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DEFENDING ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA
November 17, 2000
IMPORTANT NOTE: There will be no SC-Action Daily during Thanksgiving week. Look for the next Daily on Monday November 27. Happy Holiday!
ACTION ITEMS:
1. UPDATE: FLORIDA VOLUNTEERS TURN UP THE HEAT
2. TAKE ACTION: SAFEGUARD THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ANTIBIOTICS USED TO TREAT HUMAN DISEASES --- END THE USE OF ANTIBIOTICS IN FACTORY FARMS 3. TAKE ACTION: HELP PROTECT AMERICA'S WILD HERITAGE
FEATURED TAKE ACTION UPDATE
1) FLORIDA VOLUNTEERS TURN UP HEAT ON SECRETARY OF STATE
In a remarkable show of organization and force, the Sierra Club held four simultaneous press conferences in Florida yesterday in support of a fair election. The Sierra Club demanded a revote in West Palm Beach County and a manual recount of votes in Florida.
West Palm Beach Press Conference:
In West Palm Beach, at least 50 television crews and journalists covered the press conference. Frank Jackalone, Sierra Club Florida Senior Field Representative and field organizers Jonathan Ullman, Kate Simmons and Ayelet Hines organized the event and were joined by representatives from the Florida AFL-CIO, the Hispanic Caucus, the Haitian-American Community Center, Florida State Council of Senior Citizens, Florida Consumer Action Network, People for the American Way, and Rev. Thomas Masters from the New Macedonia Baptist Church. We distributed almost 200 press releases to media from all over the country. CNN, NPR, local TV, and state newspapers ran positive stories. Volunteer leaders from the Broward, Loxahatchee and Miami-Dade Sierra Club groups attended. Several hundred participated in the event, which culminated in a march in front of the Palm Beach Emergency Management Center, location of the manual recount of Palm Beach County ballots.
Tampa Bay area:
Sierra Club Florida Chapter Chair Gerry Swormstedt and Sierra Club organizer Beth Connor joined representatives from the Florida Consumer Action Network, Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 123, National Organization for Women, National Association of Retired Federal Employees, and the ACLU. Coverage appeared in the St. Petersburg Times and local network affiliates. More than twenty people attended the event.
Tallahassee, in the Capitol Rotunda:
The Sierra Club's Susie Caplowe spoke to a crowd of 30, and was joined by representatives from the League of Women Voters, American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO, United Farm Workers of America, Coalition for Seniors, Florida Council of Senior Citizens, Florida Consumer Action Network, Florida State University's NAACP and Black Student Union, Florida A&M University NAACP, Florida League of Conservation Voters, National Organization for Women, National Association for Social Workers and ACLU. About 10 TV stations covered the press conference, reports of which aired on two NBC and two ABC affiliates, CNN, CBS in San Francisco, a French network and CNN Espanol. The three big regional papers were also there. Susie was seen on TV with her 'Let Every Vote Count" message in which she commented on the 90,000 ballots disqualified across the state.
Volusia County/Orlando area:
Mary-Slater Linn, Sierra Club Florida Chapter Administrative Chair, led this press conference with allied groups, including the Florida Council of Churches. All the major TV and print media covered the press conference, as well as the Florida Radio Network.
2. TAKE ACTION: SAFEGUARD THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ANTIBIOTICS USED TO TREAT HUMAN DISEASES: END THE USE OF ANTIBIOTICS IN FACTORY FARMS Imagine getting a really nasty case of food poisoning. You drag yourself to the doctor, who prescribes an antibiotic known as a fluoroquinolone that works against many of the bacteria that cause this kind of illness. However, what if the drug doesn't work because the bacteria have become immune to it?
These drugs are starting to lose their effectiveness against certain types of bacteria, largely because a closely related drug known as Baytril is used on immense "factory farms" that raise chickens and turkeys. While these poultry farms produce food for your table, they are also a breeding ground for bacteria that are immune to medicine that you may need some day. To ensure that doctors don't come up empty-handed when they need to treat foodborne illnesses, the Food and Drug Administration has just proposed to ban Baytril, which is produced by Bayer, the maker of Bayer aspirin, One-a-Day vitamins, and a host of other consumer products and medicines. Bayer has until the end of November to decide whether to voluntarily comply with the proposed ban. If Bayer refuses, months or even years will pass before the matter is resolved. Meanwhile, Baytril will stay on the market and human-use fluoroquinolones will become less and less effective. Let the CEO of Bayer know you don't want his company to play chicken with your health. Please send a letter asking Bayer to end the use of Baytril in poultry.
Helge H. Wehmeier, President and CEO The Bayer Corporation 100 Bayer Road Pittsburgh, PA 15205-9741
3) TAKE ACTION: HELP PROTECT AMERICA'S WILD HERITAGE Americans love to hike, camp, fish, hunt and canoe in our National Forests. And it's no wonder: with 4,400 campgrounds, 121,000 miles of trails and 96 Wild and Scenic Rivers, our National Forests are truly America's favorite playground. The Forest Service says that recreation, hunting and fishing in National Forests will contribute 38 times more income to the nation's economy than logging, and will create 31 times more jobs. That's just a few more reasons to support an end to the logging of our National Forests. Write the Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman at: USDA, 14th St. and Independence Ave., SW Washington, DC 20250 Urge him to end the logging of our National Forests and work to restore damaged forests.
FEATURED TAKE ACTION ITEM
URGENT TAKE ACTION: CALL THE WHITE HOUSE AND DEMAND THE U.S. CUT ITS DOMESTIC EMISSIONS OF GLOBAL WARMING POLLUTION.
International climate negotiators are now meeting at The Hague, The Netherlands and these meetings will determine the future of the Kyoto Global Warming Protocol. In 1997, the world's leaders agreed to reduce their global warming pollution to five percent below 1990 levels by 2008 to 2012. The details of those emissions reductions are now be discussed, and the U.S. is negotiating agreements that will maximize loopholes and avoid any real reductions in U.S. global warming pollution.
TAKE ACTION: Call the White House comment line at 202-456-1111 and demand that the U.S. stop negotiating to weaken the environmental integrity of the Kyoto Protocol. Tell President Clinton that you want the U.S. to clean up our cars and power plants, and to cut our global warming pollution through domestic actions, not with loopholes and risky trading schemes.
Recent studies have revealed even more evidence of man's impact on climate change, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) now projects that global temperatures could rise by as much as 11 degrees F by 2100! Meanwhile, a 500-year storm, which has likely been worsened by global warming, is pelting Europe and serving as the backdrop to the climate change negotiations.
MORE BACKGROUND INFORMATION BELOW
Instead of heading to The Hague Summit armed with emissions reductions, the U.S. position is brimming with loopholes and risky pollution trading schemes to weaken the Kyoto Protocol. These threaten to denude the environmental integrity of the Protocol turning this into the "Emperor's New Treaty".
Sierra Club is urging the U.S. to stop using loopholes and accounting tricks to meet international obligations, and to instead commit to real reductions in global warming emissions. As the world's largest global warming polluter, the U.S. must take the lead in reducing its emissions of carbon dioxide and other green house gases.
The U.S. committed to reducing its global warming pollution and we should meet this obligation by cutting our domestic emissions, not with smoke and mirrors. We should oppose efforts to use loopholes and risky trading schemes to evade our obligation as the world's biggest global warming polluter.
Please call the White House at 202-456-1111. The U.S. must act now to cut our auto and power plant emissions to become the world leader in cutting our global warming pollution instead of the world leader in creative accounting and passing the buck.
ACTION ITEMS:
1. COPY AND SIGN ONTO E-PETITION TO FLORIDA ELECTION DIRECTOR CLAY ROBERTS
2. SEND PRESIDENT CLINTON AN E-POSTCARD ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING
3. TAKE ACTION: SAFEGUARD THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ANTIBIOTICS USED TO TREAT HUMAN DISEASES: END THE USE OF ANTIBIOTICS IN FACTORY FARMS
1. COPY AND SIGN ONTO E-PETITION TO FLORIDA ELECTION DIRECTOR CLAY ROBERTS
We have all heard about the ballot problems in Florida and especially in Palm Beach County. There's overwhelming evidence that over 20,000 Gore voters either accidentally voted for Buchanan or had their votes invalidated due to confusion over the ballot.
A website run by Working Assets, WorkingForChange.com, has launched an e-petition calling on Florida Election Director Clay Roberts to hold a re-vote in Palm Beach County. The site is flooded and may not be accessible. Therefore we have copied the text of the petition below. PLEASE TAKE FIVE MINUTES TO COPY THAT MESSAGE YOURSELF AND SEND IT TO THE ADDRESSES BELOW. PLEASE ALSO FORWARD THIS MESSAGE WIDELY!
BMilton@mail.dos.state.fl.us (address for general comments about Florida elections) votesys@mail.dos.state.fl.us (Florida voting systems information) webmaster@fec.gov (Federal Elections Commission) letters@nytimes.com (Letter to NY Times).
Here is the text of the message:
Dear Election Director Roberts:
The integrity of the 2000 Presidential election now rests in your hands. Please use the full power of your office to call for a re-vote of the Presidential race in Palm Beach County. The next President's ability to govern will be greatly hindered if the election is decided by voting irregularities in Florida.
2. SEND PRESIDENT CLINTON AN E-POSTCARD ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING
Next week climate negotiators gather in The Hague, Netherlands and they will either strengthen or weaken the Kyoto Global Warming Treaty. Send the world's leaders the message that we want them to honor the commitment made under the Kyoto Protocol to reduce emissions of global warming gases.
A new report by the world's leading climate scientists paints a frightening picture of the Earth's climate unless we begin cutting global warming pollution now. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) raised the estimated temperature increases and stated clearly that human-caused pollution has already begun warming the globe. Climate experts now predict that the Earth's average temperature could increase by up to 11 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100!
TAKE ACTION: Concerned about global warming changing the world's climate, disrupting weather systems, causing drought, floods, spreading disease and threatening the survival of countless species? Use Climate Voice to send President Clinton an e-postcard urging him to use November's climate summit to reduce the pollution that causes global warming. Climate Voice is a new cooperative campaign between environmentalists around the world to build pressure for more action against global warming at November's Climate Summit.
You can send a Climate Voice E-postcard from the Sierra Club's global warming web site by clicking on the link "It's time to turn down the heat": www.sierraclub.org/globalwarming.
SEND PRESIDENT CLINTON AN E-POSTCARD TODAY!
4. TAKE ACTION: SAFEGUARD THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ANTIBIOTICS USED TO TREAT HUMAN DISEASES: END THE USE OF ANTIBIOTICS IN FACTORY FARMS
Imagine getting a really nasty case of food poisoning. You drag yourself to the doctor, who prescribes an antibiotic known as a fluoroquinolone that works against many of the bacteria that cause this kind of illness. However, what if the drug doesn't work because the bacteria have become immune to it?
These drugs are starting to lose their effectiveness against certain types of bacteria, largely because a closely related drug known as Baytril is used on immense "factory farms" that raise chickens and turkeys. While these poultry farms produce food for your table, they are also a breeding ground for bacteria that are immune to medicine that you may need some day.
To ensure that doctors don't come up empty-handed when they need to treat foodborne illnesses, the Food and Drug Administration has just proposed to ban Baytril, which is produced by Bayer, the maker of Bayer aspirin, One-a-Day vitamins, and a host of other consumer products and medicines. Bayer has until the end of November to decide whether to voluntarily comply
with the proposed ban. If Bayer refuses, months or even years will pass before the matter is resolved. Meanwhile, Baytril will stay on the market and human-use fluoroquinolones will become less and less effective.
Let the CEO of Bayer know you don't want his company to play chicken with your health. Please send a letter asking Bayer to end the use of Baytril in poultry.
Helge H. Wehmeier, President and CEO The Bayer Corporation 100 Bayer Road Pittsburgh, PA 15205-9741
FEATURED TAKE ACTION ITEM
WILD FOREST PLAN IMPROVED THANKS TO YOUR HELP
The Forest Service released a **much improved** final environmental impact statement (FEIS) on the roadless policy today! You can read it on-line at https://roadless.fs.fed.us/. Your letters, emails and phone calls made a difference!
The good news is that the new preferred alternative bans commercial logging as well as roadbuilding in roadless areas and provides a framework for including the Tongass! However, the plan does crack the door open for logging in roadless areas under the guise of "stewardship" and delays protection of the Tongass National Forest until April 2004.
The Final EIS can still be improved between now and President Clinton's signing of the Record of Decision which will be at least 30 days from today. We are calling on the President to strengthen the Final EIS by restricting salvage logging to only that truly needed to restore forests or protect communities from uncharacteristically intense fires and providing immediate protection to the wild areas in the Tongass from all logging and roadbuilding.
TAKE ACTION:
Write a letter to the editor of your local paper.
ACTION ITEMS:
1. COPY AND SIGN ONTO E-PETITION TO FLORIDA ELECTION DIRECTOR CLAY ROBERTS
2. HELP KEEP THE WOLF PROTECTED
3. SEND PRESIDENT CLINTON AN E-POSTCARD ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING
4. TAKE ACTION: SAFEGUARD THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ANTIBIOTICS USED TO TREAT HUMAN DISEASES: END THE USE OF ANTIBIOTICS IN FACTORY FARMS
1. COPY AND SIGN ONTO E-PETITION TO FLORIDA ELECTION DIRECTOR CLAY ROBERTS
We have all heard about the ballot problems in Florida and especially in Palm Beach County. There's overwhelming evidence that over 20,000 Gore voters either accidentally voted for Buchanan or had their votes invalidated due to confusion over the ballot.
A website run by Working Assets, WorkingForChange.com, has launched an e-petition calling on Florida Election Director Clay Roberts to hold a re-vote in Palm Beach County. The site is flooded and may not be accessible. Therefore we have copied the text of the petition below. PLEASE TAKE FIVE MINUTES TO COPY THAT MESSAGE YOURSELF AND SEND IT TO THE ADDRESSES BELOW. PLEASE ALSO FORWARD THIS MESSAGE WIDELY!
BMilton@mail.dos.state.fl.us (address for general comments about Florida elections) votesys@mail.dos.state.fl.us (Florida voting systems information) webmaster@fec.gov (Federal Elections Commission) letters@nytimes.com (Letter to NY Times).
Here is the text of the message:
Dear Election Director Roberts:
The integrity of the 2000 Presidential election now rests in your hands. Please use the full power of your office to call for a re-vote of the Presidential race in Palm Beach County. The next President's ability to govern will be greatly hindered if the election is decided by voting irregularities in Florida.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
2. HELP KEEP THE WOLF PROTECTED
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are proposing to end wolf protection! Please write and tell FWS it's WAY too soon to delist wolves!
COMMENTS MUST BE RECEIVED BY MONDAY, November 13, 2000
FWS plans to significantly weaken protections by first "downlisting" the wolf from threatened to endangered and then "delisting" by completely removing the wolf from the Endangered Species List, even in places where wolf populations have recently declined. Once the population of wolves throughout seven western states reaches a mere 30 breeding pairs, delisting action would begin (the wolf would be completely delisted) and wolf management and future reintroduction efforts would be handed over to hostile western state governments. The proposal would also allow the FWS to enact special regulations that make it even easier for wolves to be legally killed by private individuals as well as by agency personnel.
Your comments on the proposal can be sent
By e-mail to: graywolfcomments@fws.gov SUBJECT LINE MUST SAY "WOLF COMMENTS" Or to send an automatic message from our website, go to https://www.sierraclub.org/takeaction/wildlands/index3.asp
By mail to: Content Analysis Enterprise Team Wolf Comments 200 East Broadway PO Box 7669, Room 301 Missoula, Montana 59807
By fax to: 406-329-3021
For more information, check out https://www.rockywolf.org
3. SEND PRESIDENT CLINTON AN E-POSTCARD ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING
Next week climate negotiators gather in The Hague, Netherlands and they will either strengthen or weaken the Kyoto Global Warming Treaty. Send the world's leaders the message that we want them to honor the commitment made under the Kyoto Protocol to reduce emissions of global warming gases.
A new report by the world's leading climate scientists paints a frightening picture of the Earth's climate unless we begin cutting global warming pollution now. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) raised the estimated temperature increases and stated clearly that human-caused pollution has already begun warming the globe. Climate experts now predict that the Earth's average temperature could increase by up to 11 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100!
TAKE ACTION: Concerned about global warming changing the world's climate, disrupting weather systems, causing drought, floods, spreading disease and threatening the survival of countless species? Use Climate Voice to send President Clinton an e-postcard urging him to use November's climate summit to reduce the pollution that causes global warming. Climate Voice is a new cooperative campaign between environmentalists around the world to build pressure for more action against global warming at November's Climate Summit.
You can send a Climate Voice E-postcard from the Sierra Club's global warming web site by clicking on the link "It's time to turn down the heat": www.sierraclub.org/globalwarming.
SEND PRESIDENT CLINTON AN E-POSTCARD TODAY!
4. TAKE ACTION: SAFEGUARD THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ANTIBIOTICS USED TO TREAT HUMAN DISEASES: END THE USE OF ANTIBIOTICS IN FACTORY FARMS
Imagine getting a really nasty case of food poisoning. You drag yourself to the doctor, who prescribes an antibiotic known as a fluoroquinolone that works against many of the bacteria that cause this kind of illness. However, what if the drug doesn't work because the bacteria have become immune to it?
These drugs are starting to lose their effectiveness against certain types of bacteria, largely because a closely related drug known as Baytril is used on immense "factory farms" that raise chickens and turkeys. While these poultry farms produce food for your table, they are also a breeding ground for bacteria that are immune to medicine that you may need some day.
To ensure that doctors don't come up empty-handed when they need to treat foodborne illnesses, the Food and Drug Administration has just proposed to ban Baytril, which is produced by Bayer, the maker of Bayer aspirin, One-a-Day vitamins, and a host of other consumer products and medicines. Bayer has until the end of November to decide whether to voluntarily comply
with the proposed ban. If Bayer refuses, months or even years will pass before the matter is resolved. Meanwhile, Baytril will stay on the market and human-use fluoroquinolones will become less and less effective.
Let the CEO of Bayer know you don't want his company to play chicken with your health. Please send a letter asking Bayer to end the use of Baytril in poultry.
Helge H. Wehmeier, President and CEO The Bayer Corporation 100 Bayer Road Pittsburgh, PA 15205-9741
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