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October 29, 1997
"One ship drives east and another drives west/ With the selfsame winds that blow. /'Tis the set of sails and not the gales/Which tells us the way to go." -- Ella Wheeler Wilcox, "Winds of Fate," The Collected Poems (1917) Contents:
Take Action - Endangered Species Under the Gun
Outside the Beltway - Maine celebrates clean water
Global Warming I: Big Polluters Spend Big Money for No Action Global
Warming II: Calcium Supplements to the President!
Wyoming - Support for the grizzly is growing
Mr. Baucus - Do the Right Thing
Congress has not gone home yet. Much potential damage still looms in the wings in the waning days of the first session of the 105th. So far, the public outcry against congressional efforts to weaken the Endangered Species Act has prevented action on the anti-wildlife ESA bill S. 1180 by Senator Dirk Kempthorne. But it's important that we keep the heat on, so proponents of weakening the Act don't get any ideas about bringing the bill up in the next few weeks.
Now is a great time to contact your representative's and senators' offices and set up recess meetings at home. Let them know you're concerned about efforts to weaken the ESA, and that you want them to take a leadership role in protecting wildlife and habitat. Why not find out where your member's local town meeting will be, get together a few friends and make some visibility signs to greet them? Now this of course assumes that you've already written your letter to the editor urging your fellow citizens to contact your representative to support H.R. 2351, Rep. George Miller's bill to strengthen the ESA. You haven't???!!!! Well, what are you waiting for??
AS ALWAYS, THANKS A BUNCH!!
Celebrating Clean Water in Maine
With Back Cove in Portland as the backdrop, Sierra Club and Maine PIRG held a press conference celebrating the success of the Clean Water Act. Sierra Club's "Protect America's Water and Wetlands For Our Families, For Our Future banner was prominently displayed, along with three pounds of clams (dug from Casco Bay). The speakers pointed out how the CWA has cleaned up Maine's coast enough to allow the clam flats in the Bay to reopen.
Our very own Mark Bettinger delivered the message of the importance of protecting Maine's clean water for our environmental and economic well-being. Citing the newly-opened clam flats in Casco Bay as an example of why we have the Clean Water Act, why it works, and why we need to protect our environment For Our Families, For Our Future.
Nick Bennett, staff scientist at the Natural Resources Council of Maine, also spoke at the press conference.
Three television networks and WGAN-AM, the local talk-radio were present for the press conference. Channel 11, the NBC station ran the story and included a nice shot of the Sierra Club banner.
GLOBAL WARMING I: BIG POLLUTERS SPEND BIG MONEY FOR NO ACTION
Clinton Climate Plan "Immobilized" By Polluter PR Effort
Activists and concerned citizens around the world were shocked by the weak climate change proposal put forth by the Clinton Administration. In an op-ed in today's (10/29) LA Times, Donella Meadows concludes the Administration proposal reacts more to a multimillion dollar "do nothing" PR campaign by polluters than it does to the need to protect our environment and future generations.
Pointing out the differences between a fairly strong proposal by European nation's and America's extremely weak offering, Meadows states that "Listening to climate-change talk in the U.S. and in Europe, I have to wonder whether we're all living on the same planet." (LA Times, 10/29)
She points out that in Europe the media has seen through the big polluter "smokescreen" on the issue, while in America reporters continue to give a handful of industry-backed "experts" equal status with the world's leading scientists.
Meadows decries the multimillion dollar advertising campaign corporate polluters have launched in an effort to convince Americans to do nothing on global warming. "In America, the Global Climate Information Project, a coalition of business associations, has budgeted $13 million for a public relations blitz to convince Americans that reducing fossil fuel consumption would cause economic collapse." (LA Times, 10/29)
American polluters don't consider the benefits of being more efficient or of cutting our pollution. One of their recent economic studies "assumes that technology will freeze, rather than shift to greater efficiencies and new energy sources. It is, in short, a piece of propaganda." (LA Times, 10/29)
Meadow's concluded by criticizing Clinton's decision. "Before he boldly promised the status quo, Bill Clinton made another speech in which he said the U.S. could reduce greenhouse gas emissions "by 20% tomorrow with technology that is already available at no cost." He's probably too optimistic about the "tomorrow" part -- it would take a few years -- but not nearly optimistic enough about the 20%. In Europe, they're talking about wasting 20% or 50% or 90% less energy and helping the environment and moving away from the dirty technologies of the past century into the clean ones of the next century."
"Why on Earth don't we try to beat the Europeans to it?" (LA Times, 10/29)
GLOBAL WARMING II: Calcium Supplements to the President!
Call Bill (For Free!!!) 1-800-38-STAND-UP
Readers of the 10/29 New York Times found a very humorous advertisement from Working Assets, a progressive long distance and investment firm. The full-page ad featured a large diagram of a spine, with the heading "It's Time To Give Bill Clinton Some Support Where He Needs It."
Working Assets is providing a toll-free number for activists to call the President, and urging folks to leave a tough message on a number of issues (one of which is global warming!)
On global warming, Working Assets urges activists to tell the President to stand up to Exxon and other corporate polluters and sign a global warming treaty that would substantially reduce greenhouse gases by 2005.
The service began Wednesday (10/29) and will only last for a few days - SO CALL NOW! The number is 1-800-38-STAND-UP.
Grizzly Bears in Wyoming
Due to the successful organizing efforts of Laurie Smith in the Wyoming field office, the campaign to protect grizzly bear habitat is continuing to grow. A mailing list of over 1400 has been created as a result of Laurie's efforts to educate citizens of Wyoming about grizzly bears. Almost 300 people have participated in helping protect a bear habitat by attending slide shows, hearings and sanitation outings - which includes putting up information at trail heads about proper etiquette in a bear habitat - to writing letters to the editor.
Endangered Species in Montana
With cooperation between environmental and sportsman groups in Montana, Betsy Buffington organized almost fifty groups to sign an ad in the Great Falls Tribune and Billings Gazette calling for Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) to rethink his support of the rewrite of the Endangered Species Act. Other environmental organizations that sponsored the ad included are the National Wildlife Federation and Defenders of Wildlife.
In addition, Betsy and Christine Phillips helped organize 100 people in Missoula and 30 people in other parts of Montana to hand deliver the clip off coupon to Baucus's local offices. Next week when the ad runs in Great Falls, they'll arrange more coupon deliveries.
"Voters overwhelmingly and intensely favor stricter clean air health standards and they are willing to hold their politicians accountable for these standards." --Lake Sosin Snell Perry & Associates regarding results from bipartisan nationwide survey released Tuesday (Survey conducted Oct. 14-16, 1997).
- Contents:
TAKE ACTION I: Urge President to Act on Family Planning TAKE ACTION
II: House Set to Vote on Nuke Waste Bill
CLEAN AIR: New Bipartisan National Poll Shows Strong Support for New Air Standards
PRESS RELEASE: Interior Bill Larded Up With Anti-Environmental Riders
ON THE HILL: Superfund Bill is Super Flawed
GLOBAL WARMING: Leading from the Rear ... Contact President with Toll Free #
TAKE ACTION: Remind the President of the importance of family planning.
While the House and Senate conferees remain grid-locked over the level of funding for international family planning assistance and the inclusion of the Mexico City policy, President Clinton appears to be waffling on the importance of international family planning. In a recent speech he gave to a coalition of women's organizations, Clinton listed his priorities for improving women's social and economic status. Family planning and reproductive health issues were absent from his list.
The Senate and House met Tuesday to discuss the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill but did NOT discuss family planning funds. If the conferees remain deadlocked over the family planning provisions, they may agree to pass a continuing resolution (C.R.) for the family planning section of the bill. A continuing resolution would cap spending at last year's level ($385 million) and include disastrous metering provisions which curtail service providers abilities to plan activities and divert resources into onerous reporting requirements. The Senate bill for FY 98 restores $50 million in family planning funds and does not include metering provisions. A C.R. on family planning funding continues right wing extremists attacks on women and on the environment (since lack of family planning services will likely result in rapid population growth).
1,600 women die each day from complications during childbirth as Congress continues this debate. Sustainable development and equitable resource allocation depend upon population stabilization. Act now to let President Clinton know the importance of international family planning assistance.
Write, call, or E-mail President Clinton and tell him:
1) How important population stabilization is for environmental sustainability, economic development, and maternal and child health.
2) Urge President Clinton to support the highest level of funding for family planning without restriction.
Use some of the facts below in your calls and letters.
* As population grows, people exhaust their natural resource base and need to find new sources of fuel, energy, and soil. Wild habitats that shelter endangered plants and animals are eroding as the scale of human activities increase. Conservation biologists note that tens of thousands of species may be disappearing each year -- a rate thousands of times higher than is natural.
* There is a great need for family planning. Surveys show that the majority of women in developing countries want to delay or avoid having another child. Yet over 100 million married women of child bearing age who do not want another child right away are not using contraception.
* If affordable voluntary family planning services were within reach of those women who report they do not want to become pregnant now or in the future, birthrates would likely fall to about halfway to the point that would lead to stabilized population.
TAKE ACTION II: House Set to Vote on Nuke Waste Bill
H.R. 1270, the nuclear waste storage bill, is scheduled to go to the House floor on Wednesday, October 29. This bill will threaten the health and safety of Americans and our environment. It establishes an "interim" storage site for nuclear waste in Nevada -- a cement parking lot . To get to Nevada, high level nuclear waste from reactors around the country will be shipped through 43 states on roads and rails in cement casks.
H.R. 1270 is not a solution to the nuclear waste problem. It rushes ahead to create one more enormous nuclear waste parking lot while each nuclear power plant continues to store waste for years to come. Here are just a few of the reason your Representative should oppose H.R. 1270:
* it puts the most dangerous substance known to humankind on roads and rails;
* it carves giant loopholes in the nation's premier environmental law, the National Environmental Policy Act;
* it preempts the Safe Drinking Water Act;
* it sets a radiation exposure standard far more dangerous than any other federal radiation standard;
* it preempts Nevada's own environmental laws; * it creates one more enormous waste site; and
* nuclear waste is safely stored at the reactors that generated it.
CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE AND URGE THEM TO OPPOSE H.R. 1270 !!!!!
THANK YOU
CLEAN AIR: New Bipartisan National Poll Shows Strong Support for New Air Standards
A new bipartisan national survey (conducted Oct 14-16, 1997) has found that the public overwhelmingly supports stronger air quality protections. The survey, conducted by Democratic pollsters - Lake Sosin Snell Perry & Associates and Republican pollsters - the Tarrance Group, found that 80 percent of likely voters favored stricter clean air standards, compared to only 14 percent who opposed them.
The poll illustrates that Members of Congress working to block the new air standards, such as Sen. Inhofe (R-OK), Reps. Klink (D-PA) & Boswell (D-IA), are out of step with the public. The poll also found that 67 percent of those sampled would be less likely to vote for an elected official who sponsored legislation to weaken the new standards and 75 percent would be less likely to vote for an elected official who actually voted to weaken the standards. The poll was released Tuesday by the Clean Air Trust.
PRESS RELEASE: Senate Passes Interior Bill Stacked With Anti-Environmental Riders
Tuesday, Oct. 28, on a vote of 84-14, the Senate passed the Interior Appropriations bill. The House passed its bill last week. Please see SC-Action #191 for further details on how you can make a difference.
SIERRA CLUB CALLS ON PRESIDENT CLINTON TO KEEP HIS WORD AND VETO ANTI-ENVIRONMENTAL FUNDING BILL
The Sierra Club called on President Clinton to stand up to the Congress and honor his commitment to veto the Interior Appropriations bill because it contains numerous anti-environmental riders.
"Last Congress, the Administration learned how to stand firm against stealth attacks on the environment, and the bill passed today is another prime example of the continuing congressional war on the environment," said Carl Pope, Sierra Club Executive Director. "It's time for the president to get out his veto pen again -- this bill belongs in the trash can," said Pope.
The Administration issued a statement in September enumerating many of the anti-environmental riders contained in the bill, and said that if such policies were adopted, "the President's senior advisers would recommend that he veto the bill." The final conference report on H.R. 2107 which passed the House last week and the Senate Tuesday still contains many of the riders criticized in the Administration statement.
"The politicians in Congress just haven't learned their lesson. It's up to President Clinton to remind them that the public does not want our environmental laws weakened, and they won't put up with taxpayer hand-outs to polluting industries. This bill is loaded with anti-environmental provisions and subsidies for special interests," charged Pope.
Among other things, the Interior Appropriations bill passed by the Senate Tuesday sets dangerous precedents and politicizes the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a popular program which allows the government to use revenue from oil and gas activities on public lands to acquire important habitat and recreational areas. H.R. 2107 adds new layers of red tape to the acquisition process and allows the money set aside for purchasing special places to be spent instead on routine maintenance of federal facilities.
Other riders include amendments that would overturn a federal court ruling that protects habitat and endangered species from over-grazing on eleven southwestern National Forests, put a moratorium on new forest management plans that could protect forests and prevent fires and floods, increase the taxpayer subsidy to the timber industry for bulldozing new roads in the National Forests, and effectively abolish a ban on the export of American logs overseas.
"President Clinton should keep his promise to veto anti-environmental bills. The Congress has abandoned its role of responsible stewardship and taxpayer protection. It's up to the President to protect our country's natural heritage for our families, and for our future," said Pope.
ON THE HILL: Superfund Bill is Super Flawed
On October 23, Congressman Sherry Boehlert, Chair of Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment introduced his bill, Superfund Acceleration, Fairness and Efficiency Act. This bill is far from acceptable and a big disappointment to the environmental community. The Natural Resources Damage title is very bad, making it harder for Trustees to sue polluters for damages. We need polluted Natural Resources Damages restored, for future generations, and Boehlert's bill does not provide the means to do so. Boehlert has scheduled a hearing for October 29.
On a more positive note, Rep. Pallone (D-NJ), along with Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) introduced a superfund bill on October 23. Rep. Pallone's bill, the Children's Protection and Community Cleanup Act will cover the following principles: The Superfund law must be strengthened so that remedies are specifically designed to protect children and sensitive subpopulations from the threat of toxic waste in their neighborhoods. It maintains the polluter pays principle as well as, maintains a strong Natural Resource Damages restoration program that will hold polluters liable for cleanups, regardless of cost. Additionally, Pallone's bill provides special consideration for people of color and low income communities to prioritize cleanup of sites in low income neighborhoods. Lastly, it provides strong community participation for direct input and involvement of affected communities.
GLOBAL WARMING I: LEADING FROM THE REAR
Attacks on the Clinton Plan Keep Rolling In
From the negotiating rooms in Bonn Germany to the editorial pages of American newspapers, criticism of the Administration's extremely weak plan to address global warming keeps pilling up.
Delegates from the island nations most at risk from sea level rise blasted Clinton's plan in Bonn. Samoan delegate Tuiloma Slade, speaking on behalf of more than 30 island nations: "It seems to us that the United States has gone backward, not forward. The countries that I am speaking for cannot wait" (AP/mult., 10/28).
German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel last week stated "Who produces most of the CO2 has to make the most efforts to restrict it" (Journal of Commerce, 10/27).
Meanwhile, leaders at a meeting in Scotland last week of the 54-nation Commonwealth that includes England and its former colonies issued a statement urging developed nations to pursue "vigorously" binding emissions cuts. The statement "appeared at odds" with Clinton's proposal (AP, 10/25).
GLOBAL WARMING II: A "GLOWING" ENDORSEMENT
Senators Urge Sale of Nukes to Curb Global Warming
A group of 16 senators including Frank Murkowski (R-AK) and Max Baucus (D-MT) last week sent a letter to Clinton backing a plan to sell nuclear reactors to China, saying it would lead to cuts in carbon-dioxide emissions. While nuclear reactors produce no CO2, they do produce enormous amounts of deadly radioactive waste. The senators' letter is "in direct contrast" to a letter from 62 House members urging Clinton not to sign the agreement (Manimoli Dinesh, EESI Environment & Energy Weekly).
GLOBAL WARMING III: IT'S A FREE CALL
Working Assets Provides Toll Free Calls To Clinton - 1-888-38-STAND-UP.
On Wednesday, October 29th, Working Assets is offering activists free calls straight to the White House! The toll-free number is 1-888-38-STAND-UP (effective 12:01 a.m. EST) and will allow activists to make FREE calls to President Clinton on a host of issues - including global warming.
On global warming, Working Assets urges activists to tell the President to stand up to Exxon and other corporate polluters and sign a global warming treaty that would substantially reduce greenhouse gases by 2005. Like all good things, this free speech offer might have to come to an end at midnight on October 30 - so please, act now!
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