DEFENDING ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA
Tuesday, October 31,
2006
Coal plants are the
dirtiest source of energy we use today. In the past months, the
Sierra Club has succeeded in stopping the construction of two 600
megawatt coal fired plants. The US Environmental Protection Agency's
Environmental Appeals Board and a federal judge in Southern Illinois
both sided with the Club and ordered EnviroPower and Indeck Energy
to halt construction of their respective plants, both located in
Illinois. By stopping these two plants we have prevented the
emissions of about 10,000,000 tons of carbon dioxide and 8,000 tons
of soot, smog, and mercury annually. The Sierra Club is working to
keep back the flood of coal-generated electricity and instead build
a cleaner energy future. 
Oil and gas projects
just outside of the boundaries of America's national parks pose
serious threats to the wildlife, environmental quality, and scenic
nature of these regions. Current National Park Service policies
allow companies to extract oil and gas resources by drilling at an
angle from a surface located outside the park. In the case of Big
Thicket National Park, a biologically diverse region that brings
together in one location the eastern hardwood forests, the Gulf
coastal plains, and the Midwest prairies, close to twenty oil wells
have been constructed just outside its borders.
(3) Critters Need Your Help: New Fiore
Cartoon
More people than ever
before are considering environmental issues as they decide how to
vote in next week's election. One voting bloc, however, has been
relatively silent. That's about to change.
Thanks to
cartoonist Mark Fiore, you can hear for yourself what the salmon,
the caribou, the polar bear, and the grizzly think about going to
the polls and learn how best to make your voice heard. Hint: It's
never a good idea to eat a poll worker.
Check
out the new Fiore cartoon, "Critter Coalition."
This week the British
government released their report analyzing the economics of global
warming. The conclusion of the Stern Review of the Economics of
Climate Change is that the world has the resources, capability, and
the methods to stop global warming. It states quite clearly,
however, that we have a small window in which to act after which the
sticker price of success becomes significantly higher while the
likelihood of success gets smaller. |
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"Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country."
-- President Theodore Roosevelt
Two recent studies by
the Institute of Medicine and Harvard have confirmed what experts
have known all along- eating fish is good for your health BUT you
need to be careful how much and what type of fish you eat. While
these new studies have changed the headline of the mercury story,
the facts remain the same. Low-mercury types of fish can be part of
a healthy diet for most people, provided they are eaten in
moderation. However, women of childbearing age and children still
face serious health risks from toxic mercury and should be
especially careful about their fish consumption. The good news is
that there are steps you can take to reduce the amount of mercury in
your environment and in your body.
Learn
more about what you can do to reduce mercury pollution and see which
fish are safe to eat.
Sierra Club activists
and wind developers in Gentry County, Missouri are working together
to help launch clean energy initiatives. Spurred on by a local wind
farm project, activists, citizens, energy representatives and public
servants are garnering support for a statewide energy code that
would result in increased efficiency and conservation throughout the
state, as well as increased use of clean energy alternatives, like
wind. With plans for a second Missouri wind farm already in the
works, citizens are looking forward to the new jobs that these smart
energy projects will bring.
Learn more about Clean Energy Solutions!
(3) Take Action: Save Wetlands, Protect
Local Communities
In Mississippi, the
Army Corps of Engineers wants to relax restrictions on filling in
coastal wetlands that provide vital protection to the fledgling
communities that are just beginning to be rebuilt after Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita. The Corps' proposal clears the way for developers
who plan to put low-income housing on the filled wetlands,
relegating those most vulnerable to areas of greater risk. Now more
than ever Mississippi needs stronger wetlands protections, not
weaker ones!
Tell
the Army Corps to Stop Promoting the Plunder of Mississippi's
Remaining Wetlands!
After the elections this
November Congress will once again be pushing to open our fragile
coasts to oil and gas drilling. Remind the Senate that there is no
such thing as 'clean,' 'safe,' or 'environmentally-gentle' oil
drilling. Today we have the technology and the know-how to move
beyond our dependence on polluting oil and gas drilling by using
clean, safe, and affordable renewable energy. Instead of relying
forever on volatile sources of oil and gas, we can use better
technology to reduce our energy demand today and far into the
future.
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