NEXT PAGE -->
|
Updated Daily!
| * * * IN-HOUSE RESOURCES * * * |
|---|
DEFENDING ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA
November 29
"Everyone, including Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT), knew this contract was going to be challenged, yet they entered into a bad contract. Not only did UDOT shoot themselves in the foot, they used a scope." -Marc Heileson, Sierra Club Conservation Organizer in Utah, responding to the Legacy Highway construction contract signed by UDOT that says any costs incurred in a work stoppage as the result of court action must be borne by the state.
[1] FARM BILL: Farm Bill Coming to Senate Vote Soon--Your Action Will be Needed
[2] ACT UP: Tell EPA to Reduce Harmful Pollution from Off-Road Vehicles
[3] THE PLANET: Resource for Activists and Sierra Club Members
[1] FARM BILL: Farm Bill Coming to Senate Vote Soon--Your Action Will be Needed
The Senate is expected to bring a Farm Bill to a floor vote by next Tuesday, although we could see action as early as tomorrow. The final bill will determine how much money is allocated for conserving wetlands, protecting water quality, preserving farmland from encroaching suburban sprawl and will decide whether taxpayers subsidize corporate factory farms to the detriment of family farmers.
The Sierra Club is helping to bring amendments forward that would increase conservation and limit subsidies to CAFOs. In the very near future, we will need your help in calling Senate offices, encouraging them to sign on to these amendments, so keep your eyes open for that!
The House of Representatives turned their back on family farms and the environment in October, when they narrowly defeated (200 to 226) an amendment that would have helped farmers safeguard clean water, protect wetlands, and prevent suburban sprawl.
Interested in how your representative voted on the House Farm Bill? Find out on our Votewatch site: https://www.sierraclub.org/votewatch/2001/farmbill-conservation.asp
For more information on this year's farm bills, go to: https://www.sierraclub.org/cleanwater/waterquality/farmbill.asp
[2] ACT UP: Tell EPA to Reduce Harmful Pollution from Off-Road Vehicles
Many off-road vehicles (such as snowmobiles) still use "two-stroke engines," an extremely inefficient engine that dumps nearly 30% of its fuel directly into the environment, and produces as many smog-forming particles in seven hours as a car does after being driven 100,000 miles.
Tell EPA that its proposed air regulations regarding off-road vehicles must be strengthened so that (1) two-stroke engines are quickly phased out in favor of the much cleaner four-stroke; (2) an engine air emissions labeling program be made mandatory; and (3) noise pollution is reduced. Send your official comments to Margaret Borushki (Docket No. A-2000-01), U.S. EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality, 2000 Traverwood Dr. Ann Arbor, MI 48105; you may email letters to nranprm@epa.gov.
For more information and a sample letter, go to https://whistler.sierraclub.org/takeaction/cleanair/index.jsp
To find out more about EPA's proposed regulation, visit https://www.epa.gov/otaq/recveh.htm#cleanrec
[3] THE PLANET NEWSLETTER: Resource for Activists and Sierra Club Members
December's issue of The Planet is now out and available online. This month's stories cover energy and America's dependence on oil, wildlands in the eastern US that deserve protection, and stories on recent victories to clean up air pollution in the Rockies. For those unfamiliar with The Planet, it's is a free monthly newsletter for active environmentalists. Compared to Sierra Magazine, the stories are a little shorter and up-to-date, and there's more information about what you can do in your community.
If you want to take a look at the newsletter, click on: https://www.sierraclub.org/planet/
If you're interested in a free subscription, go to: https://www.sierraclub.org/planet/subscription.asp
"I"m tempted to show feelings of contempt I feel about this, but I feel like that would satisfy the Sierra Club too much and therefore I won't." -Gov. Mike Leavitt of Utah, in response to a recent federal appeals court ruling that has delayed the Legacy Parkway project, a sprawling highway that would destroy 114 acres of Great Salt Lake wetlands. Sierra Club's Utah Chapter has paved the way in the campaign to protect this precious habitat by promoting mass transit.
[1] FUEL EFFICIENCY: SUV Sales Reach Record Levels Despite Concern Over Automobile Fuel Efficiency
[2] HOUSE APPROVES PRICE-ANDERSON ACT: Limits Nuclear Power Plant Liability
[3] GLOBAL POPULATION: Sierra Club Will Join Planned Parenthood and United Nations Population Fund for Town Hall
[4] NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SURVEY: How is the Internet Changing Conservation & Community?
[5] CALENDARS AVAILABLE NOW: Enjoy nature everyday with the 2002 Calendars
[1] FUEL EFFICIENCY: SUV Sales Reach Record Levels Despite Concern Over Automobile Fuel Efficiency
Marking a disturbing trend, SUV and light truck sales in October jumped 63% from last year for GM, and 45% for Ford. In part due to automaker incentives in October, SUV and light truck sales are expected to surpass passenger car sales this year for the first time ever. Consequently, the nation's overall fuel economy is now at its lowest average since 1980.
In response to the surge in SUV sales, Sierra Club's Kate Simmons was quoted saying, "Automakers have convinced Americans that they're safer and more adventuresome in SUVs. But what they're really doing is increasing America's dependence on foreign oil."
Given that SUVs are so popular, it's a shame that automakers have been so resistant to the idea of increasing their fuel efficiency. Unfortunately, American automakers have not made the connection between fuel efficiency and national security. Just this week, executives from Ford, GM and Chrysler all raised doubts about promises they made last year to improve fleet fuel efficiency 25% by 2005. Consequently, when a GM Vice President painted the current surge in SUV sales as an act of patriotism, Sierra Club's Kate Simmons countered, "We'd hope that automakers would make it patriotic to drive a car that's fuel efficient."
For the New York Times article on Big Three's plans to improve fuel efficiency, go to: https://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/23/business/23AUTO.html
For an editorial in the New York Times by Robert Kennedy, Jr. called "Better Gas Mileage, Greater Security," see: https://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/24/opinion/24KENN.html
[2] HOUSE APPROVES PRICE-ANDERSON ACT: Limits Nuclear Power Plant Liability
The House of Representatives approved legislation today extending a law that limits the financial liability of nuclear power plant operators in a major accident or terrorist attack. The House passed bill would extend the Price-Anderson Act until 2017. According to the Act, nuclear power plant operators are individually responsible for no more than $200 million in damages due to an accident or attack, and taxpayers would pay for cleanup of any accident over $9.3 billion.
The bill was passed in a particularly odious fashion, and nuclear power lobbyists convinced House Leadership to rush the bill through with little time for debate. So-called "suspension of the rules," the voting technique used to pass Price-Anderson, is usually reserved for noncontroversial bills like renaming post office and federal buildings.
The bill now awaits Senate action.
[3] GLOBAL POPULATION: Sierra Club Will Join Planned Parenthood and United Nations Population Fund for Town Hall
This Thursday, Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope will join the President of Planned Parenthood Golden Gate and the United Nations Population Fund Ambassador to address issues of population, development, and family planning. The "Town Hall" will give the participants an opportunity to discuss the U.N.'s annual State of the World Population Report.
This year's report, entitled "The State of World Population 2001, Footprints and Milestones: Population and Environmental Change," focuses on the relationships between global population, environmental trends, poverty, development and women's health.
For residents of the Bay Area interested in attending the free forum, you can find details at: https://www.sierraclub.org/population/events/townmeeting.asp
For those interested in population issues, this year's State of the World Report is now online at: https://www.unfpa.org/swp/swpmain.htm
[4] NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SURVEY: How is the Internet Changing Conservation & Community?
National Geographic and scholars around the world are addressing a novel and key question: How does the Internet impact your attitudes about conservation, community, and culture? The 25 minute questionnaire focuses on your demographic information, and is followed by a section on the Internet and environmental issues. You will have the option to complete more sections about science, community, lifestyles, reading, and politics.
If interested in completing the survey, which ought to give us valuable information on how to get people passionate about the environment through the internet, you can access it from the Sierra Club main page: https://www.sierraclub.org/
[5] CALENDARS AVAILABLE NOW: Enjoy nature everyday with the 2002 Calendars
Just a reminder that Sierra Club's 2002 Wall and Engagement Calendars are now in. The calendars, which have inspired thousands of mimics, are now America's best selling wall calendar (selling over 7 million every year). The calendars are a legacy of former Sierra Club President David Brower, who believed that Americans would care about protecting the environment if they were allowed access to its beauty through photography.
To save on this year's calendar, go to: https://www.sierraclub.org/books/calendars/index.asp
"Radical historians--now they tell the story of Thanksgiving from the point of view of the turkey." -Mason Cooley (b. 1927), U.S. aphorist.
[1] HOLIDAY SURVIVAL GUIDE: Win the Argument with Uncle Bert this Thanksgiving with this Handy Sierra Club Guide
[2] RECENT VICTORY: Sierra Club Lawsuit Halts Utah's Sprawling Legacy Highway
[3] MASS TRANSIT: Sprawl Advocates Await the Release of "Breaking Gridlock"
[4] IN THE NEWS: New York Times Feature Illustrates the Bush Administration's Environmental Rollbacks
[5] TAKE ACTION: Say No to Mining in the Everglades
[1] HOLIDAY SURVIVAL GUIDE: Win the Argument with "Uncle Bert" this Thanksgiving with this Handy Sierra Club Guide
When you go home at Thanksgiving, is "Uncle Bert" going to argue that we have to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in order to promote national security? Will sweet but confused "Aunt Mim" contend that global warming is fake? Will "Cousin Mervin" try to convince you that nuclear energy means clean energy? If any of these relatives sound familiar, the Sierra Club is happy to introduce the Holiday Survival Guide.
This handy online guide walks you through the arguments that will allow you to win those dinner table arguments in style. So before the family debates begin, explore and enjoy https://www.sierraclub.org/talk/.
[2] RECENT VICTORY: Sierra Club Lawsuit Halts Utah's Sprawling Legacy Highway
This weekend, a federal court ordered that the Utah Department of Transportation halt all work on the proposed "Legacy Highway." The highway is a 14 mile bypass that runs directly through the Great Salt Lake Wetlands, one of the most important inland shorebird breeding grounds in the world. This $451 million dollar highway has long been opposed by the Sierra Club, which proposes instead to invest in public transit systems to solve traffic concerns.
In the court's decision, the judges questioned whether the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers truly considered the impact of the project on the health of the wetlands. "This is fantastic," responded Marc Heileson of the Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club. "I'm very happy the ecosystem will stay intact."
For more information on Legacy Highway, go to: https://www.stoplegacyhighway.org/
For articles that ran on the injunction in Utah papers, go to: https://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,350006903,00.html for the Deseret News, and; https://www.sltrib.com/11172001/utah/149738.htm for the Salt Lake Tribune
[3] MASS TRANSIT: Sprawl Advocates Await the Release of "Breaking Gridlock"
Next month, the Sierra Club is publishing Jim Motovalli's much-anticipated "Breaking Gridlock: Moving Toward Transportation That Works," which shows how mass transit can provide relief from sprawl and car wars. Motovalli, who is the editor of E: The Environmental Magazine, has written extensively on modern transportation and the automobile.
While the book will not be out until December, TomPaine.com recently put a couple of excerpts from his book online. For an early glance at two chapters, go to: https://www.tompaine.com/features/2001/11/06/index.html
If the book strikes your fancy, you'll be able to purchase a copy in December at: https://www.sierraclub.org/books/
[4] IN THE NEWS: New York Times Feature Illustrates the Bush Administration's Environmental Rollbacks
An article in Sunday's New York Times documents the Bush Administration proceeding with regulations, legal settlements and legislation intended to reverse protective environmental policies. The Times article notes that in the past two months, Bush's team has moved toward allowing more road-building in national forests, has made it easier to mine on public lands and destroy wetlands, and has barred the reintroduction of grizzly bears in the Northwest.
Print the article so you can pass around the Thanksgiving table for those debates with Uncle Bert, at: https://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/18/politics/18ENVI.html?ex=1007191813&ei=1&en=07ddaf1c 457f1135
[5] TAKE ACTION: Say No to Mining in the Everglades
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is on the verge of allowing the destruction of 21,000 acres of historic Everglades wetlands by handing over 10-year permits to the limestone mining industry. Destroying these wetlands and replacing them with huge, sterile pits could contaminate Miami-Dade's drinking water supply and create an ecological disaster.
Please call, or email the following Corps officials and urge them not to issue the permits for the destruction of Everglades Wetlands: Lieutenant General Robert B. Flowers, robert.b.flowers.ltg@hq02.usace.army.mil, (202) 761-0001 and Colonel Greg May, james.g.may@saj02.usace.army.mil, 904-232-224.
For more information and to automatically send and email, please visit: https://whistler.sierraclub.org/takeaction/index.jsp
NEXT PAGE -->
|
| * * * IN-HOUSE RESOURCES * * * |
|---|