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DEFENDING ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA
January 16
"This is the greatest concentration of brilliance in the White House since Thomas Jefferson dined alone." -John F. Kennedy at a White House dinner in honor of America's Nobel laureates.
(1)FORESTS: Lewis and Clark, 200 Years Later
(2)WATER: Watering down the Clean Water Act
(3)WILDLANDS: Wanted - More Badlands
(4)TAKE ACTION: Protect the Air We Breathe
1. Lewis and Clark, 200 Years Later
The Lewis and Clark National Commemoration kicked off this week at Monticello and to celebrate the 200 year anniversary of these explorers, the Sierra Club featured a campaign to conserve and restore the wild places of the Lewis and Clark exploration.
The campaign aims to permanently protect the 56 million acres of remaining wildlands in Lewis and Clark country, preserve and restore key wildlife habitat and protect threatened and endangered species like bison, wolves, grizzly bears and salmon. The solutions the Sierra Club advocates include: wilderness designation, hands-on conservation, lands acquisition, smart growth and ending commercial logging on our National Forests and public lands.
Read all about the Sierra Club's Lewis and Clark program at: https://www.sierraclub.org/lewisandclark/
2. Watering down the Clean Water Act
Taking stock after the latest Bush Administration change to the Clean Water Act, activists in Utah were relieved to learn that the 117 acres of wetlands threatened by the proposed Legacy Highway development are still safe. These wetlands, east of the Great Salt Lake, are a stopping point for birds traveling from the Southern Hemisphere to the Arctic Circle. The Legacy Highway plan is on hold due to a court order from a Sierra Club lawsuit requiring the Utah Department of Transportation to conduct more studies of the proposed highway's environmental impact.
Earlier this month, the Bush Administration removed isolated wetlands and seasonal pools from Clean Water Act protections. These critical ecosystems are more threatened than they have been in the last 25 years, putting fish, shellfish, and wildlife in greater danger. Wetlands are extremely important to people too, serving as the Earth's natural water filters. Wetlands east of the Great Salt Lake are safe for now, but nationwide other waterways are at more risk.
Read more about the new threats to our nation's waters at: https://www.sierraclub.org/cleanwater/news/1_13_03.asp
3. Wanted - More Badlands
The Governor of North Dakota is proving to his constituents that he is more interested in oil and gas drilling then increasing the size of a National Park. Theodore Roosevelt National Park offers a unique opportunity, to expand its boundaries by purchasing land from families who own property around the park borders and are eager to sell.
Public opinion approves the land purchase instead of selling it to private investors. The pristine badland country is home to over 250 animals including the bison, black-tailed prairie dog, and the endangered black-footed ferret. The final decision will come from the National Park Service and must be approved by Congress.
Read the story in the Grand Forks Herald: https://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/4949071.htm
4. Protect the Air We Breathe
NSR ensures that when polluting factories increase the amount of soot and smog they're spewing into the air, they also need to upgrade their pollution control technology. Makes sense, right? Not to the Bush administration who recently created loopholes in NSR that would let polluting companies keep fouling our air without having to clean up their acts.
You can help. Senator John Edwards (D-NC)will offer an amendment to the Appropriations bill that would effectively stop the Bush Administration's reversal of NSR. This is the most significant action on air pollution issues that has been considered on the Senate floor in years, and we want to do everything we can to make sure that Senator Edwards' amendment passes.
Click below to send an email directly to your Senator. https://www.sierraclub.org/action/?alid=193&st=curr
"I think that recently religious groups have a heightened concern about it (the environment), we've worked a lot with churches and people of faith." -Melissa Gardner, energy coordinator and conservation organizer with the Nebraska chapter of the Sierra Club, tells the Omaha World-Herald about Sierra Club Partnerships
See the full story in the World-Herald, "Bringing faith down to Earth": https://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&u_pg=57&u_sid=618948
(1)WILDLANDS: Motorizing a Canoe Area?
(2)ENERGY: New Yorkers Look to Renew
(3)WATER: Keep the Great Lakes Great
(4)TAKE ACTION: Protect the Wild Places of Lewis and Clark
1. Motorizing a Canoe Area?
The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) in northern Minnesota is being threatened by a U.S. Forest service decision that would triple the number of motorized boats in several areas. As a result, the Sierra Club and a coalition of conservation and recreation groups are filing a suit in federal court. The suit says there is no justification to raise the number of motorboats from 2,376 to 6,892 in the BWCAW.
The BWCAW comprises just 1 percent of the Federal Wilderness System acreage but attracts 10 percent of the system's visitors, many of whom are wildlife watchers. Motorized use is currently allowed on over 98 percent of the nation's surface waters. More motors are not needed in the designated motor-free areas.
For background or more information about the suit visit this website: https://www.friends-bwca.org/
2. New Yorkers Look to Renew
In New York, Governor Pataki's State of the State address called for adopting carbon dioxide standards for motor vehicles and implementing renewable energy sources for electricity. The Governor called for renewable energy sources like wind and solar to constitute 25 percent of New York's energy supply by 2013.
According to the New York Times, New York currently receives 17 percent of its energy from renewable sources. Making the jump to 25 percent would be an excellent but realistic accomplishment in a 10 year span. Renewable energy will reduce air and global warming pollution from existing fossil fuel power plants, avoid the need for additional polluting power plants, save consumers money on their energy bills, create skilled jobs, and increase energy security by diversifying energy sources.
Read Albany's reaction to Gov. Pataki: https://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=91330&category=BUSINESS&newsdate=1/10/2003
3. Keep the Great Lakes Great
People living near the Great Lakes love and worry about them. A recent study of states surrounding the Great Lakes found 96 percent of respondents said more needs to be done to protect the lakes. Ninety-four percent of the respondents said individuals have a personal responsibility to protect the lakes. Chemical and sewage dumping were the top perceived threats.
With help from the Federal Government, the Great Lakes are on the rebound. The Great Lakes Legacy Act that passed late last year will hopefully clean up some of the decades worth of industrial pollution. Unfortunately, the world's largest fresh surface water system has growing housing and commercial developments sprouting on its shores, compounding the pollution problem with runoff.
Read why locals want to keep the Great Lakes Great: https://www.journaltimes.com/articles/2003/01/09/headlines/news.txt
4. Protect the Wild Places of Lewis and Clark
The Lewis and Clark National Commemoration kicks off this week at Monticello and to celebrate the 200 year anniversary of these explorers, the Sierra Club is asking America to rediscover what Lewis and Clark did 200 years ago by conserving and restoring our wild heritage through protection and restoration.
Our goal is to permanently protect the 56 million acres of remaining wildlands in Lewis and Clark country, preserving and restoring key wildlife habitat and protecting threatened and endangered species like bison, wolves, grizzly bears and salmon. The solutions the Sierra Club advocates include: wilderness designation, hands-on conservation, lands acquisition, smart growth and ending commercial logging on our National Forests and public lands.
Find out how you can help preserve these wild places here: https://whistler.sierraclub.org/action/?alid=166
"We rarely see this type of careless and manipulative scholarship in the undergraduates we teach." - Eleven distinguished scientists wrote this in a letter to scientist Bjorn Lomborg's publisher of his book, "The Skeptical Environmentalist," in July as reported by the Washington Post, 1/08/2003
Read the story in the Washington Post and ours below: https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24584-2003Jan7.html
(1)INTERNATIONAL: An Artificial Danish
(2)FACTORY FARMS: Hog Farm Begins to Clean up its Act
(3)TRANSPORTATION: Time to Make the Link
(4)TAKE ACTION: Put John Muir in Your Pocket
1. An Artificial Danish
Scientist and author Bjorn Lomborg has been discredited by a panel of top scientists from his home country of Denmark. Lomborg's english-version of his book "The Skeptical Environmentalist", was published in 2001. The book says the world's air and water is becoming less polluted everyday. He has also denounced global warming, overpopulation and world hunger using "scientific information."
Read the Washington Post story here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24584-2003Jan7.html
2. Hog Farm cleans up its Act
In response to a Sierra Club lawsuit, Seaboard corporation overhauled one of the largest hog factories in North America. The Oklahoma factory houses 25,000 hogs and it has just improved its water pollution controls at the plant and water monitoring system in nearby drinking water sources. The changes will help guard against the dirty effects of waste runoff.
The settlement resolves part of the lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club in July of 2002 against Seaboard. The lawsuit's intention is to make the animal factory use technologies that protect communities from water pollution.
Read the story in the Kansas City Star's Business section: https://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/business/4894919.htm
3. Time to Make the Link
If you thought transferring flights at Logan International Airport was hard, try taking a bus through Boston. To do it, you have to unboard the train you're riding and take two subway lines to reboard another train. This is why the Sierra Club and others are asking Boston for the North/South rail link.
The link will offer a convenient, efficient service for residents and tourists travelling throughout the Northeast. It will allow Amtrak to have their high-speed rail run through Boston, connecting it with the rest of the northeast. The two existing commuter rail systems would also be connected with the link intact.
Boston Globe readers agree: https://nl3.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid=0F8744B0DC964AD0&p_docnum=1
4. Put John Muir in Your Pocket
John Muir on the flip side of the California Quarter? The choice is yours. Vote for America's famous naturalist and conservationist - Sierra Club founder John Muir is on coin number one.
It's an uphill battle, vote here: https://134.186.46.107/ For more info about Muir, visit https://www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/
(1)INTERNATIONAL: The Fight Should Start at Home
(2)NATIONAL FORESTS: Tiiiimber
(3)AIR: No More Patience
(4)TAKE ACTION: Put John Muir in Your Pocket
1. The Fight Should Start at Home
As the Bush Administration is strapping on their boots to prepare for war, the Sierra Club wants Americans to think about the budget deficit of $145 billion projected for next year. By Bush administration estimates, a war on Iraq would cost upward of $200 billion. Why not invest that money in our national security by funding clean renewable energy. This can be done through development of safer and more energy-efficient cars and affordable and convenient mass public transportation systems that make our communities more livable.
By taking these steps, we can decrease our dependance on foreign oil, create more jobs, and strengthen our economy.
Link to an opinion piece from the Philadelphia Inquirer written by two Sierra Student Coalition members: https://www.philly.com/mld/philly/4881609.htm
2. Tiiiimber
In Ohio, after eight years, chainsaws are once again gassing up because the U.S. Forest Service determined logging would not harm a colony of endangered bats in the Wayne National Forest. The resident bats make their homes during the summer in large trees with loose or peeling bark, the same trees favored by the logging industry.
Industrial logging has already turned our publicly owned National Forests into a patchwork of clearcuts and logging roads. The Forest Service has the chance to keep filling in these gaps in Ohio by preventing more logging after eight years. If not, the abundance of wildlife and animals will once again be threatened.
The Columbus Dispatch has more details: https://libpub.dispatch.com/cgi-bin/documentv1?DBLIST=cd03&DOCNUM=585&TERMV=223:5:228:8:236:6:301:5:306:8:314:6:
3. No More Patience
Local residents are tired of asking Georgia Power to clean-up their act, so now they're taking them to court. The Sierra Club and two other environmental organizations have filed suit against the coal and natural gas plant in Roopville. The plant has broken rules outlined under the Clean Air Act almost 4,000 times in the last 5 years.
Since the plant didn't follow national rules when it upgraded its technology two years ago, it is releasing toxic levels of nitrogen oxide. These pollutants are associated with a variety of serious health effects, including increased heart attacks and adverse birth impacts and is a primary reason why locals suffer 18,700 asthma attacks from power plant pollution every year.
Read what the locals think: https://www.lagrangenews.com/article.php?sid=1339
4. Put John Muir in Your Pocket
John Muir on the flip side of the California Quarter? The choice is yours. Vote for America's famous naturalist and conservationist - Sierra Club founder John Muir is on coin number one.
It's an uphill battle, vote here: https://134.186.46.107/ For more info about Muir, visit https://www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/
December 19
"And though her manner is gentle and calm, she has a hot-blooded passion for fighting commercial logging in the state's national forests." -Northwest Arkansas Times reports on the Sierra Club's new National Forest Campaign organizer in Arkansas, Holly Ferguson
(1)WILDLANDS: Everglades Restoration is Sinking
(2)WATER: Sewage Flows
(3)TAKE ACTION: Shape a National Monument
1.Everglades Restoration Is Sinking
A National Academy of Sciences panel has reported that poor funding and management has undercut the Everglades 40-year restoration project. Since 1998, funding has been cut 66 percent and is now inadequate to support the effort. Everglades National Park, the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Geological Survey and other agencies all have a hand in the project.
The marshy grasslands of the Florida Everglades -- home to 14 federally listed endangered species -- are on the brink of collapse, the victim of over-development, agricultural pollution, and overzealous water-diversion projects. With sound science, funding and better coordination of the federal agencies involved, the natural functioning of the Everglades region might be repaired.
Read how the Everglades is getting muddy: https://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/4770397.htm
2. Sewage Flows
The Sierra Club in Cincinnati is pressing local Hamilton County to disclose where hundreds of millions of dollars are going to fix the cities sewer system. Citizens have been locked out of the process, allowing local bureaucrats to let money flow underneath the streets, out of the public eye.
Sewers carry waste from homes, commercial buildings, and industrial plants to sewage treatment plants. Sewer overflows cause gastrointestinal illness, beach closings, and fish kills. Exposure to a sewer overflow can cause diarrhea, vomiting, and even life threatening illnesses, like hepatitis and dysentery. Would you want this? Neither does Cincinnati.
See why else clean water is important at: https://www.sierraclub.org/cleanwater/waterquality/sewer_overflow.asp
3. Shape a National Monument
Help shape one of America's newest National Monuments. Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument in southern Oregon is the nation's first national monument designated in recognition of an area's abundance of wildlife. Strong public support for protection of the monument is crucial to prevent damage from logging, illegal off-road vehicle use, and grazing. Cascade-Siskiyou needs your help to ensure strong protections in this unique region. Public comments are due December 20.
Please submit your comment TODAY by visiting our: https://www.sierraclub.org/wildlands/monuments/cascade.asp
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