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DEFENDING ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA
February 28
"The steelworkers know that we don't have to choose between blue skies and blue collars." -Carl Pope, Sierra Club Executive Director
(1) ENERGY: Greens Win Release of Key Energy Documents
(2) DEMOCRACY: Countdown to Cleaner Elections
(3) WILDLANDS: Pope and Podesta Urge Democratic Senators to Protect the Arctic
(4) OUTREACH: Another Blue-Green Partnership is Born
(5) TAKE ACTION: Join the Movement for a Cleaner, Cheaper, Safer Energy Future
1. Greens Win Release of Key Energy Documents
Let the sunshine in! Enviornmentalists yesterday ensured that Americans will have access to crucial information on the Cheney Energy Task Force's Enron-influenced energy plan. The Natural Resources Defense Council won its suit against the Energy Department, forcing the release of thousands of documents which will help show whether the task force acted on behalf of its friends in the oil, gas, and energy industries.
NRDC aren't the only ones seeking more information on the task force. Sierra Club filed its own suit against the Vice President, and even the investigative arm of Congress is taking legal action, both seeking different sets of documents. Looks like alot of people think the Vice President might be hiding something. We may find out pretty soon! For more information on this legal victory, go to:
https://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/28/business/28INFO.html?todaysheadlines
2. Countdown to Cleaner Elections
Get ready for action, because campaign finance reform is headed for the Senate! Fresh off their victory in the House, proponents of getting big money out of politics have high hopes for another huge win.
But obstacles remain: Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, arch-foe of reform, is threatening to filibuster the bill, meaning 60 votes are needed to pass it. Recent statements from swing Senators suggest that the tide is turning in the right direction, but in politics, anything can happen. Stay tuned!
To see how your Senators voted on campaign finance legislation last April, go to: https://www.sierraclub.org/votewatch/2001/mccainfeingold.asp
3. Pope and Podesta Urge Democratic Senators to Protect the Arctic
The Sierra Club teamed with former White House Chief of Staff John Podesta Wednesday, urging Democratic Senators to oppose destructive oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Club Executive Director Carl Pope and Podesta were an awesome one-two combination as they engaged in a vigorous dialogue with drilling advocates from the Teamsters at a Senate Democratic Caucus event.
As several swing Senators looked on, Pope and Podesta spoke for millions of Americans, reminding the lawmakers that drilling would destroy America's last pristine wilderness area while doing nothing to address our energy needs. It's hard to argue with that!
4. Another Blue-Green Partnership is Born
This is getting to be a habit! In the latest example of co-operation between labor and the environmental movement, Carl Pope stood with the United Steelworkers of America at a massive rally today, calling on the Bush administration to protect the health and safety of retired steelworkers. Just last week, the same organizations, as well as other green and labor groups, teamed up to release a report showing that efforts to reduce global warming pollution can boost the economy and create jobs.
Pope's appearance came after the Club's Board of Directors passed a resolution urging the federal government to guarantee health benefits and pensions for retired steelworkers. The Sierra Club knows: a friend in need is a friend indeed!
For more information on the Sierra Club-USWA partnership, go to: https://lists.sierraclub.org/SCRIPTS/WA.EXE?A2=ind0202&L=ce-scnews-releases&D=1&T=0&H=1&O=D&F &S=&P=1776
If this link does not work for you, click on the link for Sierra Club Backs Steelworkers in Supporting Benefits for Retirees at: https://lists.sierraclub.org/SCRIPTS/WA.EXE?A1=ind0202&L=ce-scnews-releases
5. Join the Movement for a Cleaner, Cheaper, Safer Energy Future
It's crunch time for the biggest grassroots effort in the history of the environmental movement, with the Senate beginning debate on the Daschle energy bill this week. This is the crucial moment to take action to protect America's last great wilderness and put us on the path to a cleaner, cheaper, and safer energy future.
Contact your Senators right now and urge them to vote for three critical items in the Daschle energy bill: 1. Protection of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 2. A significant raise in fuel economy standards, so that cars and SUVs go further on a gallon of gas 3. Funding for renewable energy sources
Click below to send an email directly to your Senator. There's even a draft provided! https://www.sierraclub.org/action/?alid=68&rf=-68999
"This is the biggest environmental effort in over a decade. There is an enormous grass-roots effort going on around this country." Betsy Loyless, League of Conservation Voters Political Director, on the battle over energy policy
(1) WILD LANDS: Sierra Club Fights to Preserve Lewis and Clark Forests
(2) CLEAN AIR: High School Students Teach Officials a Thing or Two
(3) AWARDS: Sierra Club Honors a Diverse Bunch
(4) TAKE ACTION: Moment of Truth for a Cleaner, Cheaper, Safer Energy Future
1. Sierra Club Fights to Preserve Lewis and Clark Forests
The beat goes on. Sierra Club activists and concerned local citizens are gearing up to take on the Forest Service over another proposal to log America's national forests. The plan, which could cut as much as 100 million board feet of timber from Idaho's Clearwater National Forest, would damage an area that is within sight of the trail followed by explorers Merriweather Lewis and William Clark on their epic trek to the Pacific.
"Tourists to our region are going to see logging trucks instead of a roadless area ... that is nearly as pristine now as it was when Lewis and Clark first saw it," said Sierra Club representative Chase Davis.
For more information on this story, go to https://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story.asp?date=022302&ID=s1106030&cat=section.regional
2. High School Students Teach Officials a Thing or Two on Clean Air
Sometimes the student becomes the teacher! Minnesota clean air activists pulled off a home run event in St. Paul on Thursday, bringing over 100 high school students to the state capitol to highlight the use of dirty diesel school buses.
Carrying signs, chanting, and marching, the students presented a petition to the Senate Majority Leader urging him to clean up the soot-spewing fleet. They also found time to speak with reporters and wound up all over the evening news. Nice going!
For more information on this story, go to https://www.sierraclub.org/cleanair/
3. Sierra Club Honors a Diverse Bunch
What do the founder of Earth Day, a 16 year old high school student, and a former Chief of the U.S. Forest Service all have in common? They each were honored with a Sierra Club National Award for their work to protect the earth.
Former U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson, who founded Earth Day in 1970 and remains a leading national environmental figure, received the John Muir Award, the Club's top honor. Nathan Wyeth, a high school student from Chevy Chase, MD, who heads the Sierra Student Coalition's fair trade campaign, was the recipient of an award that goes to an environmentalist under 30. And the Club's award honoring service to the environment by a person in government went to Mike Dombeck, who as President Clinton's Forest Service Chief was the driving force behind a landmark forest protection plan. Congrats to all!
For an extensive list of Sierra Club National Award recipients, go to https://www.sierraclub.org/currents/awards.asp
4. Moment of Truth for a Cleaner, Cheaper, Safer Energy Future
The big moment has arrived! After months of build-up, and a short-sighted Bush administration proposal that would favor the polluting oil, gas, and coal companies at the expense of our environment, the Senate at last has a chance this week to debate an energy bill that could provide Americans with a cleaner, cheaper, and safer energy future. And you can help the fight!
Contact your Senators right now and urge them to vote for three critical items in the Daschle energy bill:
1. Protection of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
2. A significant raise in fuel economy standards, so that cars and SUVs go further on a gallon of gas
3. Funding for renewable energy sources
Click below to send an email directly to your Senator. There's even a draft provided! https://www.sierraclub.org/action/?alid=66&rf=-66999
"In nature there are neither rewards nor punishment - there are consequences." - Robert G. Ingersoll
(1) OUTREACH: Greens and Blues Unite for Clean Air
(2) ENERGY: Watch Rollover: The Hidden History of the SUV Tonight on PBS
(3) ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: Too Dirty for Canada? Send it to Detroit!
(4) TAKE ACTION: Protect Wild Salmon, a Cultural Icon of America's Northwest
1. Greens and Blues Unite for Clean Air
Environmentalists and labor teamed up this week in a ground-breaking "blue-green" alliance. The coalition - which includes the Sierra Club, Union of Concerned Scientists, and representatives of the industrial and textile trades - released a report showing that efforts to reduce global warming pollution can boost the economy and create jobs.
"We don't need to choose between blue skies and blue collars...we can have both" said Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club. This could be an unstoppable combination!
For more info on the green-blue alternative to the Bush administration's global warming plan, go to https://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/02/20/global.warming/index.html
2. Watch Rollover: The Hidden History of the SUV Tonight on PBS
Almost every other vehicle sold in this country is an SUV. But a special edition of Frontline tonight, including an appearance by Sierra Club's Dan Becker, exposes the fuel economy and safety failings of these gas-guzzlers.
SUVs are categorized as light trucks, meaning they're allowed to consume more gas than regular passenger cars. Instead of allowing oil drilling in the pristine Arctic Refuge, the Senate should pass the Daschle energy bill, which makes SUVs go further on a gallon of gas, saving billions of barrels of oil and greatly reducing global warming pollution. The bill would also work to improve the safety of SUVs. It's a win-win situation!
CHECK YOUR LOCAL PBS LISTINGS TONIGHT!
For more info on tonight's show, go to https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/rollover/
To check out Sierra Club's SUV Report, go to https://www.sierraclub.org/globalwarming/SUVreport/
3. Too Dirty for Canada? Send it to Detroit!
North Detroiters have had enough! Every day, an average of 30,000 gallons of waste-water is trucked over the U.S. border by a Canadian company. Then it's dumped into the sewage system in a low-income North Detroit neighborhood. Local residents have grown used to living with migraine headaches, nausea, breathing trouble, and a foul, putrid smell on hot days.
Now they're fighting back. A coalition of local elected officials, residents, and activists - including the Sierra Club - will tell the authorities this week to end this deadly dumping. As Karen Washington, the director of a local community house put it, "This was a situation of 'Oh, they're poor, they won't know any better.' But clearly that's not the case."
For more info on the struggle for justice in North Detroit, go to https://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=2984
4. Take Action to Protect Wild Salmon, a Cultural Icon of America's Northwest
Logging, dam-building, and other environmentally-damaging activities are endangering the wild salmon of the Northwest. But attempts to "save our salmon" are underway, and you can help make the difference!
Representative Jim McDermott (D-WA) has introduced legislation that would help speed the process of removing dams on the lower Snake River, and would require a scientific review of current salmon recovery efforts. These are crucial steps to saving America's wild salmon! Click below to send an email directly to your representative, encouraging them to co-sponsor Rep. McDermott's Salmon Planning Act. The endangered salmon of the Northwest will thank you!
https://www.sierraclub.org/action/?alid=67&rf=-67999
"There are no passengers on spaceship earth. We are all crew." - Marshall McLuhan
(1) ARCTIC: What did the Firefighter Say to the President?
(2) POLITICS: Sierra Club Endorses "Environmental Champions" for '02 Elections
(3) DEMOCRACY: Sierra Club Praises House for Cleaning up Elections
(4) TAKE ACTION: Critical Week for a Cleaner, Cheaper, Safer Energy Future
1. What did the Firefighter Say to the President?
Ed Hall just doesn't quit! Weeks after using a handshake with President Bush to urge protection of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the Portland, Oregon firefighter is repeating his message in Sierra Club radio ads in nine states starting this week.
Hall, who helped out with recovery efforts at the World Trade Center site, took advantage of a January photo op with the President to tell him, "you don't have to drill for oil in the Arctic". In the radio ads, he explains his reasoning: "Six months worth of oil, ten years down the road - that's not worth the cost to the ecosystem of the Arctic Refuge." We couldn't have put it better ourselves!
To read a transcript of an interview with Ed Hall, visit https://www.sierraclub.org/currents/facetime/firefighter.asp
2. Sierra Club Endorses "Environmental Champions" for '02 Elections
To protect America's clean air, clean water, and precious public lands, the Sierra Club today announced its first round of endorsements of U.S. Senate and House candidates for the 2002 elections. Making the next congress a little greener is more important than ever, since the House and Senate represent America's best hope for defending the environment.
The 33 endorsements include incumbent Senators Max Cleland (D-GA), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Robert Torricelli (D-NJ), and Paul Wellstone (D-MN). Sierra Club members will be working in their communities to elect these and other pro-environmental candidates. "We're committed to caring for the land that we love, and to do that we must build pro-environment majorities in the House and Senate," said Margaret Conway, Sierra Club's Political Director.
For more information, and for a complete list of endorsed candidates, go to: https://lists.sierraclub.org/SCRIPTS/WA.EXE?A2=ind0202&L=ce-scnews-releases&D=1&T=0&H=1&O=D&F &S=&P=1400
3. Sierra Club Praises House for Cleaning up Elections
Elections and the environment will get a little bit cleaner, thanks to the brave members of Congress who stood up for real campaign finance reform last week. The Sierra Club publicly thanked the 240 Representatives who voted to approve the Shays-Meehan bill, and urged President Bush to sign the bill into law.
Shays-Meehan is a critical step in giving power back to voters by getting soft money out of elections. It means polluting industries will no longer be permitted to dump unlimited amounts into campaigns. "When Congress listens to voters rather than to corporations, they'll hear that Americans want to drink clean water, breathe clean air, and marvel at beautiful landscapes," said Carl Pope, the Club's Executive Director.
For more information on this story, go to: https://lists.sierraclub.org/SCRIPTS/WA.EXE?A2=ind0202&L=ce-scnews-releases&D=1&T=0&H=1&O=D&F &S=&P=934
4. Take Action: Critical Week for a Cleaner, Cheaper, Safer Energy Future
Now is the time to urge your Senators to take a stand for clean energy. Congress is in recess this week, and when it returns the Senate will debate the Daschle energy bill, which creates a framework for a cleaner, cheaper, and safer energy future, but needs strengthening.
Here's how you can help: 1. Call your Senators' district offices this week, urging them to support higher fuel economy standards, renewable energy, and protection of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. 2. Attend your Senators' town meetings. Thank them if appropriate, or urge them to support higher fuel economy standards, renewable energy, and protection of the Arctic Refuge. 3. Schedule a meeting with your Senators while they are home. Again, urge them to support higher fuel economy standards, renewable energy, and protection of the Arctic Refuge. 4. Click below to send an email directly to your Senators, once again urging them to support higher fuel economy standards, renewable energy, and protection of the Arctic Refuge. There's even a draft provided!
https://www.sierraclub.org/action/?alid=57&rf=-57999 To read today's editorial in the Washington Post in support of raising fuel economy standards, go to: https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30431-2002Feb18.html
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