This is a publication of the Sierra Club. It is
the main action alert communication by the club.
The last item allows you to email Harkin,
Grassley, and your congressman. You can either
send a prepared message or one of your own or
a combination.
Charlie posted a message regarding this but it
was with an endangered species angle.
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Sierra Club Currents -- An Answer for the Arctic Refuge
Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 17:07:25 -0800
From: [log in to unmask]
Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
To: [log in to unmask]
Sierra Club Currents -- An Answer for the Arctic Refuge
Volume III, #12
Thursday, February 13, 2003
----
Quote of the Day:
"It seems like we have conflicting goals here. Aren't we trying to
protect
the global environment? Doesn't that really mean we're going to have to
make absolute changes? I think we're going to have to suck it up and do
what needs to be done."
-Steven Willis of Whirlpool Corp., in response to the Bush
Administration's
voluntary global warming program, which will actually allow increased
carbon dioxide pollution. The home appliance company backs more
far-reaching reductions than the administration has called for.
----
(1)ARCTIC: An Answer for the Arctic Refuge
(2)FACTORY FARMS: Pig Plant losing their Bacon
(3)NATIONAL FORESTS: Bitter over the Bitterroot National Forest
(4)TAKE ACTION: Stop the Administration from Polluting America's Waters
----
1. An Answer for the Arctic Refuge
As Congress toys with the notion of opening the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge by using the Omnibus Appropriations bill, Representatives Ed
Markey
(D-MA) and Nancy Johnson (R-CT) are working to protect the refuge. They
are
cosponsoring a bill in Congress to permanently protect the Arctic Refuge
by
designating it as wilderness. The bill would place the 1.5 million-acre
coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge off limits to oil development.
Republican leadership has tacked on drilling provisions to the must-pass
Omnibus Appropriations bill for 2003, under consideration today, as well
as
the emerging Budget Resolution for 2004. This is inconceivable,
especially
since, a recent bipartisan survey performed by the Mellman Group (D) and
Bellwether Research (R) found that American voters, by a 52% to 35%
margin,
oppose changing the law to allow the oil industry to drill on the
coastal
plain of the Arctic Refuge.
Visit the Sierra Club's Arctic Refuge webpage:
http://www.sierraclub.org/wildlands/arctic/northern_slope.asp
----
2. Pig Plant losing their Bacon
Diamond Meat Company, a hog-slaughtering plant in Alabama, shut their
barn
doors for good as part of a lawsuit settlement. Neighbors brought the
suit
to court and testified in front of a jury calling the plant a "cesspool"
and described "screams" coming from the stenchy factory farm. Scared of
the jury, the meat packers settled and will indefinitely protect the
land
from other animal factories.
Neighbors of the plant were asking for compensation for their decreased
land value next to the plant. In the past, neighbors of factory farms
have
had their land decrease in value by thirty percent. Luckily, these
Alabamians will be compensated for the damages.
Read what the local newspaper is saying about the case at:
http://www.annistonstar.com/opinion/2003/as-editorials-0208-editorial-3b07r0018.htm
----
3. Bitter over the Bitterroot National Forest
A year later, after Montana's Bitterroot National Forest Burned Area
settlement plan was signed, the US Forest Service has executed 70
percent
of the negotiated logging while only 12 percent of the forest
restoration
and 3 percent of the watershed and road restoration work has been
completed. The Burned Area Recovery Project captured national media
attention last year because representatives from the timber industry and
conservation groups came to agreement.
Logging without important restoration has jeopardized water quality and
critical habitat for the bull trout. This example sheds light onto what
types of restoration the Bush Administration really has in mind under
the
so-called "Healthy Forests" Initiative and the changes to the National
Forest Management Act.
Get local in Montana here:
http://www.everyweek.com/News/News.asp?no=3035
----
4. TAKE ACTION - Stop the Administration from Polluting America's
Waters
On January 15, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the
most
aggressive administrative effort to weaken the Clean Water Act since
Congress enacted the safeguard in 1972. The EPA guidance makes it easier
to
drain and fill wetlands across the country. According to EPA estimates,
added together, these disconnected waterways make up at least 20 percent
of
the country's remaining wetland areas (20 million acres).
Contact your US Representatives and Senators and tell them to support
efforts to remove the anti-environmental legislation at:
http://www.sierraclub.org/action/?alid=215&st=curr
----
Sierra Club Legislative Hotline - (202) 675-2394
Sierra Club National Headquarters - (415) 977-5500
Sierra Club World Wide Web - http://www.sierraclub.org
Sierra Club Vote Watch Website - http://www.sierraclub.org/votewatch/
White House Comment Line - (202) 456-1111
White House Fax Line - (202) 456-2461
President George W. Bush's e-mail - [log in to unmask]
Vice President Dick Cheney's e-mail - [log in to unmask]
White House Address - 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, DC 20500
US Capitol Switchboard - (202) 224-3121
To contact your senators - http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index.cfm
To contact your representative - http://www.house.gov/writerep
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