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The Yellowstone Protection Act, a bill that would codify
the original
rule phasing out snowmobiles from
Yellowstone and Grand Teton National
Parks will be
introduced this Thursday, June 27.
Please call your Congress person and ask her/him to be an
original
cosponsor. See action alert below.
Thanks to all of you who asked the
Park Service to uphold its decision
to phase out
snowmobile use on Yellowstone and Grand Teton National
Parks. Just last week, the National Park Service announced
they received
a record breaking number of comment from the
American public. Of the
350,000 citizens who commented,
80 percent favored the snowmobile
phase-out.
We need your help again.
Reps. Rush Holt (D-NJ) and Chris
Shays (R-CT) are working to ensure
that your
comments are heard by introducing legislation to ban
recreational snowmobile use in the two parks. Contact
your own Representative and ask
her/him to cosponsor the Yellowstone
Protection Act to safeguard these national
treasures once and for all
from snowmobile
damage:
http://www.wilderness.org/takeaction/?step=2&item=1429
BACKGROUND:
In November 2000,
after a three-year public process that included 22
public hearings and over 65,000 public comments, the
National Park
Service issued a decision to phase out
snowmobiles in Yellowstone and
Grand Teton national parks over a
four-year period. The decision --
based on a decade of
scientific studies by university researchers and
government agencies -- found that snowmobiles are damaging
the parks'
wildlife, clean air, natural sounds and
quiet, as well as the unique
experiences that Americans
expect to find in their national parks.
However, at the urging of snowmobile industry, Interior
Secretary Gale
Norton directed the Park Service to
reconsider its decision, claiming
that
science and technology had not been adequately studied in the
original decision. The resulting Supplemental Environmental
Impact
Statement [SEIS] contains no new scientific or
technological
information. In fact, the SEIS
itself points out that the snowmobile
industry failed to
provide the Park Service with any significant
evidence
that was not already part of the original decision to phase
out snowmobile use in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national
parks.
In addition, the
Environmental Protection Agency reasserted its
statement of three years ago by contending that phasing out
snowmobiles
"would provide the best available
protection to human health, wildlife,
air quality,
water quality, soundscapes, visitor experiences and
visibility."
THE YELLOWSTONE PROTECTION ACT
The
Park Service is expected to make a final decision on the SEIS in
November. But in the meantime, Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) and
Rep. Chris
Shays (R-CT) are introducing legislation,
named the Yellowstone
Protection Act, to reinforce the
desire of many Americans by making the
ban on
snowmobiles a law in Yellowstone and Grand Teton.
TAKE ACTION:
Ask your
Representatives to consider cosponsoring the Yellowstone
Protection Act by sending your comments from our web site:
http://www.wilderness.org/takeaction/?step=2&item=1429
Or contact your Representative directly and urge them to
consider
cosponsoring the Yellowstone Protection Act
with Rep. Holt and Rep.
Shays because:
** Americans want Yellowstone and
Grand Teton to remain peaceful places
in winter where
bison, elk, and other wildlife are not harassed by noisy vehicles.
** Snowmobiles in the two national
parks continue to cause pollution,
make rangers sick,
and prevent visitors from hearing the eruption of Old
Faithful or enjoying the solitude that Americans expect
from their
national parks.
Send your letter to:
Rep. __________, U.S. House of Representatives, Wash., DC
20515
U.S. Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121
If you do not know who your
Representative is, you can look it up at:
http://tws.ctsg.com/wac/legDirectory/
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*
WILDALERT
* Monday, June 24, 2002
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
If a draft National Park Service management plan for Lake
Mead
National Recreation Area (NRA) is put in place,
you can shelve any
plans you may have had for a
tranquil visit to this large desert lake
east of Las
Vegas on the Nevada-Arizona border. The agency's
preferred alternative would leave 98 percent -- not a typo:
all but 2
percent! -- of the lake open to the
relentless yowl of personal water
craft or jet
skis.
Please take
action through June 26, 2002, *only,* and help block the
plan to turn Lake Mead over to these machines:
http://www.wilderness.org/takeaction/?step=2&item=1653
BACKGROUND
In mid-April, the
National Park Service (NPS) released a draft lake
management plan for the Lake Mead
NRA. Among its alternatives is one
called the conservation alternative, and environmentalists
generally
support it, with the glaring exception of its
appalling jet ski
provisions.
Even though jet skis account for
less than a quarter of the motorized
use on Lake Mead,
the agency proposes to essentially surrender the
lake
to that use. And this is despite the fact that the evidence
mounts almost daily against jet skis: they are loud, dirty,
dangerous,
and completely inappropriate in units of our
National Park System.
Much of this evidence
comes from the National Park Service's own
science.
TAKE ACTION
There is still time to let the National Park Service know
how -- and
for what -- we want Lake Mead
managed. The National Recreation Area
belongs to all of us and it should be managed FOR all of
us. Take
action now: http://www.wilderness.org/takeaction/?step=2&item=1653
Or send your comments by June 26 to:
William Dickinson, Superintendent
Lake Mead NRA
601 Nevada Highway
Boulder City, NV 89005
EMAIL:
lame_lmp@nps.gov
Your own
concerns about Lake Mead and any personal experience you have
of the place are important to note. Here are
some additional points
you can make about jet skis:
- They pollute air and water,
dumping as much as 30 percent of their
gas-oil mixture
into the environment unburned by their two-stroke
engines.
- They damage wildlife and wildlife habitat, particularly
for birds
that nest in shallow areas generally
inaccessible to ordinary boats
but very much accessible
to jet skis.
- They amount to
only 9 percent of registered water craft but account
for a whopping 30 percent of boating accidents and 40 of
boating
injuries.
- While the conservation alternative calls for a phase-out
of the loud
and dirty two-stroke engines in favor of
quieter, cleaner four-stroke
engines, the shift
wouldn't occur for a decade-way too little and way
too
late. Four-stroke engines are not the cure-all the industry
claims. They, too, pollute air and
water. And nothing about engine
type begins
to speak to the rest of the damaging record of jet-skis:
they are unsafe for wildlife and for humans as well.
Thanks for taking action as a part
of WildAlert, the community of
online wilderness
activists!
***************************************************************
For a full list of Action Items, visit
http://www.wilderness.org/whatcan/takeaction.htm
***************************************************************
An archive of past Wildalerts can be found at
http://www.wilderness.org/wildalert/wildalerts.htm
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here
https://secure-net.com/tws/join.asp
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WildAlert is an email action alert system brought to
you by The
Wilderness Society to keep you apprised of
threats to our wildlands -
in the field and in
Washington. WildAlert messages include updates
along with clear, concise actions you can take to protect
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last wild places. You are welcome
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Founded in 1935, The Wilderness Society works to protect
America's
wilderness and to develop a nation-wide
network of wild lands
through public education,
scientific analysis and advocacy. Our
goal
is to ensure that future generations will enjoy the clean air
and water, wildlife, beauty and opportunities for
recreation and
renewal that pristine forests, rivers,
deserts and mountains
provide. To take action on behalf
of wildlands today, visit our
website at http://www.wilderness.org
Action deadline: June 27, 2002
This Thursday, one of your
senators will vote on a bill that could
affect the fate
of some of the most ecologically valuable habitats
around the globe. The Clean Power Act is
landmark power plant cleanup
legislation that would
reduce the levels of four major air pollutants,
including carbon dioxide, the heat-trapping gas primarily
responsible
for global warming. In the
United States, power plants are the
biggest source of
this pollutant.
Sadly,
pollution emitted in our country contributes to warming of the
entire planet. And, according to a new WWF
report, global warming
poses a serious threat to some
of the world's most biologically
diverse natural areas,
places like Canada's Arctic tundra and South
America's
Pantanal. The study found that as global warming affects
their habitats, many species will not be able to migrate
fast enough
to survive, raising the possibility of a
devastating loss of species
in many of the world's most
important habitats. Warming of the
atmosphere also causes climate disruptions such as changes
in
precipitation, rising sea levels, melting glaciers,
and a higher
frequency of storms and other extreme
weather events.
Enacting the
Clean Power Act is one of the biggest steps our country
can take to rein in global warming.
**************************TAKE
ACTION NOW! ************************
TO TAKE ACTION QUICKLY -- hit "reply" to this email and
then "send"
and we will automatically send the message
below, as is, to your
senator.
OR, BETTER YET, ADD YOUR OWN
THOUGHTS AND GREATLY INCREASE YOUR IMPACT
-- Log in to
your Personal Action Center
--http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org/login.asp -- with your email
address
(alerts@earthhopenetwork.net) and your password. Once you are in your
Personal Action Center, click on "Turn Down the Heat on
Precious
Habitats" and follow the instructions for
adding your own thoughts to
your
message. Note: Do not use the feature that allows you to
print
out and mail your message; there is not
sufficient time before the
vote. Let us send
the message for you via fax.
If you have any questions or problems with taking action,
contact us
at
actionquestions@takeaction.worldwildlife.org for help.
****************************LETTER
TEXT******************************
Dear (your senator's name will be inserted here):
I write to urge you to support the
Clean Power Act (S. 556) when it
comes before the
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
S. 556 would effectively reduce
power plant pollution by capping
emissions of the
global warming gas carbon dioxide. Power plant
pollution is responsible for more than 40 percent of U.S.
global
warming emissions. The United States
is the world's leading emitter
of global warming
pollution, and cutting carbon pollution from power
plants is an essential step toward controlling global
warming.
Fortunately, we can achieve these
cuts without sacrificing electrical
services by
switching to cleaner sources of power like wind and solar
power and making our current power plants more efficient.
The Bush administration's
power plant proposal is not a responsible
approach to
power plant pollution. It would make reductions in carbon
dioxide emissions merely voluntary for the industries
affected. I
urge you to oppose this
voluntary plan, as it would delay action on
global
warming and ultimately add billions to the cost of climate
protection.
Species, habitats, and people around the globe are already
suffering
the consequences of the overheating of our
planet. Please support the
much-needed Clean
Power Act.
Sincerely,
Your name and address
will be inserted here
***********************END OF LETTER
TEXT*********************
______________________________________________________________________
Direct any questions about the WWF Conservation Action
Network to
actionquestions@takeaction.worldwildlife.org
______________________________________________________________________
The Conservation Action Network is sponsored by World
Wildlife Fund-
US. Known worldwide by its
panda logo, WWF is dedicated to
protecting the world's
wildlife and the rich biological diversity
that we all
need to survive. The leading privately supported
international conservation organization in the world, WWF
has
sponsored more than 2,000 projects in 116 countries
and has more than
1 million members in the United
States. WWF calls on everyone --
government,
industry, and individuals -- to take responsibility by
taking action to save our living planet.
World Wildlife Fund
1250 Twenty-fourth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037
http://www.worldwildlife.org
http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org
“INSULTING THE TONGASS” - that is what the Bush
Administration is doing according to the The New York Times (May 18, 2002,
Editorial). The NY Times declared, “The administration has
flunked the first big test of its pledge to protect roadless areas of the
national forest system from logging and other commercial development.” “If
Mr. Bush won't protect roadless areas in the Tongass, where will he protect
them?”
THE GOOD NEWS....MOMENTUM BUILDS FOR ALAsKA WILDERNESS
PROTECTION
1. Growing Congressional Support for Chugach
and Tongass Wilderness
2. Action Needed for Tongass
Wilderness Plan! Keep Up The Momentum
GROWING CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORT FOR
ALASKA RAINFOREST WILDERNESS AND ROADLESS AREA PROTECTION
Congressional support for the
Alaska Rainforest Conservation Act (HR 2908) continues to grow. The list of
cosponsors for legislation is now up to a grand total of 117 courageous leaders
in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Rainforest Bill would protect over 13 million acres of
threatened lands in the Tongass and Chugach National Forests. As threats
continue to plague these forests including timber sale planning and road
construction in currently roadless areas of these two magnificent forests, more
and more members of Congress are heeding the demands of their constituents that
these areas be protected permanently.
Click on http://www.akrain.org today, to find out
if your Member of Congress is a cosponsor and send a letter!
MORE
ACTION NEEDED! KEEP UP THE MOMENTUM
Tens of thousands of Americans have joined the chorus of
those calling on the Forest Service to protect wilderness in the Tongass
National Forest. With only 1 month down of a 3-month public comment period on
the draft Tongass Wilderness Plan, the Forest Service is only just beginning to
hear from people across the United States who care about protecting the
rainforest.
Don’t forget - the
Forest Service has chosen a “no action” alternative as their preferred option
which means they would recommend no new wilderness. In other words, they believe
that not 1 of the 9,000,000 acres of roadless forest they reviewed for the plan
are worthy of permanent protection.
Let them know you disagree! Click on the Alaska Rainforest
Campaign Take Action site (http://www.akrain.org/action/faxes/actionpage.asp) and send an official comment to the Forest Service. Ask
them to adopt the Alaska Rainforest Conservation Wilderness proposal –
Alternative #6. If you have already commented, then spread the word – share this
information and link with your friends, family and colleagues.
For more information contact:
Laurie Cooper, Forest Outreach Director, Alaska Coalition, laurie@alaskacoalition.org
The Nature Conservancy's Nature News, June 26, 2002
_____________________________________________
Rescue the Rivers!
Rivers provide us with water to
drink and irrigate our fields, with fish for food and sport, and they are the
source of recreation like swimming and boating. Our naturally occurring wetlands
and riverside ecosystems are also a tremendous source of biological
diversity.
But we have already
lost more than 50% of the wetlands, rivers and streams in the U.S. Our
freshwater resources are facing a range of threats including dams, runoff,
invasive species and development.
Now there's an easy way for you to help - for free.
Just go to the Rescue the Rivers
page and click on the "Nature Valley - Rescue the Rivers" button:
http://www.you-click.net/GoNow/a14464a60084a67074702a0
Nature Valley Granola Bars will donate $1 to the
Conservancy (up to $125,000) on your behalf each time you click.
While you're there you can:
- Learn ways to conserve water in
your own home
- Take our Rivers Quiz
- Find out about our work on rivers you can visit
- Learn more about The Nature Conservancy's Freshwater
Initiative
This money will
help The Nature Conservancy continue to protect freshwater sites around the
U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean.
Click here to tell a friend about The Nature Conservancy!
http://www.you-click.net/GoForward/a14464a60084aSa67074702a2
To: Northeast Activists
From: John
Demos
June 26, 2002
Yellowstone Protection Act
The Yellowstone Protection Act, a bill that would codify
the original
rule phasing out snowmobiles from
Yellowstone and Grand Teton National
Parks will be
introduced this Thursday, June 27.
Please call your Congress person and ask her/him to be an
original
cosponsor. See action alert below.
Thanks to all of you who asked the
Park Service to uphold its decision
to phase out
snowmobile use on Yellowstone and Grand Teton National
Parks. Just last week, the National Park Service announced
they received
a record breaking number of comment from the
American public. Of the
350,000 citizens who commented,
80 percent favored the snowmobile
phase-out.
We need your help again.
Reps. Rush Holt (D-NJ) and Chris
Shays (R-CT) are working to ensure
that your
comments are heard by introducing
legislation to ban
recreational snowmobile use in the two parks. Contact
your own Representative and ask
her/him to cosponsor the Yellowstone
Protection Act to safeguard these national
treasures once and for all
from snowmobile
damage:
http://www.wilderness.org/takeaction/?step=2&item=1429
BACKGROUND:
In November 2000,
after a three-year public process that included 22
public hearings and over 65,000 public comments, the
National Park
Service issued a decision to phase out
snowmobiles in Yellowstone and
Grand Teton national
parks over a four-year period. The decision --
based on
a decade of scientific studies by university researchers and
government agencies -- found that snowmobiles are damaging
the parks'
wildlife, clean air, natural sounds and
quiet, as well as the unique
experiences that Americans
expect to find in their national parks.
However, at the urging of snowmobile industry, Interior
Secretary Gale
Norton directed the Park Service to
reconsider its decision, claiming
that
science and technology had not been adequately studied in the
original decision. The resulting Supplemental Environmental
Impact
Statement [SEIS] contains no new scientific or
technological
information. In fact, the SEIS
itself points out that the snowmobile
industry failed
to provide the Park Service with any significant
evidence that was not already part of the
original decision to phase
out snowmobile
use in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.
In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency reasserted
its
statement of three years ago by contending that
phasing out snowmobiles
"would provide the best
available protection to human health, wildlife,
air
quality, water quality, soundscapes, visitor experiences and
visibility."
THE YELLOWSTONE PROTECTION ACT
The
Park Service is expected to make a final decision on the SEIS in
November. But in the meantime, Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) and
Rep. Chris
Shays (R-CT) are introducing legislation,
named the Yellowstone
Protection Act, to reinforce the
desire of many Americans by making the
ban on
snowmobiles a law in Yellowstone and Grand Teton.
TAKE ACTION:
Ask your
Representatives to consider cosponsoring the Yellowstone
Protection Act by sending your comments from our web site:
http://www.wilderness.org/takeaction/?step=2&item=1429
Or contact your Representative directly and urge them to
consider
cosponsoring the Yellowstone Protection Act
with Rep. Holt and Rep.
Shays because:
** Americans want Yellowstone and
Grand Teton to remain peaceful places
in winter where
bison, elk, and other wildlife are not harassed by noisy vehicles.
** Snowmobiles in the two national
parks continue to cause pollution,
make rangers sick,
and prevent visitors from hearing the eruption of Old
Faithful or enjoying the solitude
that Americans expect from their
national parks.
Send your letter to:
Rep. __________, U.S. House of Representatives, Wash., DC
20515
U.S. Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121
If you do not know who your
Representative is, you can look it up at:
http://tws.ctsg.com/wac/legDirectory/
Dear U.S. PIRG supporter,
As you may have heard, earlier this year President Bush
gave his approval to permanently store the nation's nuclear waste at Yucca
Mountain in Nevada, even though a report by the General Accounting Office
concluded that there are 293 "significant unresolved technical" issues with the
Yucca Mountain site, including the length of time the containers storing the
waste will remain intact, the amount and speed of water flowing through the
waste area, and the likelihood of volcanic activity. The Nuclear
Waste Technical Review Board also stated that "the technical basis for the DOE's
repository performance estimates is weak to moderate," citing the many important
scientific questions about the safety of the site that remain unresolved.
What's more, the vast majority of
the nation's nuclear waste is located near the East Coast, but since the
designated storage site is at the opposite end of the country in Nevada, moving
the waste to Yucca Mountain will involve extensive and perilous truck, rail and
barge shipments. Approximately 100,000 shipments of nuclear waste would be moved
across the country through 44 states and the District of Columbia over a period
of 38 years, exposing millions of Americans to the risks of radiation.
In light of the scientific
uncertainty and transportation risks surrounding Yucca Mountain, it is clear
that the project poses serious risks to the environment and public
health. U.S. Senate approval is needed for the project to move
forward, and a vote is planned this month.
Follow the link below to go to a web page where you can
e-mail your senators and ask them to vote against storing nuclear waste at Yucca
Mountain.
http://pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=350&id4=ES
BACKGROUND
The nation's nuclear power plants
have been producing spent fuel waste for more than four decades. On February 15,
2002, President Bush gave his approval for the construction of the Yucca
Mountain High-Level Nuclear Waste Repository in Nevada to permanently store the
nation's nuclear waste. On April 8th, the Governor of Nevada vetoed the
President's site approval. Congress can override Nevada's objection with a
majority vote in both Houses. The House voted on May 8th, and the nuclear
industry's allies in the House endorsed Yucca Mountain proposal, 306-117. The
Senate is expected to vote on the issue in early July.
The Yucca Mountain High-Level
Nuclear Waste Repository is an ill conceived industry-driven project that poses
a serious threat to the health and safety of millions of Americans today and for
generations to come. Major concerns include:
1. Yucca Mountain - a volcano on an aquifer in an
earthquake zone - is unsound as the designated site for the permanent storage of
the country's nuclear waste. The area is intersected by 33 earthquake faults;
water travels down through the mountain much faster than anticipated; and the
proposed storage site is situated above an aquifer that provides the sole source
of drinking water to a nearby community.
2. The vast majority of the nation's nuclear waste is
located near the East Coast, and yet the designated storage site is located at
the opposite end of the country. This means that moving the waste to Yucca
Mountain will involve extensive and perilous truck, rail and barge shipments.
Approximately 100,000 shipments of nuclear waste would be moved across the
country over a period of 38 years.
3. Because of size and weight limitations, it is not
possible to build a transportation cask that does not "leak" some radiation. The
government acknowledges that a truck cask will emit a 10 millirem/hour dose of
radiation from a distance of six feet. This means that a person stuck in traffic
for an hour next to a shipment of nuclear waste will receive a dose of radiation
equivalent to a chest x-ray.
4. A report issued last December by the General Accounting
Office concluded that 293 "significant unresolved technical" issues remain
outstanding. Subsequently, in a letter dated January 24, 2002, the Nuclear Waste
Technical Review Board stated that "the technical basis for the DOE's repository
performance estimates is weak to moderate."
The Senate is planning to vote this month on whether to
proceed with the Yucca Mountain project. Follow the link below to go to a web
page where you can e-mail your senators and ask them to vote against storing
nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain.
http://pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=350&id4=ES
Sincerely,
Gene Karpinski
U.S. PIRG Executive Director
http://www.USPIRG.org
A Bi-weekly
Update from Defenders of Wildlife:
The Environmental
Protection Agency is trying to gut the Clean Air Act. That law has
reduced air pollution by nearly one-third since it was enacted in
1970. But the Bush administration is planning to relax restrictions
on older coal-fired power plants and refineries, allowing them to be
renovated without installing modern pollution controls. This latest
rollback of environmental protections should come as no surprise.
This is the same EPA that said in an internal report, according to
the Washington Times last week, that toxic sludge being dumped into
the Potomac River is good for fish. The EPA reasoned that when the
fish are forced to flee the sludge, they escape
fishermen. 2. OTTERS ON THE
BRINK: Threats mount to survival of species There are new
causes for concern about the future of California sea otters.
Another sea otter has been found shot dead, the fourth in the last
14 months. And wildlife scientists are reporting that the otter
population along the California coast has fallen for the sixth time
in the last seven years. New research shows that pollution is making
otters susceptible to diseases. To learn more, click here
http://www.defenders.org/newsroom/census.html Help save
California sea otters from extinction. Go to www.saveseaotters.org to send a petition to Interior Secretary Gale
Norton urging her to protect these fun-loving marine mammals from
offshore oil exploration, deadly fishing nets and other
threats. 3. WOLVES WIN ONE:
Judge rules they belong in Sawtooth mountains There's more good
news for wolves. A wolf named Estrella -- Spanish for "star" -- her
mate and seven of their offspring have been released into eastern
Arizona. That means there now are more than 40 of these highly
endangered wolves in the wild as part of a federal recovery program
that began in 1998 on the Arizona-New Mexico border. To help protect
wolves, go to www.savewolves.org. 4. SAVING THE
EVERGLADES: Restoration plan may never benefit
ecosystem The $7.8 billion
effort to restore the Everglades is supposed to help save big cats,
wading birds, gators and other wildlife. But it's uncertain whether
that plan -- the biggest environmental project in American history
-- will ever actually benefit the shrinking ecosystem. That?s
according to an investigative series appearing this week in the
Washington Post. The Post reports that the plan may not help the
Everglades, but it "delivers swift and sure economic benefits to
Florida homeowners, agribusiness and developers." Click here to read
the series. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28396-2002Jun22.html 5. UNDERWATER
SERENADES: Humans drowning out love songs of
whales Scientists have
always wondered about the booming melodies sung by endangered fin
whales. Now, new research shows the whales are singing to woo
females across vast spaces of the ocean. But sadly, the research
team also discovered that the "love songs" of the whales are now
frequently drowned out by man-made sounds, such as sonar, that occur
in a similar, low-frequency range. Fin whales once could send their
voices 100 miles away, but now can find mates only within five or 10
miles, according to the study published in the journal
Nature. To learn about
more threats to whales, go to www.saveourwhales.org . 6. ORCA ORPHAN:
Springer the baby whale ready for family reunion The famed "orca
orphan" has been plucked from Puget Sound for return to her whale
family in Canada. The baby orca, nicknamed Springer, became lost
last winter when her mother died, and she didn't make the return
trip this summer with her pod to the waters off Vancouver
Island. Scientists used a
lasso, a sling and a barge to move the 1,240-pound orca to a
floating pen at a federal research station until her midsummer
reunion with her long-lost family. 7. ADOPT A SEA
OTTER: Help save playoff marine mammals from
extinction DENlines is a bi-weekly update 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. To
unsubscribe, send an e-mail to denlines@defenders.org and
put the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line. Defenders of
Wildlife Copyright Defenders of Wildlife
2002
Working to Save Wildlife and Wild
Lands
WHO'S
POLICING THE POLLUTERS? EPA wants to cripple Clean Air
Act
OTTERS ON
THE BRINK: Threats
mount to survival of species
WOLVES WIN
ONE: Judge rules
they belong in Sawtooth mountains
SAVING THE
EVERGLADES: Restoration plan may never benefit
ecosystem
UNDERWATER
SERENADES: Humans
drowning out love songs of whales
ORCA
ORPHAN: Springer
the baby whale ready for family
reunion
ADOPT A SEA
OTTER: Help save
playful marine mammals from
extinction
1. WHO'S POLICING
THE POLLUTERS? EPA wants to cripple Clean Air Act
Under
pressure from ranchers and politicians, federal agents have killed
19 endangered gray wolves in the wilds of central Idaho this year.
But a federal judge has now ruled that the state's spectacular
Sawtooth National Recreation Area doesn't just belong to cows and
sheep that are permitted to graze there in the summer, but also to
the wolves and other wildlife that live there year-round. Judge Lynn
Winmill barred federal agents from automatically killing or moving
wolves when they clash with livestock in the
Sawtooths.
Help save the lives of sea
otters by becoming a sea otter sponsor today. Playful sea otters off
California's coast are under attack from gunfire, disease and
pollution. We can't let these animals become extinct. With support
from caring sponsors like you, we can ensure that precious sea
otters and their pups will survive. Click here to "adopt" a sea
otter and receive your own plush sea otter toy. http://www.defenders.org/adopt/seaotter/
Consider "saving a spot"
for wildlife by leaving Defenders in your estate plans. During these
uncertain times and with the new tax law, more people are preparing
or updating their estate plans. Visit http://www.makeawill.org -- a special Web site Defenders has set up
that may be helpful to you as you review your
plans.
1101 14th Street, N.W.
Suite 1400
Washington,
DC 20005
Natural Resources Defense Council's
LEGISLATIVE WATCH
June 27, 2002
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.
1) LEGISLATIVE WATCH
This is a status report on congressional action on the
environment.
To make new or updated sections easy to
find, we've highlighted them
with:
= N O T E ! =
6/27/02
Action is underway in Congress on numerous spending bills
containing
environmental components. A Senate committee
approved a bill to
regulate pollution from power
plants. And House and Senate energy
conferees met on
6/27 to begin discussions on the energy bill.
Congress will recess from July 1st through 5th; look for
the next
edition of Legislative Watch during the week
of July 15th.
...
Budget/Appropriations
= N O T E ! =
House and Senate conferees expect to meet when Congress
returns from
its recess to develop a final version of a
supplemental spending
package. The Senate version (S.
2551) primarily addresses defense and
emergency
spending priorities, but also includes funding for
hazardous materials management, drinking water system
vulnerability
assessment programs, and economic
assistance for New England fishing
communities. The
House bill (H.R. 4775) includes a provision written
by
Rep. Kolbe (R-AZ) that would exempt the Department of Defense from
complying with the Endangered Species Act when species or
their
habitats are threatened by increases in water
consumption in areas
surrounding military
installations. Environmentalists are concerned
that the
language could specifically allow over-use of water from the
San Pedro River in Arizona, harming reptiles, mammals and
migratory
birds that depend on the river. The Senate
bill does not include this
language.
= N O T E ! =
On 6/27, the House began debate on the FY
'03 Department of Defense
spending bill
(H.R. 5010), which was approved by the House
Appropriations Defense Subcommittee on 6/19. The defense
appropriations bill includes money for departmental
pollution
prevention programs as well as the cleanup of
contaminated DoD sites.
= N O
T E ! =
On 6/26, the House Agriculture Appropriations
Subcommittee considered
a bill to fund the Agriculture
Department. The bill would restore
funding for
watershed protection initiatives that was cut in
President Bush's budget request, but would limit a new
program that
would pay farmers for implementing
conservation practices.
= N O
T E ! =
On 6/25, the House Appropriations Subcommittee
on the Interior
approved the FY '03 budget for the
Interior Department and related
agencies. The Senate
Appropriations Committee began work on the
Senate
version of the bill on 6/27. Environmentalists want the bill
to include increased funding for the Land Conservation,
Preservation,
and Infrastructure Improvement program,
and are concerned that funds
slated for the Land and
Water Conservation Fund may be siphoned off
to cover
other expenses. The Senate bill also contains language that
would allow damaging grazing practices on public lands.
= N O T E ! =
In the absence of a formal budget resolution vote, on 6/23
the House
Appropriations Committee passed a budget plan
to guide spending
priorities for the year, clearing the
way for action on the 13
spending bills for FY '03.
Environmentalists are concerned that the
$748 billion
cap on spending imposed by the House Republican
leadership will shortchange environmental programs and
priorities.
See NRDC's
analysis of the Bush budget.
http://www.nrdc.org/legislation/abudget03.asp
For a step-by-step guide to our annual odyssey through
resolutions,
reconciliations and appropriations, see
NRDC's budget process fact
sheet.
http://www.nrdc.org/legislation/fbudg.asp
...
Clean Air and Energy
= N O T E ! =
On 6/27, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
approved
S. 556, a bill co-authored by committee chair
Sen. Jeffords (I-VT)
and Sen. Lieberman (D-CT), by a
vote of 10-8. The bill seeks to
reduce four types of
power plant emissions by imposing mandatory cuts
in
carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and mercury
emissions. No action has been taken on the House companion
bill (H.R.
1256), which was introduced on 3/27/01 by
Rep. Waxman (D-CA) and Rep.
Boehlert (R-NY). The Bush
administration opposes regulating carbon
dioxide
emissions, arguing that the costs on the economy would be too
high. The administration has announced a proposal that
would regulate
only three of the four worst power plant
pollutants, reversing a Bush
campaign promise to
regulate carbon dioxide, a key greenhouse gas
that
contributes to global warming.
= N O T E ! =
Also on 6/27, the
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
postponed
a vote on issuing a subpoena to the EPA to gain access to
documents related to recently announced changes to the New
Source
Review program of the Clean Air Act. The program
currently requires
power plants to install
pollution-control devices when they
modernize.
Environmentalists are concerned that the rule change
weakens clean air protections and will allow old, dirty
power plants
to generate more pollution than under
existing rules.
The House and
Senate energy bill conferees met on 6/27 to begin
negotiations. On 4/25, the Senate passed its version of the
bill (S.
517) after rejecting amendments from Sen.
Murkowski (R-AK) and Sen.
Stevens (R-AK) to open the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil
drilling on 4/18
by votes of 46-54 and 36-64, respectively. The
House energy bill (H.R. 4) would allow oil drilling in the
Arctic
refuge. Unlike the House bill, the Senate
includes a provision
increasing the use of renewable
fuels -- mostly ethanol -- in
gasoline by five billion
gallons by 2012. The Senate bill also would
ban MTBE (a gasoline additive that has contaminated
drinking water),
require companies to report their
emissions of greenhouse gases, and
require electric
providers to produce 4-5 percent of their energy
from
new, renewable resources. The House bill includes over $33
billion in tax incentives that are largely for the oil,
coal, and
nuclear energy industries. The Senate bill
includes $15 billion in
incentives, about half of which
would be available to improve energy
efficiency in
vehicles, appliances, and buildings, as well as to
increase the use of solar, wind, and other cleaner
alternative energy
sources.
NRDC has detailed an energy policy
that would provide a secure energy
future without
destroying wilderness or rolling back environmental
safeguards in reports including Dangerous Addiction: Ending
America's
Oil Dependence
(http://www.nrdc.org/air/transportation/oilsecurity/securityinx.asp)
and A Responsible Energy Policy
for the 21st Century
(http://www.nrdc.org/air/energy/rep/repinx.asp).
...
Clean Water
On 6/6, the Senate Environment and
Public Works Subcommittee on Clean
Air, Wetlands, and
Climate Change held a hearing to examine the
impact of
Bush administration changes to the Clean Water Act that
could make it easier for mining companies and other
industrial
operations to dump waste into U.S. waters.
On 5/3, the Bush
administration finalized a change to
Clean Water Act rules that would
expressly allow
dumping of waste from mountaintop removal coal mining
into streams, rivers, lakes, wetlands, and other waters.
Five days
later, on 5/8, a federal district court
blocked the Army Corps of
Engineers from issuing any
additional permits for disposal of
mountaintop removal
mining waste in these waters. The administration
is appealing the court's decision.
On 6/5, the Senate Energy and
Natural Resources Committee approved
Sen. Boxer's
(D-CA) and Sen. Feinstein's (D-CA) bill to reauthorize
CALFED (S. 1768), an important federal and state
partnership in
California that provides water for urban
and agricultural users, as
well as for wildlife and
habitat restoration. The committee approved
an
amendment to the bill, crafted through negotiations among Sen.
Feinstein, Sen. Kyl (R-AZ), and Sen. Murkowski (R-AK), to
limit the
program's duration and level of funding.
Environmentalists want to
ensure that, as the bill goes
to the Senate floor for debate,
agricultural water use
is not given priority over the environment. On
5/2,
Rep. Tauscher (D-CA) and Rep. Napolitano (D-CA) introduced a
similar bill (H.R. 4657) in the House. Environmentalists
oppose a
related bill (H.R. 3208) by Rep. Calvert
(R-CA) that would allow the
construction of new dams in
California without appropriate review,
and could give
agricultural water users priority over the
environment.
On 5/16, the Senate
Environment and Public Works Committee passed the
Water
Investment Act of 2002 (S. 1961) by a vote of 13-6. The bill,
which was introduced by Sens. Graham (D-FL), Jeffords
(I-VT), Smith
(R-NH), Warner (R-VA), and
Crapo (R-ID), authorizes significant
increases in
funding for cleaner water. Environmental groups are
seeking to ensure that the bill provides incentives for
states and
cities to fund water quality projects that
are good for the
environment, such as stream buffers,
wetlands restoration, and
stormwater
controls. Environmentalists are also eager to prevent the
funds from supporting sprawl or noncompliance with
environmental
regulations. The committee approved an
amendment from Sen. Reid
(D-NV) that would create a
grant program to help small public
drinking water
systems comply with new environmental regulations, and
one from Sen. Voinovich (R-OH) that would reauthorize a
wet-weather
grant program to help remedy sewage
overflows. The committee also
accepted amendments from
Sen. Wyden (D-OR) to make funding available
for water
conservation projects and provide loan-forgiveness for
projects that address pollution runoff. On 4/17 and 3/20,
the House
Ways and Means and Transportation and
Infrastructure committees,
respectively, considered the
House companion bill (H.R. 3930). This
bill would
increase the level of funding available to states for
clean water projects under the Clean Water Act by $1
billion per
year, up to a total of $6 billion in 2007.
The Bush administration
objects to the cost of these
bills, claiming that it needs the money
to fund the war
on terrorism.
...
Climate Change
On 5/2, Rep. Olver (D-MA)
introduced a bill (H.R. 4611) that would
require
companies to report their global warming pollution emissions
to a federal database.
On 4/17, the House Science Committee held a hearing to
address the
funding and direction of federal climate
science and technology
programs. Rep. Boehlert (R-NY),
committee chair, addressed the
administration's
proposal to create and fund two new research
programs,
the Climate Change Research Initiative and the National
Climate Change Technology Initiative, voicing concern that
the
programs are not yet clearly defined. Researchers
testifying at the
hearing stressed the need for better
coordination between scientists
who conduct climate
change research and develop related technologies
and
consumers, policymakers, and industry.
...
Coastal and Marine Resources
= N O T E ! =
On 6/26, the House
Resources Committee began consideration of Rep.
Gilchrest's (R-MD) bill to reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery
Conservation and Management Act (H.R. 4749),
the primary law
governing fisheries management in the
United States. The committee
accepted an amendment from
Rep. Saxton (R-NJ) to limit longline
fishing in parts
of the mid-Atlantic in order to protect dwindling
white
marlin populations. The committee rejected an amendment
introduced by Rep. Rahall (D-WV) that would have promoted
both
sustainable management of marine fisheries and
recovery of depleted
fish stocks. Environmentalists
oppose the reauthorization bill in its
present form,
primarily because it contains language that could lead
to continued overfishing.
On 6/13, the House Resources Subcommittee on Fisheries
Conservation,
Wildlife, and Oceans held a hearing on
H.R. 4781, a bill to
reauthorize the Marine Mammal
Protection Act, introduced on 5/17 by
Rep. Gilchrest
(R-MD), subcommittee chair. The Department of Defense
has for years tried to change the act's definition of
harassment of
marine mammals, but environmentalists
argue that altering the
definition would limit the
circumstances under which activities
potentially
harmful to marine mammals could be reviewed or
restricted.
...
International Environmental Protections
= N O T E ! =
On 6/26, by a 216-215 vote, the House approved a motion to
send an
international trade bill to conference
committee. On 5/23, the
Senate passed its version of
the bill, H.R. 3009, by a vote of 66-30,
after
accepting language granting "fast-track" authority to the
president to negotiate new trade agreements. The House
version, H.R.
3005, passed on 12/6/01 by one
vote. Environmentalists oppose
"fast-track"
authority legislation because it contains weak
environmental standards and safeguards and inadequate
protection for
international environmental agreements.
The Senate bill also raises
new barriers to
environmental regulation, and hinders consumer
labeling
that would provide information on genetically modified
products. On 5/21, the Senate rejected 55-41 an amendment
offered by
Sen. Kerry (D-MA) and supported by
environmentalists that would have
strengthened the
bill's environmental and public health protections,
laying out specific criteria that foreign investors would
be required
to meet in order to challenge environmental
regulations in the U.S.
...
Lands
= N O T E ! =
Due to mounting opposition, the National Monument Fairness
Act (H.R.
2114), sponsored by Rep. Simpson (R-ID), was
abruptly pulled from the
House floor debate schedule on
6/20. Debate on the bill, which was
approved by the
House Resources Committee on a mostly party-line vote
on 3/20, will probably be rescheduled after the July
recess. The bill
is opposed by Democrats on the
committee because it would restrict
the president's
authority to create national monuments under the
Antiquities Act by requiring congressional consent within
two years
after a president designates any national
monument over 50,000 acres,
thereby preventing quick
presidential action to protect significant
and
environmentally sensitive public lands and resources.
On 5/16, Rep. Shays (R-CT) and
Rep. Rahall (D-WV) introduced a bill
(still unnumbered)
to reform the 1872 Mining Law. The bill would for
the
first time require mining companies to pay royalties for minerals
taken from public lands, and to use that revenue to fund
reclamation
and restoration of abandoned mines. The
bill would also strengthen
the law's environmental
protections and cleanup standards for
projects on
Interior Department lands.
The
House and Senate passed the final version of the farm bill (H.R.
2646) on 5/2 and 5/8, respectively, and President Bush
signed the
bill on 5/13. Conservation programs --
including funding for energy
efficiency and renewable
energy programs on farms -- total about $9
billion of
the bill's $45 billion in new spending. But
environmentalists claim that commodities subsidies and
environmentally damaging provisions in the bill will
outweigh
conservation funding. For instance, the bill
raises the payment cap
on funding that giant livestock
farms, whose waste management
practices pose a threat
to local water supplies, will be able to
receive.
Several other environmentally damaging provisions, including
language that would have provided incentives to log
national forests,
were ultimately eliminated from the
bill.
On 3/20, the House
Resources Committee approved, along a nearly
party-line
vote, a provision in H.R. 3853 offered by Rep. Radanovich
(R-CA) that effectively overturns a Clinton administration
policy
banning recreational jet skis in national parks
by delaying the
deadline for the ban for two years.
...
Nuclear
The Senate is expected to vote on a resolution to designate
Yucca
Mountain, Nevada, as the sole repository for the
nation's high-level
radioactive waste (S.J. Res. 34) by
late July. On 6/5, the Senate
Energy and Natural
Resources Committee approved the resolution,
introduced
by Sen. Bingaman (D-NM), committee chair, by a vote of
13-10; the House approved its version (H.J. Res. 87) on
5/8. On 4/8,
Nevada governor Kenny Guinn (R) vetoed the
Bush administration's
recommendation of the site,
beginning a 90-day window during which
Congress can
override the veto. Opponents of the selection of Yucca
Mountain, 90 miles from Las Vegas, believe that the
proposed facility
would not adequately protect the
public and the environment from
radiation
contamination.
...
Public Health
= N O T E ! =
On 6/27, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
approved a
bill (S. 351) to ban the sale of mercury
thermometers and to provide
grants for a thermometer
exchange program. Mercury is a dangerous
neurotoxin
that causes brain damage and developmental disabilities.
= N O T E ! =
As Congress debates legislation that would create a new
Homeland
Security Agency to address terrorism-related
issues,
environmentalists are concerned
that the proposed legislation lacks
provisions to
reduce the vulnerability of chemical plants. Last fall
Sen. Corzine (D-NJ) introduced the Chemical Security Act
(S. 1602), a
bill that would require the EPA to conduct
vulnerability assessments
of chemical plants, which
would then be required to take steps to
reduce hazards
and improve security. The Senate's action on the bill
so far has been limited to preliminary hearings.
Environmentalists
also have concerns about attempts to
overly restrict public access to
health and safety
information as part of domestic security
legislation.
Sen. Bennett (R-UT), Sen. Kyl (R-AZ), and Rep. Tom Davis
(R- VA) have introduced S. 1456 and H.R. 3844, the Critical
Infrastructure Information Act, which would restrict
public access to
environmental health and safety
information.
= N O
T E ! =
On 6/13, the House Energy and Commerce
Committee approved a pipeline
safety bill, H.R. 3609
after adding more stringent inspection and
enforcement
measures, while retaining current environmental
protections. The changes to the bill make it significantly
different
from the version passed on 5/22 by the House
Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee, which
rejected similar amendments. The two
versions of the
bill will likely be considered in the House-Senate
energy bill conference committee in the coming
months.
= N O T E
! =
On 6/12, President Bush signed a final compromise
bioterrorism bill
(H.R. 3448). The bill, which
authorizes bioterrorism-related funds
for public health
infrastructure, food inspection and nuclear
security,
includes language requiring drinking water facilities to
assess their vulnerability to terrorist attacks that could
threaten
water supplies. The bill also authorizes $20
million to facilitate
cooperation between the EPA and
drinking water facilities to improve
basic security,
reduce chemical threats, and develop emergency
response
plans. The House approved the final version of the bill on
5/22 by a vote of 425-1, and the Senate followed suit the
following
day with a vote of 98-0.
On 6/4, the House passed the
Brownfields Redevelopment Enhancement
Act (H.R. 2941)
by a voice vote. The bill seeks to expand the cleanup
of abandoned lands. Environmentalists oppose language in
the bill
that would weaken cleanup requirements for
severely contaminated
sites.
...
Smart Growth
= N O T E ! =
On 6/20, the House
Financial Services Committee considered H.R. 3995,
a
housing bill introduced by Rep. Roukema (R-NJ) that includes a
provision that would require federal agencies to conduct an
affordable housing impact analysis when proposing new
rules.
Environmentalists argue that the provision would
prevent new
environmental, labor, and public health
rules from moving forward,
and would not help
low-income families. The bill could also have a
negative impact on smart growth initiatives by undermining
emerging
alliances between affordable housing and
environmental advocates.
...
Wilderness and Wildlife
Protection
= N O T E ! =
On 6/20, the Senate began floor debate on the $393 billion
Defense
Authorization bill, S. 2514. The House passed
its version of the bill
(H.R. 4546) on 5/9, including
in the bill provisions that would give
the Department
of Defense broad exemptions under the Endangered
Species Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, as well as
language
that would reduce protections for Utah
wilderness lands. The
provisions were part of a larger
proposal by the Department of
Defense that also
included exemptions from the Clean Air Act, Marine
Mammal Protection Act, Resource Recovery and Conservation
Act, and
Superfund. Democratic leaders and
environmentalists argue that the
exemption provisions
have not received adequate review, that
stakeholders
have not been allowed to comment on the provisions, and
that language in existing laws already provides flexibility
for the
Defense Department to seek exemptions on a
case-by-case basis. The
Senate Armed Services Committee
passed the bill on 5/9 without any of
the exemption
provisions, and none of the provisions are expected to
be offered as amendments on the Senate floor. The committee
included
provisions authorizing the Defense Department
to participate in
partnerships with non-federal
entities, including local governments
and conservation
groups, to manage lands adjacent to military
installations.
= N O T E ! =
After holding a
hearing on 6/18, the House Resources Committee has
postponed, until July 10th, consideration of H.R. 4840, a
bill
introduced by Rep. Hansen (R-UT) that would
require additional
scrutiny of data when extending
extra protection to an endangered
species, but not when
withholding extra protection. Environmentalists
oppose
the bill, along with two others (Rep. Pombo's (R-CA) H.R. 3705
and Rep. Walden's (R-OR) H.R. 2829) that would modify the
Endangered
Species Act, making it harder for the
government to protect
endangered and threatened
species. The bills would impose a higher
burden on
federal agencies to obtain additional scientific
information on species and mandate additional review of
that data,
resulting in delay and additional hurdles
before protections could be
put in place.
On 5/16, the House Government
Reform Committee held a hearing at
which the General
Accounting Office presented its findings from a
study
on the impact of environmental regulations on military
readiness and training. The GAO report concludes that the
Department
of Defense has achieved readiness and has
failed to demonstrate how
and to what extent
environmental laws have negatively affected its
mission.
...
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/scorecard/index.asp
...........
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EPA TO ALLOW LOUISIANA TO USE BIRD KILLING
PESTICIDE
Public Has Only 5 Days to Help Stop This From
Happening!
The
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has granted an emergency request by
Louisiana rice growers to combat rice weevils by using 1,500 pounds of granular
carbofuran - one of the world's most potent bird-killing pesticides -- on 10,000
acres of rice fields. An additional 4,500 pounds of the deadly
pesticide may be produced to meet the rice growers' demands. Audubon
and our partners in conservation are working to see that they are stopped from
rolling back bird protections to produce more of this poison and apply it to
rice fields as a bird-killing trap.
EPA initially intended to grant the rice growers an
"emergency use" application, without seeking public comment or alerting
conservation groups However, after pressure from Audubon and
other groups, EPA has agreed to allow only enough pesticide to cover 2,500 acres
immediately, and have opened a five-day public comment period, beginning
Thursday, June 27th, before they decide whether to authorize carbofuran use, and
give the green light for more bird-poison production, to cover the remaining
7,500 acres.
Laboratory data
verify that carbofuran is among the most highly toxic pesticides to birds. One
tiny granule can kill a songbird, and more than fifty species, including Bald
and Golden Eagle, Eastern Bluebird, Great Horned Owl, Red-tailed Hawk, Northern
Pintail, and Blue-winged Teal, have been documented as having died from
carbofuran poisoning. EPA estimated that prior to cancellation of the granular
formulation, up to two million birds were killed each year by carbofuran. No
other substance listed under the EPA 's Ecological Incident Investigation System
has killed more birds. In October 1999, for example, nearly 27,000
migratory birds, including red-winged blackbirds and horned larks, were killed
on a 13-acre plot when a farmer illegally applied carbofuran to wheat seed and
spread it between rows of wheat crop intentionally as bait for the birds.
However, it does not require
malice to kill birds with one of the world's most dangerous bird-killing
poisons. Scientists at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)
stated that "there are no known conditions under which carbofuran can be used
without killing migratory birds. Many of these die-off incidents followed
applications of carbofuran that were made with extraordinary care.". Scientists
from around the country concur. In southwest Louisiana, where the
rice farmers want to apply the poison, hundreds of species of birds could be at
risk, including the threatened bald eagle. The proposed carbofuran
poisoning could have a particularly devastating impact on bird species that are
often found in large numbers in rice fields, such as wading birds and
neotropical migrant shorebirds. A single exposure to the deadly
pesticide of a large group of Buff-breasted Sandpipers or Short-billed
Dowitchers, for example, could wipe out a globally significant number of their
remaining population. Both species are listed on Audubon's WatchList
of birds that could be headed for extinction, and would be migrating through
southwest Louisiana at the time the pesticides would be applied.
Four pesticides are registered for
use against the rice water weevil that are not nearly the potent bird-killer
that carbofuran has proven to be. According to Louisiana State
University, these pesticides work as well or better than carbofuran and for
equal or lesser cost.
That's why Audubon and our partner organizations are
committed to stopping any further use of the bird-killer carbofuran - but we
can't do it alone. We need your help - and we need it now, as the EPA will make
their decision in less than five days!
Please send a message to the EPA immediately and urge them
to deny any further use of carbofuran! Click onto this link to send
your message right now - and please encourage your family and friends to do so
as well! The clock is ticking...and thousands of birds are at stake!
http://www.capitolconnect.com/audubon/contact/default.asp?subject=56
Greenpeace's Positive Energy
June
24 - June 30, 2002
v 2.22
Time for Greenpeace's CLEAN ENERGY NOW! campaign's weekly
good news update!!! If you want some of our positive
vibe
next week, you will have to come find us in
Sierra. We are
taking next week off and having fun in
the sun!
Inside this edition:
-U.S. Mayors Back Renewable Energy
-Positive Energy Goes Global
-Cookin' With Solar
+++++
U.S. Mayors Back Renewable
Energy
Mayors across the
country are in consensus! At the U.S.
Conference of Mayors in Madison, Wisconsin this past week,
Republican and Democratic mayors agreed that global
warming
is a serious problem and progressive clean
energy initiatives
must be adopted by our cities. At
the Conference,
representatives passed resolutions
urging the federal
government to further invest in
scientific research of
global warming and to support
state and federal legislation
that will promote a
marketplace for renewable energy. Five
progressive clean energy resolutions were adopted at the
conference setting the stage for cities across the
country
to invest in clean energy as the solution to
global warming.
To review the
resolutions, go to the following website and
look under
"Energy":
http://www.usmayors.org/USCM/resolutions/70th_conference/
+++++
Positive Energy Goes Global
Greenpeace is setting sail around
the world with its
"Choose Positive Energy Tour" this
summer. The Rainbow
Warrior, the flagship
for Greenpeace, starts its journey in
the North Sea
where the potential for offshore wind energy
is so
great that it is certain to become a renewable energy
powerhouse. In the weeks leading up to the Earth
Summit in
Johannesburg, the Rainbow Warrior will be
sailing to
demonstrate that renewable energy is ready
to replace oil,
coal, gas, and nuclear
power. On the second leg of the
tour, the
Arctic Sunrise will be visiting Southeast Asia
where
communities in the Philippines and Thailand are
rejecting the use of dirty fuels, such as coal power plants
and pushing for a "Solar Generation."
To read more about the Rainbow
Warrior's "Choose Positive
Energy Tour," click on:
http://www.choose-positive-energy.org/
+++++
Cookin' With Solar
The Rolling Sunlight, the
Greenpeace truck that has a large
solar array and runs
on biodiesel fuel, is in Canada this
week cooking with
sunlight. French fries deep-fried with
solar
energy were provided for people on their lunch breaks
in Calgary during the G8 Summit. Greenpeace
Canada's
message to the world economic and political
leaders was
"Don't Fry Our Planet." The G8 has ignored
it's own report
on renewable energy that would bring
clean, sustainable
energy to the billion people who now
lack reliable access to
electricity.
To learn more about Rolling
Sunlight and the G8, go to:
http://www.greenpeace.ca/g8/en/audio/truck.php
The "Positive Energy" newsletter and our web site,
http://www.cleanenergynow.org, will give you good news
about
ways to achieve clean air, climate justice, and
renewable energy solutions to our ongoing energy
crisis.
Want to do more? Become a Greenpeace member
today!
To give online, go to:
https://www.greenpeaceusa.org/join2/cen.htm
To: All Activists
From:
Steve Holmer
Date: June 28, 2002
Congress Needs to Hear from Us
Over the 4th of July Recess
When Congress returns from their 4th of July recess we
expect that the
annual appropriations process will
begin immediately. Votes in the
House
on amendments to the Interior bill which funds the Forest Service
could take place as early as the week of July 15 -
19. Please contact
your Rep. and Senators
over the break next week at their District
offices
about the following issues:
Roadless Area Conservation Amendment
This amendment would halt over 50
new development projects being planned
in inventoried
roadless areas that would be prohibited by the Roadless
Conservation Rule. This amendment will build on
the support generated
for the Roadless Area
Conservation Act by maintaining the moratorium on
roadless projects that has been in place since former Chief
Michael
Dombeck announced a "time-out" on new roadless
projects in 1999.
Please ask
your Representative and Senators to support roadless area
protection by cosponsoring the bill, H.R. 4865, and by
supporting the
Roadless Area Conservation
Amendment. For more info see
http://www.americanlands.org/forestweb/timber.htm
Stewardship Contracting Rider
The House Interior bill
contains a rider adding an additional twelve
projects
to the existing 84 stewardship pilots. We are very concerned
about several of the contracting authorities because they
create new
incentives for logging and for tying
restoration and fuel reduction to
logging.
Please ask your Representative and
Senators to oppose any additional
stewardship
contracting pilots until the 84 existing pilots can fully
reviewed, monitored and analyzed. For
information, please see
http://www.americanlands.org/stewardship_contracting.htm
Fire Program Still Focusing on Logging, Not the Interface
Zone
Efforts will continue to
steer the fuel reduction program to where it is
shown
to do the most good, near homes and communities. The Forest
Service continues to conduct projects in low-priority areas
far from
communities. The agency also
insists on mixing the projects with
commercial logging,
which increases fire risks, essentially defeating
the
purpose of the program. We also will be pushing for additional
funding for the Firewise program and grants to homeowners
to create
defensible space and fireproof their homes by
installing metal roofs.
Please
ask your Representative and Senators to support requiring the
Forest Service and BLM to treat all high-priority areas in
the
Wildland/Urban Interface, before any projects are
allowed outside of
this zone. Also, please
urge their support for additional funding for
the
Firewise program and other efforts to help homeowners protect
themselves. For more see
http://www.americanlands.org/fire_plan_implementation.htm
Thanks for all your efforts.
DEN Alert: Stop the Poisoning of Migratory Birds
The federal government is allowing
Louisiana rice growers to spread a
bird-killing
pesticide. The highly toxic chemical named carbofuran
has been responsible for the deaths of millions of birds,
including
bald eagles. The granular form of
carbofuran that the farmers would
spread is so
dangerous that it was withdrawn from use in the mid-1990s.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has stated: "There are
no known
conditions under which carbofuran can be
used without killing
migratory birds." But
the Environmental Protection Agency agreed to
allow use
of this deadly pesticide without even consulting the Fish
and Wildlife Service as required by law or seeking public
comment.
When environmentalists learned of the EPA's
action and demanded to
be heard, officials agreed to
permit public comments – but for only
five days.
WHAT YOU
CAN DO:
Send a FREE e-mail to
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and
urge them
not to allow the use of the deadly pesticide. The public
comment period ends on Friday, JULY 5. We encourage you to
put the
sample letter below into your own words and
send it to the head of
the EPA. Thanks for sending a
strong message that our government
cannot disregard our
wildlife laws.
INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPOND VIA THE WEB:
If you have access to the web,
simply click on the link below which
will take you to
the DEN Action Center web site:
http://www.denaction.org
If you
don't have access to the Internet, please mail your letter to:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency , Public Information
and
Records Integrity Branch, Information Resources and
Services
Division, Office of Pesticide Programs, 1200
Pennsylvania Ave.,
NW, Washington, DC 20460.
** The subject line must include:
Re: Docket # OPP-2002-0124-
OPPOSITION TO SECTION 18
GRANULAR CARBOFURAN USE IN LOUISIANA **
SAMPLE LETTER:
Re: Docket #
OPP-2002-0124-OPPOSITION TO SECTION 18 GRANULAR
CARBOFURAN USE IN LOUISIANA
Dear Administrator:
I urge you to reverse the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency's
decision to permit the use of granular
carbofuran in rice fields in
Louisiana. Application of this pesticide could
kill many threatened
and endangered species, including
bald eagles. Yet at the time the
permit was granted,
the EPA failed to consult with the U.S. Fish
and
Wildlife Service. Use of this pesticide, which has clearly
been demonstrated to cause extensive harm to birds and
other
wildlife, should not be granted. For these
reasons, I urge you to
deny this application. Thank
you.
Sincerely,
To
SUBSCRIBE to DENlines, visit Defenders' website at:
http://www.defenders.org/den or send an e-mail to
DEN@defenders.org and put the word SUBSCRIBE in the
subject line, and your name and address in the text
area.
___________________________________________________________
DENlines is a biweekly
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 and known for its effective leadership on
saving
endangered species such as brown bears and gray
wolves. Defenders
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 480,000
members
and supporters.
Defenders
of Wildlife
1101
14th Street, NW, Suite 1400
Washington,
DC 20005
http://www.defenders.org
http://www.kidsplanet.org
Copyright
(c) 2002 by Defenders of Wildlife
---------- Original Message
----------------------------------
From:
"ThePetitionSite alerts" <takeaction@care2.com>
Date: 29 Jun 2002 00:11:26 -0000
Save the last
porpoises in the Gulf of California!
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In fact, the
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Thank you for your support!
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Environmental
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Care2.com
