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DEFENDING ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA
October 7, 2003
"It's our government, we can still make it do what we want it to when we take the time and put in the energy it takes to work with other people, organize, campaign and vote --we can still make the whole clumsy, money-driven system work for us. And it's high time we did so."
- Molly Ivins, author and former editor of The Texas Observer
(1) WASTE: Pulling the Plug (2) GLOBAL WARMING: Habits in Hybrids (3) TAKE ACTION: All Aboard
1. WASTE: Pulling the Plug
It's time to reduce, reuse and logoff of over 20 million obsolete PCs according to Information Technology Solution Providers Alliance (ITSA). Tech trash piles up nearly 2 million tons in landfills each year. ITSA recommends no more than a four-year desktop life for computers.
Click here to find out where you can recycle your PC: https://www.crc.org/
2. GLOBAL WARMING: Habits in Hybrids
You may soon see St. Louis area nuns zipping around in hybrid cars. The Sisters of St. Joseph are one of many groups replacing their vehicles with cleaner cars to reduce global warming pollution. With American passenger vehicles topping all but four nations in spewing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the Sierra Club's Global Warming and Energy program decided to set up "Green Fleets" workshops in Missouri. Participants brainstormed strategies to promote hybrid cars.
Read this article to see who to contact to set up a Green Fleets workshop in your area: https://www.missouri.sierraclub.org
3. TAKE ACTION: All Aboard
Congress may be on track to shut down inter-city rail around the country now that the House of Representatives, following the Bush administration's lead, voted to dramatically underfund Amtrak. The Senate needs to stand up for passenger rail and ensure that no lines will be shut down. Urge your Senators to restore Amtrak funding today.
Click here to send a message to your Senators: https://whistler.sierraclub.org/action/?alid=279
"Wouldn't it be nice if just once, on some issue, the Bush administration came up with a plan that didn't involve weakened environmental protection, financial breaks for wealthy individuals and corporations and reduced public oversight?" -an excerpt from the book "The Great Unraveling" by Paul Krugman
(1) SPRAWL: Malfunction Junction
(2) TRADE: Blue Green Clean Machine
(3) TAKE ACTION: Don't Compromise Yellowstone National Park
1. SPRAWL: Malfunction Junction
Signs, signs everywhere are signs. Motorists spend 3.5 billion hours in traffic per year and waste 5.7 billion gallons of fuel due to traffic congestion caused by accidents and road construction (Texas Transportation Institute). That's enough gas to fill 570,000 tanker trucks lined end-to-end from New York to Las Vegas and back again.
Click here to view computer-generated sprawling communities made more livable: https://www.sierraclub.org/sprawl/community/transformations/index.asp
2. TRADE: Blue-Green Clean Machine
What's blue and green and drives all over? The Blue-Green Clean Machine bus kicked off its "March to Miami" tour last week to oppose the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). Labor and environmental groups are joining together to educate, train and organize a fight against the FTAA, which will hurt small farmers by expanding competition, cost jobs and allow companies to sue the government if anti-pollution laws affect their bottom line.
Find out if the Blue-Green Machine is coming to your city: https://www.asje.org/map.pdf
3. TAKE ACTION: Don't Compromise Yellowstone National Park
Despite park surveys that confirm snowmobiles harm the air, water, wildlife and visitors of Yellowstone National Park, the Bush Administration is choosing to side with industry.
Tell the Bush Administration that America's first National Park deserves better. Go to https://mongoose.ida.net/glively/ and complete the form to tell the National Park Service to phase out snowmobile use.
"Hi, I'm Luvenia Washington and I'm full of soot." - a 70-year-old Riviera Beach resident, one of about two dozen, who spoke against the Florida Power & Light plant which they say is burning oil and dumping the black residue all over their neighborhoods and into their lungs.
(1) TOXICS: Wasting Away
(2) SPRAWL: Cities Stuck on a Limb
(3) TAKE ACTION: Derail the Energy Bill
1. TOXICS: Wasting Away
President Bush is telling communities "no payin' no gain" by refusing to reinstate the traditional "polluter pays" approach to toxic cleanup. With over 1,000 waste sites still unsafe, the Superfund toxic waste cleanup program will run out of polluter-contributed funds this week, leaving the responsibility on taxpayers rather than polluters.
Read more in the Sun Times: https://www.suntimes.com/output/commentary/cst-edt-edits30.html
2. SPRAWL: Cities Stuck on a Limb
The group American Forests recently revealed that urban areas in America have lost 20% of their trees since 1993. We would have to plant 1.7 billion trees in the next 10 years to replace 10% of those already lost. Aside from the aesthetic value of trees in our cities, urban forests help shade buildings to conserve energy and prevent respiratory diseases.
Read more about the study here: https://www.enn.com/news/2003-09-18/s_8547.asp
3. TAKE ACTION: Derail the Energy Bill
Republicans chairing the Energy Bill conference seem to have taken a page out of V.P. Dick Cheney's playbook. Republican leaders in Congress are trying to finalize the Bush Energy Plan behind closed doors. The bill takes us backwards, threatens our environment and ignores solutions at hand today to decrease our dependence on polluting and outdated energy systems. The current draft opens up the pristine Arctic refuge to oil and gas drilling, breaks 25 years of coastline protection by allowing oil and gas exploration along the entire Atlantic and Pacific coast, and leaves the electrical grid at risk to future blackouts. Even more striking, the Republican leadership disregarded a bipartisan letter signed by 53 Senators calling on them to include a renewable energy standard in the conference report.
Contact your Senator to tell them the current bill draft needs to be stopped.
https://www.senate.gov/
"Slavery was abolished years ago in this country... in case you didn't know."
- The best answer a Taco Bell spokesperson could muster when asked whether they could guarantee their tomatoes were not picked by slave labor.
(1) FACTORY FARMS: An Exclusive Event
(2) POLITICS: Going, Going, Gone?
(3) TAKE ACTION: Keep the Oil Industry from the Arctic Refuge
1. FACTORY FARMS: An Exclusive Event
No, the invitation wasn't lost in the mail. Only the Bush Administration and the meat industry were invited to Washington's hippest hot spot - the "back room" - to work out a deal that lets factory farm polluters off the hook. According to documents obtained from the EPA, under the new deal, factory farm owners would have to pay a mere $500 to get amnesty from federal clean air and toxics laws. That's a big difference from the $27,500 per day fine required under current law.
Read the documents and press release here: https://www.sierraclub.org/pressroom/cafo_papers/
2. POLITICS: Going, Going, Gone?
President Bush's approval ratings are slip sliding away according to a recent USA Today/Gallup Poll/CNN survey. Fifty percent of those surveyed do not agree with the way Bush is handling his job as president, compared to 71% support in March. Forty percent don't think Bush has the personality or leadership qualities to do the job, up from 19% in March.
Read the entire poll here: https://www.usatoday.com/news/polls/tables/live/2003-09-22-bush-poll.htm
3. TAKE ACTION: Keep the Oil Industry from the Arctic Refuge
It appears that House Majority Leader Tom Delay and President Bush forgot to compare notes before making arguments to drill in the spectacular wilderness of the Arctic Refuge. While Bush tries to convince Americans that drilling is vital to our oil supply, Mr. Delay was more honest with a closed door group of Republicans, saying that "...a victory on ANWR would allow the oil industry to push into other pristine areas" and is "about the precedent" (Roll Call, Sept. 25, 2003).
Contact your members of Congress and urge them to oppose any Energy Bill that contains drilling in the Arctic Refuge or other wilderness regions.
https://www.house.gov/writerep/
"I'm not saying it's safe for humans. I'm not saying it's unsafe for humans. All I'm saying is it that it makes hermaphrodites of frogs." - Tyrone Hayes, the lead researcher on a study concluding that atrazine, the most popular herbicide in the U.S., causes a wide range of sexual abnormalities in frogs
(1) GLOBAL WARMING: The Prius is Right
(2) GREEN TREND: Paper, Plastic or Corn?
(3) TAKE ACTION: Protect the Clean Air Act
1. The Prius is Right
Goodbye gas guzzlers, hello hybrid! Toyota Motor Corp sold eight times as many new Prius hybrid sedans than anticipated, with 11,000 units selling the first two weeks on the market. Consumers of all ages put in orders for the more fuel-efficient and spacious vehicle which features a "self-parking" option and costs around $19,000.
Read more about the movement toward cleaner cars: https://www.sierraclub.org/globalwarming/cleancars/
2. Paper, Plastic or Corn?
Grocers at Wild Oats in California are getting corny. They are the first supermarket to go from conventional to corn-based containers. The new products can fully degrade in 47 days and don't emit toxic fumes when burned. Californians switched from plastic to new cornstarch bags for Coastal Cleanup Day this year. The bags are as strong as plastic and start biodegrading in 12 months.
Christian Science Monitor has more on the story: https://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0904/p12s02-sten.html
3. TAKE ACTION: Protect the Clean Air Act!
The Senate Appropriations Committee recently adopted an amendment proposed by Senator Kit Bond (R-MO) to the EPA's 2004 appropriations bill (S. 1584) that weakens the Clean Air Act, preventing states from cleaning up pollution from small and mid-sized engines. Although supposedly targeted at lawn and garden equipment, the Bond amendment threatens controls on a broad variety of engines. These engines are a significant source of soot and smog forming pollution, threatening human health.
Senator Feinstein (D-CA) is leading the charge to remove this provision from the bill. Please write your Senator (visit https://www.senate.gov/ for addresses) and ask them to support Senator Feinstein's efforts to protect clean air!
"Destroying rainforest for economic gain is like burning a Renaissance painting to cook a meal." -Edward O. Wilson
(1) SPRAWL: Hut One Hut Two
(2) GREEN TRENDS: A Match Made in Heaven
(3) TAKE ACTION: Tell General Motors to Stop Producing Gas-Guzzlers
1. Hut One Hut Two
Imagine sitting in a football stadium watching your favorite team taking the field. Now imagine how much space 100,000 of those fields would use. That's the average area every state devotes to roads. All of that asphalt disrupts wildlife, worsens flood damage and dirties our air and water.
Check out tips on what you can do to prevent the construction of more roads: https://frugalliving.about.com/library/weekly/aa011100a.htm
2. A Match Made in Heaven
Architects and nature are finally starting to work together. Innovative concepts like collecting rainwater in irrigation tanks for reuse, gardens in the sky, windows in high-rises that (gasp!) actually open to create naturally cooler air are all ways that architects are starting to look at nature as a friend, not a foe.
Read this Time Magazine article to learn more about this trend: https://www.time.com/time/2002/greencentury/enarchitecture.html
3. TAKE ACTION: Tell General Motors to Stop Producing Gas-Guzzlers
At a paltry ten miles to the gallon, the Hummer H2 puts almost three times as much global warming pollution into the air as an average car. The last thing America needs now is more large, gas-guzzlers like the Hummer on the road. General Motors should start building innovative vehicles that go farther on a gallon of gas. Currently available technology could make all of GM's vehicles - from SUVs and other light trucks to sub-compacts and luxury sedans - average 40 miles per gallon. Taking this step would save consumers money at the gas pump, curb global warming and cut the country's dependence on oil.
Click here to send a message to the General Motors Vice President: https://whistler.sierraclub.org/action/?alid=274
Sierra Club Legislative Hotline - (202) 675-2394 Sierra Club National Headquarters - (415) 977-5500 Sierra Club World Wide Web - https://www.sierraclub.org Sierra Club Vote Watch Website - https://www.sierraclub.org/votewatch/ White House Comment Line - (202) 456-1111 White House Fax Line - (202) 456-2461 President George W. Bush's e-mail - president@whitehouse.gov Vice President Dick Cheney's e-mail - vice-president@whitehouse.gov White House Address - 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, DC 20500 US Capitol Switchboard - (202) 224-3121 To contact your senators - https://www.senate.gov/contacting/index.cfm To contact your representative - https://www.house.gov/writerep
"The frog does not drink up the pond in which it lives." -- Chinese Proverb
(1) GLOBAL WARMING: Feelin' Hot Hot Hot
(2) POLLUTION: Breath of (Not so) Fresh Air
(3) TAKE ACTION: Oppose the Domenici Rider
1. Feelin' Hot Hot Hot
The earth is the hottest it's been in over 2,000 years (Guardian, Sept. 1, 2003). By measuring tree trunk rings, scientists were able to uncover local climate changes from thousands of years ago. This discovery is a setback for sceptics who maintain that global warming is a natural occurrence rather than the result of human activity.
Find out how you can help prevent global warming: https://www.sierraclub.org/globalwarming/tenthings/2003august.pdf
2. Breath of (Not so) Fresh Air
What has moms and dads writing the most notes to school nurses? It's not the sniffles nor an upset stomach. Asthma is the leading cause of absenteeism for children in America (NY State Dept of Health). When air quality is down, doctor visits go up.
Read more about how polluted air affects us: https://www.sierraclub.org/cleanair/
3. TAKE ACTION: Oppose the Domenici Rider
Issue: The Sierra Club opposes an anti-environmental rider attached to S.1424, the FY 2004 Energy and Water Appropriations Act. Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM)'s rider would overturn a 10th Circuit Court of Appeals decision affirming the Bureau of Reclamation responsibility to restore water to certain segments of the Middle Rio Grande in order to protect the endangered silvery minnow from imminent extinction. Equally problematic, the rider not only overturns the court decision, but also excludes from Endangered Species Act (ESA) enforcement nearly all harmful activity along the Middle Rio Grande, endangering the silvery minnow and the Middle Rio Grande. Senators must vote to oppose the Domenici Middle Rio Grande rider.
Background: The Middle Rio Grande is home to about two-thirds of New Mexico's wildlife species, but those species are being lost. Two species in the Middle Rio Grande are on the federal list of threatened and endangered species: the Southwestern willow flycatcher and the Rio Grande silvery minnow. The Rio Grande silvery minnow is the last of five native fish of its kind in the river, all of which have gone extinct or been extirpated from the river. Since its listing as endangered in 1994, the minnow has continued its rapid decline; its populations now are among the lowest ever found.
Following a 10th Circuit Court ruling benefiting not only the silvery minnow, but also the Rio Grande, parties to that lawsuit engaged in settlement negotiation.
Action: Use the link below to find phone numbers for your Senator and ask them to oppose the Domenici Rio Grande Rider to the FY 2004 Energy and Water Appropriations Act
https://www.senate.gov/contacting/index.cfm
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