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May 5, 2000
CONTENTS:
FEATURED ACTION: Conservation and Reinvestment Act - CARA - up for a vote in the House!
Regular Friday Action Features:
1) POPULATION: Contact Your Represenative to Support Democracy
2) SPRAWL: Protect America's Air Quality From Sprawl-Inducing Highway
3) GLOBAL WARMING: Urge your Representative to Support the Clean Car Letter
4) WILDLANDS CAMPAIGN: Crunch Time to Protect Wild Forests
5) HUMAN RIGHTS AND ENVIRONMENT: Mexican Environmentalists Need Your Help
6) CLEAN WATER: Hold Factory Farm Owners Accountable for Pollution
7) POLITICS: Do a Little or Do alot
8) FEATURED FIELD ITEM: MT EVEC Rollout Draws Press
Featured Take Action
CARA, the Conservation and Reinvestment Act, on House floor Wednesday - Amendment Urgently Needed to Fix the Bill
This Wednesday, May 10, the House of Representatives will likely consider the Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA - H.R. 701), a promising conservation funding bill. Please contact your Representative in Congress and urge him or her to vote in favor of the Markey amendment to fix CARA.
If properly amended, CARA could score a big win for the environment by creating a permanent funding source for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and other valuable land and wildlife conservation programs. But changes to the bill are critical to ensure that what could be a conservation victory doesn't actually end up harming fragile coastlines in Alaska, or hindering the LWCF. In its current form, CARA threatens our coastal environment with incentives for new offshore oil and gas drilling in some sensitive coastal areas. It also threatens the effectiveness of the LWCF, a land acquisition tool that is critical for the preservation of our most precious wild places. An amendment package to address CARA's flaws may be offered by a group of Members, including Reps. Ed Markey (D-MA), Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Jim McGovern (D-MA).
While the amendment language has not yet been finalized, we are hopeful the amendment would do the following:
- remove from the bill the most problematic incentives for new offshore oil drilling and limit the amount of "coastal impact funding" that could be used for environmentally damaging infrastructure projects;
- make funding under the bill more equitable, and create a competitive
grants program to protect non-federal lands of regional or national interest, particularly in states that are historically short-changed under the LWCF;
- and give the Administration the opportunity to spend LWCF money if the Congress fails to allocate the full amount, ensuring that projects in need receive the funding they require.
Funding for the LWCF and other valuable conservation programs is vital for the long-term protection of America's special places and open spaces. But it should not come at the expense of our unique and fragile coastlines. Please call your Representative and urge him or her to vote in favor of the Markey amendment package and ensure that this historic piece of legislation represents a Win for our environment.
You'll find the number for the Capitol Switchboard at the end of this message - they can connect you to your Representative.
1) POPULATION
Contact Your Represenative to Support Democracy
The Global Democracy Promotion Act of 2000 (H.R. 4211) has been introduced by Represenatives Lowey, Pelosi, Shays, and Greenwood. This bill reaffirms the U.S. commitment to free speech and democratic values, abroad as well as at home. It also addresses the heart of the Global Gag Rule restrictions which would be unconstitutional in the United States because they violate the right to freedom of expression and ability to advocate on behalf of one's beliefs. The bill's sponsors seek to educate their colleagues about the fundamental principles at stake in international family planning funding and the need to defeat the Global Gag Rule.
H.R. 4211 will stop foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from being forced to relinquish their right to free speech in order to participate in U.S. supported family planning programs. It will also stop foreign NGOs from being barred from U.S. supported family planning programs solely because they provide legal health services with their own money.
TAKE ACTION
Call your Representative to state your support for this pro-democracy legislation. Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121
2) SPRAWL: Protect America's Air Quality From Sprawl-Inducing Highway
A recent experience in Atlanta illustrates how the Clean Air Act can positively affect transportation spending. In Atlanta, the air pollution problems prompted state and local governments to shift investment from sprawl-inducing highways and allowed more funds to be channeled to public transit, safety, traffic management and other projects to help revitalize existing communities. With many areas facing deadlines to attain the national air quality standards, this flexibility is important.
Rep. John Lewis' (D-GA) bill HR 3686 the "Road Back to Clean Air" would provide communities with funding tools to meet air quality health standards and improve transportation mobility. This bill strengthens the conformity provisions of the Clean Air Act to ensures that areas of the country with air quality problems take into account the pollution impacts of proposed transportation projects. Ask your Representative to protect your air quality from sprawl-inducing highways and cosponsor HR 3686. The Senate companion bill is S 2088 introduced by Sen. Max Cleland (D-GA).
For more information contact Dirk Manskopf at 202.547-1141 or dirk.manskopf@sierraclub.org.
3) GLOBAL WARMING AND ENERGY: Urge your Rep. to support the Clean Car Letter
OPEC is once again reminding us that we are dependent on oil. The biggest single step we can take to save oil and curb global warming is to raise miles per gallon standards for cars and light trucks. 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 so we can stop guzzling gasoline and slash pollution! Please urge your representative to sign the Boehlert/Dicks Clean Car letter.
YOUR CALLS ARE WORKING!!!! There are now more than 60! co-signers to the Clean Car Letter. Several of our more recent signers have stated that they are hearing from their constituents. Your voices are being heard, so keep up the efforts. For more information contact jeffrey.bourne@sierraclub.org
4) WILDLANDS CAMPAIGN: Crunch Time to Protect Wild Forests
WILD FOREST CAMPAIGN: FOREST SERVICE HEARING SCHEDULE NOW ON LINE
The entire Forest Service hearing schedule is now available on the web at this address: https://roadless.fs.fed.us/meetings/index.shtml Note the website includes a disclaimer that dates are subject to change, so please double check before you print your local mailings. Everyone's doing a great job trying to get big turn out to the hearings and tons of written comments! If you need info or more materials, contact julie.hudson@sierraclub.org
5) HUMAN RIGHTS AND ENVIRONMENT: PERSECUTED MEXICAN ENVIRONMENTALISTS REMAIN IN JAIL
TAKE ACTION: Urge the Mexican government to immediately release Rodolfo Montiel Flores and Teodoro Cabrera Garcia
Rodolfo Montiel Flores and Teodoro Cabrera Garcia, two anti-logging environmentalists from the Mexican Pacific-coast state of Guerrero, remain behind bars, where, soon after their arrest in May of 1999, they were gruesomely tortured until they confessed to concocted charges of drug-trafficking and illegal weapons possession. Their only real "crime?" Doing the kind of thing Sierra Club activists do every day -- peacefully protesting excessive and possibly illegal logging of old-growth forests in the Southern Sierra Madre.
Last month, international attention was focused on this case when Montiel was awarded the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize, often referred to as the Nobel Prize for environmental activism. Also last month, Amnesty International declared both men prisoners of conscience.
Through our joint Human Rights and the Environment Campaign, Amnesty International and Sierra Club are calling for Montiel and Cabrera to be immediately and unconditionally released. We are also calling for the allegations of torture to be fully and impartially investigated and those responsible brought to justice.
Now is a crucial stage for Montiel and Cabrera, as we expect the Judge to rule on their case in late May. Our tremendous grassroots support for Montiel and Cabrera has brought their story to the attention of the Mexican government, the U.S. Congress and the world community. But more support is needed.
TAKE ACTION: We have structured a two track approach to elevate the struggle on behalf of Montiel and Cabrera's freedom.
First, we are asking all concerned activists (i.e. YOU) to write a letter to the Mexican Attorney General, Jorge Madrazo Cuellar, urging him to recommend that the prosecution drop all charges against Montiel and Cabrera and that they be released immediately and unconditionally.
Secondly, next week, we will be calling on all U.S. Congressional Representatives to sign on to a letter to be circulated by Representative Nancy Pelosi urging President Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico to ensure the immediate and unconditional release of Montiel and Cabrera.
Lic.Jorge Madrazo Cuellar, Procurador General de la República Paseo de la Reforma 65 Esq. Violeta Col. Guerrero México, D.F., 06300.
Please take this opportunity to first send a letter to Attorney General Jorge Madrazo Cuellar (see sample letter below -- remember, a one-page letter to Mexico costs about 50 cents.) Then, beginning next week please call or e-mail your Representative to urge him or her to sign on to the Pelosi letter. The switchboard number for the U.S. Capitol is (202) 224-3121 and your representative can be found on the Web at www.house.gov.
6) CLEAN WATER: Hold Factory Farm Owners Accountable for Pollution
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.
For more information, you can also visit the Sierra Club CAFO web site at https://www.sierraclub.org/cafos.
7) DO A LITTLE OR DO A LOT
Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-CA04) is planning a full-out attack on the environmental movement. He is already trying to put together a committee to dismantle much of the progress made over the last seven years --- like the wild forest protection plan and better auto emissions standards.
To quote one insidious line: "What I am working to do is not merely reverse the damage done but to enable the executive branch to work its will to counter that entire movement and undercut their sources of power."
Ironically, he is calling the group "Project Evergreen." He has asked people to "respond with your suggestions via mail at the address below or via email at project.evergreen@mail.house.gov."
Office of John T. Doolittle ATTN: Joan Willis 1526 Longworth Building Washington, DC 20515
See also: www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/2000-03/08/144l-030800-idx.html
8) FIELD FEATURED ACTION: Montana EVEC Rollout
The Montana EVEC campaign got off to a great start on Tuesday, April 25 with a press conference at the Dude Rancher Lodge in Billings. Set to the backdrop of arustic fireplace and branding irons, TV reporters learned about the M tana Chapter's plans to highlight the voting records of the MT Congressional Delegation, particularly focused on Senator Conrad Burns. Senator Burns' chief of staff and campaign coordinator dropped in to check out the festivities, sat in the front row, and even tape recorded the event.
Kris Prinzing, vice chair of the Montana Chapter, explained the TV ads' focus on last year's vote by Senator Burns to overturn the "millsite"'
provision in the 1872 mining law. This vote allowed mining companies to dump their waste over much larger areas of public land, resulting in problems all to familiar to Montana, where over 1,100 miles of our rivers and streams are already contaminated from mining activities and waste. Tony Steiritz, a young person who has dedicated his life to religious service as a Jesuit Volunteer, spoke to the religious imperative to be good stewards of God's creation, and to be active and informed citizens. Mary Wiper, EVEC organizer, provided an overview of the EVEC campaign and outlined future activities.
The press conference resulted in great TV coverage on NBC and CBS affiliates that reached 2/3rd of the state of Montana, including Billings, Great Falls, Helena, and Bozeman channels.
"Do we really have to destroy tomorrow to live today?" -question from a 10 year old fifth grader to ex-Senator Gaylord Nelson
Contents:
1) TAKE ACTION: Fix the CARA, the Conservation and Reinvestment Act
2) Reports from the field: "No Blank Checks from China!"
Featured Take Action
1) TAKE ACTION:
CARA, The Conservation and Reinvestment Act to House Floor May 9 Urge Your Representative to Support Boehlert-Markey Amendment to Fix the Bill.
The "Conservation and Reinvestment Act," ("CARA" - H.R. 701), a bill to fully and permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and a host of other valuable programs, will be voted on in the House of Representatives next week. Please take a moment to call your Representative and urge him or her to support an amendment package on the floor offered by Reps. Boehlert and Markey that is urgently needed to repair this promising bill.
In its current form, CARA could actually threaten our coastal environment with incentives for new offshore oil and gas drilling in some sensitive coastal areas. It also threatens the effectiveness of the LWCF, a land acquisition tool that is critical for the preservation of our most precious wild places.
Fortunately, Reps. Sherwood Boehlert and Rep. Ed Markey will offer a bipartisan amendment to CARA that could substantially address its shortfalls. The Boehlert/Markey Amendments would make significant improvements to HR 701, by:
- removing the most problematic incentives for new offshore oil drilling and capping the amount of coastal impact funding that could be used for environmentally damaging infrastructure projects;
- making funding under the bill more equitable, and creating a competitive grants program to protect non-federal lands of regional or national interest, particularly in states that are historically short-changed under the LWCF;
- and giving the Administration the opportunity to spend LWCF money if the Congress fails to allocate the full amount, ensuring that projects in need receive the funding they require.
Funding for the LWCF and other valuable conservation programs is vital for the long-term protection of America's special places and open spaces. But it should not come at the expense of our unique and fragile coastlines. Please call the Capitol Switchboard and urge your Representative to "support the Boehlert/Markey amendment package," and help ensure that this historic piece of legislation represents a Win for our environment.
2) "No Blank Checks for China!"
FROM CONSERVATION ORGANIZER, DAVID SCHNEIDER
From the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf Stream Waters, Sierra Club Activists Urge "No Blank Check For China!"
Over the past two weeks, Sierra Club activists joined forces with labor unions, human rights groups, and fair trade organizations to urge Congress to vote against Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China. Club volunteers participated in a series of rallies and district meetings to send a strong message to Congress that unrestricted trade with China is bad for the environment, human rights, and working families.
In Fort Lauderdale, Sierra Club activists Ned Stone joined 100 people at a rally in Fort Lauderdale targeting Reps. Peter Deutsch and Carrie Meek. Ned was quoted in the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinal criticizing Beijing for failing to respect world treaties for cleaner air and protecting endangered species.
In Gainesville, Mary -Slater Linn, central Florida group board member, organized a rally to target Rep. Thurman. She writes "what do you get when you mix together a turtle, bee farmer, woman grain farmer, Presbyterian minister, President of Florida organize growers, owner of a fair trade store, founder of Jungle Gum, a live turtle and some Sierra Club members? Add the Gainesville TV station and the Gainesville Sun newspaper, and you have a press conference saying endangered species, the environment and fair wages are in trouble if China is granted most favored nations!"
In Colorado John Wade with the Rocky Mountain Chapter joined advocates from the AFL-CIO, the teamsters, and the Service Employees Industrial Union in a meeting with Representative Diana Degette of Denver. John and his allies from the labor movement made a strong case that PNTR will help Wall Street and big corporations and hurt working families and the environment.
In Springfield, Massachusetts, Sierra Club activist Annette Ramos spoke at a rally attended by union members and Tibetans upset with China's human rights violations. Annette stressed that the environmental community is opposed to Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China. She also attended rallies in Medford Massachusetts and Biddeford Maine as part of a bus tour organized by Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch and the AFL-CIO.
In Portland, Maine, Chapter Chair Joan Saxe and Vice Chair Susan Sargent joined 13 other activists from labor, human rights, and peace and justice organizations for a meeting with Representative Tom Allen. An article in the following day's Portland Press Herald quotes Allen saying, "I'm concerned that multi-national corporations have too strong a voice as opposed to those advocating for human rights, labor rights, and the environment."
In Los Angeles, turtles, teamsters and Tibetans rallied together to challenge PNTR for China. A dozen Sierra Club activists joined in the sign waving and speeches, with LA Friends of Tibet, the Hollywood Fair Trade Campaign and the AFL-CIO. Sierra Club "No Globalization without Representation" signs mixed in with an unusual alliance of others, reading "Free Tibet Before Free Trade," "Save Our Jobs", "People Before Profit" and "No Blank Check for China." Sierra Club staffer Martin Schlageter spoke: "The organs of endangered black bears and rhinos are illegally for sale in China, and Ann Taylor suits made in sweatshops in China are for sale in the US. Giving up our right to vote on trade with China will only worsen this situation."
In New York City, NYC Group Chair John Klotz spoke at a rally in front of the Chinese mission and met with Rep. Sorrano's staff on the upcoming vote. Sierra Club members and coalition partners also rallied at a "Weiner Roast" outside of Rep. Weiner's district office in Brooklyn and met with the Representative to encourage him to vote against PNTR with China.
In Austin, Karen Ascot, conservation chair of the Austin Group, spoke in front of 50 people at a rally outside of Representative Doggett's office. Rep. Doggett attended the rally and met with activists in his office. Speakers from the AFL-CIO, teamsters, Free Tibet, and Wei Jingsheng, a former Chinese Political Prisoner who spent 19 years in jail for criticizing communism, also attended the meeting. Sierra Club members also participated in rallies in Dallas and McAllen, Texas.
The vote, scheduled for the week of May 22, is expected to be very close. A New York Times Article published on May 3 quotes sources in, the Clinton Administration admitting that they do not yet have the votes they need to pass the PNTR bill, and they, along with some leading Republicans, are working hard to convince the handful of undecided members of Congress. For more information on how to get involved, call Sierra Club trade representative Dan Seligman at 202-547-1141.
"But the possibility exists no matter how scary it may seem That paridise was once the world and it wasn't just a dream The earth was a heaven and we did not know there were rules for us to break But maybe now we'll find out too late what a clever hell we can make...woops" -Blues Travler
Contents:
1) FEATURED ACTION: Take action to reform the Army Corps of Engineers
2) REPORTS FROM THE FIELD: Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt wants to save the San Francisco Peaks
Featured Action
1) URGE THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS TO REFORM THE ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
Over the decades, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has narrowed or dammed a large share of this country's large rivers and has helped drain millions of acres of wetlands. The effects on fish and wildlife have been huge. Environmentalists have long believed that many projects are driven by pork-barrel politics and the desire to help powerful special interests.
Roughly two months ago, several newspapers disclosed compelling evidence that the Corps of Engineers had deliberately "cooked the books" to justify a $1 billion project to expand the barging system on the Upper Mississippi River. Other documents showed that the Corps of Engineers' top generals had launched an effort to grow the budget by 50% without the approval of their civilian overseers.
The good news is that the attention to these problems has produced proposals for major reforms. We urge you to write to President Clinton to urge him to implement these reforms that would order the Corps of Engineers to meet the same wetland protection standards as private developers and to pursue policies that are consistent with the rest of government. We also urge you to contact your Congressman or Senators to urge them to support reform of the Corps of Engineers.
2) Sec. Babbitt wants to Save the Peaks
The Navajo believe the San Francisco Peaks in northern Arizona have the power to heal both mind and body. The peaks are also sacred ground to the Hopi, Zuni, Hualapai, Yavapai and five Apache tribes. But Arizona's mountain landmark is threatened. Tufflite Inc. is currently mining this sacred site for pumice, used for stonewashing jeans.
Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbit attended a rally Sierra Club organized with Tribal leaders throughout Arizona calling for a closure of the White Vulcan Pumice Mine. About 170 people came to the mine site to be with Babbitt, including Tufflite miners, owners and lawyers. Andy Bessler, with the Sierra Club's Save the Peaks campaing said the following about the rally, "We had good dialogue with the miners and currently they want $10 million to get out of the area. It was truly inspiring to hear Babbitt call on all people to help save the peaks and stop the mine. He spoke more like a preacher than a governmental official when mentioning the respect he said we must have for the beliefs of Native Americans in regards to the Peaks. Prior to the rally, Babbitt met with Tribal leaders and activists we had invited, and heard their concerns."
For more information about this campaign, contact Andy Bessler at andy.bessler@sierraclub.org.
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