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DEFENDING ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA
December 22, 2004
"Yet Mr. Griles did not need personal contacts to carry out industry's wishes, so faithfully did he mirror them. He saw himself as chief operating officer, the man who got things done. As one admirer put it, Mr. Griles 'kept the trains running at the Interior Department.' And so he did, even though they nearly always ran in the wrong direction."
--Yesterday's New York Times editorializes on Steven Griles' departure as the Deputy Interior Secretary.
(1) Energy: Next Top Model
(2) Read It: In Good Company
(3) Take Action: Protect the Wilderness Experience on the Colorado River
1. Energy: Next Top Model
Not since Claudia Schiffer graced the catwalk have all eyes been on a German model. A 30-acre facility in Muhlhausen, Germany just became the world's largest solar energy plant, making the country the second largest solar power producer after Japan. A recent San Francisco Chronicle article says California and other countries are closely watching Germany's model for developing renewable energy. With over 16,000 windmills scattered mostly in the rural areas, Germany is the top wind energy producer responsible for 39 percent of the world's total.
Read "Germany shines a beam on the future of energy" in the Chronicle: https://info.sierraclub.org/ct.html?rtr=on&s=arz,a6uf,km3,dflb,8jux,irqz,5w4u bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/12/20/MNGRAAEL4B1.DTL
2. Read It: In Good Company
Looking for something to pass the time on your holiday flight this year? Stop in the airport bookstore for Vanity Fair's "Best of 2004" January issue. Twenty-one environmentalists posed on the shores of Lake Tahoe for the "Best Stewards" section. Those chosen include Sierra Club executive director Carl Pope, environmental lawyer Robert Kennedy Jr., New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, and rancher Tweeti Blancett who was praised in her fight to protect New Mexico's Otero Mesa from oil and gas drilling.
https://info.sierraclub.org/ct.html?rtr=on&s=arz,a6uf,km3,m9r8,fii,irqz,5w4u /article/0,2564,ALBQ_19859_3389868,00.html
3. Take Action: Protect the Wilderness Experience on the Colorado River
The National Park Service (NPS) is asking for comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Colorado River Management Plan (CRMP). The DEIS represents an important opportunity to restore wilderness and protect the special ecological, cultural and recreation resources at the heart of Grand Canyon National Park. This plan will set policy for experiencing the Grand Canyon by river for the next 10 years yet it does not protect natural resources and wilderness values.
Tell the park service to protect the river's wilderness character and phase out powerboats and helicopter use: https://info.sierraclub.org/ct.html?rtr=on&s=arz,a6uf,km3,7hrp,jxj8,irqz,5w4u
Congratulations! The Sierra Club Foundation received a perfect four star rating from Charity Navigator, a non-profit watchdog that ranks charities based on evaluations of its fiscal health: https://info.sierraclub.org/ct.html?rtr=on&s=arz,a6uf,km3,awr6,9d8a,irqz,5w4u 12-08.asp
"He was literally in charge of watching the polar ice caps melt. With Dr. Bodman's scientific and financial background, one could hope he would have the vision to use new technology to solve America's energy problems." - Carl Pope, Sierra Club's Executive Director, on Samuel Bodman's past experience heading the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration and his recent appointment as Energy Secretary.
1. Global Warming: Surviving Vanuatu
2. Transportation: Caution- Walk of Shame
3. Take Action: Defend the World's Forests
1. Global Warming: Surviving Vanuatu
The most recent season of the reality show "Survivor" took contestants to the remote island chain of Vanuatu in the South Pacific to outwit, outplay, and outlast for the chance to win one million dollars. Even though the show is based on survival, no one is ever really in life- threatening danger - except for Vanuatu. It is one of dozens of small island nations in the south Pacific that are threatened by global warming. Rising global temperatures will increase the likelihood of violent storms that threaten the region, and melt polar icecaps. For islands that are only a few feet above sea-level, the effects of global warming will cause devastating floods. Unlike the contestants of the television show, Vanuatu will not survive - unless we use existing solutions to curb global warming pollution.
Click here for more information on global warming and what you can do about it: https://info.sierraclub.org/ct.html?rtr=on&s=arz,a2rx,km3,8b6c,bmvw,irqz,5w4u
2. Transportation: Caution - Walk of Shame
The Surface Transportation Policy Project's recently-issued report, "Mean Streets," concludes that the streets are growing nastier for pedestrians. Walking is by far the most dangerous mode of travel per mile. So it's no surprise that fewer and fewer people brave the streets - a phenomenon that is also endangering our health, as 250,000 people die each year due to diseases related to physical inactivity. The report notes that while our federal transportation program is now funded at about $46 billion per year, less than one percent of these dollars is expended on creating safer places to walk and bicycle. "Doing more to make our streets safer can help us promote physical activity, increase public transportation use, reduce health care costs and save lives," said Betsy Roberts, Sierra Club's Florida Chapter Conservation Chair. "There are so many benefits when we build communities where people can easily walk and bicycle."
Read the full report and view fact sheets on how your state stacks up when it comes to pedestrian safety: https://info.sierraclub.org/ct.html?rtr=on&s=arz,a2rx,km3,dxz5,7nnv,irqz,5w4u
3. Take Action: Defend the World's Forests
The Sierra Club released a report last week documenting the links between worldwide forest destruction, human rights abuses and the growing consumer demand for timber products. Environmentalists around the world have long been exploited and abused for their efforts to stop illegal logging and the destruction of their communities. The challenging and often dangerous work they face can be seen through the stories of forest defenders in five timber exporting countries: Mexico, Indonesia, Cambodia, Liberia and Brazil.
Read the report: https://info.sierraclub.org/ct.html?rtr=on&s=arz,a2rx,km3,dks,5awp,irqz,5w4u
Tell your Senator or Representative to stop allowing the importation of illegal timber and exacerbating the struggles of environmentalists around the world: https://info.sierraclub.org/ct.html?rtr=on&s=arz,a2rx,km3,gj59,h9cf,irqz,5w4u https://info.sierraclub.org/ct.html?rtr=on&s=arz,a2rx,km3,edgz,9r8n,irqz,5w4u
"He's been pretty outrageous in the promoting of the extraction industries...What we need to do is be very cautious because we don't know who follows in his footsteps. Secretary Norton is still there and we know she shares the same agenda." - Sierra Club public lands director Maribeth Oakes comments on J. Steven Griles resigning from his post as Deputy Secretary of the Interior Department. The former oil and coal industry lobbyist spearheaded a push for increased energy development on public lands.
(1) SPECIES: From Bad to Really Bad
(2) GLOBAL WARMING: Heads or Tailpipes
(3) ACT!: Protect Public Health from Mercury
1. SPECIES: From Bad to Really Bad
If you've seen Speed II, you know that the sequel can often be worse than the original. After coming up with a first draft so bad that a federal judge ordered it to try again, the Bush administration is finalizing its new federal Salmon Plan. The revised plan actually fails to protect an already imperiled salmon and steelhead population in the Columbia and Snake Rivers and embraces a strategy that largely leaves current dam operations in place, allowing salmon to continue to slide toward extinction.
Listen to a discussion of the new plan on Seattle's local NPR radio station: https://info.sierraclub.org/ct.html?rtr=on&s=arz,9yv3,km3,m4xr,abtm,irqz,5w4u
View the ad "The Big Wink" that ran Sunday in the Tacoma News Tribune: https://info.sierraclub.org/ct.html?rtr=on&s=arz,9yv3,km3,lbzt,c9ck,irqz,5w4u
2. GLOBAL WARMING: Heads or Tailpipes
California put plans in place last month to require automakers to cut greenhouse gas pollution from new vehicles by 30% in the next ten years. At least two auto manufacturers plan on filing a lawsuit challenging California's authority to force them to reduce emissions. "It is disappointing - though not surprising - that the same automakers buying ads touting their environmental commitments are suing to prevent California from protecting its citizens from the effects of global warming," said Dan Becker, Washington Director of the Sierra Club's Global Warming Program. "If these automakers are so committed to reducing global warming emissions, why are they suing to prevent California from doing just that?"
Read the Los Angeles Times story "Automakers may test California exhaust law:" https://info.sierraclub.org/ct.html?rtr=on&s=arz,9yv3,km3,h4o5,l3hw,irqz,5w4u s-26184.htm
3. ACT!: Protect Public Health from Mercury
On November 30, the Bush administration released a Notice of Data Availability (NODA) on its proposed power plant toxics rule, which is focused on mercury. The NODA summarizes the more than 680,000 public comments received and asks for further public input on information in those comments. Since the administration first proposed its inadequate rule, there has been increased evidence that mercury pollution can cause serious health problems, including developmental problems and potentially cardiac problems. The EPA should be studying more protective alternatives and do more to protect Americans' health.
Tell the Bush administration to do the necessary analysis of their proposed rule to ensure that the public's health is not adversely affected and to put in place a program that protects our health! The comment period will close January 3, 2005.
Submit an online comment at https://info.sierraclub.org/ct.html?rtr=on&s=arz,9yv3,km3,4nzx,inw6,irqz,5w4u or send an email to A-and- R-docket@epa.gov to the attention of Docket# OAR- 2002-0056.
"There I realized that life was beautiful. I saw that the world was not just concrete, streetlights or smog-infested cities. It's out there where trees don't care what race you are- they still share their shade; water doesn't care what kind of income level you come from- still it provides life." -Juan Martinez, advisor to Outward Bound Adventure's Youth Advisory Council, on his first encounter with the outdoors in the Grand Tetons.
1. Awards: Thank Goodness for Rock n' Roll
2. Lands: Tax Incentives
3. Take Action: A World Without Polar Bears?
1. Awards: Thank Goodness for Rock n' Roll
On Thanksgiving eve, young environmental crusaders Juan Martinez and Andrew Anderson presented the Mexican rock band, Maná, with a Sierra Club-sponsored Green Award at the La Banda Elastica Latin Alternative Music Awards. Martinez and Anderson are part of Outward Bound Adventure's Youth Advisory Council (YAC), a team of 30 urban youth who inspire their friends and neighbors through outdoor education, activities and trips. YAC's efforts are supported by the Sierra Club's Inside the Outdoors Project which provides urban youth with the opportunity to experience high-quality outdoor environmental education. The young environmentalists were thrilled to honor Maná for work that has become so meaningful to them.
Read about the awards ceremony. (https://info.sierraclub.org/ct.html?rtr=on&s=arz,9skc,km3,7iyl,hhu9,irqz,5w4u
2. Lands: Tax Incentives
Wild turkeys. Bald eagles. Cypress, maples, sawgrass. Because of an innovative tax program in Florida's Polk County, these are some of the natural wonders visitors will enjoy for years to come. Ten years ago, Polk's voters agreed to tax themselves to purchase a 12,000-acre network of ten preserves with tax dollars. The program is funded at a rate of 20 cents per $1,000 of taxable value. A decade later, even skeptics are trumpeting the program's success.
Read "Green Backed by Dollars: Taxes Provide Polk's 12,000 Acres of Preserved Lands" in the Lakeland Ledger. (https://info.sierraclub.org/ct.html?rtr=on&s=arz,9skc,km3,he4s,kjw0,irqz,5w4u D=/20041128/NEWS/411280391/1039)
3. Take Action: A World Without Polar Bears?
A new report (https://info.sierraclub.org/ct.html?rtr=on&s=arz,9skc,km3,5pk5,39mc,irqz,5w4u issued this month by eight nations, including the United States, makes it clear that global warming is ravaging the Arctic. Just like the canary in the mineshaft, the Arctic is sounding the alarm on global warming. According to the report, glaciers are melting, sea ice is shrinking, and permafrost is melting all across the Arctic. This spells disaster for the Arctic ecology, putting polar bears, caribou, and other Arctic wildlife at risk along with the native peoples who depend on these animals for their way of life.
Join the Sierra Club's fight to curb global warming. Click here (https://info.sierraclub.org/ct.html?rtr=on&s=arz,9skc,km3,iz1e,d3xm,irqz,5w4u newsletter/signup.asp) to sign up for The Hotline, the Sierra Club's online global warming action network.
"They're dead. They just don't know it yet." - U.S. Forest Service's justification for logging a healthy stand of trees in Lassen National Forest, as told by Chad Hanson (see below).
(1) FORESTS: Overlooking the Forest for the Trees
(2) CONSUMER: It's Easy Being Green
(3) ACT!: Protect the Colorado River's Wilderness Experience
1. FORESTS: Overlooking the Forest for the Trees
Chad Hanson drove through the Lassen National Forest two summers ago and was shocked to find a living forest, filled with three and four hundred year old living, green trees. In its salvage logging proposal, the Forest Service planned to log around 1,500 acres of the area as a part of the Storrie wildfire salvage plan. Hanson, possessing a law degree and working on a doctorate in fire ecology, has visited the site a number of times to find healthy old-growth trees. He says the Forest Service "just wanted to cut them down to sell the timber and keep the revenue." The agency is being criticized for using the timber in our National Forests as a cash crop, logging healthy areas for its own political and financial gain.
Read the Los Angeles Times Magazine article "What Bears Do in the Woods:" https://info.sierraclub.org/ct.html?rtr=on&s=arz,9qi4,km3,eyp8,8bsg,irqz,5w4u /la-tm-forestserv47nov21,1,6981670.story?coll=la- headlines-magazine
2. CONSUMER: It's Easy Being Green
Kermit the Frog once crooned "It's Not Easy Bein' Green" but this holiday season, we beg to differ. There are ways to give generously this holiday season without committing ecological misdeeds. Give a gift membership to a philanthropic organization, or a monetary donation in a loved one's name. Support your local economy by buying gifts from local stores. Try your local farmers market for the food-lovers on your list. Whatever you give this holiday season, keep the wrapping in mind. Most mass produced wrapping paper you find in stores is not recyclable and ends up in landfills. Look for recyclable wrapping paper (and make sure to recycle it). Or get creative: use old maps, or the comics section of the newspaper. Give bus, train, or transit passes and make a loved one's commute to work or school a little bit easier.
Find your local farmers market: https://info.sierraclub.org/ct.html?rtr=on&s=arz,9qi4,km3,a0x6,c3ff,irqz,5w4u
3. ACT!: Protect the Colorado River's Wilderness Experience
The Colorado River through the Grand Canyon has matchless scenery and a grand geological display. This river corridor provides unique historical and cultural resources, opportunity for natural quiet, unique white water recreation, and a chance for high quality reflective recreation and solitude. The National Park Service's Colorado River Management Plan does not adequately protect the wilderness character of the river and provide levels of recreational use consistent with a wilderness experience. Powerboat and helicopter noise significantly impacts the natural soundscape of The Grand Canyon. v Urge the Park Service to fully protect river wilderness character and implement the phase out of powerboats and helicopter use, as outlined in the 1980 wilderness recommendation: https://info.sierraclub.org/ct.html?rtr=on&s=arz,9qi4,km3,8wrw,9xcc,irqz,5w4u
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