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DEFENDING ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA
October 8
"That little sucker will get out and move, no doubt about it. It surprises people who think they're getting into a gutless wonder." - Wyatt Earp, the appropriately-named sheriff of Marion County, Florida, on the hybrid cars that he and other Florida law enforcement agencies have begun using
(1)WILDLANDS: Park Service Official Resigns in Protest
(2)CLEAN CARS: Florida Sheriffs Fight Crime, Global Warming
(3)POLITICS: Vote For Children
(4)TAKE ACTION: To Protect Our Forests
1. Park Service Official Resigns in Protest
You might have thought the Bush administration would have taken the hint when Eric Schaeffer, a top EPA official, stepped down in April rather than carry out the government's anti-environment agenda. Obviously not, because a similar thing has happened at the National Park Service. David Mihalic, the superintendent at Yosemite, has resigned rather than be transferred to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina.
Mihalic has been with the Park Service for thirty years, and his opposition to the move didn't come from personal concerns. It was because of two projects that he would have had to carry out in North Carolina: building a road through the largest undeveloped wilderness area in the eastern United States, and conducting a land swap that would have allowed 168 acres of meadowland to be developed. That was too much to stomach for a man who has spent his career protecting the nation's special places.
For more information on David Mihalic's principled stand, go to https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41230-2002Oct3.html
2. Florida Sheriffs Fight Crime, Global Warming
Law enforcement agents across Florida have pledged to protect not just their citizens but the environment as well. Sunshine state sheriffs have begun buying hybrid cars for their deputies. About one hundred of these cars, which reduce air pollution by running on a combination gasoline engine and electric motor, have been sold to police departments across the state.
In fact, driving cars that use less gas does have something to do with protecting communities from crime. Because hybrid cars reduce our dependence on foreign oil, they can help lessen our presence in the middle east, fundamentally altering the equation that leads to terrorism. So the hybrids are a mobile symbol of patriotism. Not to mention that they help tackle global warming, and save the sheriffs money at the gas pump, leaving more resources for crime fighting. Now that's something we can all get behind!
For more information on Florida's trail-blazing sheriffs, go to https://www.sptimes.com/2002/10/04/State/Hybrid_cars_win_favor.shtml
3. Vote For Children
What does voting have to do with kids, you might ask? Alot, if those kids are at any of the more than 250 schools across the country who are participating in the Vote for Children project. Sierra Club has teamed up with the Service Employees International Union's Education and Support Fund in areas with traditionally low voter turnout. Organizers are working with schools to teach kids about elections and the political system, to help them register their parents and members of their community to vote, and then to turn out registered voters on election day.
The goal is to increase the turnout rate in these districts by 5 percent. Schools which meet that goal, or make a strong effort, will get funds to take their kids on field trips to wilderness areas or to participate in other environmental and outdoors activities. Alot of the kids who'll benefit have never been out of the city before. So Vote for Children teaches kids about politics, encourages their parents to vote, and gives inner-city youngsters a chance to experience nature's beauty. Sounds pretty good to us!
To see coverage of the project in Portland, Oregon, go to https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/oregonian/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/portland_news/1033732572137174.xml
For more information on Vote for Children, go to https://www.voteforchildren.org/
4. Take Action to Protect Our Forests
Today the House Resources Committee voted by 23-14 to pass on a compromise fire policy bill. Although several Representatives from both parties have been negotiating a bill for weeks, they were still not able to come up with a bill that prioritizes community protection, protects wild forests and other special places and keeps our forest protection laws in place. The bill passed by the Resources committee today was the latest proposal by Rep. Scott McInnis (R-CO) that would allow expedited logging of millions of acres of National Forest in the name of fire prevention while diminishing judicial review and public involvement. Several improvement amendments were offered, including a good substitute by Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) but they failed to pass.
This legislation is now headed for the floor and could pass before the year is out. So, your help is still needed! We have the chance for Members of Congress to support a pro-active, solution oriented bill that would make progress on protecting communities and reducing fire hazards. Please call your Representative this week and urge them to OPPOSE the McInnis bill, HR 5319. You can reach your Representative through the Capitol Hill switchboard at (202) 224-3121.
For a real community protection fire management plan that provides solutions, go to https://www.sierraclub.org
"Instead of protecting the 400,000 people who live downstream, President Bush is letting toxic chemicals flow right into our communities." - John Osborn, Washington State Sierra Club, on the Bush administration's approach to cleaning up a contaminated Superfund site
(1)CLEAN CARS: Sierra Club Takes it to the Dealers
(2)SUPERFUND: Sleight of Hand
(3)CLEAN WATER: Bluegrass State Activists Honor Clean Water Act
(4)TAKE ACTION: For Women and the Environment
1. Sierra Club Takes it to the Dealers
Sometimes it helps to have friends in the right places. That's why Sierra Club kicked off the grassroots phase of its campaign for more fuel efficient cars by calling on Ford dealers in Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago to put their own pressure on Ford CEO Bill Ford Jr. Organizers appeared with representatives of faith groups, university professors, students, and other environmentalists at events outside dealer showrooms.
Momentum is building in the quest for improved fuel economy. Sierra Club is educating car-buyers about the Freedom Options Package - a set of fuel-saving technologies that could put us on the road to 40 mpg, and which Ford could have available on its standard models very soon. Cars that go further on a gallon of gas would save consumers money at the gas pump, cut global warming pollution, and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. That's freedom we could all use.
For more information on the Freedom Options Package, go to https://www.sierraclub.org/freedompackage
2. Superfund Sleight of Hand
It sounds like a great idea: instead of having a massive toxic waste cleanup operation run by the federal government thousands of miles away, why not set up a special panel of local officials to do the job? But environmentalists are worried that the plan - which is being applied to an area contaminated by mining waste on the Washington-Idaho border - is just the first step towards weakening the EPA's authority to clean up Superfund sites.
Sierra Club and allies have asked Members of Congress to look into the panel. Many of the panel's members have strongly opposed the cleanup in the past. Now these same anti-environmental officials are in the driver's seat on a project that's crucial in preventing toxic pollution from overwhelming local communities. It sounds like the same old bunk of weakening environmental enforcement, dressed up as "increasing local control." Environmentalists are right to be skeptical.
For more information on the Bush administration's plan to weaken Superfund, go to https://www.sierraclub.org/toxics/superfund/
3. Bluegrass State Activists Honor Clean Water Act
What did you do for fun Friday night? If you live in Kentucky, maybe you were at a "fecal fest." Organized to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, the "fecal fest" was held at the Pennyrile Forest State Park. Singers and dancers entertained Kentuckians amidst storms and tornado warnings. Awards were given to clean water activists for their efforts to clean up local waterways. The event garnered print and radio coverage.
What do people eat at a "fecal fest"? Cake and cookies, of course, as well as apples from a lush local orchard which was once threatened by rodents from a nearby chicken factory, but is now in fine fettle. Volunteers who attended the gala were so inspired that they resolved to expand their water testing work to cover more local waterways! Currents can't wait to see what they do for an encore when the Clean Water Act turns 50!
For more information on the fight for clean water, go to https://www.sierraclub.org/cleanwater/
4. Take Action for Women and the Environment
It's not often that Congress has a chance to protect the environment and help women around the world at the same time. But by ratifying the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) that's exactly what the Senate could do. CEDAW would help end abuses of women and girls, ensure the advancement of women's rights and promote a more sustainable environmental future.
When women and girls have access to education, health care and voluntary family planning services, they are better able to choose the size and spacing of their families, improving their quality of life and the environment. The U.S. is the only industrialized nation not to have ratified CEDAW. That puts us in the company of Iran, Afghanistan, and Somalia. Contact your senators and urge them to uphold U.S. leadership in promoting equality, human rights, and democracy, by ratifying CEDAW.
Call the Capitol Switchboard right now at (202) 224 3121. Ask for your senators. Deliver the message. Help women and the environment around the world.
"These people should be held responsible for cleaning these places up. Where's all that manure going to go." - Harold Pearson, who lives near an abandoned hog factory farm in Indianola, Nebraska
(1)ENERGY: The Fight for Information Goes On
(2)FACTORY FARMS: Nebraskans Fall Hook Line and Sinker for Clean Water
(3)FORESTS: Committee to Vote on Forest Protections This Week
(4)TAKE ACTION: For Clean Energy and the Arctic Refuge
1. The Fight for Information Goes On
You'd think that if citizens want information from their government, all they'd need to do is ask. You'd be wrong. Sierra Club has been trying to find out which corporate polluters helped Dick Cheney's energy task force come up with its dirty, dangerous energy plan. For months, the government has used flimsy claims of "executive privilege" to parry requests from a federal judge to produce the information. Now Sierra Club has asked the court to issue a formal order for the documents.
Who can blame the administration for guarding the material so zealously? The documents describe the secret meetings with corporate polluters that led to the energy bill now before Congress. The bill provides billions of dollars in handouts to the very polluters who received such a warm welcome from the task force last year. Do you suppose there's any connection?
For more information on the plan that corporate polluters helped write, go to https://www.sierraclub.org/energy/bush_plan/
2. Nebraskans Fall Hook Line and Sinker for Clean Water
The Sierra Club's Nebraska chapter held a fishing derby over the weekend to highlight the threat to clean water posed by the growth of factory farms in the area. Fifty people showed up, and the Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society provided snacks. A local sports store even chipped in with separate prizes for different age groups.
Factory farms are bad news for fishing enthusiasts who depend on clean water for their sport. But they're bad news for everyone else, too. They dump huge amounts of animal waste into local waterways, drive family farmers out of business, and inundate communities with noise and a foul stench. Even Nebraskans who've never caught a fish in their lives care about that.
For more information on hog farms in Nebraska, go to https://newsdirectory.com/go/?f=&r=ne&u=www.omaha.com
3. Committee to Vote on Forest Protections This Week
A dangerous bill that would gut crucial forest protections is coming to a conference vote this Thursday. Backed by arch-foe of the environment Rep. Scott McInnis (R-CO), the bill cynically uses this summer's spate of fires to allow increased logging of our forests, while doing nothing to protect communities.
If approved, the measure could be voted on by the entire House of Representatives next week before Congress goes home for the elections. Contact your Representative and urge them to oppose the McInnis bill, HR 5319, and any efforts to reduce or eliminate forest protection safeguards. You can reach your Member of Congress by calling the Capitol switchboard (202) 224-3121.
For more information on the Club's community protection plan, go to https://www.sierraclub.org/logging/fire_protection.asp
Take Action for Clean Energy and the Arctic Refuge
For some months, it's been clear that the energy bill currently before Congress will be a boon to corporate polluters, who stand to receive billions of dollars in giveaways, but a bust for the American people and the environment. But it may be even worse than we thought. Lawmakers are considering cutting back the already weak provisions to use more renewable energy sources like solar and wind, and to let oil companies off the hook for polluting drinking water with MTBE.
As if all this weren't enough, Arctic drilling has raised its ugly head again. Although lawmakers firmly rejected the idea of destroying America's most pristine wilderness for six months worth of oil, relentless drilling proponents are still trying to sneak it into the bill. So the energy bill would increase oil consumption, give BILLIONS OF taxpayer dollars to the polluting oil, gas, and coal industries, all but ignore clean energy alternatives, and could destroy the Arctic Refuge. Lawmakers should reject this dangerous bill.
Click below to send an email directly to your representatives, urging them to vote against the energy bill now in Congress. There's a draft provided. https://www.sierraclub.org/action/?alid=188&st=curr
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