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DEFENDING ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA
October 2
"Rights that do not flow from duty well performed are not worth having." -Mahatma (Mohandas) Gandhi, Indian political and spiritual leader who was born on this day in 1869.
Table of Contents:
[1] ARCTIC VICTORY: Senate Rejects Inappropriate Attempt To Drill Arctic, But Risk Remains
[2] HUDSON RIVER CLEAN-UP: "Hudson River Weasels"
[3] GENETICALLY MODIFIED CORN: You Heard it Here First
[4] TAKE ACTION: Stop the Fast-Track Trade Bill!
[1] ARCTIC VICTORY: Senate Rejects Inappropriate Attempt To Drill Arctic, But Risk Remains Today, the Senate rejected an attempt by Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) to force premature consideration of a controversial energy bill. The bill pushed by Sen. Inhofe included huge subsidies for polluting industries and would have allowed drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Senate voted 100-0 to reject the effort to attach the energy measure to the critical Defense Authorization Bill.
Sierra Club members from around the country had contacted Senate offices to urge opposition to the divisive amendment and to ask that senators focus on the immediate needs of securing Americans' safety and responding to the Sept. 11 attacks. Unfortunately, Senators Frank Murkowski (R-AK), Larry Craig (R-ID) and Inhofe have threatened to attach the measure to upcoming appropriations bills, or "something else," such as an economic recovery bill.
To read the Sierra Club Press Release on today's vote, go to: https://lists.sierraclub.org/SCRIPTS/WA.EXE?A1=ind0110&L=ce-scnews-releases
To take action and thank your Senator and urge future protections for the Arctic, please see:https://sierraclub.org/politics/arctic_vote.asp
[2] HUDSON RIVER CLEAN-UP: "Hudson River Weasels"
An editorial in today's New York Daily News reports that it "Sounds like GE's has been doing a lot of shmoozing over at the EPA," during the past few weeks. In fact, the editorial alleges, General Electric may be using this time of public distraction and confusion to weasel their way out of a $460 million cleanup ordered by the EPA.
GE dumped more than 1.3 million pounds of cancer-causing PCBs into the Hudson before the chemicals were banned in 1977. As a result, the river-bottom is laced with poisons, turning the river into a 200-mile-long Superfund toxic waste site.
To read the full Daily News editorial, go to: https://www.nydailynews.com/today/News_and_Views/Opinion/a-127069.asp
To read more about the Sierra Club's campaign to clean up the Hudson River, go to: https://www.sierraclub.org/victory/hudson_cleanup.asp
[3] GENETICALLY MODIFIED CORN: You Heard it Here First
Imagine the surprise of Joan Hamilton (Editor in Chief, Sierra Magazine) when she opened the New York Times this morning. In the Health section, a Times reporter documented how the Mexican government has discovered that some of the country's native corn varieties are been contaminated with genetically engineered DNA.
Seems like this go around the Times was a little late on the draw. Sierra Magazine covered the same subject in an article called, "Tinkering With the Tortilla" in the September/October issue.
You can find the Sierra Magazine article by John Ross at: https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200109/food.asp
The New York Times article, "Genetic Modification Taints Corn in Mexico," is available for those with a free account at: https://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/02/health/genetics/02CORN.html
[4] TAKE ACTION: Stop the Fast-Track Trade Bill!
House Ways and Means Chair Bill Thomas (R-CA) is trying to use the terrorism crisis to push a divisive, environmentally-destructive fast-track trade bill through Congress. Thomas' bill will only distract Congress from the urgent need to make our country safe from terrorist attacks and to quickly turn around our economy.
The Thomas fast-track bill is also bad for the environment. It would expand controversial "investor" rules that have empowered foreign corporations to sue over our environmental laws. And it denies Congress an effective decision-making role in shaping future trade deals that can profoundly affect our quality of life.
Congress can't possibly make good decisions about complicated trade policies in the present climate. Thomas should postpone action on fast track until such time as we can have a thoughtful, deliberate debate on these critically important issues.
Take Urgent Action! 1. Call or write your US Representative today. Dial 1-800-393-1082 (courtesy of AFL-CIO). Ask for your Rep's office and then the "trade legislative assistant." 2. For more information, see www.sierraclub.org/trade or contact dan.seligman@sierraclub.org/trade
"[Industrial hog farming] is an outlaw industry which can only make money by breaking the law." -Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., President of the Waterkeeper Alliance, responding to the decision of U.S. District Judge Malcolm Howard, who found that almost every one of the 1,600 hog factories run by Smithfield in North Carolina was operating without a Clean Water Act permit.
Table of Contents:
[1] IN THE COURTHOUSE: Sierra Club Wins Crucial Victory in Suit Against Seaboard Animal Factory
[2] FROM THE EDITORIAL PAGE: The New York Times and Boston Globe Join in Call Against Arctic Drilling Amendment
[3] ARCTIC UPDATE: Drilling Opponents Urge Against Hasty Action on Arctic
[4] WILDLIFE WATCH: Back to Berries for Yosemite's Bears
[1] IN THE COURTHOUSE: Sierra Club Wins Crucial Victory in Suit Against Seaboard Animal Factory
This week, the Sierra Club won an important preliminary victory in its fight against Seaboard Corporation's massive hog factory in the Oklahoma panhandle. Last June, the Club charged the company with violating the Clean Water Act and the federal Superfund law by illegally discharging fecal wastes and toxic gases.
The Court ruled that the Sierra Club has "standing" to pursue the case -- in part due to the fact that one Sierra Club member had been forced to abandon plans to build a home near the facility. In addition, the Court upheld Sierra Club's argument that the groundwater polluted by the Seaboard facility is protected by the Clean Water Act.
In a related case, a Judge in North Carolina found that virtually all of the animal factories run by the Smithfield Corporation (the #1 pork producer in the US) in North Carolina were operating without a Clean Water Act permit, and were disposing of factory hog waste illegally. After the decision, Robert F Kennedy, Jr. proclaimed, "Smithfield deliberately locates its factories in rural states where it can easily dominate state enforcement agencies. This decision puts every pork factory in the country on notice that the Marshall has come to Dodge."
For more information on the Sierra Club's campaign to stop factory farm pollution, go to: https://www.sierraclub.org/factoryfarms/
[2] FROM THE EDITORIAL PAGE: The New York Times and Boston Globe Oppose Arctic Drilling Amendment
Editorial boards across the country continue to denounce Sen. Inhofe's decision to, in the words of the Boston Globe, "use the terrorism crisis as a way to advance his pet cause of opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling." The Globe editorial entitled "Oil Opportunism," points out that Sen. Inhofe received $243,648 in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry from 1995 to 2000. The editorial asks why anyone concerned with U.S. dependence on foreign oil would push for drilling in the Arctic or passage of the House energy bill when both "would do little to wean Americans from oil, foreign or domestic."
The New York Times also published an editorial yesterday asking whether opening the Arctic for oil drilling would lesson our dependence on foreign oil. According to the editorial, entitled "Not a Fuels Errand," "Drilling in Alaska would make no difference worth mentioning."
For the full text of "Oil Opportunism," go to: https://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/270/editorials/Oil_opportunism+.shtml
For the full text of "Not a Fuels Errand," (requires subscription) go to: https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/26/opinion/26KRUG.html?searchpv=past7days
[3] ARCTIC UPDATE: Drilling Opponents Urge Against Hasty Action on Arctic
Sens. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Larry Craig (R-Idaho), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters pushed today for quick action on harmful energy legislation, including opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling. A coalition of environmental groups including the Sierra Club, US PIRG and the Alaska Wilderness League pointed out these controversial energy bills are an attempt to take advantage of the Sept. 11 tragedy to rush through an ill-conceived fossil-fuel heavy energy bill.
Proponents of opening the refuge to oil and gas drilling suggest that doing so will improve U.S. energy security and create jobs. Yet oil from the Arctic Refuge would take an estimated 10 years to reach U.S. consumers, and even then would not significantly reduce dependence on imported oil. According to economist Paul Krugman (New York Times, 9/26/01), "At its peak, the wildlife refuge would supply only about 5 percent of our consumption." Claims about the job benefits of drilling in the Refuge have been discredited by analyses such as those conducted by the Economic Policy Institute.
To view the Sierra Club "Arctic Alert," go to: https://www.sierraclub.org/wildlands/arctic/alert.asp
[4] WILDLIFE WATCH: Back to Berries for Yosemite's Bears
According to Steve Hymon of the Los Angeles Times, some of the black bears at Yosemite National Park have spent the past few years shunning their natural diet of berries, insects and acorns for human fare such as sandwiches, potato salad and beer. And rather than wading into bushes, the bears were breaking into cars -- 1,143 of them in 1998, causing $659,000 in damage. So rangers, armed with a grant from Congress, have embarked on a massive "re-education" program for both the bears and the humans. Bears found around campgrounds or eating human food are shot with beanbags. People get off a bit easier -- those who fail to secure their food in bear-proof food lockers must endure "a sternly worded lecture" from park rangers.
For the full article, go to: https://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-000076001sep22.story
"In wilderness I sense the miracle of life, and behind it our scientific accomplishments fade to trivia."
-Charles A Lindbergh, declaring that if he were a young man he would choose a career that kept him more in contact with nature than with science.
Table of Contents:
[1] CLUB VOLUNTEERS HELP RED CROSS: New Jersey Chapter Responds by the Hundreds to Aid Red Cross
[2] TAKE ACTION: Donate Sleeping Bags to Red Cross for Relief Workers
[3] NEWS: Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) May Offer Arctic Wildlife Refuge Amendment in Defense Authorization Bill
[4] IN THE FIELD: Sierra Club Lawsuit Results in Clean Air for Mount Zirkel Wilderness Area
[5] TODAY IN ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY: In 1890, President Benjamin Harrison established Sequoia National Park
[1] CLUB VOLUNTEERS HELP RED CROSS: New Jersey Chapter Responds by the Hundreds to Aid Red Cross
When the American Red Cross needed tents for emergency workers in the NYC relief efforts, the first group that came to mind was the Sierra Club. When Chapter Coordinator Lori Herpen took the unusual call, she put out an email requesting a response from anyone who could volunteer their time or donate sleeping bags and tents. Over 900 NJ Chapter members bombarded Lori offering their help to the Red Cross in whatever capacity needed.
Many NJ Sierra Club members immediately brought in their sleeping bags and tents for emergency and construction crews that were sleeping on site. In addition, Sierra Club members were placed in their local Red Cross office to help answer the busy phones. Both our Shore Group and our Loantaka Group took up collections of food items needed (bottled water, protein bars, ready to eat stews/soups, and pre-moistened towelettes) for the emergency crews, and delivered truckloads of supplies to the NJ Community Food Bank which is handling the food supply for rescue workers. The Sierra Club would like to publicly thank and praise all of our members who have generously donated their time and support to the relief effort.
[2] TAKE ACTION: Donate Sleeping Bags to Red Cross for Relief Workers
The New Jersey Chapter of the Sierra Club is continuing to collect sleeping bags and tents for the Red Cross. These items are being used by relief workers who are reportedly sleeping in the rubble between shifts. Just this morning the Red Cross put in an additional request to the Sierra Club for more sleeping bags.
If you have a sleeping bag or tent that you would like to donate to the Red Cross, please contact Chapter Coordinator Lori Herpen at (609) 924-3141 or lori.herpen@sierraclub.org.
[3] NEWS: Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) May Offer Arctic Wildlife Refuge Amendment in Defense Authorization Bill
At press time, it remains to be seen whether Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) will press ahead with his plan to push for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Despite pressure from both the Democratic and Republican leadership, Sen. Inhofe tried to tack the House of Representatives energy bill onto the Defense Authorization Bill as an amendment. The amendment, if passed, would authorize controversial energy legislation, including drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Several newspaper editorial boards have already blasted Inhofe's attempt to connect the Arctic with security issues. The Orlando Sentinel called his move a "brazen display of political chutzpah," and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution called it a good example of "attempts to exploit" the national crisis.
The Sierra Club strongly opposes Sen. Inhofe's amendment, and believes that the effort is inappropriate and divisive. When it is appropriate to consider energy legislation, we hope the debate will move forward on a sound energy policy that continues to safeguard our special irreplaceable national treasures like the Arctic Refuge.
To find out more about current Senate activity, go to: https://www.senate.gov/legislative/
[4] IN THE FIELD: Sierra Club Lawsuit Results in Clean Air for Mount Zirkel Wilderness Area
Last week, the Sierra Club and the Environmental Protection Agency hailed a recent court decision that will clean up air pollution in the Mount Zirkel Wilderness Area. Mount Zirkel, an 140,000 acre wilderness area near Steamboat Springs, Colorado, is located downwind from two coal-fired power plants. Federal scientists said water samples from lakes in the wilderness area linked "acid snow" pollution to the power plants.
In response to the successful lawsuit brought by the Sierra Club, the two owners of the coal power plants will install scrubbers and other technology that will filter out acid-producing pollutants like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen.
For the full story in the local Steamboat Pilot, go to: https://www.stmbt-pilot.com/section/archive/story/10335
[5] TODAY IN ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY: In 1890, President Benjamin Harrison established Sequoia National Park
On September 25, 1890, President Benjamin Harrison signed a measure establishing Sequoia National Park in California. Located in the southern Sierra Nevada, the Park protects immense mountains, deep canyons, huge trees, and stunningly diverse habitats. Established 18 years after Yellowstone, Sequoia was just the second national park established in the U.S.
John Muir called the region now protected by the park the "Gem of the Sierra." But it was forty-nine years after John Muir's article advocating a national park to include Kings Canyon that his goal was finally realized.
From 1886 to 1916, the management and development of the park had been the responsibility of the U.S. Army. Without an organization capable of caring for the parks, secretaries of the interior had been forced to ask the United States Army to detail troops to several of them -- that's why national park ranger uniforms resemble historical army dress.
If interested in the history of the Sequoia National Park, consider reading "Our National Parks," by John Muir, first published in 1901. It is available from the Sierra Club bookstore at: https://www.sierraclub.org/books/catalog/0871566265.asp
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