I decided to get this out because the corn growers and agri business 
are mentioned. And of course you are not busy this morning then you can 
do your environmental activism for today.
Debbie Neustadt

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [CRNetwork] Floor Vote Today - Still Time to Call
Date: Thu, 14 Jul 2005 12:12:01 -0400
From: [log in to unmask]
Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
To: <[log in to unmask]>



CRN Members:

There is still time to make calls to House Members to urge them to
support the Flake-Blumenauer Amendment. The vote will not occur until at
later this afternoon. 

The corn growers and agri-business are pulling out the stops to defeat
this amendment, but we still have a decent chance, with your help! Their
major claim is to dispute the traffic estimates. If this is their main
argument, then we say, fine. If the traffic is really there, as you
claim, then you have nothing to worry about and the project can
proceed.

Below is a fact sheet we prepared to help de-bunk some of the
mis-information being spread. Feel free to use it in your calls.

If you don't know how to find your Member of Congress, simply go to
http://www.house.gov and enter your zip code at the top of the page.


Support the Flake-Blumenauer Amendment to the 
Water Resources Development Act of 2005

The Real Facts

Level of Traffic:  Traffic has fluctuated but has been flat between
1980 and 2000.  Since 2000, it has declined dramatically as much more
grain is now used for ethanol, livestock, and railed to Canada and
Mexico (NAFTA) and west coast ports for Asian markets.  Regardless, if
traffic increases as projected by the Corps, they can immediately
proceed to construction.  

Accountability:  The Flake-Blumenauer amendment is not a "wait and
see" approach but a safety valve to ensure the Corps meets its minimum
traffic projections.  Design of the locks will be concurrent with
traffic monitoring, so there is no delay if the Corps traffic
projections are met. 

Funding:  The Inland Waterways Trust Fund is derived from a tax on
diesel fuel. As with all inland water construction and major rehab
projects, half the funding for this project will come from the IWTF. 
However, IWTF funds are included in the Corps annual construction
budget. So, $1.8 billion comes from the same limited pot of construction
money.  

Length of Locks: Building longer locks will reduce the cost of shipping
commodities by only a fraction of a penny. Extending lock length will
reduce the 20 day trip from Iowa to New Orleans by less than 12 hours, a
modest increase in efficiency. 

Why support this amendment:   Two panels of the National Academy of
Sciences have concluded the Corps' traffic projections and economic
models are biased to support new lock construction, and the data is
unreliable.  Even the Administration has cited these concerns in recent
budgets. In addition, the Army's Inspector General concluded the Corps
manipulated the results of the study.  Given these facts, Congress
should ensure that level of traffic warrants a $1.8 billion taxpayer
investment. 





Tim Eder, 
Director of Water Resources
National Wildlife Federation
213 W. Liberty St
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
734-769-3351 (ext 25)
734-604-7281 (cell)
NWF's mission is to inspire Americans to protect wildlife for our
children's future.




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