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DEFENDING ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA
June 3, 2003
"I'm a little nervy about it. We could pile stuff up on the road and it would take (the city) months to clear it up." - Rev. Calvin Jackson remarks after seeing a pile of Sierra Club yard signs piled in a code enforcement officer's truck (see current #2 for more details).
(1)GLOBAL WARMING: Fixing Ford from the Inside
(2)FIELD: Gulfport Snatches Sierra Club Yard Signs
(3)FOREST FIRES: Nationwide Model for Forest Management
(4)TAKE ACTION: 1. Fixing Ford from the Inside
Sierra Club wished Ford Motor Company a happy 100th birthday today, announcing that former Sierra Club President Dr. Robert Cox will run for the company's board of directors in an attempt to improve Ford's environmental record. The environmental group also released a new ad questioning Ford's commitment to innovation. The ad points out that the Model T, Ford's first car, got 25 miles to the gallon, better gas mileage than the average Ford vehicle today.
See the ad in advance of its printing in the New York Times and Business Week: https://www.sierraclub.org/pressroom/media/2003_june3_nytimes_ford.pdf
Check out the Reuters story here: https://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=570&ncid=753&e=2&u=/nm/20030603/sc_nm/autos_ford_sierraclub_dc
2. Gulfport Snatches Sierra Club Yard Signs
Remember the mayor in Gulfport, Mississippi who called Sierra Club activists dumb bastards? Well, the mayor is still at it. Last week, a "code enforcement officer" patrolled the Turkey Creek neighborhood ripping down Sierra Club yard signs that are protesting a nearby development in the works. The city claims the signs were too close to the road and in violation of the city's sign ordinance.
Read more about this developing story: https://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/local/5964669.htm
3. Nationwide Model for Forest Management
It's already June and forest fire season is creeping closer. A small town called Silverthorne, Colorado is not waiting for the government to protect it from forest fire. There, homeowners are joining an initiative created by Sierra Club and local fire officials, which aims to clear out a defensible space between homes and surrounding trees to prevent the spread of this summer's blazes. The neighborhood effort is being heralded as a nationwide model of local solutions to forest management.
Read more from the Denver Post: https://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E23447%257E1423770,00.html
4. TAKE ACTION: Tell Congress to make the Roadless Rule Law
After the largest public comment process in the history of the federal government, the Roadless Area Conservation Rule was enacted in 2000 by President Clinton and protects nearly 60 million acres of our Nation's last remaining wild forests. Despite this overwhelming public support for protecting our last wild forests, the Roadless Area Conservation Rule was placed on hold by the Bush administration. Recent court rulings have made the Rule the law of the land, but the administration remains intent upon weakening the Rule.
Potentially, as early as tomorrow, the Bush administration will likely announce major policy changes to the Rule, possibly by exempting the National Forests in Alaska from the Rule. Our wild forests deserve protection! The Roadless Area Conservation Act, which seeks to use legislation as a means for making the Rule federal law, will be introduced in Congress on Thursday, June 5 by Representatives Inslee (D-WA) and Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY). Please call you Members of Congress and urge them to protect America's last remaining wild forests by supporting the Inslee/Boehlert bill and opposing any attempts made by the Bush administration to weaken the Roadless Area Conservation Rule.
Call the US Capital switchboard at: (202) 224-3121.
Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. -John Muir, 1901
(1)ENDANGERED SPECIES: Is it 2004 yet?
(2)ENERGY: Building Power
(3)POLITICS: Smokescreen
(4)TAKE ACTION: Make a Call or Write a Letter this Memorial Day
1. Is it 2004 yet?
The Bush Administration is set to jeopardize the fate of endangered species tomorrow by announcing that designation of critical habitat has no value and should be avoided. The expected announcement from the Administration contradicts the best available science, including the most recent data from the Fish and Wildlife Service, and violates the Endangered Species Act.
But the US Fish and Wildlife Service is running out of money to preserve areas necessary for the survival and recovery of endangered species and the Bush administration has refused to fight for proper funding. By limiting the designation of critical habitat, the Bush Administration will make it easier to obtain approval for commercial logging projects, commercial developments, livestock ranch operations, pollution discharges and other activities that threaten America's communities and natural heritage.
Read more in the New York Times (registration req'd): https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/29/politics/29ENVI.html
2. Building Power
Building a dirty power plant is hard when you have an active Sierra Club in town. Last week the Sierra Club in Wisconsin received word from Madison Gas and Electric that, due to the Club's pressure, they will meet environmental standards for a new plant. The plant will keep its emissions as low as possible and offset the emissions by investing in cleaner buses for the community. Also in effect is a water plan that takes into account the amount of water used and water levels.
Get local with the Capital Times: https://www.madison.com/captimes/news/stories/49419.php
3. Smokescreen
Surprise, surprise: the world's largest oil and gas company, Exxon/Mobil, is giving millions of dollars to lobbying groups in Washington, DC. And what policies do these groups advocate? They are conservative lobbyists who don't believe that humans have affected global warming and they argue against limiting carbon dioxide emissions associated with global warming.
Get all the details from the New York Times (registration req'd): https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/28/business/worldbusiness/28EXXO.html
4. TAKE ACTION: Make a Call or Write a Letter this Memorial Day
As the Senate returns from its Memorial Day recess, the polluting energy bill is set to take center stage. Next week, the Senate will debate and may vote on multiple amendments to remove harmful pieces of the energy bill that undermine fundamental environmental protections and confer blanket liability protection to polluting industries. Currently, the bill provides a liability waiver for ethanol producers to protect them from any lawsuits if their product is found to have harmful effects on the environment. This paves the way for the inclusion of a similar liability waiver for MTBE manufacturers, whose product has already contaminated drinking water around the country, and could protect them from currently pending lawsuits. In addition, the bill allows oil and gas development to move forward on Native American lands without complying with critical environmental requirements and without important public participation.
Tell your Senators that foregoing environmental protections and coddling polluting industries is not the basis for a strong national energy policy. Instead of opening up our special places to drilling and mining, we should be spurring innovation by using existing technologies to cut the country's dependence on polluting energy sources. The Senate should scrap this harmful energy bill.
CALL YOUR SENATOR AT: (202) 224-3121
"As long as I live, I'll hear waterfalls and birds and winds sing. I'll interpret the rocks, learn the language of flood, storm, and the avalanche. I'll acquaint myself with the glaciers and wild gardens, and get as near the heart of the world as I can." -Sierra Club Founder John Muir; tomorrow is the Sierra Club's 111th birthday.
(1) SIERRA CLUB NEWS: Club Founded by John Muir 111 Years Ago
(2) CAR CAMPAIGN: Fuel Economy Message Blankets the Airwaves for Memorial Day
(3) TAKE ACTION: Keep Public Transit Alive
(4) MEDIA: Media Diversity in Danger
1. SIERRA CLUB NEWS: Club Founded by John Muir 111 Years Ago
Birthdays provide an opportunity to look back, to celebrate, and to take stock of what lies ahead. It is no different for the Sierra Club, which turns 111 on Wednesday. Founded in 1892 by John Muir, the Sierra Club's first campaign defeated a proposed reduction in the boundaries of Yosemite National Park.
Since then, the Club has played a major role in America's most important environmental debates. The fact that Sierra Club has lived, and prospered, for 111 years helps put current environmental battles in perspective and may explain why, despite substantial obstacles, the Club continues to make progress.
To look at a few of the highlights that have marked Sierra Club's history, go to: https://www.sierraclub.org/history/timeline.asp
For an in-depth look at recent victories, check out: https://www.sierraclub.org/planet/200301/victories.asp
2. CAR CAMPAIGN: Fuel Economy Message Blankets the Airwaves for Memorial Day
For many American families, road trips are a big part of Memorial Day weekend. And this year, many road-trippers heard something that could earn them significant savings at the gas pump. The Sierra Club teamed up with Professor Mark Ross, an energy and engineering expert at the University of Michigan, to inform drivers that their vehicles could get much better gas mileage, if automakers would just use existing technology. Professor Ross' message ran an estimated 135 times on radio stations across the country. In addition, activists in South Dakota, Missouri, Illinois, and Florida gave talk radio interviews on the need for more fuel efficient cars. It's a message that's getting harder for Ford and the rest to ignore.
For more information on the campaign for fuel efficient cars, go to https://www.sierraclub.org/freedompackage/
3. TAKE ACTION: Stop the Mad Grab for Highway Funds. Keep the Transit Alive.
Nationwide, billions of Americans rely on public transportation to get to where they are going. Historically, money collected through the federal gas tax is divided between highway and transit projects. This method has resulted in improvements and expansions of transit systems throughout the nation. Now, Senators Max Baucus (D-MT) and Charles Grassley (R-IA) are planning to propose a new financial scheme which would change the income source for public transportation projects, effectively cutting transit's already small share of the gas tax. This change would make funding for transit very uncertain and devastate our nation's public transportation systems, meaning the billions of transit commuters, the families who choose to own fewer cars, and the lower-income, elderly or disabled populations will bear the greatest burden from this proposal. All this, so that even more money can be funneled into building more highways.
This damaging proposal has not yet been formalized by Senators Baucus and Grassley. Senators from the following states have the power to stop this proposal: AR, AZ, FL, IA, KY, LA, MA, ME, MS, MT, NM, OK, OR, ND, PA, SD, TN, UT, VT, WV, WY. If you live in one of these states, contact your Senator today (https://whistler.sierraclub.org/action/?alid=271) to halt the plan before it can gain momentum.
4. MEDIA: Media Diversity in Danger
In less than 2 weeks, on June 2, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) plans to vote on a sweeping plan to weaken or eliminate rules that limit the size and power of media companies.
If further media concentration is allowed, the likely stampede of mergers would give a handful of large corporations greater influence over what is-and is not-reported in the news. The public's ability to have open, informed discussion with a wide variety of viewpoints would be compromised.
A healthy democracy is best served by a diverse marketplace of ideas. Tell Congress and the FCC to preserve current media ownership rules for the sake of competition and diversity.
Go to https://capwiz.com/consumersunion/issues/alert/?alertid=1656736. A few clicks send a letter (hard copy and email) to your members of Congress and the FCC.
"If you're doing it already, there's nothing to fear. We have people who come to intersections and stop, but we put up stop signs for the ones who don't." - California Senator and farmer Mike Machado, on regulating the agriculture industry's air pollution in the San Joaquin Valley, CA.
(1)WASTE: Easy Way to Do Your Part
(2)GLOBAL WARMING: All That Jazz
(3)WILDLANDS: Making Strides
(4)TAKE ACTION: Communities Left Without Aid
1. Easy Way to Do Your Part
What did you do with your old cellphone? Is it just clogging up your junk drawer? Well, the Sierra Club has teamed up with Staples and CollectiveGood, a socially responsible mobile electronics recycling company, for a solution. The new program makes recycling easy: simply drop off used cell phones, PDAs and pagers, as well as chargers, in collection tubes conveniently located near the cell phone displays in every Staples store nationwide.
Go to greenbiz.com for the story: https://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=24585
2. All that Jazz
Yesterday, Chicago became the latest in a growing list of cities adding hybrids to their fleets. The city is in the early planning stages to include 100 of the energy efficient cars to transport inspectors, clerical staff, and other city employees. The Illinois Chapter is excited about getting this program on the road and improving Chicago's air quality.
Get local with the Chicago Sun-Times: https://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-cars01.html
3. Making Strides
The largest, unprotected wildlands in the lower 48 states is the Greater Owyhee Canyonlands on the border of Nevada, Oregon and Idaho. After an unsuccessful attempt to lobby President Clinton to make this area a National Monument, the Sierra Club is on a new trail. The Sierra Club is meeting with ranchers and off-road vehicle riders to try to come up with a compromise conservation plan for the region.
Read the whole story and see pictures here: https://www.rgj.com/news/stories/html/2003/04/26/40480.php
4. TAKE ACTION: Communities Left Without Aid
Rep. Scott McInnis (R-CO) and Rep. Greg Walden's (R-OR) "Forest Health Restoration Act" is likely to be voted on by Congress within the next week. This bill misses on all of the major components that a responsible, science-based, community protection plan should have: protecting homes by creating a defensible space 100 feet around homes and 500 meters around communities (the method the US Forest Service Fire Research lab has found to be the best).
The McInnis/Walden bill does nothing to honestly protect lives and communities from forest fires and is more of a vehicle to increase commercial logging. The bill seeks to cut out the public from public forest management and would promote harmful logging projects across federal public forests. The bill also promotes federal dollars for private forest owners and the ability of Forest Service managers to plan 1000 acre logging projects with the sparsest of environmental review.
The McInnis/Walden bill fails:
-- To prioritize fuel reduction treatment within Community Protection Zones, 500 meters around communities
-- To require federal agency managers to fully study the impact of proposed logging projects
-- To provide adequate protection for wild forests, sensitive fish and wildlife habitat and clean water
-- To responsibly direct taxpayer dollars and federal resources to assist homeowners and community leaders
-- To allow citizens to retain their rights to be involved in federal land management
For information on real home safety and responsible fire management see www.sierraclub.org/logging and www.firewise.org.
Please urge your Representative to OPPOSE the McInnis/Walden anti-community, pro-logging bill. ** You can reach Members through the Capitol Hill switchboard at (202) 224-3121.** Or write a letter to your local newspaper's editor telling your Representative to oppose the bill.
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