Canada to protect
the pack to ensure long-term survival
of these special wolves.
To
read an advisory group's recommendations, click here:
http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/MNR/pubs/pubmenu.html
6. ADOPT A WOLF: A special P.S. on
your Valentine's Day card
Wolves are surprisingly warm and affectionate. Like humans,
they
live in close-knit social units, where
the alpha pair shares food
and the communal care of
pups with their packmates.
You
can tell your "alpha" you care too -- by adopting a wolf today.
And it's easy . just go to http://www.defenders.org/adopt.html and
go on-line or print out a form to make your $25
tax-deductible
Valentine's Day sponsorship gift. We'll
take care of the rest .
sending an adoption
certificate, Wolves of America booklet, and
stuffed toy
wolf pup to your Valentine. While it will take a few
weeks to receive all the benefits of this gift, showing
your love
for wildlife sends the perfect Valentine's
Day message.
7. CREATURE FEATURE: Meet the Snowy Owl
The Snowy Owl is one of the
hundreds of unique animal species that
calls the frigid
Arctic tundra home. With its gleaming yellow eyes
and
pure white feathers, the Snowy Owl is quite a sight to see.
The owl's thick coat of feathers keeps it warm during the
long cold
months of the Arctic winter. It is one of the
largest of all owl
species -- males have a wing span of
about 65 inches. The snowy
owl's diet mainly consists
of lemmings and rabbits. They are
fearless predators
and will vigorously attack with their razor-sharp
talons if their nesting area is threatened.
For more on the Snowy Owl, click
here:
http://www.discoverit.co.uk/falconry/snowyowl.htm
==========================================================
To subscribe to DENlines, visit Defenders' website at
http://www.defenders.org/den or send an e-mail to
denlines@den.defenders.org and put the word SUBSCRIBE in
the
subject line.
==========================================================
To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to
denlines@den.defenders.org and
put the word UNSUBSCRIBE
in the subject line.
==========================================================
If your e-mail address has changed, send an e-mail to
changeaddress@den.defenders.org and put your new e-mail
address in
the subject line. Make sure you put nothing
in the subject line
other than your new e-mail address.
==========================================================
DENlines is a bi-weekly publication of Defenders of
Wildlife, a
leading national conservation organization
recognized as one of the
nation's most progressive
advocates for wildlife and its habitat.
It is known for
its effective leadership on endangered species issues,
particularly predators such as brown bears and gray wolves.
Defenders also advocates new approaches to
wildlife conservation
that protect species before they
become endangered. Founded in 1947,
Defenders is a
nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization with more than
400,000
members and supporters.
Defenders
of Wildlife
1101
14th Street, N.W.
Suite
1400
Washington,
DC 20005
Copyright
(c) 20001 Defenders of Wildlife
from Alaska Rainforest Campaign February 13, 2001
On January 5, President Clinton. s landmark Roadless Area
Protection Policy was announced. The Policy, which protects 58.5
million acres of our national forests, including immediate protection for
Alaska. s Tongass, will prevent new road construction and commercial logging in
our last wildlands. While this is a huge victory for forest conservation, we
will need to fight to guarantee the new policy stays in place under the incoming
Bush administration and 107th Congress.
President Bush has been vocal in his opposition to the
Roadless Policy and has put a 60-day delay on its implementation. During this
time the new Bush Administration will be reviewing the policy as well as many
other conservation initiatives put in place by President Clinton.
Some members of Congress from
western states are also voicing their intent to prevent the Roadless Policy from
being implemented. The Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness
Act (SBREFA) is one tool several Congressmen have said they will invoke as a way
of overturning the president's policy. Under the SBREFA Congress has 60
congressional working days to consider the Roadless Policy. SBREFA,
has never been used successfully to overturn a regulation, yet a simple majority
vote in both houses would overturn the policy.
What you can do: It is extremely important that members of
Congress hear from you. Please write to your two Senators and your
one Representative urging them to oppose any attempts to undermine the Roadless
Policy and its application to Alaska. s Tongass and Chugach. (To find out your
elected officials and their contact information visit http://www.vote-smart.org/index.phtml) Personal letters
are most effective, but if you do not have the time, send a free fax in seconds
from www.akrain.org.
Here is a
Sample Letter:
The Honorable
__________
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator ___________,
I am writing to voice my support for the new Roadless Area
Protection Policy. This landmark policy will help protect our nation.
s last heritage forests including the nation. s largest-Alaska. s Tongass and
Chugach National Forest. These unroaded wildlands provide important areas for
people to fish, hunt and recreate. They are also some of the last
sources of clean drinking water and important habitat for fish and
wildlife. More than 1.6 million concerned Americans helped shape this
landmark policy. It would be inappropriate for Congress to attempt to
undermine the huge public support mounted to protect these lands.
Unfortunately, it is my
understanding that some members of Congress would like to overturn the Roadless
Policy through the use of the Small Business Regulatory
Enforcement Fairness Act or other similar means. I urge
you to oppose any such attempts. I also would like to express my
particular concern over the fate of Alaska. s Tongass and Chugach National
Forest, which contain the largest remaining tracts of temperate rainforest in
the world. Please oppose any attempts to roll back protections for America. s
last great rainforests. It is in the best interest of this nation to leave some
areas undeveloped-for once they are gone they can never be replaced. Thank you.
Sincerely,
YOUR NAME
YOUR MAILING ADDRESS
If at anytime you wish to
unsubscribe please visit http://www.akrain.org/howtohelp.asp where you can
easily remove yourself from the list. To speak with someone directly
please e-mail info@akrain.org or call 907-222-2552.
Thanks for your support.
Alaska Rainforest Campaign Staff.
from Environment News Service February 13, 2001
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE
(ENS) http://ens-news.com
"We
Cover the Earth For You"
************************************************************
CLIMATE CHANGE TALKS SET FOR
SUMMER
NEW YORK, New York,
February 13, 2001 (ENS) - International negotiations to
work out exactly how greenhouse gas emissions will be
limited to avert
global warming are set to resume this
summer, the president of the United
Nations process
said Monday.
For full text and
graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-13-01.html
************************************************************
ENFORCEMENT CHANGES ON TAP FOR
BUSH'S EPA
By Brian Hansen
WASHINGTON, DC, February 13, 2001
(ENS) - Enforcement activities at the
U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will soon be carried on very
differently now that George W. Bush has replaced Bill
Clinton in the White
House, according to two of
Washington's most prominent environmental
attorneys.
For full text and graphics
visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-13-15.html
************************************************************
NOBEL PRIZE CHEMIST HELPS
MEXICO CITY CLEAR THE AIR
By
Susana Guzmán
MEXICO CITY,
Mexico, February 13, 2001 (ENS) - Dr. Mario Molina, the
Mexican Nobel Prize winning chemist, is lending his
considerable expertise
to the solution of the air
quality problems in Mexico City, one of the
world's
most polluted cities.
For full
text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-13-02.html
************************************************************
EUROPEAN UNION GOES ORGANIC TO
TACKLE BSE SCARE
BRUSSELS,
Belgium, February 13, 2001 (ENS) - Organic farming is at the
heart of a seven point plan announced today by the European
Commission to
tackle the continent's BSE crisis.
For full text and graphics, visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-13-11.html
************************************************************
FORD UK CHAIRMAN LEADS FIGHT
AGAINST CARBON EMISSIONS
LONDON, United Kingdom, February 13, 2001 (ENS) - The
chairman of one of
the UK's biggest motor companies is
now chairman of a body aimed at cutting
carbon
emissions.
For full text and
graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-13-10.html
***********************************************************
RACECARS OFF AND RUNNING ON
AUSTRALIAN SUMMER SUN
BROKEN
HILL, Australia, February 13, 2001 (ENS) - Ten teams of Australia's
top solar car racers hit Broken Hill today on a 2,300
kilometer (1,426
mile) race to Sydney. The cars,
running only on power from the Sun, rolled
out of
Adelaide on Sunday to fight for top spot as winner of SunRace 21.C.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-13-04.html
************************************************************
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE
AMERISCAN: FEBRUARY 13, 2001
Colorado Slaps Steel Mill with Record Fine
Microbial Activity Called
Component of Global Change
Children's Lead Levels Declining
Global Survey Tracks Wind Energy
Expansion
$8 Million Available
for Fish Habitat Restoration
Representative Lewis Gets Ansel Adams Award
Maryland Survey Finds Record Eagle
Numbers
Trees For the Future
Goes Online
For full text and
graphics visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-13-09.html
Copyright Environment News
Service (ENS) 2000 All Rights Reserved.
************************************************************
SEND
NEWS STORY TIPS TO news@ens-news.com
****************************************************************************
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TO MARINE AND ENVIRONMENT
EDITORS:
Commerce Department Finds
Record High Number of U.S. Fish Stocks in Jeopardy
Conservationists and Fishermen Seek
Stronger Laws and Enforcement
WASHINGTON, DC, Feb. 13
-/E-Wire/-- The number of fish stocks in need of stronger conservation in U.S.
coastal waters has increased for the fourth year running, despite laws requiring
federal fisheries managers to stop overfishing and rebuild overfished stocks.
The number of fish stocks in jeopardy jumped from 98 to a record high 107,
according to the new Department of Commerce year 2000 Report to Congress: Status
of Fisheries of the United States. These include such popular commercial and
sport fish as red snapper, summer flounder, and
Atlantic swordfish.
/CONTACT: Herb Ettel, Marine Fish Conservation
Network (202)543-5509, Vicki Paris, Center for Marine Fish
Conservation(202)857-1683, Paul Parker, Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen's
Assoc. (508)945-2432, Kate Wing, Natural Resources Defense Council
(415)777-0220/
/Web
site: http://www.conservefish.org/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/13Feb0108.html
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
First-Time NASA Sponsorhsip
Supports Caribbean Exploration of Reef Fishs by Frenchman Gilles Fonteneau
The Bacardi Family Foundation Joins NASA with a
Grant
CORAL GABLES, FL, Feb. 13
-/E-Wire/-- NASA and the Bacardi Family Foundation may appear unlikely
collaborators, but this is exactly the situation in their co-sponsorship of
ocean exploration by Frenchman Gilles Fonteneau.
/CONTACT: Laura Baddish, THE BADDISH GROUP, T:
212 221-7611 F: 212 221-7687, email: lbaddish@aol.com/
/Web site: http://www.bacardi.com/
For Full Text
Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/13Feb0107.html
***********************************************************************
E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS
RELEASE
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
$17
Billion Outdoor Industry Launches "B4W," National Initiative to Protect Roadless
Areas
Outdoor industry sales up 19%
since December '99
BOULDER, CO, Feb. 13
-/E-Wire/-- Building upon the momentum of
Outdoor
Retailer Winter Market, last month's record-setting industry
trade show, the $17 billion outdoor industry announced the
formation of
"Businesses for Wilderness" (B4W), a
national initiative supporting the
protection of
critical roadless areas throughout the United States.
Championed by ORCA, the trade association of the outdoor
industry, over
4000 businesses will benefit from this
comprehensive education campaign.
/CONTACT: Chris Goddard, CGPR, 203-838-8841,
Frank Hugelmeyer, 303-444-3353 Ext. 23/
/Web site: http://www.orca.org/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/13Feb0106.html
***********************************************************************
E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS
RELEASE
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TO ENVIRONMENTAL AND STATE
EDITORS:
$11.7 Million to Restore 20
California Wetland Sites in 8 Counties
DAVIS, CA, Feb. 13
-/E-Wire/-- The Natural Resources Conservation
Service
(NRCS) in California has identified 20 sites where agricultural land
will be restored to a native wetlands
condition. The $11.7 million in
easements
and restoration work is funded by the federal Wetlands Reserve
Program (WRP). The 20 sites will add 6,727 new
acres of restored wetlands in
California to total over
60,000 acres protected by WRP since its inception in
1992.
/CONTACT: Anita Brown of The Natural Resources
Conservation Service, 530-792-5644/
/Web site: http://www.ca.nrcs.usda.gov/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/13Feb0105.html
***********************************************************************
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RELEASE
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Massachusetts Executive
Suggests President Bush Look More Closely at Mercury-Free Lamps to Save Our
Environment and Protect Our Children
WOBURN, MA, Feb. 13
-/E-Wire/-- In a letter to President Bush, Lou Panico, CEO of Xenon Corporation
of
Woburn, MA., has suggested that mercury-free lamps
be looked at more closely
if we are to save our
environment and conserve energy.
/CONTACT: Lou Panico, CEO of Xenon Corporation,
Telephone: 1-800-XENON-XL 1-781-938-3594, Fax: 1-781-933-8804/
/Web site: http://www.xenon-corp.com/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/13Feb0104.html
***********************************************************************
E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS
RELEASE
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TO ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
EDITORS:
California Electricity Crisis
Spurs Sales of Home Wind Energy Systems
Small Wind Systems Provide Protection
Against Rate Shock; 50% Rebate Available from State
WASHINGTON, DC, Feb. 13
-/E-Wire/-- California consumer interest in home wind energy generators has
increased sharply since the beginning of the year as the state's prolonged
electricity crisis has made daily headlines and raised customer fears of rate
shock, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) said today.
/CONTACT: Tom Gray (802) 649-2112,Christine Real
de Azua (202) 383-2508; Consumer contacts: California Energy Commission rebate
program: (916) 653-2834 or (916) 654-4721; For a full listing of
small wind turbine manufacturers, see http://www.awea.org/directory/wtgmfgr.html on AWEA's
Web site./
/Web
site: http://www.awea.org
http://www.bergey.com/
For Full Text
Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/13Feb0103.html
***********************************************************************
E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS
RELEASE
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Sierra Club Newsletter
Features IFS System
- CT Dept.
of Corrections Renews Lease and Re-Orders Styro Solve©
DELRAY BEACH, FL, Feb. 13
-/E-Wire/-- International Foam Solutions, Inc. (OTC BB: IFOS) announces today
that the Pisgah, NC Sierra Club group reprinted the DuPont Magazine article on
the IFS Styro Solve System in its entirety in the Chapter's February
newsletter.
/CONTACT: Harvey Katz,
CEO 561-272-6900, Tony Bianco, COO 561-272-6900/
/Web site: http://www.internationalfoamsolutions.com/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/13Feb0102.html
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RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE
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TO BUSINESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL
EDITORS:
DynaMotive Announces First
BioOil Production from New Plant
VANCOUVER, Canada, Feb. 13
-/E-Wire/-- DynaMotive Technologies Corporation
(OTCBB:
DYMTF) announced today that initial production runs in its new 10
tonne per day BioOil pilot plant have been completed
successfully. Fuel
quality BioOil was produced from BC
wood waste.
/CONTACT: call Toll Free (in North America):
877-863-2268; Raymond
McAllister, Director, Corporate
Communications, Telephone: 604-267-6000, Fax:
604-267-6005, Email: investor@dynamotive.com,
To request a free copy of this
organization's annual report, please go to
www.newswire.ca and click on reports@cnw./
/Web site: http://www.dynamotive.com/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/13Feb0101.html
***********************************************************************
ENVIRONMENTAL
JOB ANNOUNCEMENT!
***********************************************************************
Public Affairs Management, a leading SF public
involvement and environmental planning
firm, is seeking
candidates for the following positions. Click on the links to find
out more!
*
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*
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http://www.naturalist.com/eco-jobs/index.cfm?temp=job&job=1846
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of EnviroNetwork.com
The
leading job network for environmental professionals.
************************************************************************
www.EnviroNetwork.com
************************************************************************
from League of Conservation Voters February 13, 2001
===================================
LCV's Weekly Congressional Update
Week of February 12, 2001
===================================
The League of Conservation Voters
(LCV) continues to monitor congressional
activity and
hold Members accountable for their action on important
environmental issues. See the information below for a
concise look at what
happened in Congress last week and
what we anticipate for the coming week.
===================================
SUMMARY
===================================
* Murkowski's energy bill to open
up ANWR is delayed;
* Pipeline
safety reform legislation passes the Senate with a few
unexpected additions;
* Brownfields legislation is back;
* NRDC offers its own
comprehensive energy reform package.
===================================
ACTIONS AND VOTES LAST WEEK
===================================
**SENATE**
***The introduction of Senator
Frank Murkowski's (R-AK) controversial
energy bill has
been delayed until after the President's day holiday and
is dependent on the progress made on the new
administration's tax cut
proposals. Most lawmakers and
White House officials are spending a
majority of their
time looking at the tax cut and how it will affect the
overall budget. The backbone of Murkowski's bill would open
up the coastal
plain of the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge to oil exploration and
drilling. This provision,
among others, has drawn widespread opposition
from
environmentalists and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. To learn
more about the growing struggle to protect this pristine
wilderness see
"News Flash" below or click www.lcv.org.
***The Senate passed Senators
John McCain (R-AZ) and Patty Murray's (D-WA)
pipeline
safety legislation 98-0 with a few unexpected amendments. One of
the additions to the final version will require inspections
of pipelines
every five years. The provision, sponsored
by Senators Corzine (D) and
Torrecelli (D) of New
Jersey, will help the bill appeal to some of its
critics who have been pushing for stronger pipeline
regulations. In return
for the compromise on
inspections, however, the new legislation will also
include exemptions to the five-year mandate if a pipeline
has updated
technologies and regular monitoring
practices or if there is a disruption
in energy
supplies. The bill now goes to the House where calls for
stronger provisions sunk it last year.
Pipeline safety reform emerged as
a critical issue first in 1999 when a
pipe carrying
diesel and jet fuel in the state of Washington exploded,
killing three young boys. The calls for action were
exacerbated the
following year when a natural gas
pipeline exploded at a campground in New
Mexico,
killing eleven people, including five children. Since the nation's
thirst for fossil fuel continues to grow, more pipelines
carrying oil and
gas throughout the landscape can be
expected.
.
***Robert Zoellick was confirmed by the Senate 98-0 to be
the next U.S.
Trade Representative. The first two items
on his plate will be softwood
lumber negotiations with
Canada and regaining presidential "fast track"
authority before the Summit of the Americas in April.
Most U.S. presidents in the past
30 years have enjoyed the "fast track"
negotiating
ability which requires Congress to vote up or down on trade
deals without offering special conditions or amendments.
President Clinton
was granted "fast track" authority
during his first term in office but
Congress refused to
renew it during his second term, due largely to his
support for the incorporation of labor and environmental
standards into
trade agreements.
The calls to consider labor and
the environment in trade deals have grown
stronger,
however, since the beginning of Clinton's second term. The
massive protests by thousands of people in Seattle and
Washington D.C.
have helped raise the issue to the
global stage. Senator Max Baucus
(D-MT), Ranking Member
of the prestigious Senate Finance Committee, has
been
especially vocal in his opposition to any "fast track" bills that do
not address environmental and labor standards. To learn
more click
http://www.senate.gov/~baucus/international_trade.html.
**HOUSE**
Democrats are slowly but surely completing their committee
assignments
amid clashes with Republican leaders over
receiving equal representation
on the panels. To see an
up to date list of committee rosters go to
http://www.lcv.org/actioncenter/congressional_action.html
(PDF required)
===================================
IN COMMITTEE THIS WEEK
===================================
**SENATE**
It appears that Senator Lincoln
Chafee's (R-RI) brownfields bill will
receive
consideration by the full Senate this year. The Brownfields
Revitalization and Environmental Restoration Act (S. 2700)
had received 67
Republican and Democratic co-sponsors
in the 106th Congress but was
blocked from the Senate
floor due to a deal involving Senate Majority
Leader
Trent Lott (R-MS) and Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID). In exchange for
preventing consideration of S. 2700, Lott received Crapo's
assurance in
writing that he would use his power on the
Senate Environmental and Public
Works Committee to
exempt scrap metal dealers from Superfund laws.
The deal expired at the end of the 106th Congress and Crapo
is not
interested in renewing it. Chafee has indicated
that the new brownfields
bill will be similar to S.
2700. Brownfields are contaminated industrial
sites
that are not sufficiently polluted to qualify for cleanup under the
Superfund program. There are thousands of abandoned
brownfields around the
country. Chafee's bill in the
106th Congress would have provided
incentives and
certain protections from future lawsuits for companies who
clean and restore these areas.
**HOUSE**
Hearings begin this week in the Energy and Commerce
Subcommittee on Energy
and Air Quality chaired by Rep
Joe Barton (R-TX) on the California energy
crisis. The
hearing will begin at 10:00am on Thursday, February 15th. To
learn more about Rep. Barton's environmental record click
http://scorecard.lcv.org/member.cfm?id=7089.
===================================
NEWS FLASH!!
===================================
**The Natural Resources Defense
Council (NRDC) responded to oil drilling
enthusiasts
last week by releasing an environmentally sensitive energy
plan for the United States. The plan calls for raising fuel
economy
standards for new cars and trucks to 39 miles
per gallon, providing
incentives for the construction
of energy efficient buildings and
developing the
natural gas reserves of Prudhoe Bay in Alaska. To read the
report and NRDC's press release click www.nrdc.org.
**Three lawmakers who will be at
the center of shaping environmental
policy in the 107th
Congress endorsed a market driven and performance
based
approach to natural resource management and protection. The plan was
developed by the Business Roundtable to promote
sustainability and foster
a new relationship with the
EPA. Among those supporting the plan were
Reps. Sherry
Boehlert (R-NY), Science Committee Chairman, and Nick Boucher
(D-VA), senior Democrat of the House Commerce Committee's
Energy and Power
Subcommittee, as well as the Senate
Environment and Public Works Committee
Chairman, Bob
Smith (R-NH). To view the plan click
http://www.brtable.org/press.cfm/497.
===================================================================
LCV's Weekly Congressional Update is compiled using
various sources,
including Congressional Quarterly,
Congressional GreenSheets and
Greenwire. LCV-Update is brought to you by the
League of Conservation
Voters, the nonprofit political
voice for the national environmental and
conservation
community. LCV is the only national organization dedicated
full-time to informing the public about the environmental
records of
federally elected officials and candidates.
LCV publishes annually the
National Environmental Scorecard, which rates
members
of Congress on the most critical environmental votes cast during
that year.
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Join LCV today! To find out more information about how to
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email:
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==================================================================
from Rainforest Action Network February 13, 2001
======================================
Easy, Quick
Valentine's Day Action Against Citigroup
======================================
Citigroup, made up of Citibank,
Salomon Smith Barney, (just renamed Citi
Asset
Management) and Traveler. s Insurance, isn't usually thought of as one of the
world's most loving institutions. But when
you think about it, there are a
lot of things that
Citigroup loves:
Citigroup
loves extinction, and they fund it heavily by investing in
projects that destroy the environment.
Citigroup loves private prisons, and aiding the companies
that own them.
Citigroup loves racist lending, and is
perhaps one of America's most
discriminatory, predatory
banks.
Citigroup loves debt, be it through screwing
their individual customers or
underwriting World Bank
Bonds and screwing over entire, impoverished
nations.
Citigroup loves torture, and it's aid of such projects
as the Chad-Cameroon
pipeline are giving money straight
to human rights violators.
Citigroup loves climate
change and the promote it by funding massive fossil
fuel projects.
So this Valentine's Day, why not drop Citigroup a love note
of your own?
Tell Citi to stop loving its greed and
start loving the world!
Tell Citi CEO Sandy Weill to
have a heart and stop funding destruction!
Please take a few moments to send Citigroup an online
Valentine's Day card
asking them to stop their
destructive practices and start supporting a sane,
just
economy.
EMAIL CITI A FREE VALENTINE'S CARD! SEND
IT TO
investorrelations@citi.com
Free internet Valentine's can be
sent to from
websites like www.bluemountain.com and
www.ecards.com.
It only takes a few minutes but can
make a big difference!
For
more information of Citigroup and its destructive practices, check out
www.ran.org
www.innercitypress.org
www.citiaction.org
www.tellcitibank.org
from EarthJustice Legal
Defense Fund February 14, 2001
------------------------------------------------ from Natural Resources Defense
Council February 14, 2001
Natural Resources Defense Council's from the Wilderness Society
February 14, 2001
The Wilderness Society from Environment News Service
February 14, 2001
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE
(ENS) http://ens-news.com from the Green Party February
15, 2001
Green Party of New York State E-News Vol. 1, No. 3,
February 14, 2001 from Natural Resources Defense
Council February 15, 2001
Natural Resources Defense Council's from Sierra Club February 15,
2001
Sierra Club ¬ Greater Yellowstone
Coalition ¬ Jackson Hole Conservation
EARTHJUSTICE E-BRIEF
Monthly news
and views from Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund
------------------------------------------------
In this issue:
>ROADLESS FORESTS INITIATIVE
THREATENED
>STELLAR SEA LIONS - UPDATE
>TAKE ACTION - SEND A VALENTINE FOR ENDANGERED SPECIES
>WHAT'S NEW
>FISH-TREES-WATER MUSIC AND MORE
>ABOUT EARTHJUSTICE
------------------------------------------------
ROADLESS FORESTS INITIATIVE THREATENED
Last month, we celebrated President Clinton's designation
of nearly 60
million acres of wild national forest
lands as off limits to further road
building. This
month, lawyers from Earthjustice filed court papers
opposing two lawsuits that are seeking to overturn the
designation.
http://www.earthjustice.org/news/pr020601.htm
------------------------------------------------
STELLAR SEA LIONS - UPDATE
As
large as a Volkswagen Beetle, the endangered Steller sea lion is the
biggest sea lion in the world. As industrial trawl fishing
has become
concentrated in Steller sea lions' feeding
areas in the North Pacific,
this endangered mammal is
quickly disappearing. Earthjustice sued the
National
Marine Fisheries Service to compel them to evaluate the
environmental impact of groundfishing on the sea lions.
Their report is
finally available for public comment.
http://www.earthjustice.org/campaigns/stellar/intro.html
------------------------------------------------
TAKE ACTION - SEND A VALENTINE FOR ENDANGERED SPECIES
Endangered species need your love! More than 1,200 species
including
bears, manatees, eagles, and butterflies are
on the endangered and
threatened list. Tell your
Senators that you care, and want their
commitment to
increase protection of our nation's endangered wildlife, by
sending them a valentine.
http://www.earthjustice.org/work/hill/valentines_Frames.html
------------------------------------------------
WHAT'S NEW
~ Florida's endangered
manatee population received a welcome boost in a
landmark legal settlement reached between conservationists
and the Florida
Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission (FWCC). The victory stemmed from
a January
2000 lawsuit filed by Earthjustice on behalf of a coalition of
18 national and state environmental, animal protection, and
public
interest groups.
http://www.earthjustice.org/news/pr012401.htm
~ Earthjustice is representing
three environmental groups in a lawsuit
against the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failure to protect
salmon from the harmful effects of pesticides.
http://www.earthjustice.org/news/pr013001.htm
~ Report from Washington - Read
our "Report From Washington, D.C. on the
Incoming
Administration and What it Means for the environment."
http://www.earthjustice.org/work/hill/index.html
------------------------------------------------
FISH-TREES-WATER MUSIC AND MORE
Earthjustice's Fish-Trees-Water campaign is protecting and
restoring the
Great Northwest. You can help, and enjoy
great music or a cool t-shirt at
the same time. Check
out our all-star blues CD and organic cotton t-shirts
at:
http://store.yahoo.com/earthjustice/
------------------------------------------------
ABOUT EARTHJUSTICE
Founded as the
Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund in 1971, Earthjustice Legal
Defense Fund is the non-profit law firm for the
environment. Earthjustice
represents hundreds of
environmental organizations, large and small, from
nine
offices across the country. We do not charge our clients for our
services.
SUPPORT US
Your support of
Earthjustice will help defend and protect our forests and
other public lands; our air, water, and wildlife; our
children, and our
communities. Please, join us.
http://www.earthjustice.org/join/index.html
QUESTIONS? FEEDBACK?
Drop us a line: mailto:enews@earthjustice.org
------------------------------------------------
All contents copyright 2001 by Earthjustice Legal Defense
Fund, 180
Montgomery Street, Suite1400, San Francisco,
CA 94104
EARTHSMARTCARS BULLETIN
February 13, 2001
******************************************
Please do not reply to this message. See the
instructions
below for how to unsubscribe or contact
NRDC with questions
or comments.
******************************************
Contents
1) EARTHSMARTCARS CAMPAIGN UPDATE
* Campaign history and successes
* What's next?
2) URGENT ACTION NEEDED
Call the White House on Thursday, February 15!
3) **SPECIAL FEATURE**
On the road to the future with three happy hybrid
owners
4) LINKS
5) ABOUT NRDC/HOW TO CONTACT US
******************************************
1) EARTHSMARTCARS CAMPAIGN UPDATE
In January, NRDC brought its
earthsmartcars pledge campaign
to a successful close at
the North American International
Auto Show in Detroit,
where, along with a coalition of other
environmental
and consumer groups, we presented U.S.
automakers with
a clear and unmistakable message from
American
consumers: build cleaner, greener, affordable
vehicles,
and we'll buy them. We're capping off the
earthsmartcars bulletin's successful run with a special
feature about some real-life drivers of these advanced
cars.
== Campaign history and
successes ==
In March 1999, NRDC launched its
earthsmartcars campaign to
convince Detroit that
Americans would buy cleaner,
advanced-technology cars
and trucks if they were made
available with today's
prices and performance standards. Our
goal was to
collect 100,000 consumer pledges to purchase
these new
green vehicles. We met (and even exceeded) that
goal
and publicly delivered seven mailbags filled with your
pledge cards to automakers at their annual auto show.
Thanks
to all of you for helping us deliver such an
emphatic
message!
Since we launched our campaign, the auto industry has taken
a number of notable steps forward in developing and
marketing advanced-technology vehicles (but we're still
holding Detroit's feet to the fire, as you can see in
NRDC's
Roland Hwang's article for Grist Magazine at
http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/imho/imho012601.stm).
*In the spring of 1999 General
Motors and Toyota agreed to
jointly develop new
clean-fuel devices (including fuel
cells) for cars of
the future.
*In December 1999,
the Honda Insight became the first
gasoline-electric
hybrid vehicle available for purchase in
the United
States. (The Insight has since received the
Environmental Protection Agency's 2000 Climate Protection
Award.)
*In early 2000, Ford announced that it will introduce a
line
of gasoline-electric hybrid cars in 2003.
*Last summer, the Toyota Prius
(the first full-size
gasoline-electric hybrid) debuted
in the United States.
*In
January 2001, GM announced it will introduce a line of
gasoline-electric hybrid cars in 2004.
== What's next? ==
While NRDC will continue to press for cleaner cars, we are
bringing the pledge campaign portion of our
earthsmartcars
initiative to a close with this edition
of the
earthsmartcars bulletin. In the future, we'll
continue to
let you know about groundbreaking news
concerning
advanced-technology vehicles. In the
meantime, we thought
you might like to learn about
opportunities where concerned
citizens like you can
make a difference on issues, including
clean air/clean
car technologies, by contacting government
officials
and other decisionmakers. Soon we'll send you a
trial
issue of Earth Action, NRDC's biweekly email bulletin
highlighting urgent environmental issues requiring
immediate
individual action. (Of course, we'll make it
easy for you to
decline future issues if you wish.)
. . . . .
2) URGENT ACTION NEEDED
Call the White House on Thursday, February 15!
On his first day in office,
President Bush announced that he
wanted to freeze and
then "review" the recently-adopted EPA
rule that will
slash diesel emissions by more than 90
percent over the
course of the decade. Your comments helped
achieve a
strong rule; now your comments are needed to
defend it.
Thursday, February 15 has been designated "Call
the
White House Day" -- call (202)456-6798 and tell the
president's chief of staff (and former auto industry
lobbyist and GM board member) Andrew Card that for the sake
of our health the administration must implement the
diesel
rule, with no changes whatsoever.
. . . . .
3) SPECIAL FEATURE
On the road to the future with three happy hybrid owners
Since its North American debut
last July, the hybrid Toyota
Prius has been named "the
most environmentally friendly
gasoline-powered vehicle
on sale in the United States" by
the American Council
for an Energy Efficient Economy. It has
also taken up
residence in thousands of American driveways.
We thought we'd check in with a few notable Prius owners
for
a firsthand report on what driving a "car of the
future" is
like. So we presented a completely
unscientific survey to
three trailblazing Californians:
Larry David, co-creator of
"Seinfeld" and creator and
star of HBO's "Curb Your
Enthusiasm"; George DiCaprio,
philanthropist and father of
Leonardo; and Bob Epstein,
NRDC board member and co-founder
of three technology
companies, including Sybase Inc.
==============
What made you
decide to buy a Prius? What color did you
choose?
==============
LARRY DAVID: My wife -- she's a strong influence on me. But
I liked the idea of getting the benefits of a hybrid
vehicle
without having to plug in a battery. And after
I test-drove
the car, I liked everything about it. So
now I'm a big fan
of the car. (Mine's aqua.)
BOB EPSTEIN: I needed a new car
and read about the Prius in
the earthsmartcars letter.
My car is silver.
GEORGE
DICAPRIO: After meeting people at NRDC, my whole
family
became aware of the different emissions standards for
SUVs and we wanted to feel as though we were contributing
to
a solution. Leonardo got rid of his SUV that week.
He and I
both now drive a Prius -- silver for both of
us -- and
I've convinced three of my friends to buy one
as well.
==============
Was finding and purchasing a Prius easy or difficult? Did
you have to wait long for delivery?
==============
EPSTEIN: It was easy -- a call to the local Toyota dealer
in Berkeley. I ordered on the first day they accepted
orders
and received the car eight weeks later.
DICAPRIO: We waited a little over
two months from the time
we ordered the cars until they
were delivered.
DAVID: I got
the "Larry David treatment," so I only waited
about two
to three weeks.
==============
How much did your Prius cost? Did you have any extra
fancy
features installed?
==============
DAVID AND DICAPRIO: $20,000. No extras.
EPSTEIN: I paid $28,000 delivered
-- including California
license and taxes and leather
seats installed locally. The
only options on the car
are the CD player and floor mats --
yes, I splurged and
got both.
==============
How does your Prius perform? What kind of mileage does it
get on the highway? In the city? About how much do you
spend
on gas each week?
==============
DICAPRIO: Performance is *great*. It's a really fun car to
drive -- it handles like a little sports car. It
corners
well, the steering is nice and tight and it
accelerates
really well, which is important for me
because the
acceleration ramp onto the Hollywood
Freeway near my home is
very short. I get about 55 mpg
in the city. You could drive
the car all day long and
not use all the gas.
DAVID: I
was expecting better mileage. I get about 35 mpg in
the
city, a little more on the highway.
EPSTEIN: The performance of the car is better than any I
have owned in the last 20 years. I get about 52 on the
highway, 42 in the city and 35 going up and down the
hill to
my home. I am spending about $7 per week for
gas.
*editor's note: As with
all cars, actual mileage performance
for the Prius is
less than the rated fuel economy and will
vary by
driver depending on how the car is driven. For
instance, all cars get lower mileage when the engine is not
fully warmed up, or if the car is used primarily for
short
trips (e.g., under three miles). Running the air
conditioning or heater, rapid acceleration, sudden
stops,
hills, and cold weather will also reduce
mileage. [So Larry,
how about trying not to take it
from 0 to 60 in under three
seconds?]
==============
What do you like best and least about your Prius?
==============
DAVID: Except for the fact I'm not getting the mileage I
expected, I really love everything about it. It's the
perfect car for city driving -- great pickup, great
ride
and maneuverability, a view that's very open.
There's lot's
of room in the front seat -- I love that
there's no console
-- and I like the dashboard and gear
shift. It's definitely
the most fun I've ever had
driving a car.
EPSTEIN: The
best features of the Prius are the power it has
to
climb hills, the quiet of the car and the instrument
panel. This is of course after you take the super-low
emissions and great gas mileage for granted.
DICAPRIO: Least: using the air
conditioning or heater really
cuts into the car's
efficiency. I'm sure that's the case
with all cars, but
with the Prius, the display panel lets
you see exactly
how much efficiency you're losing when you
turn on the
air or the heat. Best: it's such an excellent
car in so
many ways -- just a much less intrusive way to
drive.
It's a truly affordable way to help contribute to
reducing global warming emissions while having a car that's
fun to drive and gets high mileage -- it's really the
best
of all worlds.
==============
How fast have you
driven it?
==============
DAVID: 85
DICAPRIO: 90
EPSTEIN: 20 miles per hour faster than I should have.
==============
Have you had your Prius serviced yet? Where do you get it
serviced? Any differences in servicing with "regular"
cars?
==============
DAVID AND DICAPRIO: Not yet.
EPSTEIN: It hasn't needed any regular service. You take it
back to the dealer rather than a third party. They give
you
several years of various free service coupons.
==============
Would you take your Prius on a family vacation (considering
factors such as distance, safety, comfort, family
members'
standards, etc.)?
==============
DICAPRIO: Oh, sure. I've had five people fit comfortably in
the car.
EPSTEIN: Sure -- as long as you don't have a lot of
luggage.
DAVID: Well, I'd never be in a car for longer than one hour
anyway, but if we were to take a car vacation, I'd take
this
car. But if my wife were coming along, she'd
probably rather
take the kids in our station wagon.
==============
What trash items are currently on the floor of your Prius?
==============
EPSTEIN: None. It is the first car I actually clean and
wash
regularly.
DICAPRIO: The only thing in mine is the box from an
underwater Frisbee I bought (they work great -- it's like
playing Frisbee in slow motion). Leo, on the other
hand, is
like Pig Pen in the "Peanuts" cartoon -- among
other things,
the floor of his car is covered with
stacks of unopened mail
and movie scripts he's supposed
to read.
DAVID: Tapes, CDs,
hats, phone messages, water bottles,
parking stubs,
empty bags. But no fruit.
==============
Larry, what do your
Porsche-and-Jaguar-driving Hollywood
friends and
neighbors think about your Prius?
==============
DAVID: At first they were kind of
surprised, but I've gotten
really great reactions from
everyone. In fact, I've already
sold a few to friends.
==============
Bob, what about your Silicon Valley neighbors?
==============
EPSTEIN: Jealousy is the principal emotion they express.
==============
Finally, Larry, what would the "Seinfeld" gang have to say
about the Prius?
==============
DAVID: George would like it because he'd save money on gas.
Kramer would want to technically explain to everyone
just
how the hybrid engine works. And Elaine would
definitely
date someone who owns a Prius.
. . . . .
4) LINKS
Now that you're all revved up to get a hybrid car for
yourself, we wouldn't leave you without fuel, would we? Of
course not.
*For a quick overview of the advantages of hybrids, see our
webpage at http://www.nrdc.org/earthsmartcars/carhyb.html
*To learn more about the Toyota
Prius or the Honda Insight,
visit http://prius.toyota.com/ or
http://www.honda2001.com/models/insight/index.html?honda=200
0
*And for more clean car links, including the Fuel Economy
Website and the Green Guide to Cars and Trucks, see our
earthsmartcars links page at
http://www.nrdc.org/earthsmartcars/lin.html
. . . . .
5) ABOUT NRDC/HOW TO CONTACT US
The Natural Resources Defense
Council is a nonprofit
environmental organization with
over 400,000 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
NY, NY 10011
212-727-4511 (voice) / 212-727-1773 (fax)
General information: nrdcinfo@nrdc.org
Earthsmartcars email: earthsmartcars@nrdc.org
http://www.nrdc.org/earthsmartcars
Media
Release
Monday 12 February 2001
VICTORY FOR WA. S FORESTS WELCOMED
The
Wilderness Society and the Western Australian
Forest
Alliance today congratulated the Gallop
Labor team on
winning government and for having
placed the protection
of Western Australia's old
growth forests at the centre
of Labor's electoral
platform. After five months
intensive work with
communities in twelve key
electorates and a
sophisticated public information and
advertising
campaign, the issue of protecting Western
Australia's old growth forests became one of the
top three election issues and one of the
distinguishing features between Labor and Liberal.
The 'Vote Forests' campaign
culminated in a
decision by the Wilderness Society to
hand out
'Vote Forests' cards at 135 booths in 11
electorates on polling day. Unprecedented support
from 800 volunteers made this possible.
The impact of the electoral phase
of the forest
campaign has been a significant factor in
Labor's
victory, as recognised in interviews this
morning
by Geoff Gallop and Federal Labor leader Kim
Beasley. In the city seats won by Labor, the
Green and/or Liberals for Forests vote was at
least double that of One Nation. The Green and
Liberal for Forests vote was particularly strong
in seats where the Wilderness Society handed out
how to vote cards.
It is remarkable that the pundits have not yet
looked closely at the implications for
conservative politics of the stunning debut of
Liberals for Forests which has attracted a very
significant number of 'small L' liberal voters.
Nor has anyone considered that
previous polling
indicates that One Nation voters hold
views about
the importance of protecting Western
Australia's
old growth forests as strong as other
members of
the community. This may well have been a
factor
in their decision to preference Labor ahead of
Liberal.
The Gallop win will give heart to everyone in
Australia who cares about the fate of our
country's old growth forest. Australia-wide we
have only 10% of our original old growth left.
With leadership from Western Australia,
Australia's unprotected old growth forests could
now have a chance of survival.
Contact: Virginia Young: 0417 223 280 or David
Mackenzie: 0408 975 214
Website:
www.wilderness.org.au
__________________________________________________________________
This message comes to you from
The Wilderness Society Media Release List.
This is a free, low-volume, announcement-only email list,
so you won't get bombarded by messages from other people on the list. List
members receive the latest Wilderness Society media releases via email as soon
as they are added to our website.
The Wilderness Society is a national, community-based,
environmental advocacy organisation whose mission is to protect, promote and
secure the future of wilderness and other high conservation areas.
Since its formation in 1976, The
Wilderness Society has protected over five million hectares of wilderness in
Australia, including Kakadu, the Daintree, Kangaroo Island, south west Tasmania,
Australia's sub-Antarctic Islands and Shark Bay.
For more information on issues raised in this media release
or to take action on behalf of wilderness today, visit our website at http://www.wilderness.org.au/
___________________________________________________________________
To subscribe to this list,
visit our website at
http://www.wilderness.org.au/about/newslists.html
___________________________________________________________________
Julie McGuiness
The Wilderness Society
National
Campaign Office
PO Box 188 Civic Square ACT 2608
AUSTRALIA
Phone 61 2 6249 6491
Fax 61 2 6249 1002
julie.mcguiness@wilderness.org.au
or
campaign@wilderness.org.au
http://www.wilderness.org.au
Wilderness - the Original and Best
of Planet Earth
Join The
Wilderness Society - Become a Wilderness Defender
from
just $10/month. Membership freecall 1800 030 641
"We
Cover the Earth For You"
************************************************************
FISHERIES DECLINING AROUND THE
GLOBE
ROME, Italy, February
13, 2001 (ENS) - Fish populations around the world
are
in a continuing decline, prompted by rising fish catches, consumption
and trade, finds a new report by the United Nations Food
and Agriculture
Organization. "Most of the world's
fishing areas have apparently reached
their maximum
potential for capture fisheries production, with the majority
of stocks being fully exploited," the report warns.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-14-06.html
************************************************************
CONGRESS ASKED TO BAN MTBE,
PROMOTE ETHANOL
By Brian
Hansen
WASHINGTON, DC,
February 14, 2000 (ENS) - A crop of Illinois corn farmers
joined a detachment of federal lawmakers in the U.S.
Capitol today to unveil
a bill that would ban the
gasoline additive MTBE and promote the use of
ethanol,
an environmentally friendly grain based fuel.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-13-06.html
************************************************************
GOODALL AND MUSEUM OPEN A
VALENTINE FOR DENVER KIDS
DENVER, Colorado, February 14, 2001 (ENS) - A world of
adventure and
experimentation in science, art and
nature at the Children's Museum of Denver
became richer
today with a Valentine's Day gift of collaboration from celebrated
conservationist Dr. Jane Goodall.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-14-01.html
************************************************************
FARMING METHODS RISK WORLD
FOOD PRODUCTION
WASHINGTON,
DC, February 14, 2001 (ENS) - How will the world feed an extra
1.5 billion people over the next two decades when current
farming methods
have already jeopardized world food
production? That is the question posed
by the
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the World
Resources Institute (WRI) in a report released today.
For full text and graphics, visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-14-11.html
***********************************************************
UK PICK VALENTINE'S DAY TO
PROTECT RARE LOVE NESTS
LONDON, United Kingdom, February 14, 2001 (ENS) - The UK
government picked
Valentine's Day to announce a new
scheme to protect one of the country's
rarest birds and
their love nests.
For full
text and graphics, visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-14-12.html
************************************************************
RESEARCHERS COUNT ON YOU TO
COUNT BIRDS
NEW YORK, New
York, February 14, 2001 (ENS) - Armchair naturalists, take
note. This weekend, you can help scientists learn more
about birds just by
looking out your window. The fourth
annual Great Backyard Bird Count,
February 16 through
19, allows people of all ages and backgrounds to help
monitor bird populations across North America.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-14-07.html
************************************************************
CAYMANS POLICE CHARGE TRIO
WITH WILDLIFE SMUGGLING
GEORGE
TOWN, Cayman Islands, February 14, 2001 (ENS) - Government
investigators have uncovered an alleged smuggling ring
attempting to remove
plants and animals from the Cayman
Islands.
For full text and
graphics, visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-14-10.html
************************************************************
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE
AMERISCAN: FEBRUARY 14, 2002
Hawaiians Oppose Ocean Carbon Dumping
Military Groups Must Review
Impacts on Pronghorn
Utility
Sued Over Lack of Emissions Controls
Sigurd Olson's Listening Point Protected Forever
PETA Sues EPA over Animal Testing
Birds Beat Mammals 10 To One
for Fidelity
Eagles Share Love
Online
Courtship Underway at
Ohio's Peregrine Sites
For
full text and graphics visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-14-09.html
Copyright Environment News
Service (ENS) 2000 All Rights Reserved.
************************************************************
SEND
NEWS STORY TIPS TO news@ens-news.com
***********************************************************************
E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS
RELEASE
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Paving the Planet: Cars and
Crops Competing for Land
WASHINGTON, DC, Feb. 14
-/E-Wire/-- As the new century
begins, the competition
between cars and crops for cropland is intensifying.
Until now, the paving over of cropland has occurred largely
in industrial
countries, home to four fifths of the
world's 520 million automobiles. But now,
more and more
farmland is being sacrificed in developing countries with
hungry populations, calling into question the future role
of the car.
/CONTACT: Reah Janise Kauffman, Worldwatch
Institute,
1776 Massachusetts Ave., NW,
Washington, DC 20036-1904,
PHONE:
(202) 452-1992 x 514,
FAX: (202) 296-7365,
EMAIL: rjkauffman@worldwatch.org/
/Web site: http://www.worldwatch.org/alerts/indexia.html/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/14Feb0107.html
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RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Introducing All-Natural
PROSENSUAL®; The Only Topical Sexually Stimulating Personal Lubricant
New Non-Prescription
Lubricant Can Help Augment Sexual Arousal and Enhance Sexual Pleasure for Women
of All Ages
FAIRLAWN, NJ, Feb. 14
-/E-Wire/-- The introduction of ProSensual®, a new, topical sexually stimulating
personal lubricant that enhances sexual sensation, augments arousal, and
increases sexual pleasure in women, will be welcome news to the 100 million
sexually active women in the United States. ProSensual is recommended
by physicians and sex therapists for women who experience symptoms of Female
Sexual Dysfunction and Female Sexual Arousal Disorder, broad terms used to
describe low sex drive, failure to attain or maintain lubrication and subjective
sense of excitement during sexual activity, difficulty in achieving orgasm and
inability to become sexually aroused.
/CONTACT: Dawn Maniglia / Karen Parziale,
Brainstorm Communications, 718.968.0515 / 201.222.1309, PRIDEAS@aol.com/
/Web site: http://www.prosensual.com/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/14Feb0104.html
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Industry Meets Environment in
New International Society
NEW YORK, NY, Feb. 14
-/E-Wire/-- A community of researchers, policy makers, industrial strategists,
and environmental advocates today announced the launch of the
International Society of Industrial Ecology (the Society). The new field of
industrial ecology applies ecological concepts to the organization and operation
of industry.
/CONTACT: Cynthia Neale,(908) 221-7249,
cneale@att.com/
/Web
site: http://www.att.com/foundation
http://www.yale.edu/is4ie/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/14Feb0106.html
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TO EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
EDITORS:
The
Children's Museum of Denver(TM) Announces $1 Million Science Initiative
And Environmental Literacy Collaboration with The Jane
Goodall Institute(TM)
Nearly
22,000 Denver Public Schools, Second Grade Students to
Benefit
DENVER, CO, Feb. 14
-/E-Wire/-- World-renowned conservationist,
Dr. Jane
Goodall and The Children's Museum of Denver today announced a
$1 million Science Initiative and Environmental Literacy
Collaboration.
Calling it "a Valentine's
Day gift to the environment," the Museum's Science
Initiative goal is to foster respect and compassion for all
living things
and to inspire young children and their
adult caregivers to take action to
make the world a
better place for animals, the environment, and the human
community. Simultaneous with this announcement
is the celebrated kick-off
of the Museum's development
campaign for funding the Science Initiative
and
Environmental Literacy Collaboration.
/CONTACT: Wendy Holmes, 303-561-0111, cell,
720-849-6730, for The
Children's Museum of Denver/
/Web site: http://www.cmdenver.org/
For Full Text
Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/14Feb0105.html
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E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS
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TO
FEATURES AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:
Try a Cup of Bird-Friendly
Brew During National Coffee Week
WASHINGTON, DC, Feb. 14
-/E-Wire/-- National Specialty Coffee Week is Feb. 12-19 and Environmental Media
Services (EMS) has put together background and contacts for reporters on the
ultimate specialty brew: "shade-grown." Besides helping family farms, choosing
shade-grown coffee ensures the survival of those songbirds in your backyard.
/CONTACT: Liz Banse, EMS, 206/374-7795 ext.35
(Seattle)/
/Web
site: http://www.ems.org/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/14Feb0103.html
***********************************************************************
E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Itronics
Featured in Golf Course Management
The Premier Publication for
the Nation's Golf Course Superintendents
RENO, NV, Feb. 14 -/E-Wire/--
Itronics Inc. (OTC BB: ITRO), a world leader in photochemical recycling, has
been featured in a story in Golf Course Management, the official publication of
the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, which circulates to more
than 37,700 golf course superintendents and landscape management professionals
monthly.
/CONTACT: Paul Knopick, 888/795-6336/
/Web site: http://www.itronics.com/
For Full Text
Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/14Feb0102.html
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RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
VIATRU(TM) and the Museum of
Fine Arts, Boston Announce Partnership: Bringing Visible Commerce(TM) to
Consumers
New Digital
DocumentariesEAllow MFA Customers to See and Hear the Story Behind Socially
Responsible Products
SEATTLE, WA, Feb. 14
-/E-Wire/-- Viatru (TM), a unique digital media services company that enables
retailers to identify, authenticate and sell products created in socially
responsible ways, today announced a new partnership with the Museum of Fine
Arts, Boston (MFA). Utilizing Viatru's Visible Commerce(TM) Platform,
the MFA will unveil a poppy bed linen collection inspired by a centuries old
summer carpet that once adorned India's Mughal courts and now is part of the
Museum's collection.
/CONTACT: Paula Marmion, 425.712.8387,
PMA500@aol.com/
/Web
site: http://www.mfa.org/poppy/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/14Feb0101.html
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SEND YOUR PRESS RELEASE ON E-WIRE --
1-888-764-NEWS
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In this
issue:
1. Introduction
2. Action and Activity alerts
(AAAs)
· Help
Fight Bio-Engineered Food, rBGH Milk
· Biotech Bytes:
FDA Says No Labeling, No Safety-Testing Required
· Organize a
Workshop on How to Be A Green Candidate
· Battle For
County-Optional Pesticide Neighbor Notification
· Protest at NYS
Assembly Election Reform Hearings
· NYC Term Limits:
Greens Say NO to City Council Incumbents
· Take Action
Against Dioxin
· Nuclear Industry
Related Legislative Campaigns for the 2001 Session
· How to Build A
Legal County Organization - State Law & Green Party
Rules
3.
Meetings and Events
Downstate:
· Speak Out in
Harlem For the Appeal of the Rockefeller Drug Laws
February 15, NYC
· East Village
Forum on City Term Limits, February 18, NYC
Upstate:
· Nader to
Speak at Bucknell U, Lewisburg, PA, February 28
4. News, News Links, Resources
· Nader Wins
Motion on Physical Exclusion from Boston Debates --
Lawsuit Against Presidential Debate Commission Will Go
Forward
· Syracuse Post
Story on New York State Ballot Line Increase
· Ithaca Times,
New York's Greens Look to the Future
· Psst. The real
scoop on Patient Assistance Programs
· Resource:
Powerful Activists. Tools
5.
Letters to the Editor
1. INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the third issue of the
Green Party of New York State's
E-News! Our
goal is to update greens across the state about important
issues, news, events, and resources. We hope you will find
E-News
informative and entertaining. We welcome your
comments, contributions and
assistance. Send your news,
events, and Alerts for
the next issue to Cathy
Sadell
at csadell@prodigy.net and let us know if you would like to help
write the next issue. Note that E-News will print letters
to the editor
from Greens, Nader supporters, and people
with something interesting to
say. Deadline for
submissions to next issue: Thursday, February 22, 2001.
If you would prefer not to receive the newsletter, please
notify Masada
Disenhouse at masada@akula.com. To learn
more about the greens in New York
or to contact your
local Green chapter please visit www.greens.org/ny.
2. ACTION AND ACTIVITY alerts ( AAAS)
Help Fight Bio-Engineered Food,
rBGH Milk
The Greens Legislative Committee is looking
for local volunteers to help
coordinate local
legislative action on the proposal for a five year
moratorium on genetically engineered crops and the proposal
to require milk
with rBGH to be labeled as such. There
will also be a lobby day and action
at the State
Capitol on Tuesday March 6th. Please contact Mark Dunlea
(Dunleamark@aol.com, 518 286-3411) or Andy Zimmerman
(turtle@westnet.com)
to get involved.
Biotech Bytes: FDA Says No
Labeling, No Safety-Testing Required
On Jan. 17, the
Food and Drug Administration issued its long-awaited
proposed federal regulations on genetically engineered
foods and crops. As
anticipated the FDA refused to call
for mandatory labeling or mandatory
safety-testing--despite numerous polls showing 80-95% of
Americans want
labeling and safety-testing, or, better
yet, no genetically engineered
foods at all. There will
now be a 75-day period for the public to comment
on the
FDA rules, and to demand a moratorium. Unless rigorous, independent,
premarket safety testing can demonstrate that GE foods and
crops are safe,
these products must not be allowed on
the market.
Organize a
Workshop on How to Be A Green Candidate
If you would
like to organize a local workshop or conference on how to run
for public office this year as a Green candidate, please
contact Mark
Dunlea at Dunleamark@aol.com. The workshop
would cover how to get on the
ballot; campaign strategy
and organizing; fundraising; get out the vote;
issue
development; and media. Mark was the Green Party's statewide campaign
manager in 1998 and is a Vice-Chair of the State Green
Party. In New York
City, the Education Committee of the
New York City Greens will be providing
workshops on
green topics, including campaign-related workshops. If you. d
like to help organize a workshop in NYC, please contact
David Levner,
levner@panix.com.
Battle For County-Optional
Pesticide Neighbor Notification
I urge the NYS Greens
to take an active role to battle for county-optional
Pesticide Neighbor Notification, the August, 2000 law that
would require
two days' notice of neighbors within 150
feet before toxic pesticide lawn
spraying. The
pesticide lawn-spraying industry is overwhelming county
lawmakers with "save our jobs" lobbying, from county Farm
Bureaus, Cornell
Coop Extension Service, and the
powerful NYS Lawn Care Association. (Yes,
the NYS Farm
Bureau endorses the "legalization of medical marijuana", but
it is vehemently against giving us prior notice of toxic
lawn-spraying). In
Onondaga County, an enviro coalition
is planning a picket and protest at
the Syracuse State
Fairgrounds, March 15-18, of the annual Super
Garden/Landscape/Lawncare/Home Show. Contact Austin
Paulnack, coordinator
Central New Yorkers for Fresh
Air, westcottbugle@yahoo.com.
Protest at NYS Assembly Election Hearings
The NYS Assembly is holding hearings on reforming the
voting process
throughout the state (see schedule
below). Their press release says the
hearings are being
sponsored by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and
Assembly Election Law Committee Chairman David Sidikman.
(See the link
below for the press release.) Stated
purpose of the hearings is "to explore
ways to improve
the voting process in New York and prevent voting problems
highlighted during last year's elections in New York,
Florida and other
places." Right! These problems have
been happening in NY for years -- now
the Democrats
want to jump on the reform bandwagon. We can't let them
pretend to take leadership on this issue when they have in
fact stood by
for years and let it happen.
As Greens, we want to: (1) testify at these hearings about
the overt
sabotage of the democratic process that
happened around the state, as
people were denied their
right to vote in New York City and other places
due to
"broken" machines, lack of paper ballots, corrupt and incompetent
election inspectors, etc.; (2) organize press conferences
and
demonstrations outside the hearings for election
reform. If you are
interested in working on
this in your area, please e-mail Cathy Sadell
(csadell@prodigy.net). Here is the hearing schedule:
ALBANY - Roosevelt Hearing Rm. C, Legislative Office Bldg.,
2nd Fl., Feb.
26th, 10:30 a.m.
NEW YORK CITY - 250 Broadway, Room 1923, 19th Floor, March
8, 10:30 a.m.
LONG ISLAND - SUNY Old Westbury, Recital
Hall, March 2, 10:30 a.m.
BUFFALO - Buffalo & Erie
Co. Public Library Auditorium, 1 Lafayette Sq.,
March
22, 10:00 a.m.
Here's the link to the press release:
http://assembly.state.ny.us/Press/2001/20010207.html
Term Limits: Greens Say NO
to NYC Council Incumbents
Green Party members
participated in a coalition press conference outside
City Hall on Wednesday, February 7, to protest a move by
NYC Council
incumbents to overturn term limits. Term
limits were passed not once, but
twice, by referendum
by the voters in New York City, in 1993 and 1996. The
law now limits Council members to two consecutive
terms. . No matter where
you stand on term
limits, Greens who are committed to Grassroots Democracy
should support the right of the voters to be respected when
they have
spoken twice on this issue. This is just more
arrogance from Democratic
Party incumbents, who think
they know better than the people of New York, .
said
Craig Seeman, Chair of the GPONYS and a candidate for City Council in
Brooklyn. Greens joined an eclectic group of organizations
who are against
the City Council. s move, including New
Yorkers for Term Limits, NYC Civil
Rights Coalition,
NYPIRG, and others. If you are interested in working on
this issue, please contact Masada Disenhouse at
masada@akula.com
Take Action
Against Dioxin
US EPA has indicated that the final
draft of its report, "Exposure and
Health Reassessment
of 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) and
Related Compounds" will likely be released in March of
2001. Quantification
of cancer risk entailed by dioxin
exposure is a cornerstone of this
document. Moderate to
heavy consumers of animal fats, present in: beef,
milk,
butter, cheese, cottage cheese, ice cream and fish, have a greater
than 1 in 100 risk of developing cancer from this subset of
carcinogenic
exposures. Soft tissue sarcomas,
respiratory cancers, liver cancer and
breast cancer
have been associated with dioxin intake. Lipophilic compounds
including: dioxins, furans and PCBs, accumulate and
concentrate in the fat
tissue of cattle, fish and
humans, due to the presence of these
contaminants in
the food supply of each. The female breast becomes a
reservoir for fat soluble carcinogens; breast cells receive
exposures far
exceeding those experienced by other body
tissues. Breast cancer accounts
for nearly one of every
three cancers diagnosed in US women. Only lung
cancer
accounts for more cancer deaths in females. US EPA will eventually
conduct public hearings on the dioxin reassessment and
its Cross-Media
Dioxin Strategy, a plan for diminishing
human dioxin exposures. The
regulatory effort to
minimize dioxin releases to the environment will
depend
largely upon the strength of public support for dioxin elimination
from the foodchain. For further information, please contact
Don Hassig, St.
Lawrence River Valley Greens:
visit www.canceractionslc.homestead.com or write to
canceraction@hotmail.com.
Nuclear Industry Related Legislative Campaigns for the 2001
Session
New York State policy towards nuclear power is
in disarray, particularly as
it relates energy
deregulation. Several key nuclear energy policy issues
warrant a closer look by the state legislature. These
issues include the:
1) protection of safety
conscious employees at state's six nuclear power
plants,
2) exposure of nuclear
power to market competition and taking steps to
ensure
the safe operation of nuclear plants under competitive market
conditions,
3) process in which
reactors are sold,
4) impact of
radionuclide pollution on human health,
5) sale of recycled
radioactive materials
Every one of these issues have
long-term consequences for the economic
well-being of
several New York communities, the public health of current
and future generations of all New Yorkers and the quality
of sensitive
environmental resources. The main focus of
our legislative efforts will be
to address the negative
impact that deregulation is having on nuclear
safety
and worker protections and rights. In February 2000, Consolidated
Edison's (Con Ed) Indian Point 2 (IP-2) nuclear
plant suffered the most
serious accident in its
operating history. Strong evidence indicates that
impending deregulation was a cause of the
accident. To receive a memo with
details of
the Green legislative agenda on this issue, contact Mark Dunlea
at Dunleamark@aol.com.
How to Build A Legal County Organization - State Law &
Green Party Rules
by Craig Seeman - Green Party State
Chair
Many of you have been ignited by the Nader
campaign and are trying to
figure out how to put
together local Green Party Organizations to run you
own
Green candidates. Finding out how to do this can be a mysterious thing.
There's a confluence of State Law and Green Party rules
you'll need to know
about as well as some myths that
need to be dispelled.
Some
Board of Elections Commissioners may tell you all you need to do is
hold a meeting and elect officers. That's flatly illegal.
Remember these
Commissioners are Democrats and
Republicans and some might simply want you
to do the
wrong thing so they can throw your candidates off the ballot.
Others might want to steal the line for their candidates.
Some just aren't
very well informed.
ANY enrolled Green can run on the
Green Party line for public office. You
need no
permission nor county organization for that. Simply collect the
legally valid number of signatures of enrolled Greens and
file the
petition. Some towns and villages may require
you to hold a caucus but
that's not the same as
creating a Green Party County Organization.
State Law requires that 25% of all County Committee seats
must be elected
in a primary to form a County
Committee. Most counties don't have enough
enrolled
Greens willing to run to do that. Each Assembly District has about
160-220 seats! County Organizations, therefore, have to be
formed by the
New York State Green Party. It's the ONLY
other way under New York State Law.
Under the Green Party rules you must work with your local
Green Party State
Committee person. These are enrolled
Greens who collected signatures and
ran for the party
office in the Green Party Primary in September 2000. They
submit your rules to the Green Party Executive Committee
for approval or
recommended changes. Don't forget your
rules are legal documents and
mistakes can result in
your being sued and the candidates thrown off the
ballot. Once the Executive Committee signs off on your
rules you can hold
the legal meeting, elect officers
and approve the rules locally. Your rules
must have the
signature of the State Green Party Chair and/or Secretary as
well as your locally elected officers in order to be valid.
Only then can
you file rules that may hold up in a
court battle.
If you need to
find out who your local Green Party State Committee Person
is or how to form a legally valid Green County Organization
or just to
understand election law feel free to either
email or call me.
Craig Seeman, Chair - New York State
Green Party, cseeman@earthlink.net or
718-797-0045
2. MEETINGS AND EVENTS
DOWNSTATE:
TOWN HALL MEETING: Speak Out in
Harlem For the Appeal of the Rockefeller
Drug Laws!
February 15, 2001. Sponsored by Interfaith Partnership for
Criminal Justice
in New York City, JusticeWorks
Community and Black Radical Congress.
Thursday,
February 15, 2001 at 6:30-8:30 p.m.,at the Convent Avenue Baptist
Church, 420 West 145th St., NYC 10031 (A,B,C,D or 9 trains
to 145th St.).
Contact Masada at masada@akula.com for
further information.
Forum on
City Term Limits, February 18, NYC
The East Village
Greens sponsor this forum to discuss the City Council. s
attempt to overturn term limits and what we can do about
it. Sunday, Feb.
18 at 3:15 PM at Charas, East 9th
Street between Avenues B and C in the
East Village (6
to Astor, 4,5, N, R to 14th Street Union Square, L to 14th
Street). For more information contact Daniel, 212-539-8319.
UPSTATE:
Nader to Speak at Bucknell U,
Lewisburg, PA, February 28
Ralph Nader will be speaking
on February 28 at 7:30pm on Bucknell
University Campus
(Lewisburg PA). It's free and open to the public. He'll
be speaking at the Weis Center on campus. (Lewisburg is 5
miles off of I80
Exit 30A sixty miles west of
Scranton-Wilkesbare). For more information,
contact
Alexander, montcllo@eudoramail.com
4. NEWS, NEWS LINKS, RESOURCES
Nader Wins Motion on Physical Exclusion from Boston
Debates; Lawsuit
Against Presidential Debate Commission
Will Go Forward (press release from
Nader 2000)
Washington, D.C., February 8 A federal judge in
Boston today denied a
motion by the Commission on
Presidential Debates to dismiss Green Party
presidential nominee Ralph Nader's lawsuit challenging the
Commission's use
of police to exclude Nader's
attendance at the first presidential debate on
October
3rd at the University of Massachusetts. The lawsuit against the
Commission, its co-chairmen and security consultant, and
three state police
officers, alleges that the
defendants used threats and intimidation to
prevent
Nader from entering a separate viewing
>auditorium
adjacent to the debate for which he had a transferable ticket
of admittance. The lawsuit contends that these acts
occurred because of
Nader's political views and were in
violation both of his First Amendment
and Equal
Protection rights under the U.S. Constitution and of the
Massachusetts Civil Rights Act. The defendants also
prevented Nader from
appearing at a pre-scheduled
interview with Fox News at a media trailer at
the
debate site.
U.S. District
Court Judge William Young said he was "troubled by excluding
someone because of their political views" and ruled that
there were no
grounds to dismiss the lawsuit. The judge
denied the Commission on
Presidential Debate's motion
to dismiss and the motions of the other
defendants in
the case and "suggested picking a trial date," according to
Boston-based Nader counsel Howard Friedman.
Throughout the campaign, Mr. Nader
exposed the unfair practices of the
bipartisan,
corporate-sponsored Commission on Presidential Debates and the
outrageous hurdles the Commission had established for
presidential
candidates to be allowed to participate in
broadcasts that reached tens of
millions of citizens.
Nader said he was pleased by Judge Young's decision
and
"looked forward to the discovery process that will illuminate this
private corporation's misuse of police power to further the
exclusionary
abuses by the Republican and Democratic
Parties who created and control
this Debate
Commission."
Prior to the
complaint, the Commission had refused to avoid litigation by
extending a written apology and making a donation to the
Appleseed Center
for Electoral Reform at Harvard Law
School. The lawsuit was filed on
October 17, 2000 and
announced from the site of the third presidential
debates in St. Louis where he was again excluded by the
Commission and
where Nader intends to bring a similar
suit.
Syracuse Post Story on Ballot Line Increase
Two's company; eight's a crowd By Erin Duggan
Although nearly 1 million New Yorkers voted on third party
lines in the
1998 gubernatorial election, the state's
election commissioners want to
make it twice as tough
for third parties to win spots on the New York state
ballot.
The recommendation to require parties to obtain double the
current 50,000
gubernatorial votes needed for a ballot
line was one of a series of
recommendations released
this week by the state Elections Commissioners'
Association.
The group also wants to see cross-endorsed candidates'
names appear only
once on the ballot. Additional
endorsing parties' logos would appear next
to the
names, making it more unlikely third parties would get the needed
votes to remain on the ballot. The proposals sparked
immediate criticism
from New York's six minor parties
that have guaranteed spots on the next
statewide
ballot.
"I think it's just an
attempt by the two major parties to get rid of the
minor parties," said state Right to Life Party Chairman
Kenneth Diem. "The
two major parties do not like other
parties being included in politics
because they think
they own America, and they're wrong."
County election commissioners from across the state met in
Syracuse this
week and recommended 14 revisions to
state election law. Their report said
having eight
parties with ballot status "places an undue hardship on boards
of elections, especially in view of the fact that many
parties are just
cross-endorsing candidates."
But a look at the 1998 election
shows that just two of the minor parties on
the ballot
that year cross-endorsed a Republican or Democratic candidate
for governor. The Conservative Party endorsed Republican
Gov. George
Pataki, while the Working Families Party
endorsed Democrat Peter
Vallone. To get on
the ballot, political parties must first petition. For
a gubernatorial race, minor parties must gather 15,000
signatures. Once on
the ballot, a party must receive
50,000 gubernatorial votes on its line to
become a
"recognized" party in the state and remain on the ballot in the
next election. Parties retain that status for four years,
and must attain
the 50,000 votes in each gubernatorial
election to keep it. Four of the 10
third parties on
the ballot in 1998 already had "recognized" status:
Conservative, Right to Life, Liberal and Independence.
Those parties
maintained their status after the 1998
election. Two more parties, Green
and Working Families,
squeezed into ballot status after their gubernatorial
candidates each received just more than 50,000 votes.
Several other
parties, like the Marijuana Reform Party
and the Unity Party, won ballot
lines but did not get
enough votes to keep them.
If
the proposed 100,000-vote law were in place then, only two minor parties
would remain on the ballot - the Conservative Party, which
endorsed Pataki,
and the Independence Party, which ran
its own candidate. Pataki received
348,727 votes on the
Conservative line, and Independence Party candidate
John Golisano brought in more than 364,000 votes.
In 1998, 37,431 people voted for
third-party candidates in Onondaga County,
17,348
people voted for third parties in Oswego County, 5,697 in Cayuga
County and 5,317 voted for third parties in Madison County.
"New York State
is very special in how they handle
third parties," said Liberal Party
Executive Director
Martin Hassner. "They support them, they encourage them
and they give people choices of ideas. It makes New York
truly an empire
state." Hassner, whose party received
77,915 votes in the last
gubernatorial election, said
the new recommendations run against the spirit
of
elections in New York.
Several
party leaders, including Green Party Vice Chairman Mark Dunlea,
called the proposal a result of partisan appointments to
county election
boards. "We hope that the first
recommendation is to remove the Democrats
and
Republicans from control of the election commissions, so the foxes
aren't guarding the hen house anymore," Dunlea said. "We
know the Democrats
and Republicans want to make it
harder for other political parties to
challenge their
control of the process."
Onondaga County Democratic Chairman Robert Romeo said he
was unfamiliar
with the recommendation, but said he's
concerned about the proliferation of
minor party lines.
"Obviously we want to see as many votes on our line as
possible," Romeo said. "If this is facilitating that kind
of thinking, I'm
in favor of it." Romeo said the New
York state ballot is starting to get
too crowded. "It's
not just a burden on the (elections) board. There's
confusion in the electorate, and it tends to distort
election issues,"
Romeo said.
He argued that some third parties'
names can mislead voters, such as those
who thought the
Independence line was for independently registered voters,
not members of the Independence Party. "Our system has
worked very well for
the last 200 years with two or
three parties," said Romeo. Local lawmakers
were cautious about commenting on the recommendation, which
none had seen.
Sen. John DeFrancisco, R-Syracuse,
suggested new machines are the answer to
the crowded
ballot. "The ballot gets more and more confusing, but it seems
to be that if minor parties are able to get (50,000) votes,
they should be
on the ballot," DeFrancisco said.
DeFrancisco said he'd like
Onondaga County to become a pilot project for
new
voting machines, which could change the size of ballots depending on
the number of lines needed. State Sen. Nancy Larraine
Hoffmann, a member of
a Senate voter participation task
force looking at the issue, said she is
concerned about
limiting or discouraging candidates' access to
ballots. Other recommendations from the
Elections Commissioners'
Association include:
Making commissioners' appointments automatic once
recommended by the party,
instead of depending on a
vote by their county legislatures.
Extending their term
limits to four years.
Simplify the absentee ballot
application.
Eliminate some voter registration programs
the association deemed not
cost-effective.
Eliminate the requirement for boards of election to run
half-page ads
notifying the voting public of the
primary and general elections.
Ithaca Times, Feb. 7, 2001
New
York's Greens Look to the Future by Coy Barefoot
Ralph
Nader may not have won the White House - or even come close to it -
but he is upbeat, nonetheless. The veteran consumer
advocate and former
Green Party candidate has got his
party-building hat on and is looking
forward to a
bright, Green, future. "Good things are happening," says
Nader, talking late last week from his office in
Washington. "We're doing
fundraisers, getting people
involved. We're looking to set up more offices
and hire
staff. Our focus now is to build the Green Party around the
country, build a pro-democracy movement." Nader
received nearly three
million votes in the recent
presidential election, signifying an
unmistakable base
of support for the Green Party's vision. In Tompkins
County alone, he garnered a whopping 11.3 % of the popular
vote - the
highest for any county in the state. Nader
was relentless, and virtually
alone among the field of
candidates, in drawing attention to the dangers of
excessive corporate power in America, even though
Democratic Party
operatives worked overtime to squelch
his message. When the dust settled
the Green Party had
become the third largest political party in the country.
The bad news is that despite
aggressive campaigning (he was the only
presidential
candidate to visit all fifty states, which he did twice),
Nader fell short of the 5% of the electoral vote that would
have meant
millions in federal matching funds for the
Green Party in 2004. We ask
Nader if he thinks the
Green Party will go the way of most other third
parties
in American history, withering away or, at best, having its issues
co-opted by the two major parties and marginalized into
nothingness.
"No way," he says
flatly. "That's not going to happen to the Greens. The
Greens are not a one-issue party. They're a pro-democracy
party. We're
talking about labor law, consumer
protection, the environment,
globalization issues,
anti-corporate welfare, redirection of public
budgets,
progressive taxation, et cetera. This is one third party that has
a much broader array of fundamental issues and substantive
polices than the
two major parties combined. So they've
insulated themselves from that
historic up and down
that most third parties have faced."
Despite the optimism, Nader admits that change will not
come easily. "It's
much harder to get things done in
Washington now, than it was when I first
came here over
thirty years ago," he sighs. "The whole progressive
community's never been able to achieve less because the
civil society we
represent is being closed out. The two
parties are becoming a corporate
party with two heads
indentured to the same corporate money - deeper and
deeper every year. They're basically closing the doors on
us - Congress,
the courts, regulatory agencies, you
name it. Most progressives don't want
to admit this.
You don't want to admit that you're working harder and
harder for less and less, but we have to face up to it. I
certainly would
never have predicted the decline of
democracy over the last thirty years.
But that's what
we're seeing."
When asked why
he and other progressives don't throw in the towel, Nader
replies: "Because when the going gets tough, the tough get
going." Is it
that simple? I ask. "Yes, absolutely. No
surrender. No white flags."
Nader is joined in his commitment by a spate of progressive
leaders around
New York who are busy at work building
the Green Party movement that he
spoke so much about
during the campaign.
Mark
Dunau's 50-acre organic farm hugs the side of a narrow valley just
south of the Cannonsville Reservoir in Delaware County,
Catskill country. A
former Manhattan playwright,
48-year-old Dunau is a well-known political
activist
and was recently the Green Party's candidate for US Senate. In his
bid for office in New York - running in the most expensive
Senate race in
U.S. history - Mark Dunau placed a
disappointing fourth behind Hillary
Clinton, Rick
Lazio, and Independence Party candidate Jeff Graham. Though
there were significant wins for Greens in local offices
around the country,
New York state could not lay claim
to any. But like other progressives,
Dunau is not
deterred by the results of November 7. The fact that Nader's
populist message so threatened the Gore camp is, for Dunau,
a clear sign
that the Greens are on the right
track. "What was a theoretical issue
throughout the campaign," Dunau says emphatically, leaning
back in his
chair, "has in fact become a reality - that
Bush might get elected because
Nader ran. The Democrats
in New York are realizing that what happened to Al
Gore
could happen here. To the Democrats, the Greens are a pain in the ass.
We make them look bad. That's a good first step. But that
also means that
the Democrats are going to come after
us. What happened in this election
will be played out
in spades in 2004."
Dunau
sketches his vision for the future of the Greens. "Most Greens here
in New York and around the country are still convinced that
they need to
have a famous personality to get support,"
says Dunau. "I'm convinced that
the Greens need to stay
focused on issues and not personalities. The only
way
we can break through is to focus on issues by proposing specific
legislation for example, by advocating a no
involuntary spray act. The
government does not have the
right to spray synthetic chemicals on people
or their
dwellings for mosquito control. Or we could push for a Labor
Sovereignty Act - the government should not be trading with
nations in
which union organizing is illegal and
punishable by imprisonment. Make the
bills short and
clear, and let everyone know where we stand. I believe
that's the only thing that's going to give the Greens a
nationwide or even
state-wide focus."
"In America we live in the belly
of the beast," Dunau says. "We are the
most
propagandized people in the history of the planet. The Greeks came up
with a fantastic word 2,500 years ago, which is pandemonium
- confusion by
noise. The media and politicians
understand it today, better than ever. If
you make
enough noise, no one gets heard except the loudest noise makers.
Well, the Greens can't be the loudest noise- makers right
now. All we can
do is have a clear signal."
Other Green leaders around New
York agree with Dunau's formula. Roger
Snyder serves as
the New York Green Party's membership coordinator and is
Secretary of the Suffolk County Greens. He was also a
candidate for State
Assembly this year. He admits
having received some memorable correspondence
during
the election. "I got some pretty nasty phone calls and emails," the
forty-four-year-old Long Island resident says. "A lot of
people were mad,
accusing Nader of ruining the election
for Gore. But I never saw Nader as a
spoiler. You go to
the polls and vote for who you want; it's that simple.
And I think Nader was successful. Even the attacks he got
from the
Democrats worked in our favor because it gave
the Greens more publicity. To
build a party you've got
to be known, and get your issues out there. Six
months
ago I could have talked to people who didn't know the Green Party
even existed. Now they know it's here, but they're not
quite sure what it
is. That's why it's our job to
educate people."
Topping
Snyder's agenda: "The main goals right now are public education,
communication, and empowerment. Getting people enrolled and
running
candidates are means to these ends. We've got
to reach all the people who
voted for Nader but don't
know much about the Green Party; people who think
we're
just environmentalists and nothing else. Our job now is to reach out
to those people."
Rachel Treichler, a prominent member of the party's State
Committee of New
York, concurs that the Greens are
entering a critical phase of
communication. "We're in
the process now of putting together a party
structure
that better reflects the tremendous growth we've experienced over
the last year," the forty-nine-year-old book store owner
explains. "In the
wake of Nader's campaign, we have a
great opportunity for educating people
about Green
issues - issues the Republicans and Democrats won't even
acknowledge. The most important thing is getting interested
people
registered with their local Greens and plugged
in to our activist network."
If the recent election showed us anything," David Albano
says, "it's that
the Democratic Party needs the
Progressives to win. The Democrats moved to
the center,
beginning with Clinton, and that helped them get votes. But
they abandoned progressives in the process. But now they
know they need
us." The thirty-five-year-old Albano, a
high school teacher, is Chairperson
of the Lower Hudson
Valley Greens. "I think November 8 was our important
day," he emphasizes. "That's when our work really started.
It has been
amazing to me to see all the new people
that have been coming out of the
woodwork to get
involved. I know now that we will win local elections.
We've got an energized corps of people. We've got the right
message. A lot
of what we need is already in place to
run very strong local elections.
Here we come."
Albano says his sights are set on
November 2001, when local offices across
New York will
be up for grabs. "Then there's the gubernatorial race in
2002. That's critical. We've got to have a good showing
then to keep our
ballot status in the state." Will the
Greens need to rely on another
recognizable personality
to stand for Governor, like TV star Al Lewis in
1998?
>"I want to say no," Albano says thoughtfully, "because I think we
have the organization now to run an effective statewide
campaign without
someone who's a name. But we'll have
to see how things go in the local
elections next
November. If we do need a big name, I think that would be
unfortunate and a small step backwards."
Craig Seeman, the New York State
Chair of the Green Party, insists that the
recent
election was a tremendous boost for the Greens across the state. "We
didn't get the federal funding. But our base is more
charged and far more
willing to get involved and do the
work that needs to be done. One of our
biggest concerns
was whether the energy would dissipate after the campaign.
But from what I've seen, it's been just the opposite. You
know, for us in
New York this was a very successful
campaign. Over a quarter of a million
New Yorkers voted
for Nader, and who knows how many more people liked the
message but didn't go so far as to vote for him. That's a
huge pool of
people that are receptive to our message.
You're going to see many more
viable Green Party
candidates across the state next November."
In the last few weeks before the election, Nader and his
supporters were
bombarded with Democratic Party
persuasion that the Greens were ultimately
hurting
progressive causes by not supporting Gore. "All that propaganda was
somewhat successful," Seeman admits. "It definitely cost
Nader some votes.
But overall, I think it failed. In
the short run it may have caused some
people to waffle,
but in the long run it made it very clear what we're up
against. People got to see that the political system under
the two major
parties is dirty, cutthroat, and
anti-democratic. And one thing is certain,
the fact
that they came down so hard on the Nader campaign meant that we
were making a difference. You don't get attacked unless
you're doing
something that threatens the system."
Seeman, a dedicated Green Party
activist since 1993, says the immediate
task is to pull
that base of support together. "What we have to make sure
of is that the election of 2000 was not about Nader. Look
at the Reform
Party - as soon as Ross Perot's not
running it falls apart. But the Greens
have a
foundation that we've been building for many years. We have to
solidify it now. Nader allowed us to see where are
supporters are. We've
got some districts in New York
where Nader got more than 20% of the vote.
We will be
seeking those people out and letting them know that there is a
place for them in the Green Party. "We're not looking for
people to drop
their lives and devote it all to the
Greens," Seeman says with a laugh.
"Our goal is for
people to participate in whatever way they can. You can
begin by bringing up the issues with your friends and
neighbors. I actually
think that's one of the biggest
problems in this country. In the U.S., the
two things
we're not supposed to talk about are religion and politics. But
that has to change. People have to be willing to really
talk about the
issues that are important to them, at
home, at the workplace, everywhere.
Stop letting the TV
talk for you."
Until now the
biggest threat to the success of the Greens may have been
themselves. The Party has been hampered by bitter,
long-term rivalries
between leftist, socialist greens
and green capitalists. Some members
(loosely identified
with the Greens/Green Party USA organization) advocate
such socialist programs as the nationalization of major
corporations and a
cap on personal earnings. But other
Greens (generally identified with the
Association of
State Green Parties, which sponsored Nader's run), would
rather see aggressive regulation of big business. Fluid,
in-the-streets
activism versus rule-bound electoral
politics has also been a point of
contention among
Greens. Individuals on both sides of the divide agree that
personality differences have exacerbated the problems over
the years. But
those old divides are being bridged as
an increasing number of supporters
flock to the Green
movement. Nader himself says that the "two factions are
coming together more and more. I think things are better
now, in terms of
unity in the Green Party, than they've
been in fifteen years."
As the
Greens seek common ground and restructure their national
organization to reflect compromise, one important fact
emerges: like any
other political party or activist
group, the Greens are not monolithic.
They represent a
broad range of viewpoints and issues. They are united,
however, in their commitment to social change that empowers
the
disenfranchised, strengthens democracy, and
improves the ecological
vitality of our environments.
Far from being a liability, the range of
views now
being brought together under the Green umbrella may turn out to
be one of its greatest sources of strength.
An eighteen-year supporter of the
Green movement in the United States and
one of the
organizers of the Green Party in New York State, Mark Dunlea is
encouraged by recent events. "Part of the problem with the
Greens," Dunlea
explains, "being that it's the only
real progressive alternative to the
Democratic Party,
is that it ends up pulling in a lot of different
philosophies a strong anarchist sentiment, green
capitalists, green
socialists, and progressive
populists. Trying to accommodate all of them in
one
political party can be very complex and very frustrating. But in the
eighteen years that I've been involved in the movement, the
Greens have
always moved forward. It has always gotten
larger; it has always gotten
stronger. It's been a slow
but steady growth. Somehow the party always
manages to
overcome its internal disagreements. While the process is
incredibly frustrating, it has never fallen back. It has
gotten to the
point now where we are the most
successful, progressive third party in the
United
States in the last fifty years."
Syracuse-based Howie Hawkins, a veteran activist and
nationally recognized
Green Party leader, underscores
the challenge now before the Greens. "What
have
progressives won, really, since we stopped the war in Vietnam? What
has labor won since it got the Wagner Act passed in 1936?
What have blacks
and other ethnic minorities got since
the Voting Rights Act of 1965? What
have women got
since Roe v. Wade passed in the Supreme Court in
1973? Progressives are getting their butts
kicked in the Democratic Party.
It's an abusive
relationship; and it's long past time to go.
"Establishment liberals," Hawkins continues, "have vested
career and
financial interests in the success of the
Democratic Party. But they're not
winning anything. We
need an independent political movement that can
articulate progressive positions clearly, without
compromise. The Democrat
Party liberals are whining and
crying because the Greens have upset their
little game.
No longer can the progressive vote be taken for granted."
"We're the underdog party," Hawkins says with pride. "But
we're the only
party that's fighting for the underdogs.
The Democrats still have that
aura, but it's completely
false. It's a scam. The Greens understand that.
Our
task now is to get the average New Yorker to see that."
A resident of East Hampton, New
York, Ron Stanchfield is a member of the
Green's State
Committee and serves on the Association of State Green
Parties' national Transition Committee. Stanchfield and
Hawkins are united
in their appreciation of the
formidable task now before them. "Quite
frankly, if the
last three weeks of the election are any sign," Stanchfield
warns, "I think the Democrats are planning to come down on
us hard. They
understand now what impact Nader had on
the election, and they understand
what the impact of
the Green movement would be. They know that we will not
be bought off. But we'll meet that challenge. I think in
about three years
and especially when we go into the
next presidential race, we're going to
get a full
frontal attack by the Democrats. I'm not sure how it will
manifest itself, but I think it could get pretty ugly."
"We've gotten about
three million people around the
country that get it," he says. "They see
what's going
on. We're approaching critical mass. At some point it will be
generally known; everyone will get it. Change will come.
That's our
mission. It's emerging. It's happening."
NEWS
LINKS
Psst. The real scoop on
Patient Assistance Programs
By Dorothy Guellec, ZNET
commentary, December 26, 2000
For a copy of this
article, contact: Dorothy Guellec
guellec@purvid.purchase.edu or Tel 914 271-5644
'I believe Mr. Reich. s article
would enlighten all progressives and greens
alike.
Sincerely, Scott Tennant'
Article Title: The New
Economy As a Decent Society.
http://www.prospect.org/print/V12/3/reich-r.html
Have your read Ralph Nader. s
interview in Brill. s?? Ralph Nader: "My
Untold Story"
http://www.brillscontent.com/2001feb/features/nader.shtml. What
if we
threw a presidential campaign and nobody came?
The Green Party's candidate
explains how he tried to
engage the press, and why it didn't work.
Activists Use Computers in Protests
There's stuff about many of the current legal battles the
community is
involved in, lots of first amendment
stuff.
http://www.parkslopegreens.org/2600-nader.gif
Fun Links
Don. t you just love Tom Tomorrow?
http://www.thismodernworld.com/
A recount we. d like to see:
George Tatevosyan, was obviously hard at work,
and
wanted you to see this story:
http://www.satirewire.com/news/0011/nader_wins.shtml
RESOURCES:
Powerful Activists' Tools -- The following site
has multiple "Activist
Tools & Resources", which
among other things, allow one to write a "Letter
to the
Editor" and have it submitted to 100's of newspapers across the
country. I highly recommend bookmarking it, and using it
regularly. This
site also allows you to easily develop
regional & national newsroom email
address lists,
(including alternative media) & send articles, press
releases, To: "Yourself", and enter the list in the Bcc
section, to avoid
appearance of spamming. I hope you
find it useful. http://activistse-z.com/
5. LETTERS:
Thank you for sending the
newsletter to me. I appreciate the opportunity to
actually feel that in some way that I am actually connected
with a process
of slow but effective change or maybe
more appropriately meaningful and
effective change. As
in any process, but especially in our Country today,
there are times when people need to see that there is
another way to
address particular aspects of issues.
More importantly, I know that there
is a sense of
helplessness amongst the general population of Americans. The
"lesser of two evils" way of voting or the more prevalent
"why bother to
vote" attitude is the norm. In both
cases people are probably right to
think that way, due
to the fact when one looks at the money and in turn
power that is being wielded in order to accomplish their
agendas by the two
major parties in America it is easy
to encounter an overwhelming sense of
powerlessness.
The truth of the matter is, I believe, that this is exactly
what they (The Republican and Democratic parties) want the
general voting
public to think and in turn not act.
When this past "election" transpired
there were cries
from the Democratic party that in voting for Ralph Nader
you were voting for George Bush. Well, you may draw your
own conclusions
from that but I am pretty sure that I
voted for Ralph Nader not George
Bush. They are in a
manner, buying your vote when you do not vote! If
everyone who did not vote due to that rhetoric did actually
vote or those
who voted for The Democratic or
Republican candidates voted by principle
instead of who
they believed is going to win, things in this Country would
change, actually change. There is a need for change. I love
this Country
and I believe in its potential and
principles. I served it for 6 years in
the military, in
some cases during those years did I agree with the way
things were done. Regardless, I made a commitment to serve
and did what was
asked of me, as did many before and
after who gave or will give more, much
more, than just
a few days but all of their days, lives, anything and all
to come. From time to time I think to myself, If they could
see how things
have changed and become would they do
what they did? What would they say?
Is this the results
that was expected with their actions? Now it is time to
serve it in a different manner. Some may not agree with my
views, but that
is one reason why I love The United
States of America, and that is why we
are here and that
is why we have to do what we can for an Organized,
effective, change for the betterment of our Country.
Thank You, SK
Letters to the Editor, The Washington Post
Monday, January 22, 2001
To the
Editor
Ruth S. Wolf, in her January 21 letter ("What
Does Mr. Nader Say Now?")
wonders how Ralph Nader's
supporters feel about President Bush's
anti-environmental policies and the nomination of Gale
Norton and John
Ashcroft, since Green votes allegedly
help Mr. Bush win the 2000 election.
Do we still hold
that there's little difference between the two major parties?
We'll let the Democrats prove us
right or wrong. Few of us regretted our
votes in late
November, when the Clinton-Gore Administration, at the
international Climate Change conference in the Hague,
blocked
implementation of the Kyoto measures against
global warming. Neither were
we impressed when Mr.
Clinton selected fundraiser Terry McAuliffe to head
the
Democratic Party, ensuring its continued service to corporate lobbyists.
If Democrats want to distinguish
themselves from the GOP, let them abandon
the rhetoric
about bipartisanship and conciliation, and prepare to fight.
Let them revive their party's commitment to the social
safety net and to
the Democratic pledge since 1948 of
national health insurance, which the
Clinton and Gore
platforms of 1996 and 2000 canceled. Unfortunately, many
Dems have already caved in on the Ashcroft and Norton
nominations, just as
Democratic yeas put the
nominations of Justices Scalia and Thomas over the top.
Will the Democrats fight
inevitable efforts by President Bush to restrict
freedom of choice and block availability of RU-486? Al Gore
agreed with Mr.
Bush on outlawing late-term abortion,
even using the right-wing terminology
of
"partial-birth" abortion in his response to a U.S. Catholic Conference
candidates' questionnaire, and President Clinton waited
until the end of
his eight years before urging FDA
approval of RU-486, setting up an easy
reversal by
President Bush.
Greens
challenge Dems to push for Instant Run-off Voting and other reforms
that allow greater choice for voters without the threat of
"spoiled"
elections inherent in our at-large system.
The Green Party isn't going
away. Greens even won a
run-off race in San Francisco, a landslide victory
for
Green candidate Matt Gonzalez in a Supervisor election on December 12
-- after, we're told, Nader's spoiling discredited the
Greens.
Greens, battling
prohibitive ballot access laws and exclusion from the
presidential debates, called for election reforms long
before the Florida
debacle, and we eagerly joined the
inaugural protests on January 20.
Instead of blaming
the Green Party and Mr. Nader, Democrats should
concentrate on ensuring fair elections, and on finding a
presidential
candidate who can at least win his or her
home state.
Scott McLarty, Spokesman for the DC
Statehood Green Party, Media
coordinator for the
Association of State Green Parties
EARTH ACTION: The Bulletin for
Environmental Activists
February 15, 2001
Contents:
1) alerts
a) DIESEL REGULATIONS: Call the White House TODAY!
b) NATIONAL FORESTS: Urge the
Forest Service to resist
industry pressure to drill
Bridger-Teton National Forest
c) CHILDREN'S HEALTH: Tell the EPA to keep its promise to
protect kids from harmful pesticides
d) MARINE CONSERVATION: Support
the Tortugas Ecological
Reserve in the Florida Keys
2) About Our Bulletins/How to
Subscribe & Unsubscribe
3)
About NRDC/How to Contact Us
You will also find these alerts in NRDC'S Earth Action
Center (http://www.nrdc.org/action), which includes tools
for taking action easily online.
******************************************
1) alerts
DIESEL REGULATIONS
Call the White House today, Thursday, February 15!
As we reported last month, on
December 21, 2000 the
Environmental Protection Agency
announced it had approved
tough new diesel fuel and
emissions rules that will require
stringent tailpipe
emissions limits on new large trucks and
buses and
virtually sulfur-free diesel fuel to power them.
The
EPA estimates that, by reducing smog-causing nitrogen
oxides and microscopic soot from the nation's diesel truck
and bus engines by more than 90 percent, the new rule
will
prevent 8,300 premature deaths and avoid over
360,000 asthma
attacks and 7,100 hospital admissions
each year.
But on his first
day in office, President Bush announced
that he wanted
to freeze and then "review" the new diesel
rule. The
oil and trucking industries are taking advantage
of
this freeze to push for a weakening or rollback of this
historic clean air rule. Your comments helped achieve a
strong rule; now your comments are needed to defend it.
== What to do ==
Thursday, February 15 has been designated "Call the White
House Day" -- call or fax White House chief of staff
(and
former General Motors lobbyist) Andrew Card and
tell him
that for the sake of our health, the
administration must
implement the diesel rule, with no
changes whatsoever. [If
you don't read this email until
after the 15th, call or fax
anyway!]
== Contact information ==
Andrew H. Card
White House Chief
of Staff
Phone: 202-456-6798
Fax: 202-456-1907
...
NATIONAL FORESTS
Urge the Forest
Service to resist industry pressure to drill
Bridger-Teton National Forest
Bordering Yellowstone National Park in northwest Wyoming,
Bridger-Teton National Forest provides key habitat for
some
of the rarest and most vulnerable animals in the
lower 48
states, including grizzly bears, gray wolves,
and Canada
lynx. World-famous blue-ribbon trout streams
wind through
the forest's lush valleys, which are also
home to herds of
elk and buffalo. And Bridger-Teton
includes pristine lands
that are used extensively for
camping, kayaking, hunting and
fishing.
Recognizing the significance of
this rich wildlife habitat,
the U.S. Forest Service
recently proposed setting aside
370,000 of
Bridger-Teton's 3.4 million acres as off limits
to oil
and gas industrialization. The public overwhelmingly
supports this proposal -- in fact, 98 percent of the more
than 2,500 comments received during the preliminary
phase of
the process supported this "No Lease"
alternative. For the
last three years, however, the oil
and gas industry has been
fighting hard to open up
these lands to development. Now,
emboldened by allies
in the new Bush administration, the
industry is working
harder than ever to reverse the Forest
Service's
proposal.
== What
to do ==
Contact the Forest Service *by the February 28
comment
deadline* and urge the agency to adopt the "No
Lease"
alternative for Bridger-Teton National Forest.
== Contact information ==
You can email the Forest Service directly from NRDC's Earth
Action Center at http://www.nrdc.org/action. Or use the
contact information and sample letter below to send your
own
message, and please include your own reasons for
wanting to
protect this last slice of wild country in
the greater
Yellowstone ecosystem.
Supervisor Kniffy Hamilton
Attn: Oil & Gas DEIS
Bridger-Teton National Forest
P.O.
Box 1888
Jackson, WY 83001
Phone: 307-739-5500
Fax: 307-739-5010
Email: mailroom_r4_bridger_teton@fs.fed.us
== For background ==
Bridger-Teton National Forest
http://www.fs.fed.us/btnf/
== Sample letter ==
Dear Supervisor Hamilton,
I support the Forest Service's proposed "No Lease"
alternative #4 in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement
for Oil and Gas Development in Bridger-Teton National
Forest. These wildlands are far too valuable as rich
wildlife habitat, healthy fisheries and recreation
lands to
allow them to be destroyed or despoiled by
drill rigs, power
lines and road mazes.
I urge you to stand firm in your
efforts to safeguard for
future generations this last
slice of wild country in the
greater Yellowstone
ecosystem. Please make your final
decision the "No
Lease" decision.
Sincerely,
[Your name and address]
...
CHILDREN'S HEALTH
Tell the EPA to
keep its promise to protect kids from
harmful
pesticides
In 1996, Congress
unanimously passed the landmark Food
Quality Protection
Act, which required the Environmental
Protection
Agency, within three years, to review the most
dangerous pesticides in our food supply to ensure they are
safe for infants and children and to establish a
program to
screen and test pesticides to determine
whether they disrupt
hormonal or reproductive systems.
When the EPA missed these
deadlines NRDC, along with
farm worker, breast cancer and
other environmental
groups, sued to force the agency to obey
the law.
Just last month, the EPA agreed to
a settlement that
requires it over the next few years
to evaluate the threats
to children, farm workers, and
the general public posed by
some of the riskiest
pesticides and move forward by specific
deadlines to
control notorious chemicals often found in
drinking
water and household products. Although the
agreement
simply requires that the EPA follow the law, on
February 12th pesticide and chemical manufacturers began a
coordinated industry campaign to pressure the EPA with
formal requests to withdraw from the settlement.
== What to do ==
Tell EPA administrator Christie Whitman to obey the law and
protect our kids and the environment.
== Contact information ==
You can email EPA administrator Whitman directly from
NRDC's
Earth Action Center at http://www.nrdc.org/action. Or use
the contact information and sample letter below to send
your
own message, and feel free to include your own
reasons why
kids need to be safeguarded from harmful
pesticides.
Administrator
Christie Whitman
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Phone: 202-564-4700
Email: whitman.christine@epamail.epa.gov
== For background ==
Coalition Reaches Settlement with EPA To Regulate
Pesticides
http://www.nrdc.org/media/pressReleases/010119.asp
== Sample letter ==
Dear Administrator Whitman,
I am deeply concerned about risks
to children, farm workers,
and the environment from
hazardous pesticides. I urge you to
stand by the
consent decree and settlement agreement reached
by the
EPA and the Natural Resources Defense Council, Breast
Cancer Fund, United Farm Workers, Pesticide Action Network,
Pesticide Watch, CalPIRG Charitable Trust, and Greater
Bay
Area Physicians for Social Responsibility.
The settlement agreement simply
requires that the EPA follow
the requirements of the
Food Quality Protection Act,
unanimously passed in
1996, to review the most dangerous
pesticides in our
food supply to make sure they are safe for
infants and
children, and establish a testing program to
determine
whether pesticides harm humans and the
environment.
Please resist industry pressure
and affirm your commitment
to protect our children and
our environment. I will closely
follow the EPA's
actions on pesticides over the coming
years.
Sincerely,
[Your name and address]
...
MARINE CONSERVATION
Support the
Tortugas Ecological Reserve in the Florida Keys
Located only 70 miles west of Key West, the Tortugas is one
of our most pristine reef ecosystems. Strong currents
stock
this area of coral reefs, seagrass meadows, and
mangrove-fringed islands with larvae from across the
Gulf of
Mexico and Caribbean, resulting in unusually
high
biodiversity. In addition to having the densest
coral cover,
the Tortugas also boasts the cleanest
waters of the Florida
Reef Tract, and provides
essential habitat for nesting sea
turtles and North
America's only breeding colonies of
magnificent frigate
birds.
Like coral
reefs worldwide, however, the Tortugas is
severely
threatened by overfishing, coastal development,
pollution, and global climate change. In response to this
threat, a diverse coalition of conservation and
environmental groups (including NRDC), recreational
fishers,
commercial fishers, divers and scientists have
proposed
establishing the Tortugas Ecological Reserve
to provide
permanent protection to this unique area. A
variety of
harmful activities, including fishing, would
be prohibited
within the reserve's 191 square nautical
miles (including
the waters of the Florida Keys
National Marine Sanctuary and
the Dry Tortugas National
Park), making it the largest
no-take (no commercial or
recreational fishing) reserve in
U.S. waters.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission is
expected to vote at its
March 29-30 meeting on the proposal
to establish the
reserve.
== What to do ==
Send a message urging the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission to establish the proposed Tortugas
Ecological Reserve.
== Contact information ==
You can
email the commission directly from NRDC's Earth
Action
Center at http://www.nrdc.org/action. Or use the
contact information and sample letter below to send your
own
message, and please add your own personal reasons
for
wanting to protect this near-pristine habitat.
Mark Robson, Regional Director
Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission
Everglades Region
8535 Northlake
Boulevard
West Palm Beach, Fl 33412
Phone: 561-625-5122
Fax: 561-625-5129
Email: Robsonm@gfc.state.fl.us
== Sample letter ==
Dear Mr. Robson,
I urge you (and other members of
the commission) to vote to
establish the proposed
Tortugas Ecological Reserve in the
waters under your
jurisdiction. Specifically, I ask that you
implement
regulations that will ban all harvesting
(including
catch and release fishing) of marine life, and
will
prohibit anchoring within the proposed Tortugas
Ecological Reserve boundaries. These safeguards will help
protect the Tortugas' wildlife and habitats for current
and
future generations.
Again, I urge you to vote at the commission's March 29-30
meeting to establish the reserve. Please forward this
message to other members of the commission.
Sincerely,
[Your name and address]
...........
2) About Our Bulletins/How to
Subscribe & Unsubscribe
NRDC distributes three bulletins by email. To subscribe to
any or all of them or to join our activist networks, go
to
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
http://www.join.nrdcaction.org/profileeditor (or see
the
unsubscribe information below).
EARTH ACTION is sent biweekly and
calls out urgent
environmental issues requiring
immediate action. To
unsubscribe from Earth Action,
send an email message to
earthaction@nrdcaction.org
with REMOVE in the subject line.
LEGISLATIVE WATCH is sent biweekly when Congress is in
session and tracks environmental bills moving through the
federal legislature. To unsubscribe from Legislative
Watch,
send an email message to legwatch@nrdcaction.org
with REMOVE
in the subject line.
The CALIFORNIA ACTIVIST NETWORK
ACTION ALERT is distributed
bimonthly 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.
...........
3) About NRDC
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a nonprofit
environmental organization with over 400,000 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
Alliance¬ The Wilderness Society ¬
Wyoming Outdoor Council
Support Protection of Greater Yellowstone¹s Critical
Wildlands.
Forest Service
Proposes to Safeguard Nearly 370,000 Acres of Prime Wildlife
Habitat and Outstanding Recreation Areas.
Please take action by February 28
to ensure protection of these special
places.
The Bridger-Teton National Forest,
bordering Yellowstone National Park in
northwest
Wyoming, is world famous for its blue ribbon trout streams,
winding through lush valleys complete with vast herds of
elk. These lands
are home to some of the most rare and
vulnerable animals in the lower-48
states, including
the grizzly bear, gray wolf and Canada lynx.
For the last three years, the oil and gas industry has been
fighting to
open up nearly 370,000 acres -- an area
larger than neighboring Grand Teton
National Park -- to
oil and gas development. Drill rigs, accompanied by a
maze of roads and power lines, already fracture many of the
last best
places in Greater Yellowstone.
But in a recent far-sighted move,
the Bridger-Teton National Forest
proposed to put this
land off limits to oil and gas industrialization. The public
overwhelmingly supports this proposal, known as the "No
Lease" alternative
in the draft Environmental Impact
Statement for Oil and Gas Development.
In fact, 98% of
the more than 2,500 comments received supported the "No Lease"
alternative.
But...emboldened by allies in the new Bush administration,
big oil is
working to reverse this proposal.
Only through an emphatic show of
public support for the Forest Service
proposal will the
"No Lease" decision hold. It is critical that you take
this opportunity to sign the postcards below (or write your
own letter), to
support protection of the Bridger-Teton
National Forest and the "No Lease"
alternative.
This decision will set a precedent
for the future management of our
national
forests: Will our public lands be managed mainly for industrial-scale
resource extraction and production? Or are
some places simply too
important for wildlife, clean
water and recreation?
The
Forest Service is trying to protect this last slice of wild country on
the Bridger-Teton National Forest. It needs and
deserves your support.
What's
at Stake?
The wildlands that
industry wants to industrialize include the Moccasin
Basin, just 35 miles from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which
contains key grizzly
bear habitat and crucial big game
winter range. Also included are the
Hoback
Basin, south of Jackson Hole, and the Union Pass and Upper Green
River areas, adjacent to both the Gros Ventre and Bridger
Wilderness areas.
This territory includes several blue
ribbon trout streams and four rivers
eligible for
National Wild and Scenic River designation.
Take Action Today! Comments Must be Postmarked
by Feb 28.
1) Send Electronic
Comments to the Forest Service:
http://www.fs.fed.us/btnf/oilandgas/oil&gas.htm
2) Write
a letter to the Forest Service and to Representative Thomas
Voice your support for the Preferred Alternative #4, the
"No Lease"
alternative.
Sample letters and addresses follow:
For more information, contact:
Liz Howell, Sierra Club: 307-672-0425
Sample
letters:
To:
Bridger-Teton National Forest
Attn: Oil & Gas DEIS
P.O. BOX
1888
Jackson, WY 83001
Dear Supervisor Hamilton:
I support the B-T's proposed "No Lease" alternative #4 in
the draft EIS for
Oil and Gas
Development. These wildlands are far too valuable as rich
wildlife habitat, healthy fisheries and recreation
lands. Please continue
your strong efforts
to safeguard these lands for our children by issuing a
"No Lease" final decision.
Thank you for your work.
Sincerely,
To:
Senator Craig Thomas
U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator Thomas:
I support the Bridger-Teton National Forest's proposed "No
Lease"
alternative #4 in the draft EIS for Oil and Gas
Development. These
wildlands are far too
valuable as rich wildlife habitat, healthy fisheries
and recreation lands. I urge you to support the
B-T in its efforts to safeguard this land for future
generations.
Sincerely,
from Environment News Service February 15, 2001
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE
(ENS) http://ens-news.com
"We
Cover the Earth For You"
************************************************************
DILUTED
EU CHEMICALS PLAN DRAWS COMPOUND OBJECTIONS
BRUSSELS, Belgium, February
15, 2001 (ENS) - A new European strategy for
dealing with the world's most
hazardous substances adopted by the European
Commission on Tuesday has
already run into opposition from the chemical
industry and from
environmental groups.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-15-03.html
************************************************************
NETHERLANDS KEEPS TOXIC SHIP FROM SAILING
AMSTERDAM, The
Netherlands, February 15, 2001 (ENS) - The Netherlands has
prevented a
Mauritius flagged vessel from leaving the country on suspicion
that it would
sail to India for scrapping. The Sandrien, a 172 meter (560
foot) long cargo
carrier which was used to transport chemicals and
molasses, contains
asbestos, heavy metals and other toxic materials.
For full text and
graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-15-01.html
************************************************************
TOUGHER RULES MAY REPLACE EU's BIOTECH MORATORIUM
STRASBOURG,
France, February 15, 2001 (ENS) - The European Union is a step
closer to
lifting its three year moratorium on licensing genetically
modified products
after the European Parliament approved new measures,
Tuesday.
For
full text and graphics, visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-15-10.html
************************************************************
MINE WASTE PROBES DEVELOPED DOWN UNDER
SYDNEY, Australia,
February 15, 2001 (ENS) - A network of small oxygen
probes could avert acid
damage to the environment and save mining companies
millions of dollars.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-15-05.html
***********************************************************
GREEN ENERGY COULD EMPOWER 10 MIDWESTERN STATES
CHICAGO,
Illinois, February 15, 2001 (ENS) - To help the American Midwest
avoid the
energy problems California has been suffering, the Environmental
Law and
Policy Center of the Midwest (ELPC) has offered a plan to help
diversify
energy sources, reduce pollution, increase energy efficiency and
improve the
reliability of the power supply.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-15-04.html
************************************************************
NEW HOPE FOR SOUTH AFRICA'S ENDANGERED SPECIES
JOHANNESBURG,
South Africa, February 15, 2001 (ENS) - A conservation
breeding group
credited with preserving numbers of the Florida panther,
Pacific salmon
populations and the blackfooted ferret is going to South
Africa to help save
its endangered species.
For full text and graphics, visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-15-11.html
************************************************************
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: FEBRUARY 15, 2001
Opening
ANWR Will Not Solve Energy Crisis
Lawsuit Challenges Washington DC's
Delayed Smog Plan
Environmentalists Criticize California's Emergency
Energy Plans
Reusing Water Benefits Washington Communities and
Businesses
Louisiana Barrier Islands Getting 140,000 New Plants
Website Offers Information on Impacts of Fishing Gear
Second Man
Sentenced For Shooting Bald Eagle
Utah Town Wins Park Achievement Award
Student Volunteers Help Restore Big Cypress Preserve
For full
text and graphics visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/feb2001/2001L-02-15-09.html
Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2000 All Rights Reserved.
************************************************************
SEND NEWS STORY
TIPS TO news@ens-news.com
***********************************************************************
E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE
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TO BUSINESS, ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:
New Breakthrough in Alternative Energy
Technology,
Holds Answers To
Solving the Energy Crisis
LAS VEGAS, NV, Feb. 15 -/E-Wire/-- The dawn of
a new day in the search for
practical alternative energy solutions is
emerging. Las Vegas based Hydro Environmental
Resources, Inc.
(OTC Bulletin Board: HYER) is a company on the cutting edge of finding
alternative solutions to using fossil-based fuels for producing energy.
/CONTACT: Steve Hull, 702-284-7164,
PRSolutionsLV@aol.com,
for Hydro Environmental Resources, Inc./
/Web
site: http://www.hydrogenerate.com/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/15Feb0109.html
***********************************************************************
E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE
***********************************************************************
TO ENVIRONMENT EDITORS:
First International Bank Teams With
The Louis Berger Group To Facilitate
Environmental Exports To Asia
First International And Louis Berger Combine
Strengths To Create An Environmental
Export Finance Facility For Asia
HARTFORD, CT, Feb. 15 -/E-Wire/-- The
Louis Berger Group Inc. Global Environment
Team and First International
Bank, a subsidiary of First International Bancorp Inc.
(NASDAQ: FNCE -
news), have formed an alliance to promote U.S. exports of environmental
products and services to Asia.
/CONTACT: Press: First International Bank, Michele Zommer,
860/241-4705, zommerm@firstinterbank.com or The Louis
Berger Group,Penelope Miller, 973/678-1960 Ext. 432, pmiller@louisberger.com
or Technical: First International Bank, Tom Kirby, 860/541-5210,
kirbyt@firstinterbank.com or The Louis Berger Group,
Global Environment Team, Ted Yoder, 202/331-7775, tyoder@louisberger.com/
/Web site: http://www.louisberger.com
http://www.firstinterbank.com/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/15Feb0108.html
***********************************************************************
E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE
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TO ENVIRONMENT EDITORS:
Perma-Fix Environmental Services,
Inc. Signs Definitive Agreement to
Purchase 100% of East Tennessee Materials
and Energy Corporation
- East Tennessee
Materials and Energy Corporation (``M&EC'') is Licensed to Operate
the
Only Non-Governmental, On-Site Mixed Waste Treatment Facility at the U.S.
Department of Energy's Mixed Waste Storage Site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee
- Initial DOE Contracts Granted to M&EC Valued at a Minimum of $100
Million
ATLANTA, GA, Feb. 15 -/E-Wire/--
PERMA-FIX ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES,
INC. (Nasdaq:PESI - news) announced today
that it has signed a Definitive Agreement to
purchase all of the outstanding
voting stock of East Tennessee Materials and Energy
Corporation
(``M&EC''), as opposed to 80% as originally disclosed. M&EC is licensed
to
operate a low-level radioactive and hazardous waste (``mixed waste'')
treatment
facility at the U.S. Department of Energy's (``DOE'') storage site
in Oak
Ridge, Tennessee.
/CONTACT: Perma-Fix Environmental Services, Inc., Atlanta, Dr.
Louis F. Centofanti, 404/847-9990 or Strategic Growth International, Inc., Stan
Altschuler, 516/829-7111, sgi@netmonger.net/
/Web site: http://www.perma-fix.com/
For Full
Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/15Feb0107.html
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Two New
Publications Help Citizens Fight Sprawl and Tame Telecommunications Towers
WASHINGTON,
DC, Feb. 15 -/E-Wire/-- Two new publications from Scenic America, From Sprawl to
Smart Growth: How to Achieve Beautiful Results and Taming Wireless
Telecommunications Towers, are now available to help citizens advocate for smart
growth that is attractive and the sensitive siting of wireless
telecommunications towers.
/CONTACT: Mary Houser, Communications Director, (202) 543-6200
ext. 12; Deborah L. Myerson, AICP, Director of Programs, (202)
543-6200 ext. 14/
/Web site: http://scenicsummit.org
http://www.scenic.org /
For Full Text
Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/15Feb0106.html
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Scenic
America Again Seeks Nominations for "Last Chance Landscapes"
WASHINGTON,
DC, Feb. 15 -/E-Wire/-- Scenic America, a national scenic
conservation
organization, is now accepting nominations for its 2001
Last Chance
Landscapes program. These endangered landscapes are places
of beauty or
distinctive community character with both a pending threat
and a potential
solution. Nominations are due on June 1, 2001.
/CONTACT: Mary Houser,
Communications Director, 202-543-6200/
/Web site: http://www.scenic.org/
For Full Text
Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/15Feb0105.html
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TO BUSINESS, ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:
Georgia Power's Electric Vehicle Employee
Leasing Program Sets Milestone
ATLANTA, GA, Feb. 15 -/E-Wire/-- Georgia
Power's electric vehicle employee
leasing program has set a milestone with
more than one million commute miles.
Since its inception in December 1998,
the employee vehicle leasing program
began with eight electric vehicles and
today has more than 140 electric
vehicles in the program. The
program is designed for Southern Company
and Georgia Power employees living
and working in the metro Atlanta area to
commute to and from work by
electric GM EV1s and Ford Rangers.
/CONTACT: Theresa Robinson of Georgia Power, 404-506-7676, or
1-800-282-
1696, or media@georgiapower.com /
/Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/357499.html
or fax,
800-758-5804, ext. 357499/
/Web site: http://www.georgiapowerco.com
http://www.southernco.com/planetpower/ev/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/15Feb0104.html
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Ingersoll-Rand's Thermo King Unit
Develops Innovative, Cryogenic-powered
Transport Temperature-controlled
System
Environment-friendly Refrigeration Unit Operates Without
Ozone-Depleting Chemicals;
Reduces Noise Pollution As Well
WOODCLIFF
LAKE, NJ, Feb. 15 -/E-Wire/-- Ingersoll-Rand Company (NYSE: IR - news),
a
leading diversified industrial firm, today announced that its Thermo King unit
has developed an
innovative transport refrigeration system that enables food
distributors to address environmental
concerns related to atmospheric
ozone-depletion, and diesel fuel and noise pollution.
/CONTACT: Ingersoll-Rand Company,
Woodcliff Lake, Media Contact: Paul A. Dickard, 201/573-3120, Analyst Contact:
Joe Fimbianti, 201/573-3113/
/Web site: http://www.thermoking.com
http://www.irco.com/
For Full Text
Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/15Feb0103.html
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TO BUSINESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:
Lockheed
Martin Continues to Reach Outstanding
Achievements in
Environmental, Safety and Health
MOORESTOWN, N.J., Feb. 15 -/E-Wire/-- Lockheed
Martin (NYSE: LMT)
Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems (NE&SS)
business unit in Moorestown,
N.J., recently made two significant
accomplishments in the arena of
environmental, safety and
health. The site, home to about 4,100 employees,
was accepted
into the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) National
Environmental
Achievement Track and was recognized by the National Safety
Council for
surpassing five million hours worked without a lost-time injury.
/CONTACT: Andrea Lawrence of
Lockheed Martin, 856-722-4922, or
andrea.j.lawrence@lmco.com/
/Web
sites: http://www.lockheedmartin.com
http://http://ness.external.lmco.com/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/15Feb0102.html
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TO BUSINESS, ENVIRONMENTAL AND TECHNOLOGY EDITORS:
Startech Environmental and Eiko
Systems Sign Contract for Plasma Converter
Installation in Japan
WILTON, CT,
Feb. 15 -/E-Wire/-- Startech Environmental Corp. (Nasdaq: STHK),
the world
leader in plasma waste destruction and recycling technology, announced
today
that it has received a contract with the first progress payment from
the
Eiko Systems Company for a 10,000-pound per day Plasma Converter to process
hazardous waste in Japan. Eiko, headquartered in Japan, is an industrial
company
whose principal businesses are environmental, clean power and
co-generation
projects.
/CONTACT: Robert L. DeRochie, VP of Investor Relations of
Startech
Environmental Corp., 203-762-2499, or fax, 203-761-0839, or email,
starmail@startech.net/
/Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/113537.html
or fax,
800-758-5804, ext. 113537/
/Web site: http://www.startech.net/
For Full
Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Feb01/15Feb0101.html
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