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DEFENDING ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA
May 16
"A morning-glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books" Walt Whitman
(1)CLEAN WATER: EPA Proposes Corporate-Friendly Plan
(2)CLEAN AIR: That's What You'd Call Direct Lobbying
(3)TAKE ACTION: Help Protect Americans from Dangerous Nuclear Waste
1. EPA Proposes Corporate-Friendly Plan on Clean Water
It's deja vu all over again. The Bush administration recently announced a clean air plan that would let corporate polluters buy and sell the right to spew toxic gases into our skies. Now it wants to apply the same great idea to water. EPA chief Christie Whitman this week announced a proposal that, instead of making polluters clean up their acts, would allow them to trade "pollution credits" between them.
The plan is certainly friendly to the business community. Too bad it contravenes the Clean Water Act. Sierra Club and allies have formally asked the EPA to hold off on the scheme until evidence can be found that credit-based systems actually improve water quality. After all, isn't that the idea?
For more information on clean water, go to https://www.sierraclub.org/cleanwater/
2. That's What You'd Call Direct Lobbying
Speaking of the Bush administration's bad clean air plan, that's exactly what was on Sam Putnam's mind recently. Putnam got a chance to meet the President recently at an event he helped organize in San Jose, California. And he used his fifteen seconds of fame to good effect, telling the chief executive, "let's clean up all those old power plants so fewer kids get asthma." The President's surprised response? "I have one of the most aggressive plans ever to do just that."
In fact, the administration's plan cuts pollution by less than would be done by simply enforcing the Clean Air Act. It's time we got serious about cleaning up our air, because, as Putnam points out, "asthma rates around the country have been sky-rocketing." Maybe after Sam's close encounter with the President, we'll start seeing some progress.
For more information on clean air, go to https://www.sierraclub.org/cleanair/
3. Help Protect Americans from Dangerous Nuclear Waste
The moment of truth for nuclear safety is approaching. The Senate will vote soon on whether to transport thousands of tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste from around the country, then dump it at Nevada's Yucca Mountain. The plan relies on shaky science, and would threaten millions of Americans with exposure to deadly nuclear waste as it's traveling on our roads and rails. The House caved to the powerful nuclear industry, so now its up to the Senate to protect the safety of ordinary citizens. But we need your help too.
Contact your senators right away. Tell them to stand up for public health and the environment by rejecting this dangerous scheme. Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224 3121 and deliver the message. Help keep Americans safe from dangerous nuclear waste.
"With a few wildfires already burning in the American West and drought conditions in the Southwest and Southeast, the fire season, and timber industry rhetoric, will surely heat up."
Sean Cosgrove, Sierra Club Wild Forests Advocate
(1)WILD FORESTS: Fire Season Means One More Reason to Protect our Forests
(2)ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: Memphis Residents To Test Air Pollution Themselves
(3)FACTORY FARMS: Corporate Polluters Put Local Democracy at Risk
(4)TAKE ACTION: Keep International Trade Clean, Green, and Fair
1. Fire Season Means One More Reason to Protect our Forests
Don't believe the hype! As high temperatures and dry conditions roll around again, look for the timber industry - backed by the Bush administration - to use the threat of wildfires as an excuse for destructive commercial logging on our national forests. But look for something else this year, too: a Sierra Club report that sets the record straight, and provides home-owners with real, common-sense measures to protect their families.
Logging interests and pro-business federal agencies claim that we need to destroy our wild forests to help prevent dangerous forest fires. In fact, the reverse is true: logging has been shown to multiply the risk of catastrophic forest fires. That's because timber companies cut down the largest trees, which are the most resistant to fire, leaving behind flammable smaller trees and piles of debris. As this report shows, we need to protect, not log, our national forests - now more than ever.
For a copy of this timely and valuable report, go to https://www.sierraclub.org/logging
2. Memphis Residents To Test Air Pollution Themselves
Sometimes you gotta take matters into your hands. That's why residents of North Memphis, Tennessee will be collecting air samples from their neighborhood this month, then sending them to a lab for testing. The volunteer-scientists are fed up with the noxious odors spewing from chemical plants in the area. They suspect that companies aren't accurately reporting their emissions, and now they're going to try to find out for sure.
The activists teamed up with Sierra Club for a training session, where they learnt how to conduct the tests. They've long been urging the state to make factories stop fouling the air in their neighborhood, a largely minority and low-income area. Soon they may have some pretty compelling evidence to back up their case!
For more information on this hands-on fight for clean air, go to https://www.gomemphis.com/mca/local_news/article/0,1426,MCA_437_1141747,00.html
3. Corporate Polluters Put Local Democracy at Risk
When several massive factory farms set up shop in rural Pennsylvania, they brought with them the usual problems for local people: foul odors, contamination of groundwater, and dirty, noisy truck traffic. Nine Pennsylvania townships, fearing they'd be the next to be targeted, passed local laws to protect their communities from these factory farms. Sounds reasonable, right?
Not to the agribusiness industry. They're pushing new legislation in Harrisburg which would prevent communities from banning these operations. So towns would be stuck with polluting, smelly factory farms, whether they want them or not. Local protections against factory farms are described by agribusiness as "frivolous". But this bill would threaten the democratic right of communities everywhere to determine their own future, rather than having it forced upon them by corporations. And there's nothing frivolous about that.
For more information on this assault on local democracy, go to https://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5641
4. Take Action to Keep International Trade Clean, Green, and Fair
President Bush is pushing "fast track" legislation, which would let the White House negotiate sweeping global trade deals without input from Congress. So the administration would be able to expand provisions in NAFTA that allow private corporations to sue foreign governments whenever environmental protections affect corporate profits. If fast track passes in its current form, many of our most crucial environmental and public health safeguards could be jeopardized.
There is a solution - Senator John Kerry (D-MA) is sponsoring an amendment that would fix these dangerous provisions and make sure our environmental laws stay put. Congress will vote soon, so contact your senators and urge them to support the Kerry amendment.
Call your senators at 877-611-0063 (courtesy of the AFL-CIO). Deliver the message on the Kerry amendment. Then click below for more information on the fight for fair trade.
https://www.sierraclub.org/trade
"Our fans and the public deserve a lot better than this hare-brained recipe for hell." - Peter Garrett, of the rock group Midnight Oil, on the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump plan
(1)NUCLEAR POWER: House Approves Dangerous Nuclear Waste Dump Plan
(2)CLEAN WATER: Federal Court Rules Against Mountaintop Removal Mining
(3)CLEAN AIR: EPA Puts off Deadline for Cleaning Atlanta's Air
(4)TAKE ACTION: Take Action to Protect Our Wild Forests
1. House Approves Dangerous Nuclear Waste Dump Plan
Thousands of shipments of highly radioactive nuclear waste could soon be coming to a road or rail-line near you. The House caved to the powerful nuclear industry yesterday, passing a risky proposal that would needlessly expose millions of Americans to the threat of a nuclear accident or attack. The plan faces tougher opposition in the Senate, which should vote in the next two months.
The nuclear industry wants to make 100,000 cross-country shipments of nuclear waste over the next 31 years. The deadly cargo would pass within half a mile of 50 million Americans. It would then be dumped at Nevada's Yucca Mountain, even though experts fear the mountain could leak. No wonder this scheme is opposed by a range of environmental, public interest, and taxpayer groups, as well as the state of Nevada and a growing list of federal lawmakers from Washington state to Massachusetts. Stay tuned...
For more information on the plan to dump nuclear waste at Yucca mountain, go to https://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/Backissues/050902gw.htm#9
2. Federal Court Rules Against Mountaintop Removal Mining
It didn't take long for the Bush administration's decision allowing mountaintop removal mining to come under legal fire. A federal court in West Virginia ruled that the dirty, dangerous practice violates the Clean Water Act. The EPA had tried to use semantics in an announcement last week to argue that mountaintop removal mining was legal. But the court rejected the argument, and slammed the EPA for acting beyond its authority in trying to change the rules.
Mountaintop removal mining is currently illegal, but mining companies have been continuing the practice with impunity. It involves blasting off the tops of mountains, then dumping thousands of tons of waste into surrounding waterways. It has already destroyed much of West Virginia's environment, doing irreparable damage to local waterways and wetlands, and the wildlife which depend on them. Since the Bush administration won't stop it, it's a good thing the courts are!
For more information on this important decision, go to https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/05/09/mining.htm
3. EPA Puts off Deadline for Cleaning Atlanta's Air
Maybe all the studies that show a link between air pollution and asthma just aren't persuasive enough for the EPA. On Tuesday it allowed Atlanta an extra 18 months to meet federal clean air standards. Atlanta claimed that wind-borne pollution from surrounding states was preventing it from meeting the standards, and the EPA was happy to agree.
There's a pattern developing here: in December, the EPA granted a similar delay for the automobile emissions portion of Atlanta's clean air plan. Now it's extended this stalling device to cover the whole plan. Sierra Club and other groups are suing the agency for its lenient approach to the city's air. Maybe that'll finally get the Bush administration to enforce the law.
For more information on the fight for clean air, go to https://www.sierraclub.org/cleanair/
4. Take Action to Protect Our Wild Forests
The Bush administration is considering opening up our last wild forests, including Alaska's Tongass Rainforest, to devastating development. This goes against a popular rule, drawn up with the help over 2 million public comments, which would make our last wild forests off-limits to logging and road-building. We need your help to make sure that rule stands and our forests are protected.
Representatives Jay Inslee (D-WA) and Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) plan to introduce a bipartisan measure that would make sure the forest protection rule goes into effect. Momentum is building: 130 Members of Congress have already signed onto the bill, and the deadline has been extended for the rest to do so. Contact your representative and urge them to add their voice to the growing number of public officials and ordinary Americans who are calling for our wild forests to be protected.
Click below to send an email directly to your representative. There's a draft provided: https://www.sierraclub.org/action/?alid=162&st=curr
"The Bush administration is choosing the mining industry over water for drinking, recreation, and wildlife." - Carl Pope, Sierra Club Executive Director, on the decision to allow mountaintop removal mining
(1)CLEAN WATER: Bush Administration Gives Green Light to Mountaintop Removal Mining
(2)ALTERNATIVE TRANSPORTATION: National Rally for Rail Day
(3)WILDLANDS: Military Wants Permission to Threaten Wildlife and Trample on Utah's Wilderness
(4)TAKE ACTION: Stop the Dangerous Yucca Mountain Nuclear Dump
1. Bush Administration Gives Green Light to Mountaintop Removal Mining
Changing the definition of "fill" sounds harmless enough. But the consequences for clean water and the people of West Virginia and other mining regions are anything but harmless. An EPA announcement last week confirmed that polluting mining companies can legally blast off the tops of mountains, then dump them into America's rivers and streams.
The announcement came late Friday afternoon, when it was hoped that the press and public wouldn't be paying attention. No wonder the EPA wanted to keep the decision quiet - it'll mean millions of tons of mining waste will end up in America's waterways, doing irreparable damage to our streams, rivers, wetlands, and drinking water. That's something that could be hard to hide for too long.
To see the Sierra Club's response to the EPA's decision, go to https://lists.sierraclub.org/SCRIPTS/WA.EXE?A2=ind0205&L=ce-scnews-releases&D=1&T=0&H=1&O=D&F &S=&P=626
If this link does not work for you, click on the link for Bush Administration Allows Waste Dumping in America's Rivers and Streams at: https://lists.sierraclub.org/SCRIPTS/WA.EXE?A1=ind0205&L=ce-scnews-releases
2. National Rally for Rail Day
Since lawmakers refused to take any meaningful action to clean up our gas-guzzling SUVs, maybe its time to start thinking about transportation alternatives. If we want to reduce global warming pollution from cars and trucks - and at the same time improve the quality of life for us all - public transportation is essential. But Amtrak is under-funded, and may have to discontinue large parts of the national system.
On Wednesday May 8th, state and local government officials, environmentalists, labor, and business groups will all come together for National Rally for Rail Day. They'll demand that Congress step up its funding for Amtrak, and commit to preserve the national rail system. Remember - the better our rail service, the fewer SUVs on the road. And that's good news for all of us.
For more information on National Rally for Rail Day, go to https://www.sierraclub.org/sprawl/rally_for_rail.asp
3. Military Wants Permission to Threaten Wildlife and Trample on Utah's Wilderness
Nobody's questioning the importance of national security. But the Department of Defense is using the national security rallying cry to erode protections for America's wildlife and wilderness areas. DOD is pushing a bill that would give it carte blanche to ignore the Endangered Species Act, even though the Act already allows exemptions on a case-by-case basis, if national security demands it. The current bill also gives unprecedented control over wilderness to DOD, and inadequately protects Utah's majestic Great Basin.
Contact your representative, and urge him or her to reject any attempts in the Defense Authorization Act to exempt the military from the Endangered Species Act or to undermine the Wilderness Act. The vote is coming up on Thursday, so act now. Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224 3121. Ask for your representative. Deliver the message.
For more information on this threat to wildlife and wilderness, contact Bart Semcer at bart.semcer@sierraclub.org
4. Take Action to Stop the Dangerous Yucca Mountain Nuclear Dump
The moment of truth for nuclear safety has arrived in the House. Members of Congress will vote this week on whether to transport thousands of tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste from around the country, then dump it at Nevada's Yucca Mountain. The plan relies on shaky science, and would threaten millions of Americans with exposure to deadly nuclear waste as it's being moved around the country. The powerful nuclear industry is going all out in support of the plan, and we need your help countering that.
Contact your representative right away. Tell him or her to stand up for public health and the environment by rejecting this dangerous scheme. Click below to send an email straight to your representative.
https://www.sierraclub.org/action/?alid=122&st=curr
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