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DEFENDING ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA
June 4
"The Bush administration has issued a report that says that global warming is a serious problem; yet, on the other hand, they've turned around and said, 'But we're not going to implement any solutions to it.'" Debbie Boger, Sierra Club Clean Energy advocate, speaking on CNBC
(1)GLOBAL WARMING: Bush Administration's Plan: Deal With It!
(2)POLITICS: Primary Day for Two Environmental Champions
(3)CHALLENGE TO SPRAWL: Americans Suffering from Sprawling Commutes
(4)TAKE ACTION: Help Protect Americans from Dangerous Nuclear Waste
CORRECTIONS:
The 5/30 edition of Currents gave an incorrect name for a representative of the Sierra Club's northwest region. He is Jim Young.
The 5/28 edition omitted a link to a newspaper article on the death of Sierra Club activist Ron Mann. The article can be found at https://www.jsonline.com/news/nobits/may02/46381.asp
Currents regrets the errors
1. Bush Administration's Global Warming Plan: Deal With It!
Maybe the heat has gone to the heads of the Bush administration. In a report to the U.N. this week, they acknowledged that human activity is a significant cause of global warming. Sounds like a step in the right direction. But get this: the best solution the Bush administration can offer is that we just learn to live with it!
Get ready for radical changes in weather patterns, a rise in sea levels, and countless environmental problems until the administration decides to get serious about reducing our global warming pollution. Sierra Club has a pretty cool suggestion: how about improving America's energy efficiency? By shifting our dependence on fossil fuels to alternatives like solar and wind power, and by making our cars and trucks go further on a gallon of gas, we could actually do something about global warming, instead of just admitting the problem exists!
For more information on the Bush administration's about-face (kind of!) go to https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-environment-usa.html
2. Primary Day for Two Environmental Champions
Today is primary day in many states, and Sierra Club is proud to endorse two leaders who will stand up for our nation's environment. Assemblyman David Russo, running for the Republican nomination in New Jersey's 5th Congressional District, is facing two anti-environmental candidates. Russo has been a consistent champion on clean water and open spaces issues in the New Jersey Assembly. The 2,200 Sierra Club members in Russo's district are pulling out all the stops for him.
Meanwhile, voters in Alabama's 3rd Congressional District can turn to Joe Turnham in today's Democratic primary. A former Democratic State party chair, Turnham founded the Alabama League of Environmental Action Voters. He's committed to protecting two of his district's most special places - the Talladega and Tuskegee National Forests - and has fought to ensure access to clean water for Alabamans. Sierra Clubbers will be fighting just as hard for him today.
For more information on the Club's political endorsements, go to https://www.sierraclub.org/endorsements/
3. Americans Suffering from Sprawling Commutes
Ready, Set, Stall! People are spending more time alone in their cars, and commuting times are increasing across the country, according to a Census Bureau report released today. The average commute time is 25.5 minutes and over 75% drivers cruise solo. "This increase in commute time is largely due to poor planning that takes choices away from people," said Melody Flowers, of Sierra Club's Challenge to Sprawl campaign.
One major cause of increased commute time is sprawl: scattered development that increases traffic, saps local resources and destroys open spaces. If we invested in clean, public transportation choices and development solutions, Americans could enjoy shorter commutes, cleaner air, and more time with their loved ones. Now those are some solutions to drive home!
For more information on Sierra Club's Challenge to Sprawl campaign, go to https://www.sierraclub.org/sprawl/
4. Help Protect Americans from Dangerous Nuclear Waste
The dangerous plan to transport thousands of tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste from around the country, then dump it at Nevada's Yucca Mountain, is coming to a crucial stage. Wednesday a Senate committee will vote on the scheme. A 'yes' would send the proposal to a full vote on the Senate floor.
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. Ask for your senators and deliver the message. Help keep Americans safe from dangerous nuclear waste.
"I implore Southern Company: instead of spending money to fight lawsuits, clean your stacks." Carolyn Hargrove, Macon, Georgia resident
(1)CLEAN AIR: Georgia Polluter Feels the Heat from Sierra Club
(2)SMART GROWTH: More Traffic Lanes? How About Public Transportation?
(3)WILD FORESTS: Washingtonians are Wild About Wild Sky Plan
(4)TAKE ACTION: Help Protect Americans from Dangerous Nuclear Waste
1. Georgia Polluter Feels the Heat from Sierra Club
Give the people of Macon, Georgia a break. That was the message conveyed by Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope, when he joined hundreds of concerned Macon residents last week to urge a corporate polluter to clean up its act and protect public health. Pope's comments came at a state public meeting to address Georgia's chronic air pollution problems.
Macon has some of the worst air in the country, and a polluting plant owned by Southern Company is a big reason why. Soot and smog from power plants triggers asthma in kids, and can make anyone sick. Georgia Power has been dragging its feet about cutting its emissions, but the great majority of people who showed up at the meeting this week delivered a nearly unanimous message to the company: it's time to get serious about cleaning up Macon's air.
For more information on cleaning up Macon's air, go to https://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/3354338.htm
2. More Traffic Lanes? How About Public Transportation?
How many lanes does it take to get rid of gridlock? The Virginia Department of Transportation thinks 12 will do. Hundreds homes and businesses could be turned to dust if the state's highway lobby has its way with a proposal for a super highway over a 14-mile stretch of the Capital Beltway. This sprawl-inducing project would waste billions of taxpayers' dollars, and destroy green space without easing traffic congestion.
Instead of a noisier, expensive polluting freeway, why not build a cheaper and greener public transportation rail line? Sierra Club generated hundreds of people to come to public hearings over the last week and make exactly that point to decision-makers. Now there's a solution to make anyone breathe easier.
For more information on the fight for smart growth in the capital region, go to https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18626-2002May27.html
3. Washingtonians are Wild About Wild Sky Plan
The Washingtonian wild country could be about to get a little wilder. Lawmakers, environmentalists and forest enthusiasts have come together on a proposal that would protect water quality and salmon habitat in the Western Cascades of Skykomish County. Composed of 106,000 acres of pristine old-growth forests, Wild Sky Wilderness will be permanently protected so that future generations can enjoy the majesty of its low valleys, towering peaks and alpine lakes.
Not only will these beautiful forests be preserved, but the economies of local towns will be boosted by anticipated tourism. It's a win-win situation. Jim Arthur of the Sierra Club's Northwest region said the plan represents "a new area of habitat protection. Instead of protecting rocks and ice, we're protecting salmon habitat."
For more information on this step forward for Washington's forests, go to https://www.heraldnet.com/Stories/02/5/30/15522279.cfm
4. Help Protect Americans from Dangerous Nuclear Waste
The nuclear industry has been pulling out all the stops lately. They're telling lawmakers that their plan to transport thousands of tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste from around the country, then dump it at Nevada's Yucca Mountain, is safe. But 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. We need your help to counter the nuclear industry's misleading information.
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.
"If Enron wrote part of the White House's energy policy, we want to know about it" Alex Levinson, Sierra Club lawyer
(1)ENERGY: Bush Administration Fails to Stop Sierra Club Lawsuit
(2)CLEAN WATER: Citizens Highlight Factory Farm Pollution
(3)MEMBERS: Wisconsin Chapter Loses a Long-Time Friend of the Environment
(4)TAKE ACTION: Protect Our Wild Forests
1. Bush Administration Fails to Stop Sierra Club Energy Lawsuit
You can run but you can't hide! Sierra Club is working to make sure the public knows who the administration met with in drafting its dirty, dangerous Enron-influenced energy plan last year. And the effort picked up steam last week when a judge ruled that a lawsuit by the Club and its allies can go forward, after the administration had tried to dismiss it.
Vice President Cheney headed an "energy task force" that relied on advice from the polluting oil, coal, and nuclear industries, and hardly gave environmentalists the time of day. Unsurprisingly, Cheney's plan called for more drilling and mining, and all but ignored conservation and clean energy alternatives. So far, getting information on what went on behind the task force's closed doors has been like pulling teeth. But after last week's ruling, Dick Cheney won't be able to keep the curtain drawn forever.
For more information on the administration's dirty energy plan, go to https://www.sierraclub.org/energy/bush_plan/
2. Citizens Highlight Factory Farm Pollution
Here's three women who are making a difference in Michigan. Janet Kauffman, Lynn Henning and Kathy Melmoth have taken it upon themselves to become the watchdogs of nine factory farms in their area. These massive operations produce huge amounts of animal waste, which leaks into our rivers and streams, fouling our air, contaminating our drinking water and spreading disease.
With a grant from Sierra Club, the volunteer water inspectors have gone to work. They've regularly spent three days a week driving for four to six hours looking for discharges in drains and streams. Their extensive results and photos have shown 17 documented discharges in violation of the Clean Water Act. Now it's up to the state to enforce the law. It's nice that someone's keeping an eye out.
For more information on polluting factory farms, go to https://www.sierraclub.org/factoryfarms/
3. Wisconsin Chapter Loses a Long-Time Friend of the Environment
Ron Mann loved people, and he loved the natural world around him in equal measure. So it was only fitting that Mann, who died last week at 56, gravitated to Sierra Club, where he worked closely with others in a range of capacities, all in the name of protecting the earth.
Mann, an electrical engineer by trade, was co-chair of his local Great Waters group, an at-large member of Wisconsin's John Muir Chapter, and also served as Wisconsin delegate to the Club's National Council of Leaders. But more important to Mann than the titles he gained were the relationships he forged through his activism. In the final weeks of his life, many of these friends let Mann know how much he meant to them. "I love you too," he would tell them. Mann is survived by his wife Janet Anderson.
For more information on Mann's John Muir (Wisconsin) Club Chapter, go to https://www.sierraclub.org/wi/
4. Take Action to Protect Our Wild Forests
The moment of truth for our national forests is approaching. The Bush administration wants to open up them up to devastating development - even Alaska's spectacular Tongass. This goes against a popular rule, drawn up with the help of 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) have a bipartisan measure that would make sure the forest protection rule goes into effect. Contact your representative and urge them to cosponsor the bill. This week is recess, so it's a great time to let your representative hear from you.
Click below to send an email directly to your representative. There's a draft provided: https://www.sierraclub.org/action/?alid=162&st=curr
"Why are we taking chances? It's Yellowstone Park. It's the Yellowstone bear. I don't think people will forgive us if we blow it." Louisa Willcox, Montana Sierra Club Organizer, on removing protections for grizzly bears
(1)WILD FORESTS: Bush Administration Eyes Another Piece of Alaskan Real-Estate
(2)ENDANGERED SPECIES: New Grizzly Policies are Tough to Bear
(3)WILDLANDS: Wilderness Protection or Nuclear Safety? How About Both?
(4)TAKE ACTION: Protect Yellowstone from Noisy and Polluting Snowmobiles
1. Bush Administration Eyes Another Piece of Alaskan Real-Estate
You'd think that after the Senate soundly rejected Arctic drilling, the federal government would understand that Americans want to see Alaska's unique wilderness areas protected. You'd be wrong. The Forest Service, pressured by the timber industry, has proposed opening up over 3 million acres of old growth rainforest in Alaska's Tongass National Forest for road-building and logging.
The Tongass is the largest remaining temperate rainforest on earth, and is home to grizzlies, salmon, and bald eagles. It is so spectacular that a federal judge, responding to a lawsuit by environmentalists, ordered the Forest Service to evaluate the Tongass for potential wilderness designation. And the Service still refused to protect even a single acre! We know the Bush administration is still sore over the Arctic, but there's no need to take it out on the Tongass!
For more information on protecting the Tongass, go to https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/18/opinion/18SAT2.html
2. New Grizzly Policies are Tough to Bear
What does Gail Norton have against grizzlies? Last year, she sabotaged a proposal to release 25 of them into the Bitterroot wilderness in Idaho and Montana. The plan was designed to help build a larger grizzly population, and had been drawn up by local residents, timber officials, and environmentalists. Now Secretary Norton is considering taking the famed Yellowstone grizzly off the endangered species list.
The move is being spun as another example of "local input" on environmental policy. But environmentalists fear that it's really just a way to open up wilderness areas in Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho to oil and gas drilling, road-building, and logging. That would threaten the bears' habitat, and could end up reducing their numbers once again. Grizzlies once roamed the west from California to the Dakotas. Now they occupy only 2% of the area they once did. And if Gail Norton gets her way, it'll be even less.
For more information on the threat to grizzlies, go to https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/19/opinion/19SUN3.html
3. Wilderness Protection or Nuclear Safety? How About Both?
Sometimes a bill that looks pretty green is in fact anything but. Rep. Jim Hansen (R-UT) is backing legislation that would designate as wilderness the lands around the Goshute Indian Reservation. This would thwart the nuclear industry's plans to use the area as a storage site for highly radioactive nuclear waste. Sounds like a good idea, right?
But Rep. Hansen's bill would also put huge areas of Utah's land under the control of the Defense Department, meaning they'd be more easily opened to development. So the measure pits one environmental goal - stopping a nuclear waste dump - against another - protecting Utah's special places. That may not be a wise move: "We support the protection of our nation's wilderness resources, and we oppose dangerous nuclear waste facilities" said Lawson Legate of the Utah Sierra Club. "We will not trade one for the other."
For more information on this "Catch-22", go to https://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,400008996,00.html
4. Take Action to Protect Yellowstone from Noisy and Polluting Snowmobiles
Time is running out for you to take action to keep Yellowstone free from noisy and polluting snowmobiles. These vehicles harass and stress buffalo and other wildlife, causing the animals to deplete critical energy supplies necessary to survive Yellowstone's harsh winters. Some park employees have even taken to wearing gas masks to ward off headaches, dizziness and nausea from the fumes.
The National Park Service decided to gradually phase snowmobiles out of the park over several winters. But now, the Bush administration, pressured by snowmobile manufacturers, is considering reversing the move. Tell the National Park Service to stick to its decision to protect wildlife and recreation at Yellowstone and Grand Teton. Your comments are needed by May 29, 2002, so act now.
Click below to send an email straight to the National Park Service https://whistler.sierraclub.org/action/?alid=159
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