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August 18, 1999
"Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Nose" --Slogan targeting Corporate Hog Operations on Sierra Organizer Aloma Dew's t-shirt
CONTENTS: REPORTS THE FIELD
I. Sierrans in the Heartland Battle Large-scale Hog/Chicken Operations in KY, MO, OK
II. Public Education on Salmon in the PNW versus Mother Nature
III. Sierra Club Wilderness Advocates in Utah Carpet Salt Lake City with Postcards
IV. Sierra Club Takes to the Radio Waves to Highlight Legislator's Anti-Environmental Votes
I. Sierrans in the Heartland Battle Large-scale Hog/Chicken Operations
KY: Concerned about the quality of life and environment around them, a group of residents in McClean County, Kentucky are organizing together to win stronger regulations of large corporate feedlot operations. Their meeting drew the attention of two different local papers. Clara Frailey of Calhoun organized a house party for her fellow western Kentucky residents to share their concerns about the recent proliferation of concentrated animal feedlot operations near their homes and farms. Topping off the list concerns, were offensive odor, groundwater contamination, and threats to human health. Aloma Dew, Sierra EPEC organizer informed the concerned citizens about the operations of these large-scale poultry operations and helped them begin to organize a grassroots effort to encourage government regulation of large-scale poultry factories. The first target for the groups activism is a meeting of the Environmental Quality Commission who will be deliberating on the issue.
MO: In Missouri, a giant pork producer was forced to settle a lawsuit challenging that the company violated the state's Clean Water Act. The New York Times reported that the $25 million dollars that Premium Standard Farms agreed to pay for its environmental violations is the largest settlement involving a large-scale corporate animal feedlot operation and should be a sign of the tightening of regulations facing the industry.vThe August 16th article goes on to assert "There are few issues as contentious in the American countryside as the corporate hog industry, in which the manure of thousands of pigs is concentrated in lagoons and then sprayed over fields. The process can create a terrible odor for miles around. And when spills occur, the manure seeps into streams and kills fish. Premium Standard was accused of several spills, including one near here, that killed fish and threatened groundwater.
While most attention on big hog operations has focused on the offensive odor, water pollution caused by the manure poses the biggest threat, environmentalists say. The Sierra Club has labeled big hog operations as one of the most serious threats to the nation's environment. The giant hog farms have degraded some 35,000 miles of rivers and streams in 22 states, said Ed Hopkins, a spokesman for the Sierra Club.`Hog operations are still classified as agricultural,' Hopkins said, "but they have turned into industrial sites."
Thanks to the hard work of Sierra Club CAFO activists in the heartland we are beginning to see national press attention to the issue of how confined animal feedlot operations affect human health and the environment.
OK: In Oklahoma, A HUGE victory was garnered last week by the rural residents of Oklahoma--in particularly those in Beaver County--at the final vote of the Oklahoma Water Resources Board on whether to grant a water permit to a large-scale hog operation.
The Seaboard Corporation had applied for a 27,000-sow water permit for a massive hog factory in Wakefield, OK. The Water Resources Board, after a swing vote change, approved their staff recommendation 5 to 3, which DENIED Seaboard's application for swine water. The staff found that a neighboring church fell under a 1998 statute providing a 3-mile setback from swine factories for recreational facilities operated by non-profit corporations.vThe Oklahoma state legislature passed two major pieces of legislation in 1998 to regulate hog factory operations and the Sierra Club CAFO activists are ever watchful of the enforcement of these new restrictions designed to protect public health and the environment. And though Seaboard has indicated they will go to court to appeal the decision, Sierrans are optimistic the decision will stand.
II. Public Education on Salmon in the PNW versus Mother Nature
The Washington State EPEC campaign and the Cascade Chapter set up shop at the Taste of Edmonds (WA) food festival this past weekend. Using the cleverly designed game "salmon run" as the centerpiece of the booth, EPEC volunteers distributed information on threats to salmon in the Pacific Northwest and efforts to curb sprawl. Over 700 signed postcards were collected to be sent to the surrounding county executives urging them to: take no harmful actions against salmon, enforce existing laws, follow the science, and allocate funds to restore salmon.
Unusual, wet, soggy weather continued to dog the northwest this summer and the weekend was no exception (historical fact: Seattle during the summer months gets less precipitation than Phoenix). Drizzle dogged the activists on Friday and a steady cold rain on Sunday had a rock band playing to an empty beer garden. Soaked volunteers closed-up shop in early afternoon as it became apparent that crowds on that day were going to be non-existent. They fought the rain and the rain won. However, while the rain may not have been welcome to EPEC, salmon in the stream and rivers were enjoying the precipitation.
III. Sierra Club Wilderness Advocates in Utah Carpet Salt Lake City with Postcards
In Salt Lake City, Sierra Club wilderness advocates laid out a carpet of postcards in front of the Wallace Bennett Federal Building to demonstrate the blanket of support to protect more wilderness areas in the state. It took the volunteers over 30 minutes to lay out the 8,000 postcards end-to-end. The post cards, which the Sierrans have been collecting since Earth Day are addressed to Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and urge him to declare 2.5 million acres of Utah lands as Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs) and re-examine remaining areas is the Utah Wilderness Coalition's 9.1 million-acre "Red Rock Wilderness Protection Act." The WSA designation prohibits developments on the land which could prevent it from being named as Wilderness in the future. Marc Heileson, covered in a Standard Examiner article called on Babbitt and the Bureau of Land Management to "finish the job." "It's time for Mr. Babbitt to go the distance," he said.
IV. Sierra Club Takes to the Radio Waves to Highlight Legislator's Anti-Environmental Votes
In Albuquerque, the Sierra Club is running a series of radio ads to highlight Rep. Heather Wilson's record on the environment. The sixty-second spot has attracted the attention of the press and the Congresswoman who is back in the district during August recess. The ad criticizes the Representative Wilson for voting against measures that would have protected national forests, wildlife, and clean streams.
In an effort to educate New Mexico constituents the ad highlights three anti-environmental votes cast by the Congresswoman including measures that would ease congestions and improve air pollution in our national parks, take earnings from federal timber sales and channel them to fish and watershed restoration and improvement, transfer monies funding fossil fuel research to fund fish and wildlife habitat acquisition. Wilson characterized the ads as a political attack that "takes great liberties with the truth." Let the record stand.
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. Just because Congress is on recess doesn't mean we are! When Congress returns after Labor Day, they have many important votes to make --so, please check out the action items below: Global Warming, Sprawl, Clean Water, Ending Commercial Logging, Responsible Trade and Population.
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!
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
TAKE ACTION TO END COMMERCIAL LOGGING
Commercial logging damages our National Forests and forces taxpayers to pay the cost of the logging program. Now, pro-logging forces in Congress have not only added a rider on the Senate Interior Appropriations bill that will increase logging, they've left vital fish and wildlife programs underfunded. Call your senators at (202) 224-3121 and urge them to support two amendments to the Senate Interior Appropriations bill -- BOTH the Robb amendment to remove a pro-logging rider AND the Bryan amendment to shift money from timber sales and into programs that benefit fish and wildlife! For more information contact Sean Cosgrove at sean.cosgrove@sierraclub.org
TAKE ACTION ON CLEAN WATER
Factory farms use 16 million pounds of antibiotics each year to promote faster livestock growth and cover up unhygienic production practices. This unnecessary drug use threatens public health; through food and water it exposes people to bacteria that are resistant to the drugs used to treat tuberculosis, staph infections, pneumonia and other infectious diseases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and prominent public health organizations have expressed great concern about the massive use of antibiotics to increase livestock weight in light of the growing evidence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The United States should follow the example of the European Union, which banned adding human-use antibiotics to animal feed last year. Ask Dr. Jane E. Henney, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, to ban the use of antibiotics to promote livestock growth when those drugs are used to treat humans. The FDA's address is 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 14-71, Rockville, MD 20857. For more information, contact Ed Hopkins at ed.hopkins@sierraclub.org or (202) 547-1141.
TAKE ACTION ON FAMILY PLANNING
Please call your Senators and Representatives and tell them to co-sponsor the Equity in Prescription Insurance Contraceptive Coverage Act (EPICC). This bill requires health insurance plans that cover prescription drugs to also cover the five FDA-approved methods of prescription contraceptives. Giving women access to voluntary family planning and empowering women and girls stabilizes population and protects the environment. Fore more information contact Jennifer Kurz at jennifer.kurz@sierraclub.org or 202.547.1141 or visit our website at www.sierraclub.org/population.
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 Director of the Environmental Quality Program (202) 547-1141.
QUOTES OF THE DAY
"Edgar Wayburn has worked to preserve the most breath-taking examples of the American landscape. In fact, over the course of more than a half-century, both as President of the Sierra Club and as a private citizen, he has saved more of our wilderness than any person alive. And, I might add, his wife, who is here with us today, has been his colleague every step of the way in that endeavor. Those who have been involved in these struggles with him credit his success to his persistence and to his profound conviction as a physician and as a conservationist that our physical health depends on the health of our environment. As we look toward a 21st century in which the world and the United States must combat new challenges to our environment -- and especially the challenge of climate change -- we will need Edgar Wayburn as a model and a guide." -- President Bill Clinton, on awarding Dr. Edgar Wayburn, 5 time Sierra Club President, with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Aug. 11, 1999
"When I heard President Clinton was giving me the Medal of Freedom, it was a total surprise and shock to me, but I am extremely gratified to receive such a high honor. This award recognizes the importance all Americans place on protecting our environment. When I started in conservation 53 years ago, the movement was far outside the mainstream -- today, it is the mainstream. President Clinton has acknowledged that Americans treasure our environment by making it a policy cornerstone for his Administration." -- Dr. Edgar Wayburn, commenting on receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
CONTENTS: REPORTS THE FIELD
I. Sierra Club: Launching Pad to Bigger Things
1. Former MS Club leader Elected to MS State Senate
2. Former Club Staffer appointed to NC office
II. Sprawl: You Know it When You Set It in MN.
III. You Win Some and Your Lose Some: Club Loses Battle to Stop FL Tollway
Sierra Club: Launching Pad to Bigger Things
1. Sierra Club Leader Elected to MS State Senate
Congratulations to Deborah Dawkins, former chair of the Gulf Coast Group of the MS Chapter, who was elected to the Mississippi State Senate last week. Dawkins was cited as "a frequent and well-spoken critic of the [Mississippi] Legislature's handling of environmental issues."
Greenwire reports that she was a known environmental activist, whose "concern for the environment heightened in 1995 when she protested a Waste Management Inc. proposal to expand the Pecan Grove Sanitary Landfill in her district. She later became a volunteer citizen lobbyist for the Sierra Club and the League of Women Voters." Dawkins pledges to maintain her emphasis on environmental issues for the District she will represent. [Greenwire, Aug. 10, 1999]
2. Former Sierra Club Staffer Appointed to NC Office
Bill Holman, a former staffer of the North Carolina Chapter, was appointed as Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources by Gov. Jim Hunt.
Responding to criticism from the business community over Bill's appointment, the Governor noted that we have always had educators as head of the Department of Education, business persons as head of the Department of Commerce. Why not, he asked, have an environmentalist head the state Dept. of the Environment?
Congratulations!!
II. Sprawl: You know it when you see it
"When people ask the head of Minnesota's Sierra Club chapter what sprawl is, she doesn't bore them with technical definitions. Ginny Yingling simply says, 'Think Woodbury.'"
So goes the lead sentence of an expose on sprawl entitled "You know sprawl when you see it... or do you?" that graced the front page of the Sunday, August 8th edition of the Star Tribune. v The piece, which included a two-page photographic spread inside, examined smart growth vs. what the governor of Minnesota calls "dumb growth."
"As the battle against urban sprawl escalates, it's wise to consider exactly what's being fought; metro-area planners say sprawl is not so much where we build as how we build," the sub-header reads.
The article was also accompanied by a sidebar entitled "Sprawl a hot topic as suburbs boom," which opened as follows:
"The New York Times announces 'New Recruits in the War on Sprawl.' Newsweek describes 'hypergrowth.' The Economist magazine of London spotlights the Sierra Club's 'Tour de Sprawl' through the St. Paul suburbs of Woodbury and Cottage Grove.
It has become cool to debate sprawl."
III. Club Loses Battle to Stop FL Tollway
Sprawl and road ways that devour the land won a victory in court. Sierra Club's motion to halt the construction of the Suncoast Parkway tollroad in an area of Florida called the Nature Coast.
The Club's Frank Jacalone is quoted in the Tampa Tribune: "We can't afford to let this highway open the last pristine region to the cancerous growth of urban sprawl."
Jacalone has pledged to continue the fight and the spokeswoman for the parkway project recognized that the battle isn't over. At risk are species protected by state and Federal law and wetlands.
CONTENTS: SUMMER RECESS CONGRESSIONAL UPDATES
1. Global Warming: Transportation Appropriations bill and the Clean Car Resolution and more.
2. Lands: Interior bill and more
3. Environmental Quality
With Congress gone for the August recess, we have a great opportunity to let our fellow voters know what's up. A letter to the editor of your local paper will surely be seen by a lot of vacationing folks taking extra time over the paper, and by your lawmakers. Your representatives and senators will be waltzing about the state, trying to garner press attention.
Why not pay a visit to the town meeting, a ribbon-cutting or ground-breaking ceremony, or the Labor Day festival where you'll be sure to find some politicians? We know from the polls and from our outreach work that Americans care a lot about: reducing the threat of global warming; their parks and public lands, and protecting them; and clean air and water and sprawl. This is a great time to spread the word:
1. Global Warming:
The Clean Car Resolution will go to the Senate Floor right after Labor Day. Congress went home for the rest of the summer without voting on the FY 2000 Transportation Appropriations bill that contains the infamous CAFE-freeze rider. Senators Slade Gorton (R-WA), Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and Richard Bryan (D-NV) are poised to bring their Clean Car Resolution to the floor with the Transportation funding bill. The Clean Car Resolution calls on the Senate to oppose a rider in the Transporation Appropriations bill blocking action on the single biggest step to curbing global warming and saving oil!
Riders opposing action on global warming abound. The worst of the bunch is Rep. Knollenberg's (R-MI) rider on the EPA (VA-HUD Appropriations bill) funding bill preventing the Administration from implementing the Kyoto Global Warming Protocol before Senate ratification. The rider itself is fairly benign, but Knollenberg put report language dictating how EPA conducts educational seminars and activities -- to the point of telling EPA that it must "balance" its panels with a handful of naysaying "scientists". And, he includes language strangling voluntary programs that save energy and money and reduce pollution. Knollenberg is also trying to interfere with the Administration's ability to negotiate further on global warming by attaching his rider to the bill funding the State Department.
In September, battles over CAFE, riders, and funding for energy efficiency and renewable energy will be on the agenda!
2. Lands:
The Interior Department funding bill for the year woefully underfunds important land protection programs like the Land and Water Conservation Fund. To add insult to injury, the bill contains anti-environmental riders that would damage our forests, rangelands and wildlife. Members of Congress should work to increase funding for our natural heritage and vote to strip all anti-environmental riders from all spending bills.
A little background: While the Senate got started on the Interior Bill, there are still several important votes left to cast. An amendment by Senator Chuck Robb (D-VA) will strip a rider that allows the Interior Department and the Forest Service to ignore new scientific data about wildlife when it carries out land management activities. Other riders that we are concerned about would allow livestock grazing on public lands without further environmental review, and would give more tax breaks to the oil industry. (Sen. Kaye Bailey Hutchison R-TX is pushing the tax break, and Senator Barbara Boxer D-CA hopes to make sure the rider stays out of the bill.) Senator Dick Bryan (D-NV) will offer a good amendment that would move money out of the timber program and into fish and wildlife protection and debt reduction. Senator Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Murkowski (R-AK) will offer an amendment to boost funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. All these are important efforts and your community deserves to know about them -- it's up to you to get the message out! Thanks so much.
3. Environmental Quality and Sprawl
A House Appropriations subcommittee began action on EPA's funding bill, slashing by more than half funding for agency staff needed to bring environmental enforcement cases and cutting $50 million from the Superfund waste cleanup program. In addition, Members of Congress earmarked some $345 million in EPA program funding for 230 special projects in their districts, thereby reducing funding for priority public health and environmental programs.
Want to fight back against sprawl? So do two Senators, Max Baucus (D-MT) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT). They've introduced legislation to do that, but they need your help if they're going to push the bill through the Congress.
The legislation, S. 1558, would create bonds for local communities to buy open space, clean up abandoned industrial sites or preserve special water quality or wetlands areas.
We'll have more in another issue of the SC-ACTION on this, but we wanted to give you the heads-up on this now. Call your Senators and ask them to cosponsor S. 1558!
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