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Dear NRDC Earth Activist, 7 12 2006
I'm writing to report a big stride in our campaign to protect whales
and other
marine mammals from mid-frequency naval sonar.
Two weeks ago, NRDC attorneys raced to court to block the U.S. Navy
from
unleashing a barrage of ear-splitting sonar into the waters off
Hawaii as part
of a massive military training exercise. Whales exposed to
mid-frequency sonar
have repeatedly stranded and died on beaches around the world -- but
the Navy
refused to adopt even common-sense measures during peacetime
exercises to help
protect marine life from this deadly threat.
In an infuriating attempt to avoid our lawsuit, the Navy took the
unprecedented step -- on the eve of the Fourth of July weekend -- of
declaring itself exempt from the primary U.S. law that requires
measures to
protect marine mammals. But the court sided with us and found that
the Navy's
planned sonar use violated a second key environmental law as well,
noting that
NRDC had submitted "considerable convincing scientific evidence" of
the dangers
of sonar to marine life.
The judge prohibited the Navy from going forward with its sonar use
as planned
and ordered the Navy to sit down with NRDC and decide on a set of
protective
measures to be put in place during the month-long exercise. In the
settlement
reached last Friday after days of tough negotiation with our
attorneys, the
Navy will be required to create a sonar-free buffer zone around the
newly
established Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument,
as well as
significantly improve its monitoring of marine mammals during sonar
drills and
implement other important safeguards.
This is an important victory, but much more needs to be done to
protect whales
and other marine life from high-intensity sonar, especially in
biologically
rich waters. As our campaign moves forward, we will continue to
depend on your
generous support and activism to compel the Navy to limit its use of
harmful
mid-frequency sonar. I hope you'll go to
https://www.savebiogems.org/whales/donate.asp
right now and make a contribution to support our ongoing legal
efforts.
On behalf of our entire legal team, I want to thank you for coming
to the
defense of marine mammals around the world.
Sincerely,
Frances Beinecke
President
Natural Resources Defense Council
. . .
For your information, your Earth Action subscription number is
2043481
(you do not need this information to unsubscribe).
July7th
2006
Big Brother’s Blunt
Instrument: Gold Confiscation in a Post-Dollar Currency Crisis
by Jamey
Hecht, PhD
Burglery Update #1 –
July 7, 2006 – Slow But Sure Progress
Read these member stories
and other articles here:
FromTheWilderness.com
NEW FTW TELESEMINARS
commence on May 23rd. Every other week Mike Ruppert, FTW editors and staff,
along with some very special guests, will be conducting live teleseminars to
discuss breaking news, hot topics, and to offer our special analysis of world
events.
Click here to
learn more.
Thank You!
-The FTW Team
FTW OFFICES BURGLARIZED
by Michael C. Ruppert
Read these member stories and other articles
here:
FromTheWilderness.com
========================================
Natural Resources Defense Council's
CALIFORNIA ACTIVIST NETWORK ACTION ALERT
NRDC's California Activist Network was formed to mobilize and provide action
tools to Californians and others concerned with protecting the state's
extraordinary wealth of natural treasures and the health of its citizens.
July 5, 2006
========================================
In This Issue:
--Action Alerts--
1. Urge your assemblymember to reduce global warming pollution from power plants
2. Don't let the San Joaquin Delta become the next levee failure disaster
3. Tell the EPA not to allow more industrial pollution along southern
California's coast
--Updates on Previous Alerts--
1. State environmental legislation
2. Los Angeles community gardens
======================================================
You will also find these alerts in NRDC'S Earth Action Center, which includes
tools for taking action easily online, at
http://www.nrdc.org/action
(Please do not reply to this message; see the instructions below for how to
unsubscribe or contact NRDC with questions or comments.)
=============
Action Alerts
=============
1. Urge your assemblymember to reduce global warming pollution from power plants
The California legislature is currently considering several bills that would
reduce California's contribution to global warming. One of them, SB 1368, would
prohibit new California investments in any electricity generation sources that
emit more global warming pollution than an efficient natural gas power plant.
For example, a new conventional coal-fired power plant emits more than twice as
much carbon dioxide (the main cause of global warming) than a new natural gas
plant.
Dozens of new conventional coal-fired power plants (at least 31 by most counts)
are in the planning and development stages throughout the west, many aiming to
sell their power to California to meet its growing demand for electricity.
Investments in electricity sources that do not meet the standard included in SB
1368 would dramatically increase California's global warming pollution for 30
years or more, put Californians at significant financial risk and prevent the
state from meeting the global warming pollution reduction targets set by
Governor Schwarzenegger. While plenty of existing technologies already meet the
requirements of SB 1368, the bill would send a clear signal that California
also demands new, advanced low-carbon technologies.
Major industry groups are lobbying hard against SB 1368, which will soon face a
tough vote in the state Assembly.
== What to do ==
Send a message urging your state assemblymember to support and vote Yes for SB
1368.
== Contact information ==
You can send a message to your state assemblymember directly from NRDC's Earth
Action Center at
http://www.nrdc.org/action/.
2. Don't let the San Joaquin Delta become the next levee failure disaster
On July 21st the California Reclamation Board will decide whether to allow a
huge development project in the flood-prone Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The
River Islands proposal calls for the construction of a 300-acre office park, a
150-acre retail center and 11,000 residential units on a 5,000-acre island in
the Delta. In 1997, the land where the project would be located flooded as a
result of a levee failure. If the River Islands project is built, it could
increase future flood risks for neighboring towns and farms.
The Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans has tragically highlighted the
high price of levee failures. The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is more
vulnerable to the same kind of catastrophic levee failure than perhaps anywhere
outside of New Orleans. Such a disaster would threaten Delta residents,
drinking water quality for much of the state, farms, fish and wildlife.
River Islands seeks to develop this project at a time when California taxpayers
will be asked to pay billions of dollars to upgrade the state's flood
protection system. Although flood protection improvements are certainly
necessary, the state should not concurrently approve developments within the
Delta floodplain that could increase flood threats for current and future
residents. In addition, the state bears broad legal liability for flooding that
results from failed levees. The River Islands project could increase this multi-
billion-dollar liability risk and further harm the state's taxpayers, as well
as its environment.
== What to do ==
Send a message, before the Reclamation Board's July 21st meeting, urging the
board to deny the River Islands development permit.
== Contact Information ==
You can send a message to the board directly from NRDC's Earth Action Center at
http://www.nrdc.org/action/. Or use
the contact information and sample letter
below to send your own message.
California Reclamation Board
3310 El Camino Avenue, Room LL40
Sacramento, CA 95821
Fax: 916-574-0682
Email: dfua@water.ca.gov
== Sample letter ==
Subject: Deny the River Islands permit application
Dear California Reclamation Board members,
I am writing to express my concerns regarding the proposed River Islands
development project and the lack of a comprehensive Reclamation Board strategy
to protect the fragile Delta, its residents and its environment, from
catastrophic flooding.
The Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans has tragically highlighted the
high price of levee failures. The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is more
vulnerable to the same kind of catastrophic levee failure than perhaps anywhere
outside of New Orleans. Such a disaster would threaten Delta residents,
drinking water quality for much of the state, farms, fish and wildlife.
State law vests the Reclamation Board with the crucial responsibility of
regulating Central Valley development in areas at risk of flooding. State law
also requires the board to ensure consideration has been given not only to the
flood-related impacts of a particular development on its own future residents,
but also to ensure that a development project will not cause significant flood
threats to life and property elsewhere.
The Reclamation Board and the River Islands development environmental impact
report fail to address the cumulative impacts of flood protection, the collapse
of the Delta ecosystem and climate change as required by law. I urge the
Reclamation Board to reject the permit application presently before you and to
participate in preparing a comprehensive plan for the Delta that evaluates
cumulative impacts and potentially catastrophic levee failure, rather than
approving projects in a piecemeal manner that makes present problems worse.
Sincerely,
[Your name and address]
3. Tell the EPA not to allow more industrial pollution along southern
California's coast
It's no secret that southern California air quality consistently ranks among
the worst in the nation, or that reducing air pollution in this region is an
ongoing struggle. Now the Environmental Protection Agency could allow the
construction of a major new industrial facility off the coast of Ventura County
in a way that would make this struggle even more difficult.
The facility is a liquefied natural gas terminal proposed by BHP Billiton. If
permitted as proposed, it would be the worst polluter in Ventura County,
emitting nearly twice as much smog-producing pollution every year as the
current top polluter. This pollution would blow onshore, harming the air
quality of not just Ventura, but also Los Angeles, Oxnard and other southern
California cities that already fail to meet federal and state air quality
standards.
Yet the EPA is considering granting a permit for this facility that would
release BHP Billiton from obligations under the Clean Air Act to use the best
available technology and to take other steps to keep the region's pollution as
low as possible. As a result, air quality along the southern California coast
would further deteriorate and the efforts made by local air districts to
improve air quality would be undermined.
The EPA is accepting public comments on the proposed permit through August 3rd.
== What to do ==
Send a message, before the August 3rd comment deadline, urging the EPA not to
issue the air pollution permit for the BHP Billiton offshore gas project as
proposed.
== Contact information ==
You can send an official comment to the EPA directly from NRDC's Earth Action
Center at http://www.nrdc.org/action/.
Or use the contact information and
sample letter below to send your own message.
Joseph Lapka
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
75 Hawthorne Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
Email: cabrilloportpermit@epa.gov
== Sample letter ==
Subject: Don't give BHP Billiton a free pass on air pollution
Dear Mr. Lapka and EPA staff,
I urge you not to issue the air pollution permit for BHP Billiton's Cabrillo
Port, Permit Number LNG-VT-2006-01, as proposed.
This facility would be the worst polluter in Ventura County, emitting nearly
twice as much smog-producing air pollution every year as the current top
emitter. Its pollution would blow onshore, harming the air quality of not just
Ventura, but also Los Angeles, Oxnard and other southern California cities that
already fail to meet federal and state air quality standards.
Yet you are considering granting a permit for this facility that would release
BHP Billiton from standard Clean Air Act requirements aimed at reducing
emissions. As a result, air quality along the southern California coast would
further deteriorate and the efforts made by local air districts to improve air
quality would be undermined.
Please reject BHPs's request for a free pass on these Clean Air Act
requirements.
Sincerely,
[Your name and address]
==========================
Updates on Previous Alerts
==========================
1. STATE ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION
At the end of May we asked you to urge your state legislators to support six
key environmental and public health bills. You sent more than 3,700 messages,
and we are pleased to report that your efforts were largely successful. Bills
to limit global warming pollution (SB 1368, AB 2021), protect sea otters from
water pollution (AB 2485) and help ensure the quality of water sold from
vending machines (AB 2644) all received the votes they needed to move forward
for consideration in the other chamber. If these bills survive the committee
process, they will come up for floor votes in late August. Two important air
quality bills, however, did not survive their floor votes. One of these bills
(SB 1601) would have required emissions-control measures at the state's ports,
while the other (AB 3018) would have required the state to address indoor air
quality for the first time. Thanks to everyone who contacted your legislators,
and we'll be sure to keep you posted on all important environmental bills as
the legislature moves toward adjournment at the end of August.
2. LOS ANGELES COMMUNITY GARDENS
Last month we sent a special alert asking you to urge Los Angeles Councilmember
Jan Perry to support the sale of the South Central Farm community gardens to
the farmers who have been tending the 14-acre urban green space for more than a
decade. Although you sent an impressive 2,100 messages in a single day, we're
disappointed to report that on June 13th the police evicted the farmers and
their supporters from the property. Even though the farmers, mostly poor Latino
immigrants who used the produce they grew in the gardens to supplement their
food supplies, had raised landowner Ralph Horowitz's $16 million asking price,
Mr. Horowitz announced that he was angered by the protests on the property,
so "even if they raised $100 million this group could not buy this property."
Following the evictions, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who had
supported the sale of the gardens to the farmers, gave a news conference where
he said "Today's events are unfortunate, disheartening and unnecessary.
Everyone involved who cares about this garden and who cares about the farmers
who have built an oasis in a sea of industry and concrete has done everything
possible to meet the property owner's demands. I have a high respect for and
will defend property rights. But I also believe that we are called upon by a
sense of community and civic duty to do the just and right thing. I had hoped
that the landowner would have heeded that call." Mayor Villaraigosa also
committed to relocate the approximately 350 farmers to alternate community
garden sites throughout the city. Even though this wasn't the outcome we had
hoped for, thanks to everyone who took action to help save these urban gardens.
========================
Subscription Information
========================
NRDC distributes a number of bulletins by email. To subscribe to any or all of
them, go to:
http://www.nrdcaction.org/join/subscribe.asp
If you already subscribe and want to change your subscriptions or update your
email address or other information, go to:
http://www.nrdcaction.org/profileeditor
==========
About NRDC
==========
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a nonprofit environmental organization
with 1.2 million members and online activists, and a staff of scientists,
attorneys and environmental experts. Our mission is to protect the planet's
wildlife and wild places and ensure a safe and healthy environment for all
living things.
For more information about NRDC or how to become a member of NRDC, please
contact us at:
Natural Resources Defense Council
40 West 20th Street
New York, NY 10011
212-727-4511 (voice) / 212-727-1773 (fax)
California Activist Network email:
wildcalifornia@nrdc.org
http://www.nrdc.org
Also visit:
BioGems -- Saving Endangered Wild Places
A project of the Natural Resources Defense Council
http://www.savebiogems.org
For your information, your California Activist Network subscription number is
2043481 (you do not need this information to unsubscribe).
===========
Special alert:
Important votes this week for California's health,
environment and wildlife
Contact your state assemblymember and senator now at
http://www.nrdcaction.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=53559
http://www.nrdcaction.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=53557
======================================================
The California Assembly and Senate are holding marathon sessions
this week to
meet Friday's deadline for passing bills to send to the other
chamber. Several
important environmental bills are in jeopardy of not passing due to
increasing
pressure from big business and industry opponents.
==================================
Natural Resources Defense Council's
LEGISLATIVE WATCH
May 30, 2005
==================================
This is a status report on congressional action on the environment.
The
information in this bulletin is also available on our website at
http://www.nrdc.org/legislation/legwatch.asp (the web version
links to the text
of bills and congressional web pages). To take action on these and
other
environmental issues, visit NRDC's Earth Action Center at
http://www.nrdc.org/action/.
(Please do not reply to this message. See the instructions below for
how to
unsubscribe or contact NRDC with questions or comments.)
==================================
The House of Representatives passed the fiscal year 2007 Interior
and
Environment Appropriations bill. The House also approved a harmful
logging
bill, and addressed several climate and energy issues at the
committee level.
The Senate confirmed the nomination of Idaho Governor Dirk
Kempthorne as
Secretary of the Interior.
===
Budget/Appropriations
On 5/18, the House approved the FY07 Interior and Environment
Appropriations
bill (H.R. 5386) by a vote of 293-128. The $26.1 billion spending
bill includes
a cut of more than 10 percent for conservation programs, including
$275 million
in cuts to the Department of the Interior, Forest Service and
Environmental
Protection Agency. Despite the major funding cuts to environmental
programs,
the House approved a number of positive amendments, including those
that would
prohibit government funding for new logging roads in Alaska's
Tongass National
Forest; reinstate the ban on offshore natural gas drilling that had
been
removed in committee; limit royalties that could be collected by
offshore oil
and gas producers when prices reach a certain level, which could
save the
government up to $10 billion; prohibit the EPA from weakening
reporting
requirements for industries that release toxics into communities;
and reverse a
three-year-old EPA policy limiting Clean Water Act protections for
some streams
and wetlands.
On 5/17, the House Appropriations Committee approved a $30 billion
Energy and
Water Appropriations bill (H.R. 5427) for FY07. Although the Bush
administration had proposed a number of cuts to energy conservation
and
environmental clean-up measures to increase funding for the Global
Nuclear
Energy Partnership, the committee recommended cuts totaling $120
million from
the original request of $250 million for the nuclear program, and
voted to
shift some funds to programs to develop new efficient vehicle
technologies,
expand ethanol fuel infrastructure, improve efficient building
technologies and
provide more money for the government-sponsored Energy Star program.
The bill
would also fund a $4.1 billion initiative for advanced energy
programs,
including biomass, solar, wind and clean coal. An additional $5.5
billion was
approved for defense environmental clean-up, including $2 billion to
clean up
radioactive nuclear waste at the Hanford site in Washington and the
Savannah
River site in South Carolina.
===
Climate Change
On 5/10, the House Appropriations Committee approved a non-binding
climate
change amendment to the FY07 Interior and Environment Appropriations
bill.
Sponsored by Rep. Dicks (D-WA), the amendment would endorse a
program to cap
global warming emissions, provided that the program does not harm
the U.S.
economy. The amendment, which was identical to a stand-alone
resolution adopted
by the full Senate last summer, was later stripped from the bill
before final
passage.
===
Energy
On 5/10, the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved a bill
(H.R. 5359)
that would give the Bush administration increased authority to
modify vehicle
CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) standards. The committee
passed the
measure on a party-line vote of 28-26, after defeating a Democratic
amendment
that would have mandated increasing fuel efficiency requirements to
33 miles
per gallon over the next decade. The bill approved by the committee
would fail
to raise fuel economy standards to a specific level, and would
simply allow the
National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration to increase the
CAFE
requirement for passenger cars.
===
Forests
On 5/17, the House approved a logging bill (H.R. 4200) sponsored by
Rep. Walden
(R-OR) and Rep. Baird (D-WA). The bill would give the Forest Service
broad
exemptions from the National Environmental Policy Act and the
Endangered
Species Act to increase logging in national forests after fires or
hurricanes.
Although the bill would increase water pollution and soil erosion, a
number of
Democratic amendments to limit the scope of the bill were defeated
on the House
floor. The Senate has not indicated whether it plans to take up the
measure.
===
Nominations
On 5/26, the Senate approved, by voice vote, the nomination of
former senator
and current Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne (R) as Secretary of the
Interior.
Governor Kempthorne's record on environmental issues has been highly
criticized
by environment and wildlife advocates, who had actively opposed his
nomination.
===
Nuclear Weapons and Waste
On 5/11, the House approved the FY07 Defense Authorization bill
(H.R. 5122) by
a vote of 396-31. The House rejected proposals from the Department
of Defense
for broad exemptions from numerous environmental laws, including the
Clean Air
and Clean Water acts, to conduct military readiness activities. The
majority of
environment-related funding in the $513 billion bill focused on
defense clean-
up ($5.4 billion) and nuclear non-proliferation ($1.6 billion). The
measure
also would provide $174.2 million for constructing a plant at the
Savannah
River nuclear site in South Carolina to transform surplus
weapons-grade
plutonium in the United States and Russia into reactor fuel.
Responding to
calls from environmental advocates and Indian groups, the bill would
also
direct the Department of Defense to review the number, size, type
and likely
location of sites where the armed forces has disposed of munitions
in coastal
waters and to determine the "long-term effects of seawater exposure
on military
munitions, particularly chemical munitions." The House approved an
amendment by
Rep. Baca (D-CA) that is supported by public health and
environmental groups
that would mandate a new Defense Department study of groundwater
contamination
from perchlorate -- a rocket fuel component -- on former defense
sites. Another
provision would require California's Channel Islands National Park
to maintain
deer and elk populations on Santa Rosa Island at levels adequate to
support a
hunting refuge, despite the negative impact maintaining these
non-native
wildlife populations have on native endangered species.
===
Oceans
On 5/18, the House Resources Committee approved a bill (H.R. 5018)
to
reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management
Act, which
governs management of ocean fisheries in U.S. waters. Several
amendments to the
bill that were approved would add the general public to an
established peer
review process, remove language that would limit public
participation in
fishery management decisions, and help strengthen protections for
national
marine sanctuaries and safeguard these areas from overfishing. Two
critical
amendments, strongly supported by ocean advocates, were defeated.
One, offered
by Rep. Gilchrest (R-MD), would have maintained National
Environmental Policy
Act review of certain fishery management decisions (the bill's
current language
would allow waiving this review in some circumstances). A second
amendment,
offered by Rep. Saxton (R-NJ) and supported by Rep. Rahall (D-WV),
would have
stricken three new, broad exceptions to the current requirement to
rebuild
depleted fish stocks within 10 years. These exceptions are expected
to lead to
significant delays in the recovery of depleted fish populations.
===
Public Health
On 5/18, the House Environment and Hazardous Waste Subcommittee
approved a bill
(H.R. 4591) offered by Rep. Gillmor (R-OH), subcommittee chair, to
amend the
Toxic Substances Control Act to bring the United States in line with
the
Stockholm Treaty. The legislation is intended to allow the United
States to
ratify the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants.
Critics of
the bill say the measure would undermine the ability of states to
pass
regulations on persistent organic pollutants stricter than those of
the federal
government.
===
For information on the environmental voting records of members of
Congress, see
the League of Conservation Voters' National Environmental Scorecard
at
http://www.lcv.org/scorecard/
========================
Subscription Information
========================
NRDC distributes a number of bulletins by email. To subscribe to any
or all of
them, go to:
http://www.nrdcaction.org/join/subscribe.asp
If you already subscribe and want to change your subscriptions or
update your
email address or other information, go to:
http://www.nrdcaction.org/profileeditor
You may also unsubscribe from Legislative Watch by sending an email
message to
legwatch@nrdcaction.org
with REMOVE in the subject line.
==========
About NRDC
==========
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a nonprofit environmental
organization
with more than 1.2 million members and online activists, and a staff
of
scientists, attorneys and environmental experts. Our mission is to
protect the
planet's wildlife and wild places and ensure a safe and healthy
environment for
all living things.
For more information about NRDC or how to become a member of NRDC,
please
contact us at:
Natural Resources Defense Council
40 West 20th Street
New York, NY 10011
212-727-4511 (voice) / 212-727-1773 (fax)
Email: nrdcinfo@nrdc.org
http://www.nrdc.org
Also visit:
BioGems -- Saving Endangered Wild Places
A project of the Natural Resources Defense Council
http://www.savebiogems.org
For your information, your Legislative Watch subscription number is
2043481 (you do not need this information to unsubscribe).
===========
========================================
NRDC's EARTH ACTION:
The Bulletin for Environmental Activists
May 15, 2006
========================================
Emergency alert:
Tell Representative Gallegly not to allow drilling off our coasts
Please call (202) 225-5811 right away and tell Representative Gallegly to
restore the
moratorium on offshore drilling.
======================================================
This Wednesday or Thursday, the House of Representatives will vote on a
provision of the Interior and Environment Appropriations bill that would allow
drilling off our coasts. The current version of the bill would permit drilling
rigs as close as three miles off the shores of some of our most popular
vacation spots, including the California coast, Cape Cod, the Florida Keys, the
Jersey shore, North Carolina's Outer Banks and the Delmarva (Delaware-Maryland-
Virginia) peninsula.
For the last 25 years, a bipartisan, bicoastal consensus in Congress has
authorized an annual legislative moratorium that protects America's most
treasured and sensitive coastlines. But last week the House Appropriations
Committee voted to repeal this protection and allow natural gas exploration and
development to jeopardize coastal ecosystems and economies.
Representative Foley (R-FL) and Representative Davis (D-FL) will offer an
amendment during floor debate of the bill to strike this harmful language and
ensure that our precious, fragile coasts are protected from oil and gas
drilling.
== What to do ==
Call Representative Gallegly right now at (202) 225-5811. Tell the staff person
who
answers the phone that you are a constituent and that you want Representative
Gallegly to
vote Yes on the Foley/Davis amendment to the Interior/Environment
Appropriations bill and restore the moratorium on offshore drilling.
Thank you!
==================================================
To update your email address or other information, go to:
http://www.nrdcaction.org/profileeditor/. To unsubscribe from Earth Action,
send an email message to
earthaction@nrdcaction.org with REMOVE in the subject
line.
==========
About NRDC
==========
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a nonprofit environmental organization
with 1.2 million members and online activists, and a staff of scientists,
attorneys and environmental experts. Our mission is to protect the planet's
wildlife and wild places and ensure a safe and healthy environment for all
living things.
For more information about NRDC or how to become a member of NRDC, please
contact us at:
Natural Resources Defense Council
40 West 20th Street
New York, NY 10011
212-727-4511 (voice) / 212-727-1773 (fax)
Email: nrdcaction@nrdc.org
http://www.nrdc.org
Also visit:
BioGems -- Saving Endangered Wild Places
A project of the Natural Resources Defense Council
http://www.savebiogems.org
===========
Natural Resources Defense Council's
LEGISLATIVE WATCH
March 31, 2006
==================================
This is a status report on congressional action on the environment.
The
information in this bulletin is also available on our website at
http://www.nrdc.org/legislation/legwatch.asp (the web version
links to the text
of bills and congressional web pages). To take action on these and
other
environmental issues, visit NRDC's Earth Action Center at
http://www.nrdc.org/action/.
(Please do not reply to this message. See the instructions below for
how to
unsubscribe or contact NRDC with questions or comments.)
==================================
The Senate passed its version of the fiscal year 2007 budget
resolution that
includes language calling for drilling in the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge.
Meanwhile, the House passed a large supplemental appropriations bill
allocating
additional funds for post-hurricane clean-up efforts on the Gulf
Coast.
===
Budget/Appropriations
On 3/16, the Senate voted 51-49 to pass a $2.8 trillion budget
resolution bill
for fiscal year 2007 (S.Con.Res 83). The major component of the bill
is $3
billion in revenue that would come from authorization of lease sales
for oil
and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The only
Democrat to
vote in favor of the budget resolution was Sen. Landrieu (D-LA), who
struck a
deal to create a $10 billion fund for Gulf Coast protection and
recovery
efforts. The Gulf Coast fund would draw money from a variety of
sources,
including revenues from oil and gas development in the Arctic and
receipts from
offshore drilling elsewhere. Despite approval of the drilling
provision in the
Senate budget bill, several more hurdles would need to be cleared
before oil
and gas leasing in the Arctic coastal plain could occur. The House
would still
have to pass a budget bill that paves the way for Arctic drilling,
and leasing
would then have to be authorized through the subsequent budget
reconciliation
process in both chambers.
During consideration of the budget bill, Sen. Bingaman (D-NM)
offered an
amendment (S.Amdt.3121) to boost energy program spending that was
defeated by a
vote of 46-54. The Bingaman amendment would have added $3.55 billion
in energy
program funding for a variety of initiatives, including hybrid
vehicle
technologies, fuel cell school buses and advanced coal technologies.
The
amendment would have funded the increase by assuming the
reauthorization of the
Superfund tax on industry, which has lapsed and currently lacks the
support
needed for reinstatement.
Also on 3/16, the House passed a $92 billion supplemental
appropriations bill
(H.R. 4939.) by a vote of 348-71. The legislation would fund the war
in Iraq
and increase money available for hurricane recovery on the Gulf
Coast. The bill
would provide a $19.1 billion increase in funding for Hurricane
Katrina
recovery and restoration efforts. Of the total allocated for
hurricane
recovery, $9.55 billion would be directed to the Federal Emergency
Management
Agency's Disaster Relief Fund, which could be used for debris
removal and
infrastructure repairs. Additionally, the Army Corps of Engineers
would receive
$1.46 billion for levee repairs, flood control projects and
environmental
restoration. Another $100 million would be specifically targeted for
wetlands
restoration. The Senate has not yet started work on its version of
the
supplemental bill.
See NRDC's analysis of some of the energy proposals and
environmental programs
in the president's proposed budget at
http://www.nrdc.org/media/pressreleases/060209.asp.
===
For information on the environmental voting records of members of
Congress, see
the League of Conservation Voters' National Environmental Scorecard
at
http://www.lcv.org/scorecard/
========================
Subscription Information
========================
NRDC distributes a number of bulletins by email. To subscribe to any
or all of
them, go to:
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If you already subscribe and want to change your subscriptions or
update your
email address or other information, go to:
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==========
About NRDC
==========
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a nonprofit environmental
organization
with more than 1.2 million members and online activists, and a staff
of
scientists, attorneys and environmental experts. Our mission is to
protect the
planet's wildlife and wild places and ensure a safe and healthy
environment for
all living things.
For more information about NRDC or how to become a member of NRDC,
please
contact us at:
Natural Resources Defense Council
40 West 20th Street
New York, NY 10011
212-727-4511 (voice) / 212-727-1773 (fax)
Email: nrdcinfo@nrdc.org
http://www.nrdc.org
Also visit:
BioGems -- Saving Endangered Wild Places
A project of the Natural Resources Defense Council
http://www.savebiogems.org
For your information, your Legislative Watch subscription number is
2043481 (you do not need this information to unsubscribe).
===========
Dear NRDC Earth Activist,
Pro-drilling supporters eked out a win Thursday night on a budget resolution
that was specially crafted to allow oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge.
But keep your chin up! There are many more rounds of this fight ahead of us
and, backed by your continued activism, we are absolutely committed to blocking
this newest sneak attack on America's greatest wildlife refuge.
The House of Representatives will act next when it decides whether or not to
include Arctic drilling in its version of the budget resolution later this
month. We will be contacting you to take action in the critical days leading up
to that vote.
Thanks to thousands of phone calls and email messages from NRDC Earth Activists
like you, Thursday night's Senate vote was extremely close: 51 to 49. In fact,
your efforts helped sway several Republicans to vote with nearly all the
Democrats against this Arctic drilling budget.
The Senate will have to cast at least two more votes on the budget bill this
year if they hope to open the Arctic Refuge to drilling. So it is absolutely
critical that you keep the pressure on them, no matter how they voted Thursday
night.
To see how your Senators voted, go to
http://www.nrdcactionfund.org/arcticphotos/arcticvote.asp
Then, please call your two Senators. If they voted FOR the budget resolution,
let them know you disagree strongly with their vote. If they voted AGAINST the
budget, express your thanks and urge them to stand firm in defense of the
Arctic Refuge on future votes.
If you are unable to telephone, then please go to the Senate website
[http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm], where you
can look up your Senators and send them email messages.
This year's fight to defend the Arctic Refuge is shaping up to be a replay of
last year's all-out battle. With your support, the NRDC Action Fund will
continue working day and night to turn back this latest attack on America's
premiere wildlife sanctuary.
Sincerely,
Frances Beinecke
NRDC Action Fund
. . .
The NRDC Action Fund is the 501(c)(4) affiliate of the Natural Resources
Defense Council (NRDC).
For your information, your Earth Action subscription number is 2043481
(you do not need this information to unsubscribe).
Dear NRDC Earth Activist,
Last week, the Senate Budget Committee caved in to Big Oil and passed a budget
resolution that includes a provision designed exclusively to allow drilling in
the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The entire Senate will vote on this resolution as early as Thursday! Last
December, we blocked Arctic drilling by generating tens of thousands of phone
calls to Capitol Hill. It's time to do it again!
Please call your Senators right now:
Senator Dianne Feinstein: (202) 224-3841
Senator Barbara Boxer: (202) 224-3553
Tell them to:
"Vote NO on the budget because it's bad for the Arctic Refuge, bad for the
environment, and bad for the American people. Vote YES on any amendment to
strip Arctic drilling from this budget bill."
Please reply to this email to let us know that you called. Your phone call will
have the biggest impact, but if you are unable to call, then please send
electronic messages to your Senators by going to
http://www.nrdcactionfund.org/arctic/action.asp?step=2&item=53391 right now.
Senate leaders are using this budget ploy to open the Arctic Refuge to drilling
because they know they can't pass it through the legitimate legislative
process. They aren't even pretending that their budget resolution is about
balancing the budget. In fact, their resolution contains only one
reconciliation instruction: the provision that would open the Arctic Refuge to
drilling.
Please call your Senators today. Let's stop this abuse of the budget process
and stand up for America's Arctic Refuge in its hour of greatest need!
Sincerely,
Frances Beinecke
NRDC Action Fund
. . .
The NRDC Action Fund is the 501(c)(4) affiliate of the Natural Resources
Defense Council (NRDC).
For your information, your Earth Action subscription number is 2043481
(you do not need this information to unsubscribe).
========================================
NRDC's EARTH ACTION:
The Bulletin for Environmental Activists
March 8, 2006
========================================
In This Issue:
--Action Alerts--
1. Speak out to get dangerous soot pollution out of our nation's air
2. Tell your senators not to weaken the Endangered Species Act
--Updates on Previous Alerts--
Food safety laws
======================================================
You will also find these alerts in NRDC'S Earth Action Center, which includes
tools for taking action easily online, at
http://www.nrdc.org/action
(Please do not reply to this message; see the instructions below for how to
unsubscribe or contact NRDC with questions or comments.)
=============
Action Alerts
=============
1. Speak out to get dangerous soot pollution out of our nation's air
Particulate pollution, also known as soot, comes from diesel engines, power
plants and other industrial sources, as well as from the fine dusts kicked up
by mining and agriculture operations. During the last 10 years, two thousand
studies have linked soot pollution to numerous serious health problems,
including asthma attacks, missed school days due to respiratory symptoms,
strokes, heart attacks, emergency room visits, hospital admissions, lung cancer
and premature death. Infants and children, people with asthma, the elderly and
people with heart or lung disease are especially at risk from inhaling this
widespread pollution.
Scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency have recommended that the
national standards governing the allowable levels of soot pollution be
strengthened, but EPA Administrator Johnson is ignoring these recommendations
and has instead proposed exempting agriculture and mining operations from the
requirements of the law, and weakening critical air quality standards for
cities and towns of under 100,000 people. These changes would effectively cause
more rural areas to suffer a disproportionate share of soot's dangerous health
risks.
The EPA is accepting public comments on its proposed changes to the soot
pollution standards through April 17th.
== What to do ==
Send a message, before the April 17th comment deadline, urging the EPA to
strengthen, not weaken, the soot standards and ensure safe air to breathe for
all communities.
== Contact information ==
You can send an official comment to the EPA directly from NRDC's Earth Action
Center at http://www.nrdc.org/action/.
Or use the contact information and
sample letter below to send your own message.
Docket ID EPA-HQ-OAR-2001-0017
Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode: 6102T
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington DC 20460
Fax: 202-566-1749
Email: a-and-r-Docket@epa.gov
== Sample letter ==
Subject: Docket ID EPA-HQ-OAR-2001-0017 - particulate air quality standards
Dear Administrator Johnson and EPA staff,
I am writing to express my concern about air pollution, which can seriously
harm my and my family's health. We are facing an asthma epidemic among American
children, and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases among adults are
widespread and serious. Hundreds of scientific studies have found links between
particulate air pollution -- at levels people are breathing today -- and
respiratory problems, increased use of asthma medications, missed school days
from respiratory illness, emergency room visits, strokes, heart problems and
premature death.
The proposed standards for particulate matter are completely inadequate to
protect the health of children and sensitive adults. In addition, exempting
mining and agriculture operations from the coarse particulate matter standards
and removing protections from areas with populations under 100,000 would cause
more rural areas to suffer a disproportionate share of the health risks.
Instead, I strongly urge you to follow the advice of your Science Advisory
Board's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee and strengthen both the fine
particle and coarse particle standards to levels that the science shows would
adequately protect the public. For the health of my family and of future
generations, I urge you to set standards that will make the air safe to breathe
in all of our communities.
Sincerely,
[Your name and address]
2. Tell your senators not to weaken the Endangered Species Act
For more than 30 years, the Endangered Species Act has been an effective and
successful safety net for wildlife, fish and plants on the brink of extinction.
It has succeeded in preventing the extinction of the American bald eagle, the
gray wolf, whales and other marine mammals, as well as many other species. But
land developers and other special interests are using their money and influence
to try to weaken the act, and their strategy has already proved successful in
the House of Representatives.
Now that the fight has moved to the Senate, it is critically important that
senators hear from their constituents who support the Endangered Species Act
and the fish, plants and wildlife the act protects.
== What to do ==
Send a message urging your senators to vote against any legislation that would
weaken or undermine the Endangered Species Act.
== Contact information ==
You can email or fax your senators directly from NRDC's Earth Action Center at
http://www.nrdc.org/action/. If you
prefer to call your senators, the Capitol
switchboard number is 202-224-3121.
==========================
Updates on Previous Alerts
==========================
FOOD SAFETY LAWS
Last week we sent a special alert asking you to urge your representatives to
oppose a dangerous bill that would effectively eliminate more than 200 state
food safety and public health protections. You sent almost 16,000 messages in
record time (thank you!), causing representatives to delay last Thursday's
vote. Since then, eight governors, 39 attorneys general and many state
agriculture and food officials also have urged Congress to reject this
legislation. The food industry, however, has invested significant amounts of
time and money into gathering cosponsors for this special interest bill, and we
expect the bill to pass soon (perhaps as early as this afternoon). The good
news is that similar legislation has not been introduced in the Senate, and
seven senators have already announced their opposition to this sweeping
overhaul of food safety laws. Thanks again to all of you who contacted your
representatives; we'll be sure to keep you posted on new developments.
========================
Subscription Information
========================
NRDC distributes a number of bulletins by email. To subscribe to any or all of
them, go to:
http://www.nrdcaction.org/join/subscribe.asp
If you already subscribe and want to change your subscriptions or update your
email address or other information, go to:
http://www.nrdcaction.org/profileeditor
==========
About NRDC
==========
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a nonprofit environmental organization
with more than one million members and online activists, and a staff of
scientists, attorneys and environmental experts. Our mission is to protect the
planet's wildlife and wild places and ensure a safe and healthy environment for
all living things.
For more information about NRDC or how to become a member of NRDC, please
contact us at:
Natural Resources Defense Council
40 West 20th Street
New York, NY 10011
212-727-4511 (voice) / 212-727-1773 (fax)
Email: nrdcaction@nrdc.org
http://www.nrdc.org
Also visit:
BioGems -- Saving Endangered Wild Places
A project of the Natural Resources Defense Council
http://www.savebiogems.org
For your information, your Earth Action subscription number is 2043481
(you do not need this information to unsubscribe).
===========
========================================
Natural Resources Defense Council's
CALIFORNIA ACTIVIST NETWORK ACTION ALERT
NRDC's California Activist Network was formed to mobilize and provide action
tools to Californians and others concerned with protecting the state's
extraordinary wealth of natural treasures and the health of its citizens.
March 6, 2006
========================================
In This Issue:
--Action Alerts--
1. Urge Governor Schwarzenegger to save San Onofre State Beach
2. Tell the Bush administration not to sell off California's public lands
3. Speak out to help California's fishermen
======================================================
You will also find these alerts in NRDC'S Earth Action Center, which includes
tools for taking action easily online, at
http://www.nrdc.org/action
(Please do not reply to this message; see the instructions below for how to
unsubscribe or contact NRDC with questions or comments.)
=============
Action Alerts
=============
1. Urge Governor Schwarzenegger to save San Onofre State Beach
During the past year and a half, thousands of you have sent messages urging
state and local officials to protect San Onofre State Beach, one of
California's most popular state parks, from a proposed multi-lane toll road
that would cut the park in two. Despite the overwhelming public opposition,
however, on February 23rd the local toll road agency voted to proceed with the
road. Governor Schwarzenegger has the power to authorize the state parks
agencies to file lawsuits to stop the toll road, but he must do so this month
now that the project has been approved.
If the road is built, it would run right through the middle of the park, one of
the last affordable coastal getaways for middle- and low-income families
throughout the region. Eleven threatened or endangered species live within the
park, and surfers, swimmers, campers, kayakers, birders, anglers, cyclists and
sunbathers derive countless hours of pleasure and enjoyment from all the park
has to offer. There's no land in the region to create another park, but there
are alternative traffic solutions that would provide equal, if not greater,
benefits to the public.
== What to do ==
Send a message urging Governor Schwarzenegger to authorize both the California
Department of Parks and Recreation and the State Park and Recreation Commission
to file lawsuits to stop the toll road and force the toll road agency to find
less destructive transportation solutions.
== Contact information ==
You can send a message to Governor Schwarzenegger directly from NRDC's Earth
Action Center at
http://www.nrdc.org/action/. Or use the contact information
and sample letter below to send your own message.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Fax: 916-445-4633
Email: governor@governor.ca.gov
== Sample letter ==
Subject: Authorize litigation to save San Onofre State Beach
Dear Governor Schwarzenegger,
I strongly urge you to authorize the California Department of Parks and
Recreation and the State Park and Recreation Commission to file litigation to
save the state park at San Onofre, one of California's most popular state
parks, from devastation by the proposed extension of the Foothill-South Toll
Road in southern Orange County. San Onofre is an irreplaceable public treasure,
providing rare coastal camping and recreation opportunities to all
Californians. The Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency's February
23rd decision to pave over these park lands is unacceptable.
The proposed multi-lane highway is exactly the type of 1980's-style
traffic "solution" that fuels global warming, perpetuates urban sprawl,
destroys natural vegetation and paves over open space. Instead of destroying a
state park with multiple lanes of concrete, the smart growth alternative would
be to improve existing infrastructure, including Interstate-5 and surrounding
routes.
Californians are counting on you to protect the parks that make our state a
great place to live. Our parks should be preserved for future generations, not
warehoused for later development.
Do not allow San Onofre State Beach, one of the crown jewels of California's
natural heritage, to be sacrificed for a multi-lane highway. Please immediately
authorize both the Parks Department and Parks Commission to file litigation
under the California Environmental Quality Act to oppose the Foothill-South
Toll Road.
Sincerely,
[Your name and address]
2. Tell the Bush administration not to sell off California's public lands
In his recent budget request, President Bush asked Congress to change the law
so that his administration can sell off public lands to private developers. The
proposal includes selling more than 300,000 acres of Forest Service lands in 35
states, and perhaps as many as 500,000 acres of western lands managed by the
Bureau of Land Management, to raise over $1 billion for the federal budget.
Although it does not yet have the legal authority to sell the land, the Forest
Service has published the list of lands it proposes to sell, including over
79,000 acres in California -- more than in any other state. Some of the Forest
Service lands proposed for sale are in pristine areas of national forests;
others are significant areas for hunting, fishing, hiking, picnicking, wildlife
viewing and other recreational activities. Some of the lands are in old growth
reserves or along wild and scenic rivers, while others are important native
ancestral grounds. Private development, whether logging, mining, grazing or
real estate development, would eliminate public access to and enjoyment of
these areas.
The Bush administration has proposed that the money from the sale of Forest
Service lands be used to pay for schools and roads in counties whose local
economies are adjusting to the impacts of less logging, but these services
should not be funded by selling off lands that are a legacy to future
generations.
The Forest Service is accepting public comments through March 30th on the list
of lands it proposes to sell.
== What to do ==
Send a message, before the March 30th comment deadline, urging the Forest
Service to withdraw its proposal to sell hundreds of thousands of acres of
public lands in California and throughout the country.
== Contact information ==
You can send an official comment to the Forest Service directly from NRDC's
Earth Action Center at
http://www.nrdc.org/action/. Or use the contact
information and sample letter below to send your own message, and please
include your own reasons why preserving these wild forest lands is important to
you.
U.S. Forest Service
SRS Comments, Lands 4S
1400 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20250-0003
Fax: 202-205-1604
Email: SRS_Land_Sales@fs.fed.us
== Sample letter ==
Subject: Don't sell Forest Service lands to the highest bidder
Dear Forest Service staff,
Please tell President Bush that his proposed budget request to privatize Forest
Service lands across the country is a bad idea. I oppose the Secure Rural
Schools Land Sales Initiative and the proposal to sell hundreds of thousands of
acres of public lands, including over 79,000 acres in California's national
forests alone.
The national forest lands proposed for sale in California include roadless
areas, land adjacent to a popular public park in a region with little open
space, and land along rivers and streams prized for their natural values,
including recommended wild and scenic rivers. These and the other lands
proposed for sale belong to Californians and all Americans, and are treasured
as homes for wildlife and vacation spots for recreation, hunting and fishing.
They are part of America's natural heritage, and should not be lost to the
highest bidder.
Although California's communities most certainly deserve quality schools and
public services, they should not be funded by selling off lands that are a
legacy to future generations. Again, I urge the Forest Service to withdraw this
harmful proposal.
Sincerely,
[Your name and address]
3. Speak out to help California's fishermen
In the 1930's, the federal government wanted to encourage people to build more
boats and explore and harvest the seemingly endless resources of the sea. To do
so, it created a special investment fund that gave fishermen financial
incentives to build more and larger boats.
Today, close to 4,000 fishermen have more than $200 million invested in this
boat construction fund, with California fishermen alone accounting for $15
million of that total. But today's fisheries are no longer expanding, and many
do not have enough fish left to support the number of boats that are used to
catch them. So fishermen are caught in a bind: if they don't use the money
they've saved in the investment fund to build boats, they are essentially
forced to forfeit it all.
Representative Capps (D-CA) has introduced a bill that would update the
antiquated law that created the fund to allow fishermen to use the money
they've invested to make safety improvements to their boats or purchase fishing
gear that helps protect marine habitats. The money could also be rolled into a
retirement account when a fisherman no longer wants to fish.
Representative Thomas (R-CA) is the chair of the committee that will consider
this bill that is so important to our nation's fishermen, so his support is
critical.
== What to do ==
Send a message urging Representative Thomas to support and help pass H.R. 2174
so California's -- and the nation's -- fishermen won't lose the millions of
dollars they've saved.
== Contact information ==
You can send a message to Representative Thomas directly from NRDC's Earth
Action Center at
http://www.nrdc.org/action/. Or use the contact information
and sample letter below to send your own message.
Representative Bill Thomas
Chair, House Committee on Ways and Means
1102 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: 202-225-3625
Fax: 202-225-2610
Email:
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/contact.asp
== Sample letter ==
Subject: Support H.R. 2174
Dear Representative Thomas,
Our fisheries and coastal waters are some of our most valuable resources. By
protecting them with careful management, we not only preserve our natural
heritage but we also invest in our coastal economies. California has the
nation's largest "ocean economy," and the state is working hard to be a leader
on oceans issues.
California's commercial and charter boats play an important role in coastal
communities and provide food and recreation to millions of Californians each
year. But an outdated section of the federal tax code prevents many of these
fishermen from retiring or improving their ability to fish sustainably. The
Capital Construction Fund was created in the 1930s when the government wanted
to help and encourage fishermen to build more and larger boats. But today's
fishermen are in jeopardy of losing the millions of dollars they've saved in
the fund over the years.
Reforming the Capital Construction Fund, as proposed in H.R. 2174, would let
fishermen use their own money to make conservation and safety improvements to
their fishing boats and gear, or roll that money into a retirement account if
they no longer want to fish. This small change would make a big difference to
the hundreds of California fishermen who together have more than $15 million
trapped in the fund today.
I urge you to support H.R. 2174 and help pass this important bill that would
assist our nation's fishermen and improve the health of our oceans.
Sincerely,
[Your name and address]
========================
Subscription Information
========================
NRDC distributes a number of bulletins by email. To subscribe to any or all of
them, go to:
http://www.nrdcaction.org/join/subscribe.asp
If you already subscribe and want to change your subscriptions or update your
email address or other information, go to:
http://www.nrdcaction.org/profileeditor
==========
About NRDC
==========
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a nonprofit environmental organization
with more than one million members and online activists, and a staff of
scientists, attorneys and environmental experts. Our mission is to protect the
planet's wildlife and wild places and ensure a safe and healthy environment for
all living things.
For more information about NRDC or how to become a member of NRDC, please
contact us at:
Natural Resources Defense Council
40 West 20th Street
New York, NY 10011
212-727-4511 (voice) / 212-727-1773 (fax)
California Activist Network email:
wildcalifornia@nrdc.org
http://www.nrdc.org
Also visit:
BioGems -- Saving Endangered Wild Places
A project of the Natural Resources Defense Council
http://www.savebiogems.org
For your information, your California Activist Network subscription number is
2043481 (you do not need this information to unsubscribe).
===========
========================================
NRDC's EARTH ACTION:
The Bulletin for Environmental Activists
February 9, 2006
========================================
In This Issue:
--Action Alerts--
1. Tell the Bush administration not to destroy the wild areas of Wyoming's Red
Desert
2. Urge your representative to oppose a destructive logging bill
3. Don't let the Bush administration weaken protections for our public lands
======================================================
You will also find these alerts in NRDC'S Earth Action Center, which includes
tools for taking action easily online, at
http://www.nrdc.org/action
(Please do not reply to this message; see the instructions below for how to
unsubscribe or contact NRDC with questions or comments.)
=============
Action Alerts
=============
1. Tell the Bush administration not to destroy the wild areas of Wyoming's Red
Desert
The Atlantic Rim of Wyoming's fabled Red Desert is an oasis of prime wildlife
habitat, providing crucial winter ranges for elk and mule deer, and important
breeding and nesting areas for sage grouse, hawks and eagles. The region also
has a colorful past: it includes the ancestral homelands of the Shoshone and
Ute peoples as well as the site of the Overland and Cherokee trails traveled by
the pioneers.
But the Bush administration is moving forward with an oil and gas project that
would convert important and sensitive wildlife habitat on the desert's Atlantic
Rim into a massive industrial zone with 2,000 wells and 1,000 miles of new
roads. The administration's proposed plan would sacrifice critical wildlands
and wildlife habitat and harm streams and water quality that are essential for
endangered fish. The proposed drilling pads and roads would be so dense, and
the habitat loss so severe, that few of the Red Desert's native wildlife
species would be able to survive.
The Bureau of Land Management is accepting public comments on its drilling
proposal through February 17th.
== What to do ==
Send a message, before the February 17th comment deadline, urging the BLM to
withdraw its proposed plan and to instead ensure that the Red Desert's most
sensitive habitats and other natural resources are protected from harm.
== Contact information ==
You can send a letter directly from NRDC's Earth Action Center at
http://www.nrdc.org/action/. Or use
the contact information and sample letter
below to send your own message, and please include your own reasons why
protecting these stunning lands from oil and gas development is important to
you.
David Simons, Project Manager
Rawlins Field Office
Bureau of Land Management
P.O. Box 2407
Rawlins, WY 82301
Email:
Atlantic_Rim_EIS_WYMail@blm.gov
== Sample letter ==
Subject: Withdraw the Atlantic Rim drilling project
Dear Project Manager Simons,
I urge you to withdraw your current preferred alternative for the Atlantic Rim
Project, and to revise your proposal to include critical environmental
protections and balance industrial uses of public lands with the needs of
public recreation, clean air and water and desert wildlife.
Any final decision should keep roads and drilling pads safe distances away from
sage grouse breeding and nesting areas (with a 3-mile buffer), sharp-tailed
grouse breeding and nesting areas (1 mile), ferruginous hawk nests (2 miles),
other raptor nests (1 mile), mountain plover nesting areas, 100-year
floodplains, historic Overland and Cherokee trails (3 miles), and prairie dog
colonies. I also urge you to require the strongest protective measures to
prevent salt runoff from roads and soils, the underground injection of salty
wastewater, and other activities that would harm the area's streams.
In addition, the project should use only directional drilling to cluster well
facilities and truly minimize the drilling footprint, and allow only a small
proportion of the project area to be in an industrialized state at any one
time. It is also essential that the Wild Cow Creek proposed wilderness area be
removed from the project.
The BLM should protect those few remaining places that are too special to
drill, and manage remaining areas in an environmentally sensitive manner. Our
natural heritage, including the Red Desert's Atlantic Rim, should be protected
for future generations.
Sincerely,
[Your name and address]
2. Urge your representative to oppose a destructive logging bill
The House of Representatives may soon consider a bill that would make it easier
for the timber industry to log parts of our most fragile national forests after
a forest fire or hurricane, or even after a common snowstorm or rainstorm.
Logging after a fire or other natural disturbance is one of the most
environmentally destructive practices occurring in public forests today. After
a fire, forests and their natural resources are fragile, and immediately begin
the process of recovery. Logging at this moment can devastate a forest
ecosystem by crushing seedlings, triggering landslides and removing trees that
are essential to forest recovery, even if they are dying.
Not only is post-fire logging bad for the environment, it can also increase the
risk of additional wildfires in nearby communities. And it's a bad deal for
taxpayers: logging after one fire alone -- the Biscuit Fire in Oregon -- is
estimated to have cost the Forest Service at least $9 million, which translates
into a significant subsidy for the timber industry.
The proposed bill could waive the most fundamental environmental protections
for logging projects of any size in our national forests, while making it more
difficult for the public to obtain information and offer input concerning these
destructive projects. Representative Walden (R-OR), who introduced the bill, is
now trying to persuade other representatives to co-sponsor it. With enough co-
sponsors, the bill could come up for a vote as early as March.
== What to do ==
Send a message urging your representative to oppose Representative Walden's
destructive logging bill (H.R. 4200).
== Contact information ==
You can send a message to your representative directly from NRDC's Earth Action
Center at http://www.nrdc.org/action/.
If you prefer to call your
representative, the Capitol switchboard number is 202-224-3121.
3. Don't let the Bush administration weaken protections for our public lands
Our public lands are home to some of the nation's greatest environmental
treasures -- pristine wildlands, towering forests, stunning landscapes. The
National Environmental Policy Act requires the government to review proposed
activities that could potentially harm these lands, and also ensures that the
public has a voice in decisions about how its lands are used. This public
involvement has proved to be an essential tool in protecting these lands from
harm.
But the Bureau of Land Management has proposed a new policy that would
eliminate many of the rules that now protect our public lands from harmful
grazing, logging and energy development by excluding these practices from
National Environmental Policy Act review. The new rules would allow
inappropriate grazing and logging practices to pollute streams and watersheds,
and permit 60-thousand-pound "thumper trucks" to cross huge areas in search of
oil and gas. These trucks, with tires 67 inches high and 34 inches wide, leave
a wake of deep ruts, crushed soil and destroyed wildlife habitat.
To add insult to injury, the proposed rules also would eliminate the public's
right to participate in decisions affecting its own lands.
The BLM is accepting comments on its proposal through February 24th.
== What to do ==
Send a message, before the February 24th comment deadline, urging the BLM to
withdraw its harmful proposal and protect our public lands.
== Contact information ==
You can send an official comment directly from NRDC's Earth Action Center at
http://www.nrdc.org/action/ (we'll
send a copy of your comment to your senators
and representative, who will be considering this issue later this year). Or use
the contact information and sample letter below to send your own message.
Content Analysis Team
BLM Categorical Exclusions
Post Office Box 22777
Salt Lake City, UT 84122-0777
Fax: 801-517-1014
Email: BLMCX@fs.fed.us
== Sample letter ==
Subject: Don't expand categorical exclusions
Dear BLM Content Analysis Team,
I strongly oppose the BLM's proposal to expand the use of "categorical
exclusions" to avoid conducting analyses that are currently required under the
National Environmental Policy Act for grazing, logging, vegetative treatments
and oil and gas exploration activities.
The National Environmental Policy Act requires agencies to look closely at
their proposed actions and decisions. The act is also the best tool citizens
have to learn about federal agency actions that might affect our public lands.
The proposed categorical exclusions, however, would allow the BLM to ignore its
legal duty to seek public input on proposals that could result in significant
harm to the environment. The activities proposed for categorical exclusion,
including grazing, logging and exploring for oil and gas, all can cause -- and
have caused -- serious damage to publicly owned resources.
I urge the BLM not to exempt its proposed categorical exclusions from National
Environmental Policy Act review, and to abandon its proposal to eliminate the
public's voice in decisions that affect our lands.
Sincerely,
[Your name and address]
========================
Subscription Information
========================
NRDC distributes a number of bulletins by email. To subscribe to any or all of
them, go to:
http://www.nrdcaction.org/join/subscribe.asp
If you already subscribe and want to change your subscriptions or update your
email address or other information, go to:
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==========
About NRDC
==========
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a nonprofit environmental organization
with more than one million members and online activists, and a staff of
scientists, attorneys and environmental experts. Our mission is to protect the
planet's wildlife and wild places and ensure a safe and healthy environment for
all living things.
For more information about NRDC or how to become a member of NRDC, please
contact us at:
Natural Resources Defense Council
40 West 20th Street
New York, NY 10011
212-727-4511 (voice) / 212-727-1773 (fax)
Email: nrdcaction@nrdc.org
http://www.nrdc.org
Also visit:
BioGems -- Saving Endangered Wild Places
A project of the Natural Resources Defense Council
http://www.savebiogems.org
For your information, your Earth Action subscription number is 2043481
(you do not need this information to unsubscribe).
===========
========================================
NRDC's EARTH ACTION:
The Bulletin for Environmental Activists
January 26, 2006
========================================
In This Issue:
--Action Alerts--
1. Tell the Bush administration not to weaken protections for our national parks
2. Don't let Congress gut one of America's bedrock environmental laws
======================================================
You will also find these alerts in NRDC'S Earth Action Center, which includes
tools for taking action easily online, at
http://www.nrdc.org/action
(Please do not reply to this message; see the instructions below for how to
unsubscribe or contact NRDC with questions or comments.)
=============
Action Alerts
=============
1. Tell the Bush administration not to weaken protections for our national parks
America's national parks inspire, amaze and educate hundreds of millions of
visitors every year. The National Park Service is the agency responsible for
preserving and maintaining the parks, guided by longstanding management
policies that give top priority to preserving the parks for the use of future
generations.
The Park Service's management policies were last updated in 2001, after a
thorough and collaborative seven-year process involving Park Service staff and
the American public. But now the Bush administration is trying to hastily
rewrite the policies in ways that would no longer consistently give top
priority to preserving park resources.
The proposed new policies no longer contain the clear unambiguous statement
that park protection should always trump recreation. For example, the proposed
revisions would eliminate restrictions against interference with
the "atmosphere of peace and tranquility, or the natural soundscapes" of the
parks, which would mean more motorized jet skis, off-road vehicles and other
noisy recreational vehicles roaring through our parks. Other policies that
would be weakened include those that protect wilderness and air and water
quality and control damage from livestock.
The Bush administration is accepting public comments on its revised national
parks policies through February 18th.
== What to do ==
Send a message, before the February 18th comment deadline, urging the Bush
administration not to rewrite the policies for managing our national parks and
to keep preserving the parks as the Park Service's top priority.
== Contact information ==
You can send an official comment directly from NRDC's Earth Action Center at
http://www.nrdc.org/action/. Or use
the contact information and sample letter
below to send your own message.
Bernard Fagan
National Park Service
Office of Policy, Room 7252
1849 C Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20240
Email: waso_policy@nps.gov
== Sample letter ==
Subject: Don't rewrite national park management policies
Dear Mr. Fagan,
I strongly urge you to abandon the rewriting of the national park management
policies and keep the 2001 policies intact. The current policies are serving
the parks well, and revising them now is unnecessary and would be a burden on
the cash-strapped Park Service.
The mission of the National Park Service is to preserve our national parks
unimpaired for future generations. The proposed policy revisions dangerously
veer away from this mission and could result in devastating harm to our parks
by redefining the longstanding legal mandate that clearly prioritizes the
preservation of park resources.
The Department of the Interior has given no clear justification for why the
proposed policy revisions would eliminate restrictions against interference
with the "atmosphere of peace and tranquility, or the natural soundscapes" of
the parks, which would make it easier for noisy motorized recreation to expand
within park boundaries. Other policies that would be weakened include those
that protect wilderness and air and water quality and control livestock damage.
The last time the management policies were revised, it was a thorough,
collaborative, seven-year process. The haste in which this rewrite is being
conducted is unprecedented, and leaves very little time for the public to
review and comment in a thoughtful way.
Again, I urge you to abandon this revision effort and to retain the 2001
management policies as the operative national park management policies.
Sincerely,
[Your name and address]
2. Don't let Congress gut one of America's bedrock environmental laws
The National Environmental Policy Act is a landmark environmental law that has
protected America's natural heritage for more than 30 years. NEPA requires
federal agencies to study and disclose the environmental effects of their
actions and to review major projects for potential environmental and public
health impacts. The law also ensures that the public is included in decisions
concerning proposed federal projects. When enforced, NEPA protects local
communities and promotes sound, inclusive decisionmaking.
While many agree that the act could work better, the Bush administration and
some members of Congress are using the pretense of "improving and updating" the
law to try to undermine its core provisions. By chipping away at NEPA, the Bush
administration would have even greater ability to open up America's last
remaining wildlands to rampant energy development, logging and other
destructive activities.
As part of the effort to undercut NEPA, a House Resources Committee task force
issued a draft report late last year -- without input from Democratic task
force members -- calling for fundamental changes to the law that could easily
be used as a springboard for anti-NEPA legislation this spring. Specifically,
the report recommends restricting the public's ability to participate in and
challenge an agency's decisionmaking process, and requiring that "reasonable
alternatives" to federal projects be supported by sizable studies. Both of
these provisions would tilt the scale in favor of industry over the American
public.
The task force is accepting comments on its draft report until February 6th.
== What to do ==
Send a message, before the February 6th comment deadline, showing your support
for NEPA and urging the task force to reconsider the draft report's
recommendations.
== Contact information ==
You can send an official comment to the NEPA Task Force directly from NRDC's
Earth Action Center at
http://www.nrdc.org/action/. Or use the contact
information and sample letter below to send your own message.
NEPA Draft Report Comments
c/o NEPA Task Force
House Resources Committee
1324 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Email:
nepataskforce@mail.house.gov
Fax: 202-225-5929
== Sample letter ==
Subject: Don't weaken NEPA
Dear NEPA Task Force Members,
I am very concerned that the recommendations made by the National Environmental
Policy Act Task Force would weaken NEPA in profound and fundamental ways. NEPA
is the best tool Americans have to learn how federal projects may affect them.
It also is the best tool the federal government has to examine proposed
projects and obtain public input. By making sure that the public is informed
and that alternatives are considered, NEPA has stopped some unwise and harmful
projects and made countless projects better.
Even though the draft report acknowledges that public participation is
fundamental to NEPA's success, the task force has made several recommendations
that would dramatically limit public involvement in the NEPA process.
Specifically the recommendations would 1) add mandatory timelines for the
completion of NEPA documentation and only allow for occasional extensions; 2)
place significant restrictions on a citizen's ability to participate in the
public process and to challenge an agency's decisionmaking; and 3) require
that "reasonable alternatives," including those proposed by individual citizens
or community groups, be supported by "feasibility and engineering studies,"
which could require significant technical and financial resources.
I urge you to reject any recommendations to amend NEPA and embark on drastic
regulatory changes that would reduce public participation. Thoughtful analysis
and review of NEPA have long recognized a need, however, to improve NEPA
implementation. Requiring monitoring of project impacts, improving management
oversight and providing agency staff with adequate training and resources are
all good ideas that should be considered and would not require amending NEPA or
its regulations.
I strongly urge the task force to reconsider its recommendations.
Sincerely,
[Your name and address]
========================
Subscription Information
========================
NRDC distributes a number of bulletins by email. To subscribe to any or all of
them, go to:
http://www.nrdcaction.org/join/subscribe.asp
If you already subscribe and want to change your subscriptions or update your
email address or other information, go to:
http://www.nrdcaction.org/profileeditor
==========
About NRDC
==========
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a nonprofit environmental organization
with more than one million members and online activists, and a staff of
scientists, attorneys and environmental experts. Our mission is to protect the
planet's wildlife and wild places and ensure a safe and healthy environment for
all living things.
For more information about NRDC or how to become a member of NRDC, please
contact us at:
Natural Resources Defense Council
40 West 20th Street
New York, NY 10011
212-727-4511 (voice) / 212-727-1773 (fax)
Email: nrdcaction@nrdc.org
http://www.nrdc.org
Also visit:
BioGems -- Saving Endangered Wild Places
A project of the Natural Resources Defense Council
http://www.savebiogems.org
For your information, your Earth Action subscription number is 2043481
(you do not need this information to unsubscribe).
===========
========================================
Natural Resources Defense Council's
CALIFORNIA ACTIVIST NETWORK SPECIAL ALERT
NRDC's California Activist Network was formed to mobilize and provide action
tools to Californians and others concerned with protecting the state's
extraordinary wealth of natural treasures and the health of its citizens.
January 19, 2006
========================================
Special alert:
Speak out to save the fish and wildlife of the San Francisco Bay-Delta
Take action now at
http://www.nrdcaction.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=53293
======================================================
The San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary is the largest estuary on the west coast of
North or South America. California rivers from the southern San Joaquin Valley
to the Oregon border join in the delta before flowing through San Francisco Bay
and the Golden Gate -- making this ecosystem the most important stopping point
for shorebirds south of Alaska and the most important salmon habitat south of
the Columbia River.
But the Bay-Delta ecosystem is collapsing, with many of the estuary's fish
populations falling to historic lows in 2005. Decades of studies have linked
water project operations to the decline of the estuary's fish. During 2005
alone, state and federal water projects diverted a record amount of water from
the estuary: more than 6 million acre feet of water -- enough for 10 cities the
size of Los Angeles -- with most of it consumed by Central Valley agriculture.
But despite the fact that declining water supplies are choking the Bay-Delta's
ecosystem, the California Department of Water Resources has proposed taking
even more water from the estuary. The department's plan would increase the
maximum amount of water that state water project pumps can divert from the
delta by up to 27 percent to 8,500 cubic feet per second -- enough water to
flood 27 square miles of cotton fields a foot deep every single day.
This destructive pumping increase is not necessary. The state's own draft water
plan shows how California can meet its water needs, through water conservation
and improved wastewater and groundwater management, without taking more water
from the delta.
The Department of Water Resources is accepting comments on the draft
environmental impact report for its proposal through February 7th.
== What to do ==
Send a message, before the February 7th comment deadline, urging the Department
of Water Resources to scrap its proposed pumping increase and to adopt a more
responsible approach to protecting the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary.
== Contact information ==
You can send an official comment to the water quality board directly from
NRDC's Earth Action Center at
http://www.nrdcaction.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=53293
Or use the contact information and sample letter below to send your own message.
Paul A. Marshall
California Department of Water Resources
South Delta Branch
1416 9th Street, 2nd floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
Fax: 916-653-6077
== Sample letter ==
Subject: South Delta Improvements Program DEIR/S
Dear Mr. Marshall,
I am writing to offer my comments on the draft environmental impact
report/statement for the South Delta Improvements Program, particularly
regarding the part of the project that would increase the maximum pumping limit
for the state water project's Delta pumps to 8,500 cubic feet per second. I
strongly believe that this project is unnecessary and could further damage a
Bay-Delta ecosystem that has already been harmed by excessive water diversions.
I urge you to withdraw the draft environmental impact report and issue a new
draft with a preferred alternative that includes a significant reduction in
Delta water diversions. The analysis of this alternative should include
potential environmental benefits, how water conservation and other proven water
management tools can help the state meet its future water needs, and how such a
reduction, combined with investments in other water supply sources, could
improve the reliability of urban water supplies.
I also urge you to include, in the new preferred alternative, at least as much
water dedicated to ecosystem restoration and protection as is required by the
state's plan to protect and restore the delta -- the CALFED Bay-Delta Plan. The
Department of Water Resources should work to restore the delta protections in
that plan that have been undermined during the past five years.
Finally, I urge you to issue a full draft environmental impact report on the
proposal to increase the state water project's maximum pumping limit once
improved scientific information is available regarding the causes of the
delta's decline and once this decline has been reversed.
Sincerely,
[Your name and address]
Please also forward this message to your friends and co-workers who live in
California, and urge them to contact the water quality board as well.
Thank you!
==================================================
==========
About NRDC
==========
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a nonprofit environmental organization
with more than one million members and online activists, and a staff of
scientists, attorneys and environmental experts. Our mission is to protect the
planet's wildlife and wild places and ensure a safe and healthy environment for
all living things.
For more information about NRDC or how to become a member of NRDC, please
contact us at:
Natural Resources Defense Council
40 West 20th Street
New York, NY 10011
212-727-4511 (voice) / 212-727-1773 (fax)
California Activist Network email:
wildcalifornia@nrdc.org
http://www.nrdc.org
Also visit:
BioGems -- Saving Endangered Wild Places
A project of the Natural Resources Defense Council
http://www.savebiogems.org
For your information, your California Activist Network subscription number is
2043481 (you do not need this information to unsubscribe).
===========
========================================
Natural Resources Defense Council's
CALIFORNIA ACTIVIST NETWORK ACTION ALERT
NRDC's California Activist Network was formed to mobilize and provide action
tools to Californians and others concerned with protecting the state's
extraordinary wealth of natural treasures and the health of its citizens.
January 9, 2006
========================================
In This Issue:
--Action Alerts--
1. Speak out to rid the California sea otters' home of sewage pollution
2. Help save San Onofre State Beach from destruction
3. Support California's action plan to reduce global warming pollution
======================================================
You will also find these alerts in NRDC'S Earth Action Center, which includes
tools for taking action easily online, at
http://www.nrdc.org/action
(Please do not reply to this message; see the instructions below for how to
unsubscribe or contact NRDC with questions or comments.)
=============
Action Alerts
=============
1. Speak out to rid the California sea otters' home of sewage pollution
Morro Bay is home to the threatened California sea otter, whose statewide
population numbers only 2,700. For more than two decades the Morro Bay/Cayucos
sewage plant has dumped sewage containing high levels of bacteria and other
pollutants into the ocean, and the bay's surrounding waters have become a
hotspot for sea otter deaths.
Otters are especially important because they are "sentinels" that indicate the
overall health of the marine ecosystem. Morro Bay's magnificent coastal
ecosystem also supports a variety of shellfish, seals, dolphins, a multitude of
fish species and several shorebird and geese populations. Studies have traced
the otters' decline to infections from land-based contaminants found in sewage
wastewater and urban runoff. These pathogens, parasites, fecal bacteria and
other contaminants also threaten other marine life, pose a danger to public
health, degrade coastal habitats, cause beach closures and damage the local
economy.
The sewage treatment plant must now upgrade its facilities, but even though the
necessary construction time is less than two and a half years, the plant has
asked for almost 10 years to complete the project and improve water quality.
The plant's own documents show that a faster, more efficient upgrade is not
only possible, but would be less expensive as well.
The Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board is scheduled to vote on
the sewage plant's proposal at its next hearing, and is accepting comments from
the public until 5:00pm, January 23rd.
== What to do ==
Send a message, before the January 23rd comment deadline, urging the water
quality board to require the plant to shorten its upgrade timeline and improve
water quality as fast as possible.
== Contact information ==
You can send an official comment to the water quality board directly from
NRDC's Earth Action Center at
http://www.nrdc.org/action/. Or use the contact
information and sample letter below to send your own message.
Central Coast Regional Water Quality Board
Att'n: Matt Thompson
895 Aerovista Place, Suite 101
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401-7906
Email:
Mthompson@waterboards.ca.gov
== Sample letter ==
Subject: Reject the proposed Morro Bay/Cayucos settlement agreement
Dear Water Quality Board members,
I urge you to improve the 9.5-year upgrade timeline now proposed by the Morro
Bay/Cayucos sewage treatment plant. The Clean Water Act and state law require
that this sewage plant shorten the proposed upgrade timeline so that it is as
rapid as possible. Moreover, it is critical that specific measures be included
in the sewage plant's permit assuring that it will protect the California sea
otter.
There is no reason that the Morro Bay community cannot meet the standard
established by many similar small cities around California that have
accomplished a similar upgrade in a fraction of the time. Adopting a shorter
timeframe for the plant upgrade and requiring measures to protect the sea otter
and other marine life are the only ways to preserve local waters, including
Morro Bay's extraordinary estuary, for future generations. I am counting on you
to take the necessary steps to protect these valuable coastal resources.
Sincerely,
[Your name and address]
2. Help save San Onofre State Beach from destruction
In October 2005, thousands of you sent messages urging the California State
Park and Recreation Commission to protect San Onofre State Beach, one of
California's most popular state parks, from a proposed multi-lane toll road
that would cut the park in two. Although the commission responded with a formal
resolution opposing the highway, the toll road agency nevertheless decided to
proceed with the road.
The state park at San Onofre includes world-famous Trestles Beach, one of the
finest surfing beaches in the world, and San Mateo Campground, one of the last
affordable coastal getaways for middle and low-income families throughout the
region. It also contains seven archeological sites and significant portions of
San Mateo Creek, one of the last relatively unspoiled watersheds in southern
California. Eleven threatened or endangered species live within the park, and
surfers, swimmers, campers, kayakers, birders, anglers, cyclists and sunbathers
derive countless hours of pleasure and enjoyment from all the park has to offer.
The proposed toll highway, called the Foothill-South Toll Road, would run right
through the middle of the park, causing contaminated runoff and noise,
disrupting the natural flow of the creek that maintains the beach and surf
breaks and destroying or disturbing endangered species habitat. There's no land
in the region to create another park, but there *are* alternative traffic
solutions that would provide equal, if not greater, benefits to the public.
Governor Schwarzenegger and his administration have the power to help save San
Onofre State Beach, but they must do so quickly now that the final toll road
plans have been released.
== What to do ==
Send a message urging Governor Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Lockyer to
do everything in their power to save the park at San Onofre, including going to
court to oppose the project and forcing the toll road agency to find less
destructive alternative transportation solutions.
== If you live near San Clemente and you want to do more ==
You can voice your concerns to the Foothill/Eastern Toll Road Agency in person
at a public hearing about the toll road on Thursday, January 12th at 9:30am at
the City of Mission Viejo City Hall, 200 Civic Center, Mission Viejo [here's a
street map of the area:
http://cityofmissionviejo.org/dir/chmap.html]
For more information about the hearing, you may contact James Birkelund in
NRDC's Santa Monica office at 310-434-2300.
== Contact information ==
You can send a message to Governor Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Lockyer
directly from NRDC's Earth Action Center at
http://www.nrdc.org/action/. Or use
the contact information and sample letter below to send your own message.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Fax: 916-445-4633
Email: governor@governor.ca.gov
Attorney General Bill Lockyer
P.O. Box 944255
Sacramento, CA 94244-2550
Fax: 916-323-5341
Email: piu@doj.ca.gov
== Sample letter ==
Subject: Don't let the Foothill-South Toll Road destroy San Onofre State Beach
Dear Governor Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Lockyer,
I strongly urge you to protect the state park at San Onofre, one of
California's most popular state parks, from devastation by the proposed
extension of the Foothill-South Toll Road in southern Orange County. The park
is an irreplaceable public treasure, providing rare coastal camping and
recreation opportunities to all Californians. No land in the region can
compensate the public for the potential losses at San Onofre if the toll road
is built. Please go to court now to stop it.
The state park at San Onofre, located along some of the last remaining
undeveloped coastline in southern California, was established in 1971 by
Governor Reagan and President Nixon and has since become one of the top five
most visited state parks in California. San Onofre is an affordable coastal
haven for middle- and low-income families throughout the region. But the
proposed multi-lane highway would eliminate some of the last open space in
southern California, destroy habitat for eleven endangered or threatened
species, harm world-famous Trestles Beach and likely cause the abandonment of
the 161-unit San Mateo Campground. Simply put, the toll road would destroy one
of our most valued parks.
Californians rely on you to be good stewards and protectors of the parks that
make our state a great place to live. Our parks should be preserved for future
generations, not warehoused for later development. There are other options for
improving traffic conditions without sacrificing San Onofre State Beach, one of
the crown jewels of California's natural heritage.
Please take all possible actions to protect the park, including 1) directing,
authorizing and filing litigation to oppose the toll road and 2) in the case of
the governor, directing and authorizing the California Department of
Transportation to undertake a complete study of expanding Route I-5 and
arterial roads as a viable transportation alternative to constructing the
Foothill-South Toll Road.
Do not let the toll road destroy our state park.
Sincerely,
[Your name and address]
3. Support California's action plan to reduce global warming pollution
The California Climate Action Team -- a group of state agencies working on a
plan to meet Governor Schwarzenegger's goal of reducing global warming
pollution in California -- recently released a promising draft report that
contains specific recommendations on how the state can meet several pollution
reduction targets. The report shows that the state's ambitious targets are
achievable and provides a clear roadmap for action.
The report contains many thoughtful strategies, including mandatory reporting
of climate change emissions, a "public goods charge" for cleaner cars and fuels
similar to the successful utility bill surcharge that funds energy efficiency
programs, and a coordinated state investment strategy to promote technologies
that minimize global warming pollution. The report falls short, however, by
failing to recommend legislative action to establish a mandatory statewide cap
on global warming emissions.
The Climate Action Team is accepting comments on the draft report until January
31st. Industry groups have launched an effort to delay and possibly derail
further movement by the Climate Action Team, so Californians must demonstrate
broad support for the climate plan to help ensure that it moves forward on
schedule.
== What to do ==
Send a message supporting the recommendations in the Climate Action Team draft
report and urging inclusion of a mandatory emissions cap.
== Contact information ==
You can send a message to Alan Lloyd, chair of the Climate Action Team,
directly from NRDC's Earth Action Center at
http://www.nrdc.org/action/. Or use
the contact information and sample letter below to send your own message.
Secretary Alan Lloyd
California Environmental Protection Agency
1001 I Street
PO Box 2815
Sacramento, CA 95812-2815
Fax: 916-319-7811
== Sample letter ==
Subject: Support the Climate Action Team's recommendations
Dear Secretary Lloyd,
In announcing the state's global warming emissions targets in June, Governor
Schwarzenegger said, "The time for action is now." I couldn't agree more. Now
is the time for the Climate Action Team to move forward on the governor's
pledge by adopting the recommendations in its draft report and working with the
legislature to ensure that the proposals are implemented.
Global warming is a serious threat to California's economy, quality of life,
our health and the environment. If we act now, our state can become a world
leader in efforts to develop clean, efficient energy and advanced technologies
that reduce global warming pollution.
I support the key recommendations in the draft report, including mandatory
emissions reporting, a coordinated investment strategy for state programs and
a "public goods charge" to support cleaner cars and fuels. I also urge you to
take your recommendations a step further by calling for a mandatory cap on
California's global warming emissions.
Please do all you can to ensure that this important effort remains a top
priority and moves forward on schedule.
Sincerely,
[Your name and address]
========================
Subscription Information
========================
NRDC distributes a number of bulletins by email. To subscribe to any or all of
them, go to:
http://www.nrdcaction.org/join/subscribe.asp
If you already subscribe and want to change your subscriptions or update your
email address or other information, go to:
http://www.nrdcaction.org/profileeditor
==========
About NRDC
==========
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a nonprofit environmental organization
with more than one million members and online activists, and a staff of
scientists, attorneys and environmental experts. Our mission is to protect the
planet's wildlife and wild places and ensure a safe and healthy environment for
all living things.
For more information about NRDC or how to become a member of NRDC, please
contact us at:
Natural Resources Defense Council
40 West 20th Street
New York, NY 10011
212-727-4511 (voice) / 212-727-1773 (fax)
California Activist Network email:
wildcalifornia@nrdc.org
http://www.nrdc.org
Also visit:
BioGems -- Saving Endangered Wild Places
A project of the Natural Resources Defense Council
http://www.savebiogems.org
For your information, your California Activist Network subscription number is
2043481 (you do not need this information to unsubscribe).
===========
Natural Resources Defense Council's
LEGISLATIVE WATCH
January 6, 2006
==================================
This is a status report on congressional action on the environment. The
information in this bulletin is also available on our website at
http://www.nrdc.org/legislation/legwatch.asp (the web version links to the
text
of bills and congressional web pages). To take action on these and other
environmental issues, visit NRDC's Earth Action Center at
http://www.nrdc.org/action/.
(Please do not reply to this message. See the instructions below for how to
unsubscribe or contact NRDC with questions or comments.)
==================================
Congress wrapped up the first session of the 109th Congress on 12/22. After a
dramatic filibuster vote, the Senate removed language calling for drilling in
the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from the Defense Appropriations bill.
Congress is now on recess until late January.
===
Budget/Appropriations
On 12/22, the Senate removed a provision in the fiscal year 2006 Defense
Appropriations bill (H.R. 2863) that would have opened the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling. Sen. Stevens (R-AK), chair of the
Senate Appropriations Committee, added the Arctic drilling provision to the
must-pass Defense bill after House Democrats and moderate Republicans defeated
attempts to include the provision in the budget reconciliation bill. After a
pivotal vote to end a filibuster of the Defense bill fell three votes short of
the 60 needed, the Senate voted to remove the drilling provision, 48-45, so the
Defense bill could be approved. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
chair Domenici (R-NM) -- the architect of this year's Arctic drilling budget
strategy -- said he plans to include the provision in the fiscal year 2007
budget (budget bills are not subject to filibuster).
Also on 12/22, the Senate narrowly approved a budget reconciliation bill after
making alterations to the measure that will require another vote in the House
in early 2006 (the House had originally approved the bill on 12/19 by a vote of
212-206). Vice President Cheney cast the deciding 51st vote for the Senate
bill, which includes $39.7 billion in spending cuts, including $2.7 billion to
agriculture and conservation spending. Many other damaging environmental
provisions were removed from the final bill, however, including provisions that
would have opened the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, encouraged
offshore oil exploration and development, and allowed the federal government to
sell off up to 350 million acres of public lands for private development.
===
National Environmental Policy Act
On 12/21, a House Resources Committee task force released a long awaited report
proposing a set of 22 recommendations to update the 35-year-old National
Environmental Policy Act. The task force, chaired by Rep. McMorris (R-WA), held
a series of field hearings during 2005 that were widely criticized for failing
to consider input from NEPA supporters and for stacking hearing witnesses with
NEPA critics. Many of the 22 recommendations for legislative and regulatory
action are similar to ideas that House Republicans have advanced in recent
years to limit NEPA's scope. The House Resources Committee is expected to issue
specific legislative proposals based on the task force's recommendations as
early as February.
===
Oceans
On 12/15, the Senate Commerce Committee unanimously approved legislation (S.
2012) to reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management
Act, the nation's premier law governing management of our ocean fisheries.
Spearheaded by Sen. Stevens (R-AK) and Sen. Inouye (D-HI), the bill proposes a
number of significant changes to the act, including giving scientific advisory
panels an elevated role in domestic fisheries management and strengthening
oversight of fisheries and marine resources in international waters. The bill
received qualified support from both the fishing industry and conservationists,
even though it would not require specific annual catch limits based on the
number of fish that can be sustainably caught each year -- a proposal
explicitly called for by the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and strongly
supported by the environmental community. A Senate floor vote is expected in
early 2006.
===
For information on the environmental voting records of members of Congress, see
the League of Conservation Voters' National Environmental Scorecard at
http://www.lcv.org/scorecard/
========================
Subscription Information
========================
NRDC distributes a number of bulletins by email. To subscribe to any or all of
them, go to:
http://www.nrdcaction.org/join/subscribe.asp
If you already subscribe and want to change your subscriptions or update your
email address or other information, go to:
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==========
About NRDC
==========
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a nonprofit environmental organization
with more than one million members and online activists, and a staff of
scientists, attorneys and environmental experts. Our mission is to protect the
planet's wildlife and wild places and ensure a safe and healthy environment for
all living things.
For more information about NRDC or how to become a member of NRDC,
please contact us at:
Natural Resources Defense Council
40 West 20th Street
New York, NY 10011
212-727-4511 (voice) / 212-727-1773 (fax)
Email: nrdcinfo@nrdc.org
http://www.nrdc.org
Also visit:
BioGems -- Saving Endangered Wild Places
A project of the Natural Resources Defense Council
http://www.savebiogems.org
For your information, your Legislative Watch subscription number is
2043481 (you do not need this information to unsubscribe).
===========
Dear NRDC Earth Activist,
Millions of Americans spoke and the U.S. Senate listened.
This afternoon the Senate rejected an outrageous attempt by the Republican
leadership to attach Arctic Refuge drilling to a "must-pass" defense spending
bill. The pro-drilling forces needed 60 votes to break a filibuster of the
bill, but they could only muster 56.
You are the true heroes. I want to thank every single one of you who took the
time to call your Senators since we first alerted you to this very dangerous
bill on Friday. Thousands of you lit up the Capitol Hill switchboard. There's
no doubt you helped sway the votes of key Senators who were wavering over these
last critical days.
To see how your Senators voted, click here:
http://www.nrdcactionfund.org/arcticphotos/arcticvoters.asp
If your Senator(s) voted to save the Arctic, please click on their name(s) on
our webpage to send them a message of gratitude.
Today's showdown was a stinging defeat for those pro-drilling Senators who
attempted to hijack the defense bill -- and funding for our troops during
wartime -- in order to force their special agenda through Congress.
The Bush White House and its allies in Congress know full well that they can
NEVER win a vote by the rules on sacrificing the Arctic Refuge. That's why
they've resorted, with increasing desperation, to backdoor maneuvers and abuse
of the legislative process like today's shameless ploy to co-opt the defense
bill.
As you read this, Senate and House leaders are removing the Arctic drilling
provision from the defense bill, and are promising to pass that bill, along
with funding for hurricane victims, before the holidays.
Make no mistake: they will come after the Arctic Refuge again next year. But,
thanks to you, we will stand stronger than ever in its defense.
Last December, President Bush and Congressional leaders said Big Oil would
finally get its way in 2005. But, instead, the tide has turned. A solid
majority of Americans now reject the President's drill-it-all mentality and is
demanding a new energy policy that will save, not destroy, our natural heritage.
Thanks to your efforts, that solid majority was heard loud and clear on the
floor of the U.S. Senate this afternoon. Thank you for speaking out when it
mattered most to America's greatest sanctuary for Arctic wildlife. And may you
have a wonderful and peaceful holiday season.
Sincerely,
John H. Adams
NRDC Action Fund
. . .
To update your email address or other information, go to:
http://www.nrdcaction.org/profileeditor/.
The NRDC Action Fund is the 501(c)(4) affiliate of the Natural Resources
Defense Council (NRDC).
Dear NRDC Earth Activist,
It's all come down to this: the U.S. Senate will vote in the next two days on
a defense spending bill that would open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to
drilling.
Please drop whatever you're doing and call your Senators right now. Tell them
to get Arctic drilling out of the defense bill (H.R. 2863), where it does not
belong. Tell them to use a filibuster if necessary.
Senator Dianne Feinstein: (202) 224-3841
Senator Barbara Boxer: (202) 224-3553
Even if you called your Senators on Friday, call them again today! The
situation has grown much more dire over the past 48 hours.
Early this morning, the House of Representatives passed a defense spending bill
that includes the Arctic drilling provision. That means our very last hope for
saving the Arctic Refuge is riding on the Senate.
Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) is leading the charge in the Senate to sacrifice
the Arctic Refuge and hand the oil industry a billion-dollar gift for the
holidays. He and other pro-drilling Senators have failed to pass their Arctic
giveaway through legitimate legislative means.
So now they're hijacking the defense bill -- and funding for American troops --
to ram through their special interest agenda. Your Senators are under enormous
pressure to vote Yes on this "must-pass" defense spending bill.
Call your Senators and tell them you're appalled by this abuse of power by
Senator Ted Stevens. Urge them to strip Arctic drilling from the defense
spending bill, with a filibuster if necessary.
For the sake of the Arctic Refuge, please place your calls right now!
Sincerely,
John H. Adams
NRDC Action Fund
. . .
To update your email address or other information, go to:
http://www.nrdcaction.org/profileeditor/.
The NRDC Action Fund is the 501(c)(4) affiliate of the Natural Resources
Defense Council (NRDC).
Natural Resources Defense Council's
LEGISLATIVE WATCH
November 21, 2005
==================================
This is a status report on congressional action on the environment. The
information in this bulletin is also available on our website at
http://www.nrdc.org/legislation/legwatch.asp (the web version links to the
text
of bills and congressional web pages). To take action on these and other
environmental issues, visit NRDC's Earth Action Center at
http://www.nrdc.org/action/.
Dear NRDC Earth Activist,
Please take one minute today to thank the 29 heroic Representatives
who
defended the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge last week.
Last Thursday I reported to you how these courageous Republican
legislators
forced the House leadership to drop Arctic drilling from the budget
bill.
Since that vote, right-wing radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh has
been
attacking those Representatives for defying their party leaders, and
his
listeners have been calling them up to condemn them.
It's time for millions of pro-environment Americans like you to
contact those
legislators and express your gratitude!
Please go right now to:
http://www.nrdcactionfund.org/redfordarctic/action.asp?step=2&item=53152
Natural Resources Defense Council's
LEGISLATIVE WATCH
October 20, 2005
==================================
This is a status report on congressional action on the environment. The
information in this bulletin is also available on our website at
http://www.nrdc.org/legislation/legwatch.asp (the web version links to the
text
of bills and congressional web pages). To take action on these and other
environmental issues, visit NRDC's Earth Action Center at
http://www.nrdc.org/action/.
(Please do not reply to this message. See the instructions below for how to
unsubscribe or contact NRDC with questions or comments.)
==================================
Delays in the budget reconciliation process continue, amid serious concerns
that the budget may still emerge with language opening the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling. A third supplemental spending bill
responding to the aftermath of the recent Gulf Coast hurricanes is also likely
to emerge soon and could contain broad waivers of environmental and public
health laws. The House of Representatives passed a new energy bill, as well as
legislation that would overhaul the Endangered Species Act.
===
Budget/Appropriations
Congressional leaders have once again signaled a delay in completing a budget
reconciliation bill for this year. Following passage of two emergency
supplemental spending bills to respond to the Gulf Coast hurricanes, and the
likelihood of a third supplement soon, House Speaker Hastert (R-IL) has called
for an across-the-board budget cut for fiscal year 2006 spending, totaling
about $30 billion. It remains to be seen whether this proposal will gain Senate
support. House and Senate committees have begun work on the 2006 budget
reconciliation bill, and both bills are expected to contain language opening
the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling and possibly
expanding offshore oil and gas exploration.
On 9/22, the Senate adopted a $100 billion agriculture appropriations bill
(H.R. 2744) for fiscal year 2006. The bill, which passed easily by a vote of 97-
2, includes almost $820 million for the Department of Agriculture's
conservation programs, $25 million more than the House included in its version
of the bill. In total, the Senate version of H.R. 2744 is $500 million richer
than the bill passed by the House. House and Senate negotiators must work out
differences in the two bills before Congress adjourns later this year.
===
Energy
On 10/7, the House narrowly passed a new energy bill (H.R. 3893), 212-210,
after Republican leadership held the vote open for almost an hour to garner the
necessary votes. Sponsored by Rep. Barton (R-TX), the legislation would weaken
numerous provisions of the Clean Air Act and provide regulatory incentives for
quick construction of oil refineries. The bill also would reduce the number of
automotive fuel blends designed to reduce polluting emissions, and would allow
the president to designate areas on federal land, including closed military
bases and wildlife refuges, as new refinery sites. The Senate is not expected
to take action on the bill.
===
Wildlife Protections
On 9/29, the House passed a drastic overhaul of the Endangered Species Act by a
vote of 226-193. The bill (H.R. 3824), sponsored by Rep. Pombo (R-CA), House
Resources Committee chair, represents the biggest change to the Endangered
Species Act since it was first enacted over 30 years ago. The bill would
severely undermine several key provisions of the act; among other things, it
would completely eliminate the designation of "critical habitat" for species on
the brink of extinction, roll back regulations protecting endangered species
from harmful pesticides and create a new entitlement program to pay developers
for loss of the use of some land due to ESA restrictions. Thirty-four
Republicans voted against the bill, creating a closer than expected margin on
final passage and sending a strong signal to the Senate that the bill is
extremely controversial. The Senate must now decide if it wants to take up the
House version of the bill before the end of the year.
===
For information on the environmental voting records of members of Congress, see
the League of Conservation Voters' National Environmental Scorecard at
http://www.lcv.org/scorecard/
========================
Subscription Information
========================
NRDC distributes a number of bulletins by email. To subscribe to any or all of
them, go to:
http://www.nrdcaction.org/join/subscribe.asp
==========
About NRDC
==========
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a nonprofit environmental organization
with more than one million members and online activists, and a staff of
scientists, attorneys and environmental experts. Our mission is to protect the
planet's wildlife and wild places and ensure a safe and healthy environment for
all living things.
For more information about NRDC or how to become a member of NRDC, please
contact us at:
Natural Resources Defense Council
40 West 20th Street
New York, NY 10011
212-727-4511 (voice) / 212-727-1773 (fax)
Email: nrdcinfo@nrdc.org
http://www.nrdc.org
Also visit:
BioGems -- Saving Endangered Wild Places
A project of the Natural Resources Defense Council
http://www.savebiogems.org
For your information, your Legislative Watch subscription number is
2043481 (you do not need this information to unsubscribe).
===========
Dear NRDC Earth Activist,
The Bush Administration and Congressional leaders are shamelessly exploiting
Hurricane Katrina as the latest excuse to hand over the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge to the oil industry.
Given the massive oil spills still devastating the Gulf Coast, it defies belief
that our leaders are rushing headlong to hand over America's greatest wildlife
sanctuary to the oil lobby.
Instead of making America more energy efficient -- the fastest way to meet our
energy needs and avoid oil supply shocks -- they would sponsor yet another
corporate raid on our natural heritage.
This cynical exploitation of a national tragedy has revealed, as nothing else
could, the complete bankruptcy of President Bush's pro-polluter energy
policies -- policies inspired by nineteenth-century oil barons.
Five years of coddling the oil industry has given us higher gas prices and left
us more vulnerable than ever to oil shortages -- not to mention oil spills, air
pollution, despoiled public lands, and catastrophic global warming.
You and I must not let the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge become the next
preventable casualty of this president's failed policies.
Within the next few weeks, Congress will cast its make-or-break vote on a
Budget Reconciliation Bill that would allow oil drilling in the Arctic Refuge.
I urge you to pour your heart and soul into defeating that bill.
If you've alerted five friends to the urgency of this effort, mobilize five
more:
http://www.nrdcactionfund.org/redfordarctic/tellafriend.asp
Make a donation so that the NRDC Action Fund can run ads mobilizing the public
in key Congressional districts:
https://www.nrdcactionfund.org/arcticad/donate.asp
Write a personal, hand-written letter to your Representative:
http://www.nrdcactionfund.org/redfordarctic/arcticvoters.asp
Please do what it takes to win. Because all the beauty and wildness we've
worked so hard to protect over the past 30 years could be lost in a single day.
We can win this fight, but only if we build overwhelming public pressure on
Congress one person at a time. Thank you for joining with me to make it happen.
Sincerely,
Robert Redford
NRDC Action Fund. . .
The NRDC Action Fund is the 501(c)(4) affiliate of the Natural Resources
Defense Council (NRDC).
For your information, your Earth Action subscription number is 2043481
(you do not need this information to unsubscribe).
========================================
NRDC's EARTH ACTION:
The Bulletin for Environmental Activists
September 30, 2005
========================================
Special alert:
Don't let Congress gut environmental laws in the name of hurricane
relief
Take action now at
http://www.nrdcaction.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=53064
======================================================
Hurricane Katrina victimized an entire region, leaving many Gulf
Coast
communities completely destroyed. Although rebuilding will take
enormous effort
and goodwill, opportunistic politicians and corporate cronies are
using this
national tragedy to try to weaken or waive public health and
environmental
laws, as well as worker protection and civil rights requirements.
Under the
guise of hurricane relief, both the Bush administration and several
members of
Congress have drafted legislative proposals that would actually
further
endanger residents of this embattled area. A number of these
proposals would
apply across the country, far beyond the areas affected by the
hurricane, and
some would apply indefinitely, even after the cleanup or
reconstruction is
complete.
The proposed waivers and exemptions are unnecessary and dangerous.
Health and
environmental laws have not impeded hurricane response activities,
and already
contain specific provisions that allow for flexibility in responding
to
emergency situations. Waiving or weakening these laws would only
serve to
victimize again those who have been hit hardest by Katrina: lifting
legal
protections would allow reconstruction projects to pollute Gulf
residents' air
and drinking water, authorize spraying of unsafe or banned
pesticides and
permit hazardous waste to be dumped in nearby landfills or even in
affected
communities themselves.
Thankfully, some legislators are taking a stand against using the
Katrina
tragedy to gut our nation's environmental laws. Senator Jeffords
(I-VT) and
Senator Boxer (D-CA) are asking their colleagues to sign a written
commitment
to not weaken these legal protections. And several lawmakers in both
the House
and Senate have introduced a resolution focused on the need to
protect -- not
weaken -- public health, environment and environmental justice laws
and
regulations in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
== What to do ==
Send a message urging your senators and representative to commit to
keep
environmental waivers or exemptions out of hurricane relief and
reconstruction
bills.
== Contact information ==
You can send a message to your senators and representative directly
from NRDC's
Earth Action Center at
http://www.nrdcaction.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=53064
Phone calls are also very important right now, so if you have a
moment on
Monday to call your representative and/or senators, the Capitol
switchboard
number is 202-224-3121. When you call, tell the person you speak
with that you
are calling to urge your senators/representative to immediately
co-sponsor
the "Public Health and Environmental Equity Act" (H.Res. 477/S. Res.
261).
Please also urge your senators' offices to sign the Jeffords-Boxer
"Dear
Colleague" letter opposing public health and environmental waivers.
Please also forward this message to your friends and co-workers, and
urge them
to contact their senators and representative as well.
Thank you!
==================================================
==========
About NRDC
==========
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a nonprofit environmental
organization
with more than one million members and online activists, and a staff
of
scientists, attorneys and environmental experts. Our mission is to
protect the
planet's wildlife and wild places and ensure a safe and healthy
environment for
all living things.
For more information about NRDC or how to become a member of NRDC,
please
contact us at:
Natural Resources Defense Council
40 West 20th Street
New York, NY 10011
212-727-4511 (voice) / 212-727-1773 (fax)
Email: nrdcaction@nrdc.org
http://www.nrdc.org
Also visit:
BioGems -- Saving Endangered Wild Places
A project of the Natural Resources Defense Council
http://www.savebiogems.org
For your information, your Earth Action subscription number is
2043481
(you do not need this information to unsubscribe).
===========
========================================
NRDC's EARTH ACTION:
The Bulletin for Environmental Activists
September 28, 2005
========================================
In This Issue:
--Action Alerts--
Tell ExxonMobil to come clean on global warming
Plus:
After Katrina: New Solutions for Safe Communities and a Secure
Energy Future
======================================================
You will also find these alerts in NRDC'S Earth Action Center, which
includes
tools for taking action easily online, at
http://www.nrdc.org/action
(Please do not reply to this message; see the instructions below for
how to
unsubscribe or contact NRDC with questions or comments.)
=============
Action Alerts
=============
Tell ExxonMobil to come clean on global warming
The events of the past few weeks have given us a glimpse at how
natural
disasters can upset our lives, and demonstrated the need to find
ways to
minimize the number of future tragedies. Scientists agree that
warmer
temperatures resulting from global warming pollution can cause
rising sea
levels, increasing storm intensity, droughts and heat waves, all
with serious
consequences to our health and our economy. Two new reports show
that
hurricanes over the past 30 years have become more intense and more
destructive
due to warmer sea surface temperatures.
But an ExxonMobil-funded organization has used this moment to deny
the
existence of global warming, and to advance its policy agenda of
protecting
corporate profits rather than human life. The National Center for
Policy
Analysis recently released a report arguing that it is "socially
efficient and
more economic" to adapt to global warming than to take measures to
stop it. The
NCPA is one of many organizations that has benefited from the $15
million
ExxonMobil has contributed to such groups to undermine mainstream
scientific
findings and confuse the public. Coming in the wake of two
destructive Gulf
Coast hurricanes and the massive toll they continue to take on human
life,
public health and the economy, the irony of this report is hard to
miss.
As the largest corporation in the world, ExxonMobil would be far
more
responsible if it used its immense wealth to help wean our country
off fossil
fuels. As Americans are feeling the pain of $3.00-per-gallon
gasoline,
ExxonMobil could be using its political influence and some of its
$7.6 billion
in profits from the last quarter to reduce our dependence on oil by
supporting
higher fuel economy standards and investing in renewable fuels.
== What to do ==
Tell ExxonMobil to disavow the NCPA report and to stop funding front
groups
that spread disinformation about global warming.
== Contact information ==
You can send a message to ExxonMobil CEO Lee Raymond directly from
NRDC's Earth
Action Center at
http://www.nrdcaction.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=53059/.
Or use the contact information and sample letter below to send your
own message.
Lee R. Raymond, CEO
Exxon Mobil Corporation
5959 Las Colinas Boulevard
Irving, Texas 75039-2298
Email: lee.r.raymond@exxonmobil.com
== Sample letter ==
Subject: Disavow the NCPA global warming report
Dear Mr. Raymond,
As the economic damage assessments from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
continue to
rise, it is unconscionable that an organization funded by ExxonMobil
would use
this moment to advance a policy agenda designed to protect corporate
profits,
not human life.
I urge you to disavow the report recently released by the National
Center for
Policy Analysis, an organization to which ExxonMobil gave $315,000
over the
past seven years, and to stop funding front groups that spread
global warming
disinformation. The NCPA report argues that policies designed to cut
global
warming pollution condemn thousands to poverty, disease and even
death. It is
hard to miss the irony of this report, coming in the wake of
Hurricane Katrina
and the massive toll it continues to have on human life, public
health and the
economy.
Scientists agree that the world is warming from global warming
pollution and
with warmer temperatures we will see rising sea levels, increasing
storm
intensity, droughts and heat waves, all with serious consequences to
our health
and our economy. While it would be irresponsible to cite global
warming as the
cause of any single weather event, it would be equally irresponsible
to ignore
the scientific evidence and models that warn us of the changes that
are
occurring to our climate. We also must adopt an energy policy that
uses
cleaner, smarter, more efficient technologies that don't jeopardize
public
health or future generations.
I again urge you to disavow and stop funding organizations like the
National
Center for Policy Analysis that use ExxonMobil's money to sow
confusion and
disinformation about global warming. With Americans feeling the pain
of $3.00-
per-gallon gasoline, it would be far better to use your political
influence and
some of the $7.6 billion in profits you made in the last quarter to
reduce our
dependence on oil by supporting higher fuel economy standards and
investing in
renewable fuels.
Sincerely,
[Your name and address]
=======================================
After Katrina: New Solutions for Safe
Communities and a Secure Energy Future
=======================================
The devastation and human suffering left behind by Hurricane Katrina
has given
America an enormous task -- the challenge of rebuilding one of its
major
cities. NRDC has just released a report representing the combined
efforts of
our best experts on public health, toxic waste, urban design,
coastal
protection, energy security and global warming. Together they offer
up a set of
policies and practices to protect the safety and well-being of Gulf
Coast
residents -- and all Americans -- today, during the recovery period
and onward
into a healthier, more sustainable future:
http://www.nrdc.org/legislation/hk/contents.asp
|
