Hi Jane,
Since you are the Central Iowa Excom prez, I thought I should send this
update to you.
I have, due to limitations in my time/availability decided to vacate my
position on the Excom. I hate to do this because I believe in what we are
doing and I know I still have a year to serve, but I feel I must. I have so
much going on that I don't feel as though I am doing the group justice in
publicity or fundraising. I also expect to bite off more responsibility with
the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation in the areas of advocacy and
awareness. This will further limit my time.
I will still be paying dues and attending meetings and events, to volunteer
and participate.
Thanks.
Mike Shaw
>From: Jane Clark <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: "Iowa Discussion, Alerts and Announcements"
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Dirty Trick on Waterways
>Date: Mon, 8 Dec 2003 10:23:36 -0600
>
>From:
>
>LA Times, December 8, 2003
>
>EDITORIAL
>Dirty Trick on Waterways
>
>Relying on nonsensical thinking and a narrow court ruling with dubious
>application, the Bush administration wants to gut crucial segments of
>the Clean Water Act. It isn't just the tree-hugging crowd raising alarms
>over this action, which, if it prevails, would strip protections from
>waterways that don't flow at least half the year - in other words,
>most of the streams and ponds of Southern California.
>
>The administration's proposed rule change, as reported by Times staffer
>Elizabeth Shogren, could trigger everything from pollution discharges
>into the San Gabriel River to the paving over of the region's vernal
>pools, those seasonal havens for migratory birds and endangered species.
>No longer would U.S. officials have jurisdiction over "ephemeral"
>waterways - those fed by rain or snowmelt rather than groundwater, or
>unfilled with water at least six months a year. Most natural waters in
>the southwestern United States, the driest region in the nation, fit
>that description.
>
>The administration spin is that this change was forced by a 2001 U.S.
>Supreme Court decision allowing construction at a pond in Illinois. The
>high court said that, in this instance, the feds lacked authority over
>the pond - actually, an abandoned mining site that had filled with
>water - because it was isolated from other waters, in a single state
>and couldn't be navigated by boat.
>
>Though the administration has seized on this case and expanded it to
>the absurd, subsequent circuit court rulings have rightly recognized
>that the 2001 decision should be seen in its most narrow scope - and
>that the Clean Water Act still covers streams and wetlands. Even many
>federal officials scratch their heads over the illogic that lets an
>Illinois mining-pit ruling affect sprawling networks of streams and
>ponds, which, in turn, feed rivers, lakes and the ocean.
>
>Administration officials say states would be free to regulate these
>waterways. Rather than embracing this power, most states vehemently
>oppose the change, saying they lack the money or technical staff.
>Shifting responsibility from federal to state hands would create a
>duplicative and costly bureaucracy. Or it could leave precious natural
>resources, already under assault, ripe for despoiling.
>
>In a letter, strongly worded for bureaucrats, the California Resources
>Agency and Environmental Protection Agency protested the move, saying it
>would "essentially eviscerate" protection for wetlands and streams.
>Reeking rivers and unswimmable beaches don't help the economy. This
>proposal is as toxic as unregulated factory pollution. The White House
>should dump it before it takes U.S. water protection back 30 years.
>
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