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DEFENDING ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA
March 5, 2001
The love of wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyond reach; it is also an expression of loyalty to the earth, the earth which bore us and sustains us, the only paradise we shall ever know, the only paradise we ever need -- if only we had the eyes to see ... No, wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, as vital to our lives as water and good bread. -- Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire, 1968
Table of Contents:
1. FEATURED TAKE ACTION ITEM: WRITE TO MEXICAN PRESIDENT VICENTE FOX TO HELP FREE MEXICAN ENVIRONMENTALISTS RODOLFO MONTIEL AND TEODORO CABRERA
2. Support Funding for Renewable Energy: Oppose President Bush's plan to make funding on renewables subject to drilling in the Arctic Refuge
3. Tell the Forest Service: Keep Oil Rigs Out of Bridger-Teton National Forest
4. Write a Letter to the Editor: End Commercial Logging in our National Forests
5. Fight for Responsible Trade: Don't Let Free Trade of the Americas Agreement Undermine Environmental Protections
6. Tell President Bush: Reinstate Support for International Family Planning.
7. Protect Our Wild Forests
9. Whitman Decides To Go Forward On Diesel Rule
1. FEATURED TAKE ACTION ITEM: WRITE TO MEXICAN PRESIDENT VICENTE FOX TO HELP FREE MEXICAN ENVIRONMENTALISTS RODOLFO MONTIEL AND TEODORO CABRERA
Last month, Mexico's President Vicente Fox promised to have the Ministry of the Interior look into the case of Rodolfo Montiel and Teodoro Cabrera, two Mexican anti-logging environmentalists who have been in prison for nearly two years and have suffered torture and have received continuous verbal threats directed at their families and them.
This week, Mr. Montiel and Mr. Cabrera's lawyers will file a special appeal (an amparo) which challenges an act of an authority that violated an individual's constitutional guarantees. After the amparo is filed, Mexico's Attorney General Rafeal Macedo de la Concha will have the opportunity to issue an opinion, which, if it is in support of the amparo, has the potential of freeing Mr. Montiel and Mr. Cabrera.
President Fox will unveil National Campaign for the Protection of Forests and Water on Wednesday, which will feature a call on civil society to participate in the protection of these resources. However, until this case is resolved, an outstanding question for the Mexican government will remain: how will you call on civil society to protect the forests if those who participate are incarcerated?
TAKE ACTION:
Write to President Vicente Fox c/o Embassy of Mexico 1911 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20036
Ask him to:
* Ensure that a full review of the case be completed by government attorneys.
* Urge the Attorney General to issue an opinion of innocence with regards to the amparo.
Lic. Vicente Fox Quesada President of Mexico Palacio Nacional Patio de Honor, Primer Piso Colonia Centro México DF CP 06067 Fax: 011-525-515-5729 and 011-525-277-2376
Or
Lic. Vicente Fox Quesada President of Mexico Embassy of Mexico 1911 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, DC 20036 (Please do not fax letters to the Mexican Embassy -- Faxed letters to the Embassy are not considered official correspondence)
2. Support Funding for Renewable Energy: Oppose President Bush's plan to make funding on renewables subject to drilling in the Arctic Refuge
The Bush Administration's draft budget would fund research into renewable energy by allocating up to $1.2 billion in bonuses from bidders who have won the right to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Linking funding for renewable energy to the destruction of the Arctic Refuge is the worst possible policy for our environment. As if this were not bad enough the $1.2 billion figure is a ceiling- no minimum amount of funding is guaranteed. Also the bidding bonuses are estimated to begin in 2004, meaning that there is no guranteed timeline for when funding will begin.
Action: Email President@whitehouse.gov.
Sample Text: I oppose the provisions in your budget that link funding for alternative energy to drilling the Arctic Refuge. The idea that funding our solar and renewable energy research depends on despoiling the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for its estimated six month supply of oil is not only ludicrous, it is bankrupt.
More Information: Contact Alex Veitch at alex.veitch@sierraclub.org, or at 202-547-1141
3. Say No to Oil and Gas Development in Bridger-Teton National Forest
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. But the oil and gas industry is 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 the Greater Yellowstone area.
The Bridger-Teton National Forest recently 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 percent of the more than 2,500 comments received supported the "No Lease" alternative.
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.
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 because of their wildlife, clean water and recreation opportunities?
Tell the Forest Service to continue its efforts to protect the Bridger-Teton National Forest. Say you support the "No Lease" alternative.
For a sample letter, see: www.sierraclub.org/takeaction/wildlands/index1.asp
4. End Commercial Logging in National Forests
Help protect our national forests from the destructive and money losing practice of commercial logging. Please write a letter to your local newspaper and urge your friends and neighbors to do the same. You can find a sample letter at: www.sierraclub.org/takeaction/logging
5. Fight for Responsible Trade
The North American Free Trade Agreement was supposed to relax trade restrictions between Canada, Mexico and the United States. But some of those alleged trade restrictions are hard-won environmental laws.
But NAFTA contains dangerous provisions (similar to those in Newt Gingrich's Contract with America) that allow corporations to sue governments if environmental laws get in the way of profits. 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 that is poisoning the state's drinking water.
The Bush administration now wants to expand these dangerous provisions though a new trade pact, the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) agreement, covering the entire Western Hemisphere.
The FTAA has been negotiated in total secrecy. Please write to your senators and representatives and urge the Bush administration to "release the text" of the FTAA so the public can understand its terms.
Write your senators at: U.S. Senate, Washington, DC 20515. Write your representative at: U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20510.
6. Urge Bush to Reinstate Support for International Family Planning
Only two days after his inaugural address, President Bush dealt a blow to international family planning programs by reinstating the global gag rule. 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.
Tell President Bush you disagree and ask him to support these programs in the future. For more information, go to: www.sierraclub/takeaction/population/index.asp
7. Protect Our Last Wild Forests: Don't Let Bush and Congress Reverse Historic Roadless Initiative
Last year, tens of thousands of Sierra Club members wrote letters, attended hearings and spoke out in favor of protecting the last remaining wild areas of our national forests. We celebrated on Jan. 5 when President Clinton issued the final decision to protect 58.5 million acres from logging and roadbuilding -- including the last wild areas in Alaska's Tongass National Forest, the largest remaining temperate rainforest on Earth.
Now the timber industry and its allies in Congress and the Bush Administration are gearing up to overturn this historic conservation achievement. President Bush has already issued an order to delay its implementation until mid-May.
We need your help to keep these forests wild. Write your senators and representative and urge them to oppose all efforts to undermine the roadless conservation plan. Personal letters are most effective, so please take a few minutes to write a note expressing your support for protecting our wild forests. Below is a sample letter you can use as a starting point.
Write your senators at: U.S. Senate, Washington, DC 20515. Write your representative at: U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20510.
More than half of our national forest land has been hammered by logging and other destructive activities. The more than 440,000 miles of roads that scar our national forests have destroyed wildlife habitat, caused mudslides and polluted our water. After years of study and unprecedented public involvement, the Forest Service completed a roadless area policy to protect the last remaining unspoiled wild areas in our national forests.
Unfortunately, the timber industry and its allies in Congress are gearing up to overturn this historic rule. As your constituent, I urge you to protect all of our national forests and OPPOSE all legislation that aims to weaken or overturn the roadless conservation rule.
8. Whitman Decides To Go Forward On Diesel Rule EPA Administrator Christie Whitman today directed that EPA move forward on schedule with its rule to make heavy-duty trucks and buses run cleaner. These vehicles, which will be ready by model year 2007, will cut harmful pollution by 95 percent. Sulfur in diesel fuel must be lowered to enable modern pollution-control technology to be effective on these trucks and buses. The Agency will require a 97 percent reduction in the sulfur content of highway diesel fuel from its current level of 500 parts per million to 15 parts per million.
In announcing this decision, Administrator Whitman said, "The Bush Administration determined that this action not be delayed in order to protect public health and the environment. I look forward to working with state and local governments to meet their air quality goals as well as with citizens and businesses to ensure that diesel trucks and buses remain a viable and important part of the nation's economy."
Once this action is fully implemented, 2.6 million tons of smog-causing nitrogen oxide emissions will be reduced each year. Soot or particulate matter will be reduced by 110,000 tons a year. An estimated 8,300 premature deaths, 5,500 cases of chronic bronchitis and 17,600 cases of acute bronchitis in children will also be prevented annually. It is also estimated to help avoid more than 360,000 asthma attacks and 386,000 cases of respiratory symptoms in asthmatic children every year. In addition, 1.5 million lost work days, 7,100 hospital visits and 2,400 emergency room visits for asthma will be prevented.
Calling global warming "a real phenomenon," U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Christie Whitman said Tuesday the administration is considering limits on carbon dioxide emissions as part of a broader anti-pollution strategy. --Dow Jones Newswires -- February 27, 2001
I. A Huge Victory for the Clean Air Act
II. Two Bills to Save the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Introduced in Congress
III. Harris Poll: 59% Pessimistic About How Bush Will Handle The Environment
I. A Huge Victory for the Clean Air Act
On February 27, the Supreme Court handed down a huge victory for the Clean Air Act. In a unanimous decision in Whitman vs. American Trucking Association the Court affirmed that air pollution standards must be set to protect public health with an adequate margin of safety and not based on costs. The Court also upheld the constitutionality of the Clean Air Act's standard-setting process. Both decisions are a huge success for public health and the environment.
As part of updating the Clean Air Act to reflect current scientific knowledge, President Clinton in 1997 announced new health-based air standards for soot and smog. Soon after the new health-based air quality standards were finalized in 1997, industry, led by the American Trucking Association, filed a lawsuit against the EPA to halt these efforts to clean the air. On May 14, 1999, the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled against the EPA, leaving the fate of the new standards in limbo until the February 27th Supreme Court ruling.
It is vital to show support for the Court's ruling and call upon the EPA to move forward with the soot and smog standards. These standards will protect an estimated 130 million Americans, including 35 million children suffering from asthma and other respiratory related illnesses due to poor air quality. Please send a letter to the editor (LTE) of your local paper and show support for cleaning up our nation's air quality.
To find out more information visit https://www.sierraclub.org/cleanair/naaqs/courtruling.asp or email dirk.manskopf@sierraclub.org. Also for a list and addresses of newspapers in your area visit https://www.angelfire.com/ca/letterstoeditor/index.html
II. Two Bills to Save the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Introduced in Congress
At a rousing press conference in front of the US Capitol two bills to protect the embattled coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil and gas development were introduced. The bills, introduced by Senator Joseph Lieberman in the Senate and Representatives Ed Markey (D-MA) and Nancy Johnson (R-CT) in the House would designate the 1.5 million acre coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge as wilderness--our nation's highest level of land protection.
The press conference featured a wide array of speakers from both parties. Senators Joe Lieberman (D-CT), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Paul Wellstone (D-MN), Hillary Clinton (D-NY), John Corzine (D-NJ) and John Kerry (D-MA) all spoke out in strong support for protecting the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Minority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-MO) and Minority Whip David Bonior (D-MI) were among the House members who were in attendance. Gephardt said protecting to Arctic Refuge would be "the most important environmental issue" facing America for the next two years. Reps. Moakley (D-MA), Johnson (R-CT), Olver (D-MA), Maloney (D-NY), Blumenauer (D-OR), Hoeffel (D-PA), Holt (D-NJ), Udall (D-CO) and Inslee (D-WA) all lent their voices to supporting the legislation.
To see if your member of Congress has signed on as an original cosponsor click here.
Ninety-five percent of Alaska's vast North Slope is open to oil and gas exploration and leasing. The coastal plain represents the last five percent that remains off-limits to development. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the mean estimate of oil that could be recovered from the Refuge would amount to less than a six-month supply for America. In addition, it would take at least 10 years to do the exploration, construction, and drilling necessary to get it to U.S. markets.
A recent Associated Press poll of one thousand adults found that 53 percent of US voters oppose drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, while only 33 percent support such a move.
III. Harris Poll: 59% Pessimistic About How Bush Will Handle The Environment
Optimistic About How Bush Will Handle The Following Issues?
Optimistic Pessimistic
Defense 71% 29%
Crime 58 42
Education 58 42
Taxes 52 48
Foreign policy 50 50
Helping people with disabilities 50 50
Medicare 48 52
Jobs 48 52
Social security 48 52
The economy 47 53
Drugs 47 53
Health care 43 57
The environment 41 59
Abortion 41 59
Conducted 2/15-20/01, surveyed 2,573 adults; margin of error +/- 2%
(release, 2/27).
"Senator Murkowski's bill is a give-away for fossil fuel producers. All it leaves for renewable and clean energy are table scraps." --Ann Mesnikoff, Sierra Club Washington Representative
Table of Contents:
1. FEATURED ITEM:Urge your Senator to Oppose the Murkowski Energy Bill
2. Tell the EPA to Regulate Global Warming Emissions as Pollutants
1. FEATURED ITEM: Urge your Senator to Oppose the Murkowski Energy Bill
The Sierra Club is calling on Congress to reject the energy bill Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska) introduced today. The legislation fails to solve America's energy problems. Instead of setting America on the path of a sustainable, clean and affordable energy future, the bill is a polluter give-away. The Murkowski bill masks itself as a response to both California's energy shortage and the nation's long-term energy needs. In reality, the bill increases dependence on fossil fuels, worsens air quality, exacerbates global warming and destroys national treasures such as those found in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and western lands--while failing to solve our nation's energy problems.
To send an e-mail to your Senator, go to the Take Action part of our website by clicking below:
https://whistler.sierraclub.org:8080/takeaction/globalwarming/index.jsp
To call your senators, call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.
2. Tell the EPA to Regulate Global Warming Emissions as Pollutants
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 pollutants that can cause significant damage to the environment and public health.
Public comments are due to the EPA by May 23, 2001.
Please e-mail comments to: A-and-R-Docket@epa.gov
For more information, go to: https://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-AIR/2001/January/Day-23/a1979.htm
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