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DEFENDING ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA
April 22, 2003
"None of Nature's landscapes are ugly so long as they are wild." - Sierra Club founder, John Muir, 1901
(1)EARTH DAY: Today is Earth Day!
(2)EARTH DAY: Don't Trash Our Future
(3)SPRAWL: What's on TV tonight
(5)TAKE ACTION: Keep Antibiotics Working (for people, not pigs) - Take the Pledge
1. Today is Earth Day!
Today is Earth Day and Sierra Club activists are busy across the country encouraging officials to clean up our air and water and protect our families from toxic pollution. After 33 years of Earth Day, Americans have learned that we can find environmental solutions and that now is the time to implement them. Then why does the Bush administration have such a "can't do" mentality when it comes to protecting our water and our air from pollution? Americans across the country are asking these questions because they want a cleaner and safer environment.
Read an op-ed from Asheville, NC: https://cgi.citizen-times.com/cgi-bin/story/editorial/33375 Read an editorial from Concord, NH: https://www.cmonitor.com/stories/front2003/local/edit_042203_2003.shtml
2. Don't Trash Our Future
The Michigan Chapter of the Sierra Club is fighting to keep pollution from Canadian waste out of Michigan landfills and out of the Great Lakes. Volunteers will rally this weekend and kick off a neighborhood campaign to inform locals about the 1.1 million tons of garbage imported into Michigan per year. One Sierra Club ally is the Michigan Governor Granholm who held a news conference the night before Earth Day encouraging her colleagues in her state to work together to solve this problem.
See a Sierra Club activist wearing a trash can here: https://www.detnews.com/2003/metro/0304/22/c01-143932.htm
3. What's on TV tonight
A TV special that focuses on traffic jams will premier on the cable station Discovery-Times this evening. The documentary, entitled "Nowhere, Fast" features Cincinnati and its congestion problems, with expert and Sierra Club sprawl activist, Glen Brand. The producers of the show accompanied Glen on an exclusive "tour de sprawl" and the tour will be featured in the program.
Check out the documentary, "Nowhere, Fast," tonight at 8 and 11 pm on Discovery-Times.
4. TAKE ACTION: Keep Antibiotics Working (for people, not pigs) - Take the Pledge
Sierra Club is a member of Keep Antibiotics Working, a coalition working to end the overuse and misuse of antibiotics- particularly on animal farms. Keep Antibiotics Working just launched their pledge campaign. Signers of the pledge agree to try their best to purchase meats produced without the routine use of antibiotics. Take the Keep Antibiotics Working Pledge and send a message to President Bush, Congress, and meat and fish producers that you support phasing out feeding antibiotics to farm animals that are not sick.
Take the pledge here: https://actionnetwork.org/campaign/Pledge
"We (did) what we do best: grassroots organizing, and in D.C., we met with our congressional champions, focused on them, and looked for those swing votes." - Dan Lavery, Sierra Club leader, on the effort to remove dollars included in the Federal Budget to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, High Country News, 4/14/03. https://www.hcn.org/servlets/hcn.Article?article_id=13874
(1)EARTH DAY: Note to Self - Do My Part on Earth Day
(2)LEGAL: "No Case" for the VP (3)EARTH DAY: Cowboys meet Environmentalists
(5)TAKE ACTION: The Latest Energy Bill
1. Note to Self - Do My Part on Earth Day
Sierra Club volunteers are organizing Earth Day campaigns across America to encourage local, state and federal public officials to "do better," by cleaning up our air and water, protecting our families from toxic pollution, and conserving the land we love. Earth Day campaigns will demand that the Bush Administration stop allowing polluting corporations to defy our laws, dodge responsibility for their pollution and profit at the public's expense.
Find out how you can get involved: https://www.sierraclub.org/earthday2003/
2. "No Case" for the VP
The Sierra Club's lawsuit seeking documents from Vice President Cheney's Energy Task Force had a hearing in a federal appeals court today. Let's put it this way, when the Vice President's lawyers asked for the court to dismiss the case, the judge answered, "You pretend you have no law on the books, you have no case."
Read the AP story from Newsday.com here: https://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-cheney-energy,0,6915043.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines
3. Cowboys meet Environmentalists
The Nebraska Chapter of the Sierra Club have not even handed out their first Earth Day flyer and there's already a buzz. Activists are going to spread their message throughout the town of Broken Bow, which is more known for its cowboys than its environmentalists. "We can do better" will be the Earth Day theme as volunteers raise awareness for a neighboring 85,000 feedlot that is making a big stink.
Read the article, funny graphic included: https://www.journalstar.com/features.php?story_id=40252
4. TAKE ACTION: The Latest Energy Bill
Now more than ever, we need an energy policy that cuts our nation's dependence on fossil fuels and takes us towards a clean and sustainable energy future. Yet the energy bill that just passed in the House of Representatives takes us backwards. While failing to pass a proposal that would have cut our nation's oil dependence by 1 million barrels of oil per day (mbd), they voted to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other pristine wilderness areas, and hand out billions of dollars in subsidies to polluting industries. Instead of relying on polluting sources of energy, Congress should raise fuel economy standards to 40 miles per gallon, meet 20% of our electricity needs with renewable energy by 2020, and improve energy efficiency standards to cut energy consumption and avoid the need for new polluting power plants. Let's show that there is a better way to meet our energy needs than more drilling and over-billing.
Write a Letter to your newspaper's editor about the latest energy bill: https://www.sierraclub.org/energy/lte
"Essentially all they've really done is rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic while the ship is sinking." - Bob Hunter from the WaterWatch, a group working to protect rivers of Oregon, on the Bush administration's Klamath River plans.
(1) WILDLANDS: When Every Friday Feels Like the 13th
(2) SPRAWL: Dirty Mouth
(3) INTERNATIONAL: And the Winner is...
(4) TAKE ACTION: Protect the Clean Water Act
1. When Every Friday Feels Like the 13th
Last Friday, the Bush Administration announced a cap on land eligible to be designated as wilderness. The Bureau of Land Management plans to STOP all reviews of western land waiting for designation. Three million acres in Utah are also in jeopardy of retroactively LOSING their wilderness safeguard. How can Interior Secretary Gale Norton say her department remains committed to wilderness protection when she is taking pristine wildlands and removing their protections? Be on the lookout for ways you can stop this and help the Sierra Club secure wild America.
Read the story at CNN.com: https://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/04/12/norton.wilderness.ap/
2. Dirty Mouth
The Mississippi Chapter of the Sierra Club is doing a great job to prevent a major retail development outside the city of Gulfport. It's going so well, the frustrated mayor of Gulfport is resorting to name-calling, labeling members of the predominantly African-American community 'dumb bastards' when he met with the editorial board of the Biloxi Sun Herald. The exact quote was: "We're dealing with some dumb bastards. I'm not running for re-election so I guess I can say that. None of those people voted for me anyway."
Rose Johnson, a North Gulfport resident and state Sierra Club chairwoman, opposes the development and now wants Combs to resign.
Read the attempt of an apology from yesterday's Biloxi Sun-Herald: https://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/5634941.htm
3. And the Winner is...
The annual Goldman prizes were handed out last night in San Francisco. The awards are given to grassroots environmental heroes from six different parts of the world--Africa, Asia, Europe, Islands and Island Nations, North America, and South and Central America. This year's awards ranged from a Nigerian activist winning protections for rainforests to a West Virginian mom leading a campaign to stop dirty coal strip mining.
Read more about the winners here: https://www.goldmanprize.org/press/pressReleaseItem.cfm?prID=68
4. TAKE ACTION: Protect the Clean Water Act
Wednesday, April 16th, is the last day to tell the Bush administration that its efforts to limit the Clean Water Act will have devastating effects. The administration's proposal will leave some of our most vulnerable waters, including small streams, wetlands and ponds, susceptible to unregulated pollution, dredging and filling. Our aim is to generate 100,000 comments. If you have not commented yet, please do so today.
Send an email to the administration, reminding them that it is their job to protect ALL of our waters. Send your comments by email to: CWAwaters@epa.gov, Attention Docket ID No. OW-2002-0050.
You can view a sample letter at https://www.sierraclub.org/cleanwater/get_involved.asp#influence
Also, urge Congress to tell the Bush administration not to abandon these vital waters. Visit: https://whistler.sierraclub.org/action/?alid=215
"Wars not make one great." -Yoda
(1)ENDANGERED SPECIES: Sour Grizzly Plan
(2)SPRAWL: Leave it
(3)BOOKS: Spring Reading
(5)TAKE ACTION: On Your Home Turf
1. Sour Grizzly Plan
Federal officials are taking steps to remove protections for grizzly bears because they think there are enough of them around. The Sierra Club thinks there's just one little problem. The Fish and Wildlife Service is basing its decision on a conservation plan that is full of holes. To have any chance of working, the Club believes the plan needs to set aside more habitat and food sources for grizzlies.
Read a local story from Wyoming: https://www.trib.com/AP/wire_detail.php?wire_num=62562
2. Leave It
Remember all the hubbub when US Representative Jim Hansen (R-UT) tried to exempt Utah's Legacy Highway from environmental laws? Nowadays, the former Congressman, Governor Mike Leavitt, and the Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club agree that such a move would be unwarranted. All the parties are waiting to hear back from the Federal Highway Administration, whose environmental review for the project - now in its second go around - will take into account transportation choices that do not involve paving over wetlands.
Read the story in the Deseret News: https://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,480034673,00.html
3. Spring Reading
Start making room on your summer reading list. Sierra Club Books are releasing seven new titles this spring that are "must-reads." Whether you are looking for things to do along the Lewis and Clark trail, want to swim with the dolphins or just curl up with a good novel, the Sierra Club has the book for you.
See what's in store from Sierra Club Books: https://sierraclub.org/books/subject/new_titles.asp
4. TAKE ACTION: On Your Home Turf
Congress will be home for recess for two weeks, from April 12 to April 29, so make your voice heard. This is the time when you know members will be listening to their constituents and trying to please them. Let your Senators and Representatives know what you think about their decisions in Washington, whether good or bad. This is the time to visit their office, drop in at a pubic meeting or public appearances, call in to your local radio show, write a letter to your local newspaper's editor and tell them what you think about your state's leadership. Get out and enjoy the Spring, and while you're at it, make sure your Congressional leaders know you're holding them accountable.
AND don't forget about Earth Day! Fast approaching, on April 22nd, where will your members of Congress be? You can expect most of them to organize some type of Earth Day publicity event. Show up and make sure reporters know whether your Congresspeople are saying one thing to their constituents but doing another while they are in Washington.
"Today we're preaching to the choir, we need to talk to our neighbors, friends and county supervisors and get them on the bandwagon." -Ed Rothfuss, a Sierra Club volunteer at a local Nevada event to build support for a state Senate proposal to protect Blue Diamond Hill from development, Las Vegas Mercury 4/3/03
(1)GLOBAL WARMING: Senator Durbin Offers Real Fuel Economy Increase
(2)FORESTS: Tree Mafia?
(3)WILDLANDS: Many Acres, Many Players
(5)TAKE ACTION: House of Reps to Vote on Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Drilling
1. Senator Durbin Offers Real Fuel Economy Increase
Earlier this week, Senator Durbin (D-IL) offered real changes to cars and trucks to help them go further on a gallon of gasoline and reduce our oil dependence. Senator Durbin's bill would require automakers to achieve a fleet-wide average of 40 miles per gallon for passenger vehicles. The move comes amid heightened awareness about the role of oil in U.S. foreign policy, particularly towards the Middle East.
This plan would save the US three million barrels of oil a day - more than we currently import from the Persian Gulf and could hope to get from the Arctic Refuge, combined. Cutting our oil consumption would improve national security, reduce global warming pollution, and save consumers money at the gas pump as gas prices continue to skyrocket.
Read more about the upcoming National Energy Bill: https://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=2523257
2. Tree Mafia?
In Minnesota's Grand Portage State Forest, up to ten acres of protected, rare, 160-year-old white cedar trees were logged. The Sierra Club's North Star Chapter is asking Minnesota's Department of Natural Resources to mount a full investigation to determine what exactly happened. The North Star Chapter wants to know whether this violation was a mistake and a matter of incompetence or a case of logging theft. Stay tuned...
Learn more from Minnesota: https://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/5538918.htm
3. Many Acres, Many Players
The Bureau of Land Management is drafting a management plan for the Ironwood Forest National Monument in Arizona. The Monument was designated by President Clinton in 2000 and encompasses close to 200,000 acres of land. Many parties have a stake in how BLM will ultimately manage the Ironwood Forest. The Sierra Club's Arizona Chapter is pushing to retire some of the 600 miles of roads than run through the Monument, fragmenting important wildlife habitat in the process. Others groups, like ATV riders and ranchers have other priorities.
Learn more about the other players from the Arizona Star: https://www.azstarnet.com/star/sun/30406IRONWOODFUTURE2f2frjs2fsi.html
4. TAKE ACTION - House of Reps to Vote on Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Drilling
On Thursday, the House of Representatives will vote on whether or not to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling as part of its huge, misguided Energy bill. Despite the strong Senate vote in March, and despite consistent public opposition to Arctic drilling, the House leadership continues to push to open the area to exploration and development. This time the House of Representatives will be voting on an amendment to be offered by Reps. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Nancy Johnson (R-CT) that would remove Arctic drilling from HR 6 - the much maligned National Energy Policy Act.
Wednesday, April 9, 2003 is a national day of action to preserve the Arctic Refuge. Please contact your Representatives at the toll free number below and urge them to reject this misguided approach to America's energy future.."support the Markey Johnson amendment to strike Arctic drilling from the Energy bill."
TAKE ACTION HERE: https://www.sierraclub.org/action/?alid=251&st=curr
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