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DEFENDING ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA
March 26
"Nature is just enough, but men and women must comprehend and accept her suggestions." Antoinette Brown Blackwell
(1)ENERGY: Documents Show Influence of Polluters on Energy Policy
(2)STOP SPRAWL: Local Opposition To Legacy Highway Growing
(3)CLEAN AIR: Court Upholds Air Pollution Protections
(4)TAKE ACTION: Let your Senators Know You Were Watching on Campaign Finance Reform 1. Documents Show Influence of Polluters on Energy Policy
It's about time! After eleven months of stone-walling by the administration, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham handed over records that help show who was involved in drafting our Enron-energy policy. And - no surprises here - Abraham found time to hear from 36 representatives of business interests, including six meetings with Ken Lay's disgraced Houston energy company. But he couldn't squeeze in a single chat with environmental or consumer groups.
The documents were released only after the Natural Resources Defense Council had successfully sued for their disclosure. Sierra Club has its own legal action pending against Vice President Cheney and members of his energy task force, seeking similar information. The task force produced an energy plan that relies heavily on polluting industries like oil and coal, and gives short shrift to conservation and renewables. No wonder Cheney's being coy about who helped write it!
For more information on the information Spencer Abraham tried to withhold, go to https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16943-2002Mar25.html
2. Local Opposition To Legacy Highway Growing
Opinion leaders in Utah are getting vocal: the Legacy Highway must be stopped! A column in Saturday's Salt Lake Tribune joins the chorus, pointing out the damage that would be done to surrounding wetlands and wildlife should the ill-advised project go ahead. The highway's "legacy", the piece argues, would be "unplanned growth...urban sprawl...more air pollution, and less wildlife."
Construction has been halted for now, thanks to the legal efforts of Sierra Club and its allies. But highway advocates in Utah's legislature are playing hardball, trying to pass a law that would force environmentalists to pay for the costs of the delay. That's some way to reward political activism! But it looks like more and more Utahns are waking up to the need to leave a "legacy" of environmental responsibility.
To read the full Salt Lake Tribune article, go to https://www.sltrib.com/2002/mar/03232002/utah/721911.htm
3. Court Upholds Air Pollution Protections
Sierra Club today hailed a much-needed victory for children and those suffering from asthma and other lung diseases: a DC Appeals Court upheld air quality standards designed to protect public health from soot and smog. By cutting air pollution, the decision will save an estimated 10,000 lives each year!
The standards were originally announced five years ago, but quickly came under attack by a group of polluters, led by the American Trucking Association. Since a 1999 court decision that sided with the polluters, the fate of the protections - and of the health of hundreds of thousands of Americans - has been up in the air. But today's decision should mean that the standards will soon take effect. And that should make a lot of people breathe easier!
To see the Sierra Club response to today's clean air decision, go to https://lists.sierraclub.org/SCRIPTS/WA.EXE?A2=ind0203&L=ce-scnews-releases&D=1&T=0&H=1&O=D&F &S=&P=1528
4. Let your Senators Know You Were Watching on Campaign Finance Reform
Our representatives like to know that people are paying attention when they do something right. And last week, Senators did something very right indeed, voting to get big money out of politics by instituting real campaign finance reform. So call your Senators and let'em know you appreciated what they did. Or maybe your Senators were worried about those campaign contributions drying up, and voted wrong. Make sure they know you took note, and that next time you'll expect them to side with the American people and the environment, not their wealthy campaign donors.
Click below to see how your Senators voted: https://www.sierraclub.org/votewatch/2002/cfr.asp
Then call the Senate Switchboard at (202) 224 3121, ask for your Senators, and deliver the message.
"The greatest test of courage is to bear defeat without losing heart" - Robert G. Ingersoll
(1)DEMOCRACY: Hallelujah! Senate Approves Measure to Get Big Money out of Politics
(2)FAIR TRADE: NAFTA's Threat to the Environment Draws Scrutiny as Fast Track Approaches
(3)CLEAN AIR: Winds of Change at EPA Would Not Blow Away Toxic Emissions
(4)TAKE ACTION: Let your Senators know how you Feel on Fuel Economy
1. Hallelujah! Senate Approves Measure to Get Big Money out of Politics
Victory at last! Elections and the environment got a whole lot cleaner yesterday, when the Senate voted a resounding Yes on campaign finance reform. The result means that polluting corporations will no longer be able to dump unlimited amounts of money into campaign coffers, giving elections back to all Americans. The bill now heads to the President, who has signaled his intention to sign it into law. Polluting industries donated millions to candidates and parties in the last election, and recent attacks on the environment suggest that corporations got what they paid for. Yesterday's vote, which owed much to the efforts of Sierra Club and its allies, should help to reduce the influence of these big-money polluters, and restore trust in our political system.
For more information on the big victory, go to https://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/21/politics/21DONA.html?todaysheadlines
To see the Sierra Club response to the Senate vote, go to https://lists.sierraclub.org/SCRIPTS/WA.EXE?A2=ind0203&L=ce-scnews-releases&D=1&T=0&H=1&O=D&F &S=&P=1389
If this link does not work for you, click on the link for Sierra Club Thanks Senators for Cleaning Up Elections at: https://lists.sierraclub.org/SCRIPTS/WA.EXE?A1=ind0203&L=ce-scnews-releases
2. NAFTA's Threat to the Environment Draws Scrutiny as Fast Track Approaches
Looks like the mainstream media is starting to wake up to the dangers posed by global trade deals that ignore the environment. A piece in this week's edition of Time Magazine focuses on a little known NAFTA provision which allows foreign corporations to sue the U.S. government if our hard-won environmental protections affect their profits. This same frightening issue was recently the subject of a PBS documentary entitled Trading Democracy. The media's interest comes not a moment too soon. In the next month or so, the Senate will begin debating Fast Track legislation, which would prevent congress from fixing future trade deals negotiated by the President. Fast Track could lead to NAFTA-style provisions, which favor the interests of big corporations over ordinary people, being extended across the western hemisphere. That should make even more people sit up and take notice!
To read the Time Magazine article, Toxic Trade?, go to https://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101020325-218330,00.html
3. Winds of Change at EPA Would Not Blow Away
Toxic Emissions In another attempt to make life easier for corporate polluters, the EPA is set to announce a plan that would allow industries to voluntarily reduce toxic waste, and even compensate them for doing so. The policy is a retreat from the EPA's get-tough approach, under which polluters were taken to court and fined, and it could let many of the polluters currently facing lawsuits off the hook.
Environmentalists in Ohio fear that Cinergy Corp, which is charged with violating the Clean Air Act, may now be offered a more lax deal, or even escape punishment entirely. And that could send a signal to other polluters that government enforcement of our clean air laws will be less than strenuous. "The Bush administration is pretty much saying that the cop is being taken off the beat," said Glen Brand of the Sierra Club, Ohio.
For more info on how EPA's changes may let Cinergy off the hook, go to https://www.cincypost.com/2002/mar/20/cinrg032002.html
4. Let your Senators know how you Feel on Fuel Economy
Do you have something to say to your senators after last week's fuel economy debacle? Maybe your senators caved in to the oil industry's campaign of fear and lies, voting to do next-to nothing to save oil. Or maybe they did the right thing, voting to raise fuel economy standards, but were defeated. Either way, let them know you took note: if they voted right for the environment, write and thank'em. If they voted wrong, let'em know you'll expect them to do better next time. Click below to send an email directly to your senators. There's even a draft provided.
https://www.sierraclub.org/action/?alid=80&rf=-80999
"Trees and stones will teach you that which you can never learn from masters" - St. Bernard (1091-1153)
(1)POLITICS: Alarm Grows Over Bush Administration's Environmental Rollbacks
(2)CLEAN AIR: Smoggy Thinking on Air Quality
(3)CLEAN WATER: National Call-In Day to Stop Destructive Mountaintop Removal Mining
(4)DEMOCRACY: One Last Push for Campaign Finance Reform
(5)TAKE ACTION: For Clean, Renewable Energy
1. Alarm Grows Over Bush Administration's Environmental Rollbacks
Looks like more and more people are realizing that our hard-won environmental protections are not exactly in the safest hands with the current administration. An "op-ad" produced by the on-line magazine TomPaine.com, which will appear in tomorrow's New York Times, highlights another government attempt to make life easier for corporate polluters: a recent decision by EPA chief Christie Whitman that would delay Clean Air Act rules for another two years, even though they're already more than a year overdue.
This latest move comes on top of the administration's rejection of a world-wide pact to reduce global warming pollution, its attempt to weaken rules against arsenic in drinking water, and its efforts to allow mining, logging and road-building in our National Forests. Perhaps the country is starting to sit up and take notice...
To see the full "op-ad" piece, go to https://www.tompaine.com
2. Smoggy Thinking on Air Quality
What's that about? Cincinnati's air is too dirty, according to the EPA, which has placed the city, and several surrounding counties in Ohio, back on its air-quality black-list. The Queen city is now at risk of losing federal highway funds. But the EPA has given clean bills of health to two northern Kentucky counties which make up part of metropolitan Cincinnati!
Maybe the EPA hasn't figured out that air doesn't respect city limits. "This is one big region, and the air affects everybody," said Marilyn Wall of the Ohio Chapter of the Sierra Club, which was instrumental in ensuring that the EPA flagged Cincy's noncompliance. Looks like the Sierra Club could teach the country's top environmental enforcement agency a thing or two about air quality.
For more information, go to https://www.cincypost.com/2002/mar/13/ozone031302.html
3. National Call-In Day to Stop Destructive Mountaintop Removal Mining
Big coal has been making a lot of noise lately about cleaning up its act. But if current mining practices are an indicator, noise is all it is. Mountaintop removal mining has been found to violate the Clean Air Act: it blasts off the tops of mountains, then dumps the waste into nearby streams and wetlands, severely polluting waterways and inundating local communities with dirt, dust, and noise. And instead of cracking down on this destructive practice, the Bush administration is now trying to change the rules and legalize it.
That's where you come in. Participate in a National Call-In Day. Call EPA Chief Christie Whitman (202 546 4700) AND Council on Environmental Quality Chair James Connaughton (202-456-5147). Tell them: 1. Not to change the Clean Water Act to let waste from the coal industry be dumped into our waterways. 2. Not to legalize the destructive practice of mountaintop removal mining. 3. To allow for a public comment period and an Environmental Impact Statement before making any changes to existing laws.
Then click below for more information on destructive mountain-top removal mining https://www.sierraclub.org/wetlands/mining.asp
4. One Last Push for Campaign Finance Reform
The seven year drive to get big money out of politics is just inches from the goal, and Tom Daschle plans to push it over the line. Anticipating a filibuster attempt by Republican enemies of reform, the Senate Majority Leader has vowed to keep the Senate in session all night to get the measure passed before next week's recess. To show he's serious, Daschle's even had cots delivered to the Capitol Building!
Advocates of reform only need two more things: a well-stocked coffee-maker, and help from you. Call the Senate Switchboard at (202) 224 3121, and ask to be connected to your Senators. Urge them to oppose any attempts to filibuster the Shays-Meehan legislation, or to attach "poison pill" amendments to it. Remember, getting corporate money out of politics is great news for the environment, so call NOW!
5. Take Action for Clean, Renewable Energy
It's going from bad to worse. As if rejecting higher fuel economy standards weren't enough, anti-environmentalists in the Senate are now poised to drastically cut the amount of energy we'd get from clean, renewable sources. The Kyl amendment would reduce the figure from an already modest 10% in the current bill, to a paltry 2%.
But you can help achieve a cleaner, safer energy future. Contact your senators immediately and urge them to vote AGAINST the Kyl amendment, and FOR an energy bill that ensures that a significant percentage of our energy comes from clean, renewable sources. Click below to send an email directly to your senators. There's a draft provided.
https://www.sierraclub.org/action/?alid=80&rf=-80999
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