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DEFENDING ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA
September 15, 2000
"That's the wrong tool. It's like using a meat cleaver to do open-heart surgery." - Sean Cosgrove, Sierra Club DC Lands Team staff, on using commercial timber sales as a method of forest fire fuel reduction (Seattle Times, Sept. 14)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FEATURED ITEM: Damaging Provisions In Conservation Funding Bill Must Be Struck
ACTION ITEMS:
1. TAKE ACTION: STOP LOGGING OUR NATIONAL FORESTS
2. TAKE ACTION: TELL THE PRESIDENT TO PROTECT OUR WILD FORESTS
3. TAKE ACTION: U.S. NEGOTIATING TO WEAKEN GLOBAL WARMING TREATY
4. TAKE ACTION: OUR STREAMS AND WETLANDS NEED PROTECTION FROM SPRAWL
5. TAKE ACTION: SUPPORT THE UNITED NATIONS POPULATION FUND WITH NO "GLOBAL GAG RULE"
IN THE NEWS: US Federal Judge to Hear Case Against Shell for Nigeria Violations
Momentum for Conservation Funding Bill is Strong - But Damaging Provisions Must be Removed!
Take Action: Please contact the President and your Senators and urge them to fix this promising bill.
The Conservation and Reinvesment Act, or CARA (HR 701), would provide up to $3 billion EVERY YEAR for an array of valuable conservation programs, including the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a critical land protection and acquisition program. The bill represents an unprecedented opportunity to protect millions of acres of parks, forests, wildlife habitat, fragile wetlands, community open space and pristine coastlines -- but only if critical changes are made before the bill reaches its final stages. The bill passed the House last spring; and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved their own version of the bill in July.
Both the House and Senate bills would provide millions of dollars, presumably for the next 15 years, for a host of conservation programs. But each of the bills has serious flaws as well - flaws that could actually harm our environment. Since CARA's introduction, we have maintained serious concerns that it creates incentives for new offshore oil and gas leasing in sensitive coastal areas, could provide hundreds of millions of dollars for damaging infrastructure projects, and could actually weaken the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund. We made progress in the House last May in largely removing the incentives for new offshore leasing; but unfortunately Senate leaders on the bill chose not to follow that lead. While the incentives are reduced under the Senate bill, some states and local communities still stand to gain a lot if the amount of oil and gas leasing and production off their coasts is increased, particularly in Alaska. In addition, under the Senate compromise bill, close to $100 million could be spent each year on infrastructure projects that could actually be harmful to our fragile coastlines. And the House bill would allow hundreds of millions to be spent on similarly damaging projects.
A few leaders in the Senate who oppose CARA are jeopardizing the bill's future. Please contact your Senators and urge them to help ensure we don't lose this historic opportunity. Tell them that the concept of CARA is a major priority - but that these vital changes to the Senate bill must be made in order to protect our environment:
- incentives in the bill for new offshore oil drilling in sensitive coastal areas must be eliminated
- funding under the bill must be used only for environmentally beneficial projects and programs, and not on damaging infrastructure projects
The same message needs to be sent to the White House as well, as President Clinton could play a vital role in negotiations over this controversial bill.
Dedicated 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 must not come at the expense of our unique and fragile coastlines.
1. PROTECT OUR WILD HERITAGE - STOP LOGGING OUR NATIONAL FORESTS
Protecting forests make environmental and economic sense. The Forest Service says that recreation, hunting and fishing in National Forests contributes 38 times more income to the nation's economy than logging, and will create 31 times more jobs. More than 3,000 species of fish and wildlife and 10,000 plant species -- including 230 endangered plant and animal species -- rely on National Forests for habitat.
The National Forest Protection and Restoration Act would eliminate the commercial logging program on federal public lands, promote restoration, and help communities that receive logging revenue develop a more diverse and stable economy. This bill continues to gain Congressional support and your help is needed to add co-sponsors!
** Call your Member of Congress through the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and urge them to co-sponsor HR 1396, the National Forest Protection and Restoration Act. **
2. WILD FORESTS STILL THREATENED: TELL THE PRESIDENT TO PROTECT OUR WILD FORESTS
Right now, the Forest Service is deciding the fate of the last remaining unspoiled roadless areas in our National Forests. This summer, over 7,500 people attended the more than 400 hearings across the country and spoke out on behalf of protecting wild forests. Additionally, more than one million Americans sent comments to the Forest Service demanding full protection of all roadless areas including the Tongass National Forest in Alaska. Thanks to all who helped make this happen!
Unfortunately, the draft plan does not ban logging in roadless areas and delays any protection for the Tongass National Forest in Alaska. The Forest Service's own estimates show that three-fourths of all planned logging in wild forest roadless areas would still continue under the draft plan. Timber companies are already planning how to circumvent the new rules with helicopters, off-road bulldozers and cable pulley systems. The President must ensure that the Forest Service strengthens the plan by banning logging and including the Tongass.
Please call President Clinton at 1-800-663-9566 (press zero to bypass the long recording), and tell him to ensure that the final roadless rule truly protects all of our last unspoiled roadless areas by banning logging and other destructive activities. And tell him to include the Tongass National Forest in Alaska!
ALSO, join the postcard campaign by contacting julie.hudson@sierraclub.org to get a stack of postcards addressed to President Clinton.
3. U.S. NEGOTIATING TO WEAKEN GLOBAL WARMING TREATY
International negotiators are currently deciding how strong the Kyoto Global Warming Protocol will be. While countries such as Great Britain are cutting their emissions (which,as a country, are considerably less than our auto emissions), the U.S. is trying to avoid making any real reductions in our own emissions by promoting a system of pollution permit trading. The proposed system allows U.S. polluters to continue polluting by purchasing emissions credits from less polluting countries. The Administration is also seeking to allow the U.S. to get pollution reduction credits for merely keeping existing forests standing, a flawed approach since there is a threat of more forest fires. Trees burned in the fires that recently scorched the western U.S. have released all of their carbon dioxide.
The Sierra Club has taken a position against these risky trading schemes and opposes the use of "credits" as a right to pollute by pressing for real reductions in domestic emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases by making our cars, power plants and factories pollute less.
TAKE ACTION. Contact the White House (phone: 202-456-1111, or email: president@whitehouse.gov). Urge President Clinton to instruct U.S. negotiators to stop weakening the Kyoto Protocol. We should take World leadership by cutting our own global warming emissions.
4. Our Streams and Wetlands Need Protection from Sprawl
Developers are exacerbating sprawl by turning wetlands into strip malls, tract housing and golf courses -- all without any environmental review. Why? They are exploiting a 1998 court ruling that struck down the "Tulloch Rule" and opened a loophole in the Clean Water Act enabling developers and others to do various ditching, draining and excavating projects without public notice or a permit.
Destroying these wetlands and streams harms the quality of our nation's water, aggravates flooding, robs a wide array of birds, fish and wildlife of critical habitat and invites sprawling development in sensitive ecosystems.
You can help protect our streams and wetlands by supporting a rule the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers proposed to limit the destructiveness of this loophole and by urging these agencies to do more to stop sprawl from invading sensitive ecosystems.
Take Action: The comment period on this rule ends on Oct. 16, 2000, so urgent action is necessary. Please write a personal letter. If you want to do more to help with this campaign or need further details, call the Sierra Club at (202) 547-1141 or visit our Web site at www.sierraclub.org/wetlands/tulloch.
Mail to: Mr. Mike Smith Office of the Chief of Engineers ATTN CECW-OR (3 F73) Further Revisions to Definition of Discharge or Dredge Material 441 G Street NW Washington, DC 20314-1000
Email to: CECWOR@HQ02.USACE.Army.Mil
5. Support the United Nations Population Fund With No "Global Gag Rule"
The fate of international family planning funding and policy will be determined in September when a conference committee, comprised of House and Senate members, will forge a joint document to be sent to the president.
The House version (H.R. 4811) passed with funding levels of $385 million for international family planning assistance and $25 million for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). These represent no increase from the funding levels of last year. The House also voted to retain the Global Gag Rule which disqualifies overseas family planning associations from receiving U.S. funds if they, with their own money, lobby to change laws on abortion or legally provide abortion services in their own countries.
The Senate passed their act (S. 2522) with increased funding levels and removed the Global Gag Rule restrictions from the legislation. The Senate requested $425 million for international family planning assistance and $25 million for UNFPA.
President Clinton has threatened a veto if the Global Gag Rule restrictions and low funding levels remain. Therefore, difficult negotiations will have to be made to produce a bill that the President will sign.
TAKE ACTION:
The following Senators are key players for successful negotiations:
Specter (Pa.), Leahy (Vt.), Inouye (Hawaii), Lautenberg (N.Jj), Harkin (Iowa), Mikulski (Md.), and Murray (Wash.).
If you live in one of these states, please contact your senator and ask him or her to stay in strong support of the Senate language and funding levels.
IN THE NEWS: US Federal Judge to Hear Case Against Shell for Nigeria Violations
According to an AP report, the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Thursday that "a lawsuit accusing Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. of assisting in the torture and murder of Nigerian activists can be heard in federal court in New York." The decision reversed a previous ruling that concluded that the case should be tried in England.
According to the report, "one plaintiff sued on behalf of his father and another on behalf of her husband after both men were hanged, along with Ogoni leaders" in 1995.
In response to the report, Stephen Mills, Director of the Club's International Program predicted that the lawsuit would become a keystone in determining the future relationship between Shell and Nigeria. "Shell has failed to address the concerns of international critics and of Nigerians living in the country's delta," said Mills. "This comes when Shell thought that the world community had forgotten about its misdeeds in Nigeria, but it's not going to go away just yet," concluded Mills.
Sierra Club continues its boycott of Shell Oil.
For more information about the Human Rights and the Environment campaign visit our website at www.sierraclub.org/human-rights
STOP U.S. EPA FROM LETTING BIG POULTRY OPERATIONS ESCAPE WATER POLLUTION RULES
The U.S. EPA and United Egg Producers, a cooperative that includes the nation's biggest egg manufacturers, are about to strike a deal that would relax Clean Water Act requirements for most of the nation's egg-producing facilities. This agreement is taking place under the EPA's "Project XL," a program that seeks to encourage environmental innovation by easing regulatory requirements. But some of these egg-producing facilities are notorious polluters, and substituting vague promises of trade association leadership for the EPA's oversight is unlikely to make them clean up their mess. That's why the Sierra Club is opposing this plan. Please act now to let the EPA know that government regulatory agencies, not the big chicken companies, should be responsible for environmental protection.
Background
Large egg production facilities are among the worst polluters around. These Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) routinely house millions of laying hens. Some have large manure pits and sprayfields, others use dry manure-handling systems, and almost all have egg-washing facilities. The result is air and water pollution from improper manure-management, disposal of dead chickens, cracked eggs and egg-washing water. Neighbors are subject to nauseating odors and millions of flies.
Buckeye Egg "Farm" in Central Ohio illustrates the environmental and quality of life problems that these facilities can cause. Buckeye Egg's 15 million chickens produced 2.4 billion eggs in 1999, about four percent of the nation's total. Mismanagement of the facility's chicken manure has repeatedly caused water pollution problems, prompting the Ohio Attorney General to file a 27-count lawsuit against the company. In addition, neighbors have been inundated with flies and other pests from the facility. This is not an isolated example of environmental problems massive egg-producers cause.
Large egg producers need to comply with existing environmental requirements. But now the EPA and United Egg Producers have created a proposal under Project XL that would exempt these facilities from the current requirement that they obtain individual Clean Water Act permits. Instead, they could receive "general" Clean Water Act permits, which do not include site-specific protections, involve less government oversight, and fail to provide citizens opportunities to comment on environmental protections. In exchange, participating facilities would undergo an annual audit by a third party and United Egg Producers has made vague promises to develop "environmental management systems" that would provide environmental benefits -- but not necessarily compliance with existing regulations.
In short, under this plan, industry self-regulation would replace the Clean Water Act requirements that EPA is supposed to enforce.
Take Action
The EPA is taking comments on this proposed plan until September 22. Please:
1) CALL Chuck Fox, EPA's Assistant Administrator for Water at 202-260-5700, and tell him that you oppose the EPA's deal with the egg producers.
Tell him:
*Cutting special deals for industry is not EPA's job -- EPA should make these facilities comply with the Clean Water Act, not exempt them from their environmental obligations.
*Individual permits requiring public notice must be required to protect your community & your health.
*Demand the proposal be revoked.
2) Email a written comment to Ms. Lisa Reiter, US EPA, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW (1802), Washington, D.C. 20460. Email address: reiter.lisa@epa.gov.
"It is our task in our time and in our generation, to hand down undiminished to those who come after us, as was handed down to us by those who went before , the natural wealth and beauty which is ours." - President John F. Kennedy
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
TAKE ACTION: Clearcuts For Kids Bill Looms....
I. Total, Absolute and Final Victory for Nikitan!
II. Victory in San Francisco Peaks
III. Wilderness Conference 2000
IV. VA EVEC: The Truth is Out
"Clearcuts For Kids" Moves Towards Passage -- YOUR HELP NEEDED!
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. In recent years payments to counties have declined due to reliance on an unsustainable logging program. Rural schools deserve steady education funding, but funding should not be tied to logging our National Forests.
Senator Wyden (D-OR) has teamed up with Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) to introduce a bill known as S. 1608, the "Secure Rural Counties and Community Self-Determination Act," that would increase logging incentives and give control of National Forest lands to local interests.
** WE ARE EXPECTING A VOTE IN THE NEXT TWO DAYS. YOUR HELP IS NEEDED TO DEFEAT THIS BILL. **
Urge your Senators to OPPOSE S. 1608. Clearly schoolchildren should not be held hostage by an unsustainable logging program.
- Over 85% of teachers around the nation want guaranteed funding for schools that is "not connected to logging in any way."
- S. 1608 would force counties to spend 15%-20% for "investments in resource management and restoration." Education payments should go towards education, not to an unsustainable logging program. Counties should have the choice to keep their full payment for education.
- S. 1608 keeps the traditional tie between timber receipts and payments to counties.
The bill 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. 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.
** PLEASE CALL YOUR SENATORS THROUGH THE CAPITOL HILL SWITCHBOARD AT (202) 224-3121. URGE THEM TO OPPOSE S.1608! A VOTE IS EXPECTED THIS WEEK! **
For more information call Sean Cosgrove at (202) 547-1141.
I. Nikitin Victorious Despite Putin Crackdown
On September 13, the Presidium of the Russian Supreme Court dismissed an appeal of the acquittal of environmental activist Aleksandr Nikitin. The Sierra Club expressed delight that the judicial harassment of Nikitin is at an end and called on the Russian Government to allow all environmental defenders to work without impediment. In bizarre fashion, the Russian prosecutors had argued that a retrial was necessary because Nikitin's civil rights had been violated the first time around. Now, reminding all of us that "even authoritarian states are susceptible to outside pressure", Nikitin is free.
"Putin's hostility toward those who would expose the environmental pollution caused by Russia's military industrial complex should not only concern those who want to avoid future Chernobyl-style nuclear accidents and other massive environmental catastrophes, it should concern anyone who values the future of a democratic Russia," said Carl Pope, Executive Director of Sierra Club.
Aleksandr Nikitin was declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International in 1996, the first in post-Soviet Russia. In 1997 Nikitin was awarded the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for environmental heroism.
For more information on the Sierra Club's Human Rights and the Environment campaign visit our website at www.sierraclub.org/human-rights
II. San Francisco Peaks - We Did It!
The beautiful San Francisco Peaks of northern Arizona, held sacred by 13 Indian tribes will be closed to pumice mining under an agreement with the mining company. Pumice is used in stone washing jeans of all things! The Sierra Club, under the leadership of AZ EPEC organizer Andy Bessler, was heavily involved in the fight to restore the Native American cultural sites.
The mine operator Tufflite Inc. will close the mine on the San Francisco Peaks within the next six months, relinquish its 49 mining claims in the area and restore the mine site, according to the pending agreement.
In return, the federal government will pay the Phoenix-based company $1 million. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt is scheduled to visit the area and sign the agreement Monday. Congratulations to Andy and all those who hold the mountain sacred!
III. Hundreds Gather for Wilderness in Denver
Wilderness activists from all across the country came to Denver, CO this past weekend to share ideas, war stories and plans for the future. Sierra Club, one of the chief sponsors of the conference, highlighted many its campaigns. Among them were the Wild Forest, End Commercial Logging, Grizzly Bear Ecosystems, and Grasslands Protection Campaigns.
The conference attendees were treated to keynote addresses from former Council on Environmental Quality head Katie McGinty and Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck. They both spoke of the important strides that have been made in the past 36 years since the enactment of the Wilderness Act of 1964.
Many of those same activists will be coming to Washington, DC this weekend to celebrate the greatest wilderness accomplishment in the past 20 years, the Alaska National Interest Land Conservation Act of 1980. They will be joined by activists of old to celebrate its passage as well as the unfinished business of ANILCA - Mainly protection of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the Tongass National Forest.
IV. VA EVEC: You Can't Hide From the Truth
Sunday's "BIG PICNIC" for environmentalists and a Monday press conference in Richmond were the backdrops for the release of Sierra Club's Voter Guide in a US Senate race pitting incumbent Senator Robb against former Governor George Allen.
More than 75 volunteers gathered on the shore of the Potomac River at Leesylvania State Park to join Sierra Club President Robbie Cox in releasing the Voter Guide.
The one-page guide criticizes Allen for cutting the state's environmental enforcement and fighting with the federal Environmental Protection Agency. It notes that Allen's rating by the League of Conservation Voters is 13.5 percent, compared to 77 percent for Robb.
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