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July 23, 1999
"Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action." -Benjamin Disraeli
Friday is the ALL ACTION edition of the SC-ACTION, including actions that you can take on each of the Sierra Club's priority campaigns. The featured campaign this week is the Sierra Club's Campaign Finance Reform Campaign. But please be sure to check out the rest of the campaigns to find out what else you can do to defend the environment. Current action items follow on: Global Warming, Sprawl, Clean Water, Ending Commercial Logging, Responsible Trade and Population.
TAKE ACTION: CAFO's
Unnecessary Use of Drugs at Factory Farms Threatens Public Health Tell the FDA to Ban the Use of Antibiotics As Livestock Growth Promoters
The increased use of antibiotics to fatten hogs and poultry has gone hand-in-hand with the development of industrial-style livestock operations. Fifty million pounds of antibiotics are produced in the U.S. every year; 40% of that is given to animals, and 80% of what is given to animals is used to promote their growth. With thousands of animals crammed into the tight quarters of a typical factory operation, antibiotics are dispensed constantly through the animals' feed.
Using antibiotics as a feed additive to fatten livestock more quickly is making disease-causing bacteria more resistant to the drugs humans rely upon to treat tuberculosis, pneumonia, staph infections, and other life-threatening infectious diseases.
Antibiotics are critical in treating infectious diseases. But repeated exposure to the drugs enables resistant strains of bacteria to evolve. Initially, some bacteria may be naturally resistant, and they survive treatment and multiply. When antibiotics are given again, more of the bacterial population may become resistant, and as that proportion increases over time, the drugs become less effective. The more antibiotics we use, the more likely it is that bacteria will become resistant. People are exposed to these antibiotic-resistant bacteria through the food supply and drinking water.
Physicians are finding an increasing number of cases in which antibiotics are no longer curing diseases. For example, as many as 40% of strains of streptococcus pneumoniae, a bacterium that causes pneumonia and bloodstream and ear infections, are now resistant to penicillin and other commonly used antibiotics. Patients with antibiotic-resistant infections have died. The Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academy of Sciences, estimated that annual cost of treating antibiotic resistant infections in the U.S. is $30 billion.
The World Health Organization called for a ban on using antibiotics to fatten livestock in 1997. Since then, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Public Health Association and other public health organizations have taken similar positions. The European Union heeded these concerns last year when it banned adding human-use antibiotics to animal feed.
Previous efforts to ban antibiotics as feed additives to fatten livestock have failed because of the opposition of the livestock industry and drug manufacturers. Now the Food and Drug Administration is considering a new petition to ban the use of medically useful antibiotics as growth promoters. This action would be an important step in protecting the effectiveness of drugs used to treat human diseases and in stopping industrial-style livestock production.
Please write FDA Commissioner Jane E. Henney to urge her to ban antibiotics as livestock growth promoters.
Dr. Jane E. Henney: Commissioner Food and Drug Administration 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 14-71 Rockville, MD 20857
1. TAKE ACTION ON GLOBAL WARMING. Raising miles-per-gallon standards for cars and trucks would slash global warming and help protect our environment. It would also reduce America's dependence on foreign oil, reduce pressure to drill for oil in sensitive wilderness areas, and strengthen our economy. After years of ducking the issue through anti-environmental riders in the Transportation Appropriations bills, the U.S. Senate will soon vote on a Clean Car Resolution. Sens. Slade Gorton (R-Wash.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), and Richard Bryan (D-Nev.) will be offering a resolution urging that the anti-environmental CAFE- freeze rider be dropped from the Transportation Appropriations bill. Calls are pouring in to Senate offices, but there is more to be done! Please write, phone, or fax your senators and urge them to support the upcoming Gorton/Feinstein/Bryan Clean Car Resolution! Tell them that sport-utility vehicles and other gas guzzlers should meet the same fuel-efficiency standards as cars. Remind them that raising miles-per-gallon standards is the biggest single step we can take to curb global warming!
2. TAKE ACTION ON FAMILY PLANNING The House of Representatives is expected to vote next week on the FY2000 Foreign Operations Appropriations bill, which would allocate $385 million for international family planning funding and $25 million for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Chris Smith (R-NJ) and other family planning opponents in the House are likely to try to reduce or restrict family planning aid and eliminate funding for UNFPA. Please contact your Representative and tell them to support full U.S. funding for international family planning programs --- without restrictions. For more information contact Jennifer Kurz at 202.547.1141 or at jennifer.kurz@sierraclub.org or visit our webpage at www.sierraclub.org/population. Thank You!
3. TAKE ACTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS Former Russian navy captain Alexandr Nikitin was on July 12 officially charged with state treason for the eighth time by Russian Federal Security Service, FSB, for contributing to an environmental report on the pollution of decaying Russian nuclear submarines. Russia's Social Ecological Union, the umbrella organization for most Russian environmental groups, believes the FSB is targeting environmentalists for harassment. Let the Russian Embassy know that the persecution of environmentalists is wrong. Remind the Russian's that their own constitution provides protections for environmental whistleblowers. Please write to the Russian Ambassador, His Excellency Yuri V. Ushakov, Embassy of the Russian Federation, 2650 Wisconsin Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20007, or send an e-mail: russ-amb@cerfnet.com. For more information, visit our Web site, www.sierraclub.org/human-rights
4. TAKE ACTION ON RESPONSIBLE TRADE
Stop the Beetle Invaders. Order your copy of the Responsible Trade Program's new action kit to stop the invasive tree pests that threaten America's forests, parks, and neighborhoods. As imports grows, so do the number of beetles, fungi, and other imported pathogens that threaten America's natural heritage. For instance, the Asian long-horned beetle has destroyed thousands of trees in New York City and Chicago. If it spreads, it could destroy more hardwood forests across the country than Dutch Elm disease, gypsy moth, and chestnut blight combined. To stop more such dangerous critters from entering the country, we must change international trade rules that block strong preventive action. The kit contains everything you will need to stage a "Last Great Maple Syrup Pancake Breakfast" to draw attention to the Asian beetle's special love for Sugar Maple trees and to draw media attention to the urgent need for a new, clean, and green approach to trade. Contact Dan Seligman at (202) 547-1141 or dan.seligman@sierraclub.org
5. TAKE ACTION ON SPRAWL. The Clinton administration's Better America Bonds program would help communities preserve open space and clean up abandoned industrial sites. This sprawl-busting program would allow communities to get tax-free, 15-year bonds for actions like land acquisition and clean up. Recently, key Democrats in the House, including Robert Matsui (D-Calif.) and Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) introduced legislation to fund the Better America Bonds! They're looking for other representatives to join them, and this is the time to call yours. Ask him or her to co-sponsor this important legislation. For more information contact The Environmental Quality Program (202) 547-1141.
6. TAKE ACTION TO END COMMERCIAL LOGGING. Commercial logging on National Forests and other federal public lands damages fish and wildlife habitat, degrades drinking water, destroys recreation opportunities and charges the cost to taxpayers. Now pro-logging forces threaten to dismantle forest protection laws with a rider on the Senate Interior Appropriations bill. Call your senators at (202) 224-3121 and urge them to protect our forests and remove all anti-environmental riders from spending bills! For more information contact Sean Cosgrove at sean.cosgrove@sierraclub.org
"You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today." -Abraham Lincoln
Contents:
TAKE ACTION:
1. STEELHEAD MAY STALL HIGHWAY.
2. SIERRA CLUB UNVEILS WEB PAGE TO HELP CONSTITUENTS TRACK ENVIRONMENTAL VOTES IN CONGRESS.
3. TWO VICTORIES FOR UNFPA!!
1. STEELHEAD MAY STALL HIGHWAY Scientists at the California Department of Fish and Game last week identified trout found in San Mateo Creek, San Diego County, as southern steelhead, a species which gained federal protection two years ago as endangered.
San Mateo Creek, and the San Onofre State Beach Park containing it are in the path of the final 16 mile leg of a proposed toll road being built by the Transportation Corridor Agencies. If federal scientists determine that the trout species is a sustainable population, the road project could be put on hold while the developer conducts required studies on how the highway would effect the fish. "Taking into account one of God's creatures could be a problem for them," said Elizabeth Lambe, Sierra Club Representative.
The Sierra Club has made protection of the park one if its national priorities, and has formed a coalition, Friends of the Foothills, to fight the proposed toll road. The Club believes the area is vital, not only to the endangered species and their habitat, but also to local residents' quality of life. "This seems to us like a wonderful piece of Wild Orange County," said Jim Blomquist, head of the Sierra Club Campaign
The developer, Transportation Corridor Agencies is telling residents that the toll road will save people from gridlock, frustration and wasted time spent in traffic. The Sierra Club sees the road as a recipe for loss of natural land and worsened sprawl, fearing that it would encourage development in the wilderness area northeast of the park.
In addition to the trout finding, the park is famous for the high-quality surfing waves found there at its Trestles beaches--sometimes referred to as the "Yosemite of surfing." Unlike every other rivermouth surfing spot in Southern California, the coastal waters at the mouth of the San Mateo Creek are clean and receive an uninterrupted, natural flow of sediment from the creek. The park and river represent rare undeveloped, undammed federal land--all too scarce in Southern California.
To learn more about the fight to save the park and view a 4 minute video interview with the 21 year old student activist who discovered the steelhead, visit https://www.sierraclub.org/field/southerncal/steelhead.html
2. SIERRA CLUB UNVEILS WEB PAGE TO HELP CONSTITUENTS TRACK ENVIRONMENTAL VOTES IN CONGRESS
The Sierra Club launched a new Internet site this week to help constituents and reporters track how their Representatives and Senators voted on important environmental issues. The web site, which already includes three budget votes cast late last week, will be updated shortly after Congress casts any major vote affecting clean water, air or land.
By logging onto Sierra Club's new VoteWatch web site -- at www.sierraclub.org/votewatch/ -- you can know in an instant whether your members of Congress are voting to protect America's environment. Politicians often say they're working to protect the environment, but VoteWatch will allow you to find out whether your public officials walk the walk, or simply talk the talk.
Check it out!
3. Two Victories for UNFPA!!
Yesterday was an amazing day for population! Rep. Tom Campbell's amendment to reinstate a $25 million U.S. contribution to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) passed the full House in the American Embassy Security Authorization Bill (H.R. 2415) by a vote of 221-198. This authorized UNFPA to exist and set policy.
Then last night, the House Appropriations Committee took a large first step in approving funds for UNFPA. It approved a measure offered by Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to provide $25 million in funding to UNFPA by a vote of 30 -26! The measure reflects the provisions dictated in the Campbell amendment to H.R. 2415 that passed earlier in the day. Six Republicans joined the Democrats in voting for the language, despite a GOP leadership effort to defeat it.
The usual attacks on family planning, like Rep. Chris Smith's (R-NJ) "global gag rule," were not offered because there was not enough support for them in committee.
The Foreign Operations Appropriations bill must next be passed by the full House. It may be considered as early as next week. Family planning opponents may try again to introduce harmful amendments. We will keep you updated.
As soon as a list of Representatives and their votes are available I will pass them on to you. It is very important that we thank Representatives who voted correctly since they will soon be again voting on this issue.
Congratulations and thanks to everyone!!!! Keep up the good work.
For more information, contact Jennifer Kurz at 202.547.1141 or at jennifer.kurz@sierraclub.org. Or look at our website at www.sierraclub.org/population.
"We've got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need?" -Lee Iacocca
Contents:
TAKE ACTION: Riders Away!! AND Protecting our National Forests
1. EPA suspects Grandfathered Power Plants of Skirting the Law.
2. Smog on Mt. Ranier!
TAKE ACTION
Riders Away!! AND Protecting our National Forests
Sounds like things may be moving ahead on Interior Appropriations - the nasty Senate bill may be on the floor for votes this week! We expect several senators to offer amendments to strip some of the anti-environmental bills from the bill. And we also expect an amendment to transfer money out of the timber program and into fish and wildlife protection. Things are still in flux, but here's what we know so far:
* Senator Patty Murray is expected to offer an amendment to strike the mining rider from the bill. The mining rider slipped into the bill by Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) would allow the dumping of unlimited amounts of mining waste on public lands.
* Senators Chuck Robb (D-VA) and Max Cleland (D-GA) may be offering an amendment to strike a rider that threatens America's National Forests, public lands and wildlife. This rider (referred to as "section 329") would allow the Departments of Agriculture and Interior to ignore new scientific information about wildlife. They could revise land management plans and issue leases without taking into account important consequences for wildlife. In fact, you can help right now by asking your senators to sign on a "dear colleague" letter by Sens. Robb and Cleland opposing this rider.
* Other senators may take the lead on amendments to strike more riders, including a rider that would require that livestock grazing leases on public lands be extended indefinitely without taking into account environmental damage or public input. Another rider we hope to have a vote on would stop the reintroduction of grizzly bears in the Northern Rockies.
* Senator Richard Bryan (D-NV) is expected to offer an amendment similar to the one offered by Reps. Wu and Hooley in the House last week. His amendment would move $32 million out of the timber program and transfer the money into environmental programs like road maintenance (to stop erosion that pollutes streams) and fish and wildlife programs.
Here are four things you can do *right now* to help protect our public lands:
* call your senators and ask them to vote to strip all the anti-environmental riders out of the Interior Department funding bill;
* ask your senators to support the Bryan amendment to transfer money out of the timber program and into fish and wildlife protection;
* ask your senators to sign on to a Dear Colleague letter by Sens. Robb and Cleland opposing the rider that ignores sound science and threatens wildlife (section 329 of the Interior Appropriations bill);
* call, write, fax or e-mail the White House and ask President Clinton to veto the Interior Funding bill until all the anti-environmental riders have been removed.
1. EPA suspects Grandfathered Power Plants of Skirting the Law.
According to the Washington Post, US Environmental Protection Agency investigators have uncovered what they believe are widespread violations of federal air pollution laws by coal-fired power plants that have significantly added to the nation's smog problems.
At least a half-dozen electric power plants have boosted the amount of electricity they can generate without getting the required permits and without adding new pollution controls as required under the 1990 Clean Air Act. Dozens more plants are under investigation in what an administration official said appears to be a pervasive sidestepping of the nation's air pollution laws.
The Clean Air at included a provision which grandfathered old power plants, allowing them to bypass clean air provisions due to their age. The act allows for routine maintenance to these plants, but requires power companies that make significant improvements, such as adding boilers or turbines that will increase their emissions by 40 tons or more a year, to secure new pollution permits and install state-of-the-art emissions controls.
According to an EPA official who told the Post he wished to remain anonymous, "It looks to us like the industry used the grandfathering provisions on routine maintenance and chose to expand them and create a loophole that goes way beyond what the law allows."
EPA officials believe that the suspected violations have produced increased levels of smog producing Nitrogen Oxide as high as 10,000 tons a year at some sites.
The EPA is launching an in-depth investigation into the suspected violations of the Clean Air Act which could include as many as 100 investigators and extend to as many as 100 plants. If violations were committed on the scale that officials suspect, the plants could face tens of millions of dollars in fines.
2. Smog--it's not just for cities anymore.....
According to the Seattle Post Intelligencer Journal, air pollution at the southern base of Mount Rainier has become so bad that the air is considered among the dirtiest in the region. Ozone problems in the region are reported to be so severe that federal and state officials have installed equipment to alert hikers when it's too dangerous to hit the trails.
The cause: The rapidly growing number of cars in the Seattle, Tacoma and Everett area.
You don't have to drive up to Mount Rainier to pollute it," said Mary Burg, manager of the state ecology department's air quality program. Vehicle emissions from throughout the Puget Sound area often end up at the national park.
Stu Clark, an air quality official with the state ecology department told the Seattle Post Intelligencer Journal that if the pollution consistently exceeds permissible levels, the region could be found out of compliance with the federal Clean Air Act. That would trigger new limits on factory emissions, posing a threat to the region's economic growth, he said.
The heavy air pollution on what most consider a pristine mountain it is yet more proof that smog is not only an urban problem, or one that is concentrated in the Eastern US. The EPA is currently taking public comment on proposed new auto pollution and clean gasoline regulations that are aimed at reducing the smog forming Nitrogen Oxide emissions from vehicles. To call the EPA in support of cleaning up our cars, light trucks and the gasoline that fuels them, dial toll free, 1-888-TELL-EPA. For more information, e-mail Michelle Artz at michelle.artz@sierraclub.org
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