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DEFENDING ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA
Tuesday, May 1, 2001https://whistler.sierraclub.org:8080/takeaction/wildlands/index4.jsp ``Under FDR (President Franklin Delano Roosevelt), all we had to fear was fear itself... Now we have to fear arsenic in our drinking water, pollutants in our air, drilling in our public lands, a rollback of woman's rights and workers rights and the return of crippling deficits.'' -Tom Daschle, U.S. Senator (D-SD)
[1] URGENT ACTION: Keeping Our Wild Forests Wild
President Bush has delayed implementing the wild forest protection plan which would protect 58.5 million acres of our National Forests. More than one million Americans wrote letters, attended hearings and spoke out in favor of protecting these remaining roadless areas. Bush is to announce on May 4 whether or not he plans to weaken or overturn the protection of the last wild areas in our National Forests. Tell him you support the wild forest plan and that he should uphold protections!
Take action at https://whistler.sierraclub.org:8080/takeaction/wildlands/index4.jsp
To read our press release calling on Bush to protect wild forests, click on https://lists.sierraclub.org/SCRIPTS/WA.EXE?A2=ind0105&L=ce-scnews-releases&D=1&T=0&H=1&O=D&P=73
[2] IN THE POLLS: Most Americans Don't Trust George W. on the Environment
The results of a poll by the Sierra Club and the Mellman Group reveals that 48 percent of voters give the president "negative ratings" for developing an energy policy with an emphasis on oil drilling, discrediting the Bush energy package before it has been released. Indeed, 57 percent oppose drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in particular, and 55 percent were against drilling off the coast of the United States or under the Great Lakes. Asked which was a better solution, decreasing demand through conservation or increasing the supply by drilling for oil or gas, 56% say that reducing demand is the better solution, while only 26% prefer increasing supply.
To see the Mellman poll, go to https://lists.sierraclub.org/SCRIPTS/WA.EXE?A2=ind0104&L=ce-scnews-releases&D=1&T=0&H=1&O=D&P=3700
[3] OUT OF STEP: Cheney Describes Bush Energy Policy Despite findings in the polls that Americans prefer energy efficiency and conservation solutions for the nation's energy problems, Vice President Cheney announced yesterday that the Bush administration "would aim mainly to increase supply of fossil fuels, rather than limit demand," according to the New York Times. The Bush administration is also likely to push for an expansion of nuclear power, even though most Americans oppose this as well. It's interesting that today's Los Angeles Times reports that seven power companies have increased their lobbying efforts this year and have spent over $1 million, including Pacific Gas & Electric, which recently filed for bankruptcy protection.
For more on Cheney's announcement, go to https://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/01/politics/01CHEN.html
To read about the utility lobby, go to https://www.latimes.com/news/politics/calpol/20010501/t000036696.html
[4] MPG MILESTONE: Bill to Increase Fuel Efficiency
Although the Bush Administration is out of step with Americans, Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Charles Schumer (D-NY), and Susan Collins (R-ME) are on track. These senators have introduced legislation to increase fuel efficiency standards, which is the biggest single step to reducing our oil addiction and to curbing global warming. Urge your senators to support this bill!
See our press release https://lists.sierraclub.org/SCRIPTS/WA.EXE?A2=ind0105&L=ce-scnews-releases&D=1&T=0&H=1&O=D&P=217
[5] FROM THE FIELD: What a Difference a Day Makes
Angeles Chapter Sierra Club activists are changing light bulbs and renovating rooftops in an affordable housing complex in Hollywood to showcase renewable energy and conservation. Changing incandescents to compact fluorescent bulbs and painting roofs a more reflective color will save the complex over $10,000 over its lifespan.
Minnesota's Sierra Club organizers worked 25 days straight at 20 different locations, getting the word out about supporting the Wild Forest Roadless Plan.
Phones were ringing in Utah last week, as Sierra Student Coalition activists at Utah State University organized free phone calls, urging their Congressman Hansen to make better choices for the environment. Other Utah activists were running radio ads and collected hundreds of postcards.
To find out what Sierra Club organizers are doing in your area, go to "My Backyard" on the Sierra Club web site at https://www.sierraclub.org
[6] HATS OFF: Sierra Club Board Election Results
Congratulations to those who were recently elected to the Sierra Club Board of Directors: Nick Aumen, Ed Dobson, Jan O'Connell, Jennifer Ferenstein and Dave Wells.
"It kills me to agree with Carl Pope again, but he's largely right here. The fact is that if you look through the '90s, there was only one power plant blocked by the environmentalists in California. It was a series of floating barges in San Francisco that didn't amount to a whole lot." -- Jerry Taylor of the conservative Cato Institute, in a joint interview with Carl Pope, Sierra Club executive director, verifying that environmentalists are not to blame for the shortage of power plants.
[1] W. WATCH: 100 Days of Dubya
With 100 days of President Bush in office, the Sierra Club has been able to compile quite a list of what the president has been up to. From cutting funding for the Endangered Species Act to back-peddling on the Kyoto Treaty on global warming, nothing is sacred.
Read the whole shebang at https://www.sierraclub.org/politics/bush/w_watch.asp
Then take action to stop Bush at https://whistler.sierraclub.org:8080/takeaction/index.jsp
[2] SMART GROWTH: North Carolina Organizers Push General Assembly
The U.S. Department of Agriculture disclosed that North Carolina lost more than 11 acres of farmland every hour to development bulldozers between 1992 and 1997. That's part of the reason why Sierra Club organizers gathered their allies and marched on the State Capitol last week, advocating for smart growth laws. Sprawling development hurts us all. Find out why by clicking below.
https://www.newsobserver.com/tuesday/news/editorials/Story/426287p-420487c.html
You can also check out the Sierra Club's Sprawl Campaign web site at https://www.sierraclub.org/sprawl/
[3] THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMMMM: Facts About Oil and the Arctic
By how many gallons would daily U.S. oil consumption drop if SUVs' average fuel efficiency increased by just 3 mpg? 49,000,000
How many gallons per day would the proposed drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge yield? 42,000,000
For more interesting factoids, check out the April Harper's Index at https://www.harpers.org/harpers-index/listing.php3
[4] MISSISSIPPI MUD: Court Sends Dredging Project Back to the Drawing Board
The Sierra Club and an endangered population of freshwater mussels won a victory at the Mississippi Supreme Court when the court turned a dredging project back to Mississippi's Commission on Environmental Quality for reconsideration. The Big Sunflower River project would have dredged about 105 miles of river for flood control, but the Sierra Club argued that the dredging would stir up pesticides that would damage populations of native endangered freshwater mussels.
Read more about this victory at https://www.clarionledger.com/news/0104/20/m2.html
[5] MISSION: CUT EMISSIONS! Tell the EPA to Curb Global Warming Gases!
Last October, a coalition of 19 environmental groups submitted a petition to the EPA to regulate global warming gases, including carbon dioxide. The Environmental Protection Agency is accepting comments through May 23, as to how it should respond to the petition. You know what they should do -- so take action now!
Take action at https://whistler.sierraclub.org:8080/takeaction/globalwarming/index.jsp
To see the EPA docket go to https://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-AIR/2001/January/Day-23/a1979.htm
"Free trade was always going to be a tough fight for George Bush. What happened in Quebec will make it that much tougher." -- Daniel Seligman, director of Sierra Club's Responsible Trade Program
[1] FREE TRADE NEWS: Street Protestors and Foreign Policy in Quebec
Inside the barricaded "perimeter" of the Summit of the Americas, 34 leaders of Western Hemisphere nations agreed to act in support of a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). Outside the fences, thousands of protestors spoke out against the FTAA, saying that it will jeopardize environmental protections, labor unions, women's rights and fledgling democracies. For the first time ever, environmental groups and labor unions, among others, will get to take a gander at and comment on the draft plan.
Read all about it at https://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/23/world/23SUMM.html and https://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/21/world/21SUMM.html
[2] EARTH DAY: Arkansas Sierra Club Campaigns Get a Boost
As a part of Earth Day festivities, the Sierra Club celebrated the opening of Arkansas' first formal Club office. The first priority? New Arkansas Environmental Public Education Campaign organizer, Randy Zurcher, will focus on ending commercial logging in the Ouachita National Forest.
Learn more about work in Arkansas https://www.nwaonline.net/www.nwaonline.net/274899906458661.bsp and https://www.sierraclub.org/chapters/ar/central/index.html
[3] IN THE WIND: Danish Wind Turbine Farms Are Energy Powerhouses
As the U.S. wallows in its energy problems, the Danes are proving how workable renewable energy is. With a new off-shore wind farm that churns out enough electricity for 32,000 homes, the Danes are leading the world in wind energy. Guess which U.S. state jump-started their lead?
Find out at https://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/04/2 3 /MN194440.DTL
[4] ENVIRONMENTAL HEROES: Goldman Prize Honors Stewards of the Earth
Last night, eight environmentalists were awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for their important efforts to help Mother Earth. These heroes from around the world are ordinary people doing extraordinary work.
Meet the award winners at https://www.goldmanprize.org/
[5] SIERRA CLUB WEB STORE: Final Days of April Sale!
Receive 10 percent off purchases of all bags and packs through the end of April. With a portion of the proceeds going directly to our campaigns and programs, you can't go wrong!
Check it out at https://www.sierraclub.org/store/
"Not only is he the author to whom all men turn when they think of the Sierras and Northern glaciers... but he was also - what few nature-lovers are - a man able to influence contemporary thought and action on the subjects to which he had devoted his life." -President Theodore Roosevelt on John Muir
[1] HAPPY B[EARTH]DAY JOHN MUIR!
Thanks to John Muir, founder and first president of the Sierra Club, people all over the world understand the importance of experiencing and protecting our natural heritage. Instrumental in convincing President Theodore Roosevelt to preserve our national treasures, past, present and future generations owe much to this visionary. With Muir's birthday on Saturday, April 21, and Earth Day on Sunday, April 22, gear up for an enviro-oriented weekend.
Check out our Earth Day Web page at https://www.sierraclub.org/
Take a moment to learn more about John Muir at https://www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/
[2] SLIPPERY SLOPES: 92,400 Gallon Spill in Alaska's North Slope
In the fourth major spill this winter on Alaska's North Slope, over an acre of tundra was saturated with 92,400 gallons of saltwater laced with crude oil, which will stymie the growth of native plant life this spring. Corroding pipes may prove to be the culprit. Although similar technology would be employed to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, industry is emphatic there would be no disasters. Come again?
Get the full scoop at https://www.adn.com/nation/story/0,2360,258384,00.html
[3] GO SOLAR: Solar Home to be Constructed at U.S. Capitol for Earth Day
Driving home the message that solar energy is non-polluting and ever-available, fourteen organizations working on renewable energy and energy conservation will erect a solar home on the U.S. Capitol grounds. Washington politicos and the general public will be able to tour the "Solar Patriot" and witness for themselves that going solar is anything but deprivation.
[4] WASTE NOT, WANT NOT: Reduce and Recycle Electronics Trash
A coalition of environmental and public interest groups has launched a campaign dubbed Electronics Take it Back! Because discarded electronics are one of the largest sources of hazardous pollutants in municipal trash, the campaign will work with government and the electronics industry to implement electronics recycling and management programs.
[5] TAKE ACTION: The President Gears Up For FTAA
As the rest of us celebrate Mother Earth this weekend, Bush will be in Quebec pushing for the expansion of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to include the entire Western Hemisphers. This Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) would compromise our nation's environmental laws. Take action and urge Bush to work for responsible trade pacts that are clean, green and fair.
Take action at https://whistler.sierraclub.org:8080/takeaction/trade/index.jsp
"I hope you all had a successful day today and did the appropriate lobbying with the right senators.... When the president says he wants to look at government as a partnership" with private enterprise, "he really means it." --Christie Todd Whitman, getting chummy with industry at a recent gathering of the Business Roundtable, as reported today in the New York Times.
[1] OIL WORKERS SPEAK UP: Shoddy Practices in Arctic Fields Threaten Environment and Workers
In an open letter, BP Amoco employees working on oil platforms in Alaska's Prudhoe Bay have exposed equipment failures and safety issues that threaten their ability to prevent oil spills. Despite repeated reports detailing workers' concerns, neither BP Amoco nor Alaska state regulators have fixed the problems. Alaska state regulators revealed on Friday that over one-third of the safety valves on one platform failed to close properly. Oil rigs in the area already create more air pollution than many cities and Prudhoe Bay suffers over 400 spills of oil or oil-related pollution per year.
To read the letter: https://anwrnews.com/docs/20010110_Letter_from_Technitians_to_Charles_Hamel.asp
To find out more about the damage oil drilling has already caused: https://www.sierraclub.org/wildlands/arctic/oil.asp
[2] FREE TRADE AREA OF THE AMERICAS: Ministers and Protesters Gather in Quebec
Representatives from 33 countries are gathering this week in Quebec with the hope of creating a free-trade zone that would stretch across the Americas. Conducted behind unprecedented security, ministers at the conference are pushing to create a mega-market of 800 million consumers. But the Sierra Club, labor leaders and several South American nations are working to make sure that the pact isn't just a free-for-all. We want trade that is clean, green and fair.
Read the Los Angeles Times coverage of the summit: https://www.latimes.com/news/front/20010416/t000032308.html
Check out the Sierra Club's Responsible Trade campaign: https://www.sierraclub.org/trade/
[3] BUSH WATCH: President Cuts Appliance Efficiency Standards
President Bush wants to cut recently adopted air conditioner and heat pump efficiency standards. Instead of a 30 percent improvement energy efficiency, Bush's proposal would turn down energy efficiency standards by one-third to 20 percent. The new standards would have added only a $125 to the $2000 to $4000 cost of a new central air conditioner. Most consumers would recoup these savings in just over a year, saving energy, cutting our exposure to toxic air pollutants and slowing the progress of global warming.
Read the whole story at:
https://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/14/politics/14STAN.html
[4] EARTH DAY APERITIF: While Politicos Dither, Americans Act to Improve Energy Efficiency
Just because President Bush's idea of energy efficiency involves oil drilling, doesn't mean we can't make a difference. And with Earth Day less than a week away, this is a perfect time to take a look at how we can save energy by improving our efficiency. Efforts to improve efficiency in California have decreased energy use by a whopping 10 percent. But you don't have to sit in the dark to save electricity -- visit our energy page for some ideas on saving power.
Energy saving tips at: https://www.sierraclub.org/energy/tips.asp
[5] TAKE ACTION: Time is Right for Clean Air, Clean Power
Pollution from old, dirty and inefficient power plants cuts short the lives of more than 30,000 Americans and triggers an estimated 603,000 asthma attacks nationwide every year. It's past time that our elected officials work to protect the public health and our environment by cosponsoring Senate Bill 556, the "Clean Power Act."
Take action to reduce pollution from power plants: https://whistler.sierraclub.org:8080/takeaction/cleanair/index.jsp
"President Bush's actions would gut the Endangered Species Act, our nation's premiere wildlife protection law." -- Carl Pope, the Sierra Club's executive director, on Bush's new plan to limit citizen input on endangered species.
[1] ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT: Bush Pushes to Make Public Comment Extinct
President Bush's proposed budget would gut the Endangered Species Act by severely limiting money for enforcement. Although the public could still sue -- as is common -- to force the Fish and Wildlife Service to list an animal as endangered, by cutting the funds used to enforce the results, these citizen suits would be rendered ineffective.
To find out more details and keep on top of the latest news: https://www.sierraclub.org/politics/bush/
[2] OPINIONS: Public Unhappy With Bush's Environmental Approach
According to a just-released Bloomberg poll: "President Bush's approach to the environment is meeting with disapproval, even among groups that voted for him last November..." Though Bush's general approval rating is up a bit, to 56 percent, on environmental issues he wins the approval of just 38 percent of Americans. Another 34 percent disapproves of his environmental agenda and the remaining 28 percent are undecided or won't say. "It's not just tree huggers," said Evans Witt, president of Princeton Survey Research Associates, the company that conducted the poll. "There's a chunk of his core supporters who aren't happy" with the president's actions on the environment.
To read more results from the Bloomberg poll: https://quote.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgi?T=money_nstory.ht&s=AOtRr5hRiVGhlIEJs
[3] FRANKEN-FOOD FIGHT: Monsanto Triumphs Over Farmer Who Grew GM Crop
Percy Schmeiser, a farmer in Saskatchewan, Canada, owes the Monsanto corporation up to $85,000 for growing genetically-modified Round-Up Ready Canola. The twist: it was an accident. According to Mr. Schmeiser's testimony, GM pollen from a neighbor's farm blew into his canola field. Despite the fact that the GM seed he grew was in effect "pollution," a Canadian judge ruled that Schmeiser is liable for licensing fees and profits on the crop grown. Canadian environmentalists note that roughly 40 percent of Canada's canola crop is now grown from genetically-modified seed.
Learn more about the case: https://www.percyschmeiser.com
Read a recently-revised Sierra Club report on genetic engineering: https://www.sierraclub.org/biotech/report.asp
[4] GREAT LEAKS: Global Warming Likely Cause of Great Lakes Decline
Falling water levels in the Great Lakes are trigging renewed debate over why the level of the lakes has long been in decline. A new study, reported in the Detroit News, points to global warming. The study suggests that water levels, which have been in decline for several years, could fall by an additional 1 to 3 feet over the next three decades. Businesses that depend on materials transported by barge and boaters who ply the waters for pleasure are worried that the decline could harm the local economy.
To read more about global warming and the Great Lakes: https://detnews.com/2001/metro/0104/11/a01-210689.htm
[5] TAKE ACTION: Time to Stop POPs -- Persistent Organic Pollutants
Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are chemicals like DDT, PCB and dioxin. Not only are these chemicals extremely toxic, they hang around in the environment, resisting the natural processes that break down some types of pollution. Even worse: POPs accumulate in human body fat and are passed on to babies in the womb and to infants through breast milk.
The "Stockholm Convention," an international treaty to reduce the amount of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in our environment, is almost ready to be signed. This treaty is crucial to reducing the amount of toxic chemicals in our environment -- and our bodies. And the Stockholm Convention is strongly supported by environmentalists around the world.
The only question then: Will the Bush administration sign it?
Send a fax to Secretary of State Powell to urge U.S. support: https://whistler.sierraclub.org:8080/takeaction/index.jsp
For more information on the POPs treaty: https://www.sierraclub.org/toxics/resources/
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