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April 17, 2000
We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we
see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love
and respect.
-- Aldo Leopold, The Quiet Crisis by Stewart L. Udall, 1963
Contents:
TAKE ACTION: Help Build Support for an Amendment to Fix CARA
VICTORY: WORLDS LARGEST TREES FINALLY PROTECTED!
NEWS: Newsweek's Earth Day Poll
TAKE ACTION: Talk to Your Congressman - Help Build Support for a Crucial CARA Amendment!
The Congress is considering landmark legislation that would provide historic levels of funding for crucial land and wildlife conservation programs. The "Conservation and Reinvestment Act," or "CARA" (H.R. 701), has broad support in Congress, and will most likely come up to bat in the House as soon as mid-May. CARA presents Congress with an excellent opportunity to provide full and permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and other valuable programs -- but only if critical amendments to fix the bill are adopted by the House when it considers CARA.
Representatives Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.) and Ed Markey (D-MA) plan to offer an amendment on the floor that will address some of CARA's problems. This is a promising, bipartisan amendment -- but we still need to build all the support for it that we can. From now until May 2, Congress is in recess, which means your Representative is at home in the district. It's a great time to meet with him or her to discuss this important issue and urge his or her support for the Boehlert/Markey amendment.
While CARA would provide permanent funding for an array of important conservation programs, in its current form it still has some critical flaws. First, the bill would create a "coastal impact assistance" program that contains incentives for new oil and gas leasing in sensitive coastal areas, particularly in Alaska. And it would allow any amount of that funding to be used on projects that are actually harmful to the environment. In addition, the bill would NOT ensure that money set aside for the Land and Water Conservation Fund is actually spent by Congress.
The amendment penned by Reps. Boehlert and Markey would largely eliminate incentives for new offshore oil and gas development. It would also cap the amount of funding that could be used for damaging onshore infrastructure projects, and would ensure that the bulk of "coastal impact" funding would be used for ocean and coastal restoration purposes. In addition, the amendment would allow the Administration to spend federal LWCF money that the Congress fails to spend in any given year, helping to ensure the protection of our precious National Parks, Wildlife Refuges, Forests and other protected areas.
Please call your Representative's local office and see if you can set up a meeting in the district office. If the schedule is booked, see if the Representative will be at a town hall meeting, where you could pose a question regarding CARA, and urge the Representative to vote in favor of this critical amendment.
CARA has truly historic potential -- the Boehlert/Markey amendment will help ensure this promising bill does not end up damaging our fragile coastlines.
VICTORY: WORLDS LARGEST TREES FINALLY PROTECTED!
President Clinton permanently protected the world's largest trees and hundreds of thousands of acres of ancient forest by designating the "Giant Sequoia National Monument" last Saturday. Sierra Club members have been working to protect this magnificent ecosystem since the days when John Muir strode the mountains of the Sierra Nevada. Congrats to all who have written, called and worked to bring protection to one of nature's true wonders!
``We are thrilled to see President Clinton start the 21st century by giving the giant sequoia forests the protection they deserve,'' said Joe Fontaine, a Sierra Club past president who has worked 40 years to protect the trees.
The monument, Clinton's way of marking the 30th anniversary of Earth Day in a week, will be split into northern and southern sections separated by Sequoia National Park. Protected will be 34 of the 75 or so remaining groves. The entire Monument is 328,000 acres.
Commercial timber logging will be banned from all land within the boundaries of the monument.
While no logging of the giant sequoias has occurred for about 25 years (small sequoias and other trees such as fir and pine have been cut), logging is hazardous to the fragile ecosystem supporting the giant trees.
Previously agreed upon timber sales will continue, providing a 2 1/2-year timber supply under the new monument designation. Thinning of trees would be allowed for fire management.
Recreational access for hunting, fishing and camping would continue and two existing camps will continue to operate subject to normal permit processes.
See the Sierra Club's website at www.sierraclub.org for more information.
NEWS: Newsweek's Earth Day Poll
A national poll cited in NEWSWEEK this week found that 52% of people believe that "minor progress" has been made on cleaning up the environment. When asked to choose from a list of environmental problems, those polled cited air and water pollution as "most important." More than 30% of those polled said that environmental issues are important in determining how they vote. This year, it is VITAL that we continue our efforts to educate voters on the environmental records of those running for Congress.
The poll was conducted by Princeton Research Associates, April 13-14; 752 adults surveyed; margin of error +/- 4% (release, 4/15).
Since the first Earth Day 30 years ago, how much progress -- if any -- has been made solving environmental problems?
Major progress 18% Minor progress 52 No progress 7 Environmental problems have gotten worse 16 D/K 7 Which Is The Most Important Environmental Problem? Air pollution 19% Water pollution 19 Garbage and landfills 17 Loss of the ozone layer 13 Global warming 12 Endangered or vanished species 5 Acid rain 3 Some other environmental problem that I haven't mentioned 4 D/K 8 (Asked of 584 RVs; +/- 4%)
In general, how important are environmental issues in determining your vote for major political offices?
All GOP Dem Ind
Very important 32% 19% 41% 34%
Somewhat important 41 46 42 40
Not too important 14 21 9 13
Not at all important in
determining your vote 9 12 5 11
D/K 4 2 3 2
"The trade unions never threaten a member of Congress, we never beg, and we never forget."
-- Organized Labor advocate speaking on April 12 at a rally to oppose permanent normal trade relations With China which, if enacted, would open the door to lower international environmental safeguards. Sierra Club members were among the rally's 10,000 participants.
CONTENTS:
1. TAKE ACTION: Get involved in the Wild Forest Protection Campaign
2. TAKE ACTION: Help Stop the "Clearcuts for Kids" Bill
3. TAKE ACTION: Urge Your Rep. to Support the Clean Car Letter. 4. Campaign to save the San Francisco Peaks gets national media attention
1. WILD FOREST CAMPAIGN
Our Wildlands campaign to protect 60 million of unspoiled wild forests is off and running! We have lots of materials for your use, building up to the official Forest Service announcement about the plan in early-mid May.
Here's how you can get involved: Collect official comments that the Forest Service will count as a vote to protect wild forests by getting postcards signed at every opportunity. Show the "End of the Road" video to groups to get them excited and involved and encourage them to attend the upcoming Forest Service Hearings in your region mid-May through July. Contact your regional conservation chair to arrange for travel to hearings. Contact julie.hudson@sierraclub.org for more postcards & videos.
2) HELP STOP THE "CLEARCUTS FOR KIDS" BILL
Almost a century ago, Congress passed a law requiring the U.S. Forest Service to turn over 25 percent of its logging revenues to rural counties to fund schools and roads. That outdated law creates a perverse incentive for affected communities to support high levels of logging. Although education funding is the excuse for supporting this program, many counties spend 75% of their payment on roads, not schools.
But Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Larry Craig (R-ID) are backing a bill known as S. 1608, the "Secure Rural Counties and Community self-determination Act," that would force the Forest Service to increase logging to make more money and give management decisions on National Forest lands to local interests. This bill holds schoolchildren hostage to an unsustainable logging program. This bill is moving fast and could be voted on soon!!
The bill also ignores the contributions of National Forests to recreation, wildlife, fishing and water quality. Nationally, recreation generates nearly $40 to the economy for every dollar generated by logging, and creates more than 30 times as many jobs. And increased logging destroys recreation opportunities. In addition, rural communities rely on National Forests for clean drinking water and logging can clog streams with silt and run-off. Communities should not have to sacrifice clean drinking water, jobs and wildlife habitat to fund their children's education.
** TAKE ACTION **
CALL YOUR SENATORS through the Capitol Hill switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and urge them to vote against S.1608. Tell them that schoolchildren should not be held hostage to an unsustainable logging program!
3. TAKE ACTION ON EARTH DAY. URGE YOUR REP. TO SUPPORT THE CLEAN CAR LETTER
Earth Day 2000 is here and the focus is on global warming. The biggest single step we can take to curb global warming and our dependence on foreign oil is to raise fuel economy standards for our cars and light trucks. By making our cars go further on a gallon of gas, we can decrease the 40% of our oil and 20% of our CO2 emissions that our cars and light trucks represent. There is a direct connection between automobiles and global warming and no approach to curbing global warming will work unless we the pollution coming from our cars.
Congress is now having a district work period and Representatives will be at home in the district for Earth Day. This provides a wonderful opportunity to contact your Representative and encourage him or her to endorse the Clean Energy Agenda and to reduce global warming by supporting increased fuel economy standards.
PLEASE call or write your Representative and urge them to sign the Boehlert-Dicks Clean Car Letter in support of increased mile per gallon, or Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE), standards. The Boehlert-Dicks letter urges President Clinton to "work with Congress to implement" the law setting automotive fuel economy standards.
Thanks to all the members who have already been contacting your Congressmember. Your calls are working! Currently, over 75 Congressmembers have signed on to the Clean Car Letter and many of our recent signers have indicated that they have been receiving lots of calls, even stating, "All those Sierra Club calls have convinced us we'd better sign this." Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Unfortunately, the auto industry to take action as well. The auto makers have realized that their "just say no" efforts aren't working, so they've decided to say "yes" to something. But what they've proposed is a wolf in sheep's clothing and will only further limit efforts to increase fuel economy standards. Yesterday, April 13, friends of the auto industry introduced a bill that calls for a lengthy study which will delay any current action. Tax incentives are also created which could erode CAFE standards. This bill is not an approach to address environmental concerns, but is designed to get around fuel economy standards and delay action. The auto makers have realized that their "just say no" efforts aren't working, so they've decided to say "yes" to something. But what they've proposed is a wolf in sheep's clothing and will only futher limit efforts to increase fuel economy standards.
Some quick facts about the issue:
*Cars and light trucks alone guzzle 40% of the oil we use every day in the US -- about 8 million barrels every day!
*The average fuel economy of new vehicles sold in 1999 was at its lowest point since 1980, largely due to gas guzzling SUV's and other light trucks. The standard for automobiles is currently 27.5 mpg.
*The CAFE standard for light trucks -- SUV's, minivans and pickups -- has stagnated for 19 years. It is a low 20.7 mpg.
*The CAFE standard for cars has not changed in 14 years and was set in the original CAFE law in 1975.
*OPEC has once again reminded us that we are dependent on foreign oil. 55% of the oil we use is imported. The oil industry and their friends in Congress are using high oil prices as an excuse to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge -- our last pristine wilderness area. The Arctic is our Serengeti. We should dill under Detroit NOT the Arctic.
*Raising CAFE standards will save more oil than we import from the Persian Gulf, can expect to get from the Arctic and off-shore California COMBINED!
Every year since 1995 friends of the auto industry have attached an anti-environmental rider to the bill that funds the Department of Transportation freezing CAFE standards. This is a back door gag rule on the agency responsible for studying and setting new fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks. With this rider in place, the Department of Transportation can't even study new fuel economy standards!
It is time to stop the CAFE-freeze rider so we can stop guzzling gasoline and slash pollution! Please urge your representative to sign the Boehlert/Dicks Clean Car letter.
For more information contact jeffrey.bourne@sierraclub.org
4. Sierra Club, others speak for peaks against pumice mine expansion STEVE DiMEGLIO
04/10/2000 Gannett News Service (Copyright 2000) WASHINGTON -- On the flank of the San Francisco Peaks, which rise to the highest point in Arizona, miners unearth frothy volcanic rock called pumice that is used to give a soft and faded feel to stone- washed jeans. The White Vulcan Mine -- nearly 100 feet deep and 100 acres in size -- lies between the Sunset Crater National Monument and the Kachina Peaks Wilderness in the Coconino National Forest about 12 miles northeast of Flagstaff, Ariz.. The mine has produced nearly a million cubic yards of pumice - most which has gone to denim factories in Los Angeles and El Paso, Texas. Now owners of the mine -- Tufflite Inc. of Glendale, Ariz. -- want to expand. That doesn't wash with Navajo activist Sammy M. James, who wonders how a fashion trend justifies the carving away of dozens of acres on the flanks of mountains. The proposal to expand the mine by 30 acres has been met with a round of critical resolutions by the Flagstaff City Council, Coconino County and Indian tribes throughout northern and central Arizona. James, two other members of American Indian tribes and the Sierra Club were in Washington this week to lobby government agencies on behalf of the peaks, which attract thousands of hikers, mountain bikers and other outdoor enthusiasts each year. The mountains also have long been sacred to 13 American Indian tribes, including the Navajo, Apache, Hopi and Hualapai. "We are doing this for our elders, our generation, and the unborn," said James, part of the group that met with representatives from the Forest Service, Department of the Interior, Department of Agriculture, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and the office of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. "It is one of the world's most powerful peaks," James added. "We have to educate the white man's society that we cannot alter the ecology. If we do, it will harm us." The mountains are home to a diverse number of species including Mexican Spotted Owls, mountain lions and bears. Various plants found in the peaks are used in healing and American Indian religious ceremonies. Volcanic eruption 600,000 years ago laid down a deposit of pumice stone, which is also used to make lightweight concrete and for horticulture purposes. All trees, vegetation, topsoil and rocks are stripped to expose the pumice. The mine had a large expansion in the mid-1980s when the stone-washed jeans fad took off, but no one paid much attention to the mine, which isn't visible from nearby U.S. 89. The Sierra Club has listed the peaks among the 10 most threatened landmarks in the nation. Along with tribal organizations, the Sierra Club is pushing to have the federal government designate the area as a Traditional Cultural Property, a designation that could greatly restrict mining. Such a listing means the Hopi, Navajo, Havasupai and Zuni tribes would help the Forest Service manage existing uses of the mountain. The Forest Service proposes to withdraw all forms of mining, including pumice, from 74,000 acres that would include the peaks and the rest of the forest between U.S. 89 and U.S. 180, the highways leading to the Grand Canyon. But Tufflite has a formidable ally -- a federal mining act passed by Congress 128 years ago. The Mining Law of 1872 was intended to encourage the development of the West. The mining of precious metals like gold and silver was crucial to building the wealth of a fledgling nation. The law allows private mining firms to stake claims and mine land owned by federal taxpayers for $5 an acre if they can prove there are marketable minerals on site. In most cases, federal land managers are unable to stop mining under the 1872 act, even if the public favors other uses for the land. The law has survived numerous court challenges. Mine owner Ed Morgan said if the mining law is changed, he would abide by it. But until that happens, he will continue to mine. "If they want us out, they can buy us out," he said. But Bucky Preston of the Old Village of Walpi on the Hopi Reservation said the mountains "are not for sale." "I am speaking for the things that cannot speak," he said. "The mountains must be protected."
"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring." - Rogers Hornsby
CONTENTS:
1. TAKE ACTION: Senate Floor Vote on Arctic Refuge Expected Tuesday
2. HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE ENVIRONMENT: Mexican Environmentalists Face Trial
1. Senate Floor Vote on Arctic Refuge Expected Tuesday
Tomorrow Senator Roth(R-DE), the author of the Arctic Wilderness bill will offer an amendment to strike the Arctic Drilling provision from the FY2001 Budget Resolution. We expect the full senate to vote on the amendment either Tuesday or Wednesday.
***Please call your Senator and urge them to protect the Arctic Refuge from oil and gas development by SUPPORTING THE ROTH AMENDMENT.*** The Capitol switchboard number is (202)224-3121. Your call could make the difference as we are within striking distance of winning this vote.
Background
Some Senators are using the current hike in gas prices to vie for opening the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling. They have inserted a provision in the FY2001 Budget Resolution that would encourage oil development by assuming revenue from as yet unauthorized drilling in the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge.
America can never drill its way to energy independence. We import more than 55% of our oil and America sits on less than 3% of the world's known energy reserves. Opening our nation's last remaining wild places is not the answer to the problem that consumer's face at the pump. And spectacular landscapes like the Arctic Refuge should not be sacrificed. The coastal plain of the Refuge is the last sliver (5%) of Alaska's North Slope not currently available for oil and gas development. 95% is presently available to oil and gas leasing. Moreover, no one even knows if -- or how much -- oil is actually there. Drilling the Arctic Refuge would be as foolhardy as damming the Grand Canyon, or tapping Old Faithful.
Help defend America's last great wilderness from oil and gas development by calling your senators and urging them to support the Roth amendment. Help take part in this fight and potential victory. Thanks for your work.
2. Mexican Environmentalists Face Trial
The case against two Mexican anti-logging environmentalists, Rodolfo Montiel and Teodoro Cabrera, is in the final stages of hearings and will go to trial, we expect, as early as this week. Last May, Montiel and Cabrera were wrongfully arrested by soldiers from the Mexican army's 40th Infantry Battalion and have been in custody ever since. Soon after their capture, Montiel and Cabrera were brutally beaten and tortured until they confessed to trumped-up charges of drug trafficking and weapons possession.
In reality, their only "crime" was to peacefully protest excessive and reportedly illegal logging in the Southern Sierra Madre.
Last week, our Human Rights and the Environment coalition partner Amnesty International declared Rodolfo and Teodoro Prisoners of Conscience. We have joined Amnesty in calling for their immediate release. We are also calling for the allegations of their torture be fully and objectively investigated and those found responsible be promptly brought to justice.
Please contact the Mexican Embassy or local Mexican Consulates to urge that Rodolfo Montiel and Teodoro Cabrera be immediately released. Inform the Consulate officials that the Sierra Club and Amnesty International's combined one million members are closely monitoring this case and are concerned about the treatment of Montiel and Cabrera. Make sure to tell them that environmental advocacy is not a crime.
The twelve Consulates we are primarily targeting are:
Atlanta, (404) 266-2233 Albuquerque, (505) 247-2147 Austin, (512) 478-2866/478-2300 Boston, (617) 426-4181/426-4942 Chicago, (312) 855-1380/855-0066 Denver, (303) 331-1867/839-2823 Houston, (713) 339-4701/ 339-5473 Los Angeles, (213) 351-6800/651-6825 Miami, (305) 716-4977/716-0898 New York, (212) 217-6400 San Francisco, (415) 392-5554 Seattle, (206) 448-8419/448-8417
A full listing of the 42 Mexican Consulates can be found on-line at: www.embassyofmexico.org/english/dhtm/frame_page.htm
At the Mexican Embassy, please call or send e-mails to the Mexican Attorney General's Office Attache in Washington
Alejandro Diaz De Leon Attache phone: 202-728-1734 fax: 202-728-1737 e-mail: mexpgr5@aol.com
For more information, contact Sam Parry, (202) 547-1141, sam.parry@sierraclub.org, or visit our Web site at www.sierraclub.org/human-rights
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