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January 31, 2000
"The adoption of this protocol represents a victory for the environment." Juan Mayr, Biosafety Protocol Conference President
CONTENTS
1) TAKE ACTION: Celebrate Major Biotechnology Victory!
2) WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Celebrate Major Biotechnology Victory!
1) TAKE ACTION:
Celebrate Major Biotechnology Victory!
In a major victory for environmental safety over the juggernaut of economic globalization, the United States joined with delegates from more than 140 nation Saturday in Montreal to agree to a new international agreement that limits trade in genetically modified (GM) plants, food, and seeds.
But negotiators first had to overcome heavy resistance from the United States. The Clinton administration has been a strong champion of "free" trade in GM products. It aims to please big US corporations such as Monsanto and Pioneer Hi-Bred International that are the world's leaders in biotechnology. The European Union and many developing countries, however, stood their ground. They rightly fear unforeseen health and environmental risks from a radically new technology that can transform the very stuff of life.
The Euros have a point. Bio-engineering splices genes from one organism into the genetic make-up of another, creating completely new organisms that could never exist in nature. In the United States, little safety testing was done before GM products were widely dispersed in our food supply. Yet many scientists consider the potential risks to be enormous. Some genetically modified foods may be toxic, others may trigger allergic reactions, and others can provoke resistance to life-saving antibiotics. Crops genetically modified to resist herbicides and to ward of pests could pass their genetic material to related wild plants, creating "super-weeds" that are difficult to control or that kill friendly insects.
With GM products now used widely in our food supply, harmful effects may only emerge once its too late to do anything about them.
Among key provisions, the new Biosafety Protocol:
* requires food or seed shipments to bear a label indicating whether they contain GM material;
* allows countries to reject imports of GM products based on the "precautionary principle" -- allowing regulators to err on the side of safety even without conclusive scientific proof about risks;
* bars the WTO from vetoing a nation's use of trade restrictions to implement these rights.
These provisions represent important victories over a WTO-system that has begun to "colonize" the field of environmental law. For instance, the Biosafety Protocol is the first environmental agreement that is not legally subordinate to the WTO when using trade sanctions as an enforcement mechanism.
Last year in Cartagena, Columbia, the United States managed to kill agreement on the Biosafety Protocol. By the time of this year's talks in Montreal, the political equation had changed due to pressure from grassroots groups demanding fair trade policies that protect the environment.
Last November in Seattle, protesters helped to derail a new round of WTO talks. In Montreal, US negotiators were reluctant to rile this growing worldwide citizens' movement. So they struck a deal that, for the first time, gives equal status to trade and the environment.
Big corporations may be poorer as a result, but our children and the environment will be safer.
2) WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR INCLUDING THESE KEY POINTS
In a major victory for environmental safety over corporate "free trade," more than 140 nations meeting last Saturday in Montreal agreed to limit trade in genetically modified (GM) plants, food, and seeds.
Bio-engineering splices genes from one organism into the genetic make-up of another, creating completely new organisms that could never exist in nature. Many scientists believe that some genetically modified foods may be toxic, others may trigger unforseen allergic reactions, and others can provoke resistance to life-saving antibiotics. Crops genetically modified to resist herbicides and to ward of pests could pass their genes to wild plants, creating "super-weeds" that are difficult to control or that kill friendly insects. With GM products now used widely in our food supply, harmful effects may only emerge once its too late to do anything about them.
Despite footdragging from the Clinton administration, which wants Monsanto and other big "biotech" companies to be able to freely market their GM products around the world, US negotiators in Montreal finally agreed to a "precautionary" approach that allows countries to block imports of GM products that might prove risky.
"Congress can save taxpayers $50 billion by cutting federal programs that harm the environment and waste money."
Conclusion of report, "Green Scissors 2000 -- Cutting Wasteful and Environmentally Harmful Spending," released today in Washington
TAKE ACTION
1) GLOBAL WARMING: URGE YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TO SIGN THE BOEHLERT/DICKS CLEAN CAR LETTER
Global warming is one of the most pervasive environmental crises we face, and every day the science on global warming is growing stronger and the evidence is becoming clearer. 1998 was the hottest year since record keeping began in 1860, and 1999 was right behind it. It is time to take the biggest single step the United States can take to curb global warming -- raising miles-per-gallon standards for SUVs, minivans, pickups and cars. Since 1996, Congress has attached a rider to the Transportation Funding bill that has frozen the CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) standards and has even prevented the U. S. Department of Transportation from examining the need to raise the CAFE standards.
PLEASE call or write your Representative and urge them to sign the letter that Reps. Boehlert (R-N.Y.), Dicks (D-Wash.), Greenwood (R-Pa.), and Waxman (D-Calif.) are circulating in support of fuel economy standards. The Boehlert/Dicks letter to President Clinton urges him to "work with Congress to implement" the law setting automotive fuel economy standards. The anti-environmental rider that has frozen CAFE standards since 1995 starts in the House. It is time to stop it! Please urge your representative to sign the Boehlert/Dicks Clean Car letter.
2) PROTECT WILD FORESTS
At the end of last year, the Sierra Club launched a massive grassroots effort to support the President's Wild Forest Protection Plan - a historic initiative that could lead to the protection of 60 million acres of our last unspoiled wild forests. You may be one of the hundreds of thousands of Club activists who signed one of our postcards or spoke at a public hearing in support of the Wild Forest Protection Plan. Sierra Club grassroots efforts were awesome and we flooded the Forest Service with comments.
But our work to protect these wild forests is far from over. Timber industry allies and off-road vehicle enthusiasts are mounting a massive campaign to delay and defeat this proposal. Please help demonstrate broad public support for protecting our last wild forests by writing a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. Some Points to Address in your letter: Our national forests should be protected from all damaging activities; I support the protection of all wild forest roadless areas over 1,000 acres from all damaging activities; I urge my elected officials to publically support this historic plan. If your letter is published, please send a copy to the Sierra Club in DC at 408 C St NE, Washington DC 20002, ATTN: Wild Forest Campaign. Thank you.
3) MAKE CORPORATE LIVESTOCK OWNERS ACCOUNTABLE FOR CLEAN WATER
Believe it or not, the giant corporations who own the livestock at many poultry and pig factories bear no legal responsibility for the massive water pollution these operations cause. To escape accountability, Perdue, Smithfield, Tysons and the other industrial corporations contract with independent growers to raise the animals. When EPA or state agencies issue Clean Water Act permits, the legal responsibility for complying with pollution requirements lies with the contract growers. The big corporations are off the hook, so they have no incentive for making sure that livestock waste doesn't pollute the water.
That's not fair. These huge corporations deliver the animals to an independent grower, prescribe their medications, provide the feed, dictate terms under which the animals must be raised, and then take them to the processing plant. They should also take some responsibility for making sure that their animals' waste does not pollute water. Making the companies responsible for the massive amounts of waste that enters our rivers and streams could be accomplished by having the EPA and state agencies issue Clean Water Act permits that identify both the corporation and the grower as "co-permitees."
Sierra Club and other environmental groups have long urged EPA to take this step, and the Agency's draft Clean Water Act guidance for issuing permits to Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) recommends issuing co-permits. But these wealthy, influential corporations strongly oppose this provision that would hold them accountable for their polluting practices, and EPA may back down and delete it from the final guidance.
Please urge EPA Administrator Carol Browner to require co-permits and hold corporate livestock facilities responsible when they pollute our water. Write her at: U.S. EPA, 401 M Street SW, Washington DC 20460.
4) URGE YOUR CONGRESSMEMBER AND SENATORS TO COSPONSOR THE EQUALITY IN PRESCRIPTION INSURANCE AND CONTRACEPTIVE COVERAGE ACT (EPICC)
The Equality in Prescription Insurance and Contraceptive Coverage Act (EPICC) would require all insurance companies that offer prescription drug coverage to also cover prescription contraceptive drugs and devices. Similarly, the measure would require that health plans offering coverage for outpatient medical services also provide coverage for outpatient contraceptive services. EPICC would make contraceptives more affordable and accessible for all Americans, begin to bring parity to health care costs for men and women, improve women's and children's health, and protect the environment.
EPICC (S.1200 and H.R. 2120) has been introduced in both houses of Congress. It is sponsored by Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Harry Reid (D-NV) in the Senate and Jim Greenwood (R-PA) and Nita Lowey (D-NY) in the House.
For more information visit our website at www.sierraclub.org/population or contact Carol Schlitt at carol.schlitt@sierraclub.org.
5) PUT THE BRAKES ON SPRAWL
As poorly planned development continues to eat away at Americans' quality of life, Congress can help stop sprawl by supporting the Better America Bonds Act, H.R. 2446 in the House of Representatives and the Community Open Space Bonds Act, S. 1558 in the Senate. These bills would help local communities by financing smart growth measures, revitalizing urban areas and removing open space from the path of development.
These companion bills would set up a voluntary program allowing communities to carry out their own conservation priorities by using zero interest bonds to purchase open space, protect water quality, improve access to parks, and redevelop abandoned industrial city centers. Call your Representative and Senator and urge them to help promote smart growth initiatives that protect open space by cosponsoring these bills.
6) NIKITIN IS FREE!!!... OR IS HE? (ACTION ITEM)
On December 29, 1999, retired Russian Navy Captain and environmentalist Aleksandr Nikitin was acquitted of charges of treason and espionage, thanks in large part to vigilant efforts by international environmental and human rights activists who organized on his behalf.
This decision represents a remarkable vindication of Nikitin's efforts to expose an environmental catastrophe of leaking radiation from nuclear submarines. However, the Office of the Prosecutor in St. Petersburg, Russia, has filed an appeal and requested that a different judge preside over the case.
TAKE ACTION: Please write to Acting President Vladimir Putin and urge him to set Nikitin free and to allow environmentalists to operate without fear of intimidation and harassment. Write to: Mr. Vladimir Putin, Acting President of the Russian Federation, c/o Ambassador Yuri Ushakov, Embassy of the Russian Federation, 2650 Wisconsin Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20007. e-mail: president@gov.ru
"If it sounds too silly to be true, it probably isn't."
Sierra Club Midwest Regional Staff Director Carl Zichella, responding on January 13 in the Wisconsin State Journal to an opinion column filled with anti-environmental myths.
1) PROTECTING OHIO GROUNDWATER FROM COW MANURE
Roving Missouri CAFO organizer Scott Dye grabbed headlines in Northwest Ohio last week, where he went to bolster local efforts to defeat a proposal for a 2,400-head dairy. The proposed dairy sits atop the most productive aquifer in the state. The county has several artesian springs. Obviously, an excellent place to cluster a bunch of dairies. One large dairy opened in the area last year. Here, in part, is Scott's report on the public meeting he headlined.
I arrived early in the day to network with the local folk. Great group. Took my water-testing equipment, toured and tested, and to no one's surprise, the stream and sprayfield exiting the existing dairy were smokin' hot with Nitrogen and Phosphorus. I remembered to mention that when I spoke that night. Good meeting -- solid 200 people in attendance. (Great considering the Chamber of Commerce was giving away free gourmet dinners next door.) Others speakers included: Ohio Chapter's Marc Conte, who expertly laid out the legislative update; reps from the Ohio Environmental Council and Ohio Family Farm Coalition, and the local vet. Great press - a full hundred-mile circle from Ft. Wayne, IN to Toledo. Lead story in the Bryan Times, edging out the Chamber banquet.
2) FIGHTING SPRAWL IN CINCINNATI
And in another part of the Buckeye State, EPEC organizer Glen Brand turned out another 200 folks to the Sierra Club co-sponsored public forum on "Smart Growth Solutions to Sprawl in Greater Cincinnati." Glen helped organize this forum, held at the Department of Planning of University of Cincinnati, and the Club's message dominated the event.
A Club volunteer made sure everyone got a copy of our Smart Growth post card, the Rate the States report, and plenty of flyers about the proposed mega-sprawl mall, and the newly-formed Smart Growth Coalition of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.
3) ENVIRONMENTALISTS WIN CRITICAL SUPREME COURT CASE
Great news from Sierra Club legal director Alex Levinson:
On January 12, the Sierra Club and co-plaintiffs Friends of the Earth and Clean (Citizens Local Environmental Action Network) won a huge victory in the U.S. Supreme Court case entitled FOE v. Laidlaw Environmental Services. In a 7-2 ruling, the Supreme Court overturned an appeals court decision that had dismissed the Clean Water Act citizen suit, originally filed in 1992, on the grounds that the suit was moot because Laidlaw had ceased violating the terms of its permit; the appeal court had also ruled that plaintiffs were not entitled to attorneys' fees even if their suit had prompted the polluter's 11th hour compliance.
What was at stake therefore: had the Supreme Court upheld the ruling by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, it would have dealt a severe blow to the ability of citizens to enforce violations of the Clean Water Act (and probably other environmental laws as well). Moreover, there was a risk that the Supreme Court would go beyond the 4th Circuit ruling to conclude that citizen plaintiffs lack standing in all circumstances to ask courts to impose civil penalties for pollution violations.
Bottom line evaluation: this was a huge victory, in large part because the Court did not follow what Laidlaw and arch-conservative allies argued was the natural logic of the Court's earlier decisions; namely, that a suit is automatically moot if a company ceases its violations or even that citizens can never request imposition of civil penalties. The fact that the majority decision includes conservative Justices Rehnquist, O'Connor, and Kennedy suggests that the Court may have less tendency than feared to directly cut back on citizen suit enforcement of environmental laws.
"We can never have enough of Nature." Henry David Thoreau
1) HELP PROTECT LAKES AND STREAMS FROM LOGGING = WRITE THE EPA!
2) FUEL EFFICIENT CARS -- COMING TO A DEALER NEAR YOU
3) PUT THE BRAKES ON SPRAWL
4) HELP EMPOWER WOMEN AND GIRLS
5) NIKITIN IS FREE!!!... OR IS HE? (ACTION ITEM)
1) HELP PROTECT LAKES AND STREAMS FROM LOGGING = WRITE THE EPA!
You can help protect America's lakes and streams from damaging logging activities, but you need to act *soon*! The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing new rules to safeguard our nation's streams and lakes from pollution caused by the logging industry (under a revised rule known as the Total Maximum Daily Load or TMDL). The agency is accepting comments only until January 20, so please act now!
Each year logging and logging roads dump sediment into America's streams and rivers and damage fish and wildlife habitat. Other logging operations such as log chipping mills and logging yards contribute runoff and pollute streams and drinking water supplies. Until now the clout of the forest products industry has made pollution of waters from logging activities *exempt* from reasonable regulatory safeguards! EPA's proposal takes just a small step towards protecting water quality from industrial logging activities. But the timber industry is trying to stop *any* responsible protection! Cleaner water means better habitat for aquatic wildlife, and better management practices mean better wildlife habitat and healthier streams!
** TAKE ACTION **
Write a letter and urge the EPA to stand up to special interest pressure. Tell the EPA how concerned you are about the water pollution caused by logging on both public and private lands. Ask the EPA to take strong action to protect America's waterways from logging activities, and specifically to (1) keep the protection they have written into the proposed rule and (2) strengthen it by applying it more broadly. The timber industry is really putting the pressure on, so PLEASE send your comments in by January 20!
E-mail it to: ow-docket@epa.gov or Send it to : Comment Clerk for the TMDL Rule Water Docket (W-99-04) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 401 M Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20460
2) FUEL EFFICIENT CARS -- COMING TO A DEALER NEAR YOU
For years auto companies have built heavily polluting vehicles and Sierra Club has responded by blasting the companies for their irresponsibility. In 1999 our efforts culminated in a campaign against the Ford "Valdez", the most polluting passenger vehicle ever produced.
The Honda Insight, which gets 65 miles per gallon, proves that energy efficient cars can be built with cost effective technology that is available today. It is clean enough to earn the first ever Sierra Club Award for Excellence in Environmental Engineering. The Honda Insight is available now and the Toyota Prius (50mpg) will be debuting later this summer. Japan has shown the way and now it is time for Detroit to meet the challenge and prove that they can make cleaner cars, too. Please send a letter-to-the-editor of your local papers. Point out that auto makers' false claims that people don't want fuel efficient cars is simply not true. The future of fuel efficient cars is coming. Tell Detroit to get on board.
3) PUT THE BRAKES ON SPRAWL
As poorly planned development continues to eat away at Americans' quality of life, Congress can help stop sprawl by supporting the Better America Bonds Act, H.R. 2446 in the House of Representatives and the Community Open Space Bonds Act, S. 1558 in the Senate. These bills would help local communities by financing smart growth measures, revitalizing urban areas and removing open space from the path of development.
These companion bills would set up a voluntary program allowing communities to carry out their own conservation priorities by using zero interest bonds to purchase open space, protect water quality, improve access to parks, and redevelop abandoned industrial city centers. Call your Representative and Senator and tell urge them help promote smart growth initiatives that protect open space by cosponsoring these bills.
4) HELP EMPOWER WOMEN AND GIRLS
Your Senators and Representatives are back in their districts until January 24, 2000. Now is the time to make arrangements to meet with your legislators during this holiday recess. Urge them to empower women and girls by co-sponsoring the Microenterprise for Self-Reliance Act.
As part of our work on women's empowerment, the Sierra Club supports the Microenterprise for Self-Reliance Act. This piece of legislation would request $90 million in funds for international micro-credit programs for low-income women in the developing world. Micro-credit programs allow low-income women to borrow small amounts of money at low interest rates to enable poor women to start their own businesses. These programs have a 90% repayment rate. As women earn income they also gain self-esteem and more bargaining power economically and with regards to the reproductive rights.
The Microenterprise for Self-Reliance Act (H.R. 1143 and S.1463) has been introduced in both Houses of Congress. It sponsors are Sen. Michael DeWine and Rep. Benjamin Gilman. It has 24 co-sponsors in the House and 11 in the Senate. To see if your Representative and Senators are co-sponsors, visit https://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d106:HR01143:@@@P and https://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d106:SN01463:@@@P.
For more information visit our website at www.sierraclub.org/population or contact Carol Schlitt at carol.schlitt@sierraclub.org.
5) NIKITIN IS FREE!!!... OR IS HE? (ACTION ITEM)
On December 29, 1999, retired Russian Navy Captain and environmentalist Aleksandr Nikitin was acquitted of charges of treason and espionage, thanks in large part to vigilant efforts by international environmental and human rights activists who organized on his behalf.
This decision represents a remarkable vindication of Nikitin's efforts to expose an environmental catastrophe of leaking radiation from nuclear submarines. However, the Office of the Prosecutor in St. Petersburg, Russia, has filed an appeal and requested that a different judge preside over the case.
TAKE ACTION: Please write to Acting President Vladimir Putin and urge him to set Nikitin free and to allow environmentalists to operate without fear of intimidation and harassment. Write to: Mr. Vladimir Putin, Acting President of the Russian Federation, c/o Ambassador Yuri Ushakov, Embassy of the Russian Federation, 2650 Wisconsin Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20007. e-mail: president@gov.ru
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