Forwarded by Jane Clark at [log in to unmask]
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From: Bruce Hamilton, Conservation Director
        Sierra Club
Re: How we fared in Congress in 1999

Throughout the year we have sent you ccmail alerts urging you to weigh in
on critical Congressional bills.  The Congress has now adjourned for the
year. Here is a summary of what the Congress didn't do for the environment.
I know this will sound disheartening to read -- there are so many wasted
opportunities.  You may ask, why bother to get involved when the Congress
is so hopeless.  The answer is twofold:  First, if we didn't weigh in with
the Congress and the White House they could have passed most of this
anti-environmental agenda.  Because of your efforts our allies in Congress
and the Administration managed to head off most of the damage.  Second,
while the Congress has been a burial ground for environmental initiatives,
by helping to send a message that Americans are demanding environmental
protection you have emboldened the Administration and candidates to put out
strong environmental initiatives and make them election issues in 2000.
The President's 60 million acre Wild Forest Initiative and Al Gore's pledge
to stop all oil development off California and Florida are not
serendipitous political announcements -- you made them happen by
demonstrating the strong public demand to protect America's environment,
for our families, for our future.

Below is the press release we issued this week:


CONGRESS FLUNKS ENVIRONMENTAL TEST


At Special Interests' Behest, Members Loaded Budget with Riders, Failed to
Pass Laws to Protect Wild Lands, Halt Water Pollution, Curb Global Warming

Washington, DC--Congress has adjourned for the year, ending a session in
which it failed to act on Americans' demand to clean up pollution and
protect our remaining wild lands.  In its final action, Congress passed a
federal budget that includes damaging anti-environmental riders, although
hard work by the Clinton-Gore Administration and by Congressional
environmentalists in both parties paid off as many riders were rejected
from the budget.

"Congress larded up the federal budget with a heap of anti-environmental
riders, and they completely failed to pass a pro-environmental agenda this
year," said Sierra Club executive director, Carl Pope. "The first session
of the 106th Congress can be summarized in two words, `missed
opportunities.'  The Congress could justifiably called `do nothing' for
failing to take much needed action to protect America's environment for our
families, for our future."

A quick overview of the missed opportunities:

Fighting Sprawl:  Community Open Space Bonds bill languished.  This is an
innovative proposal for a federal partnership with local communities to
help them plan for smart growth and fight sprawl.

Protecting our Wilderness: Although bills to designate 9.1 million acres of
wilderness in Utah, protect the Northern Rockies Ecosystem, and permanently
put the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge off limits to oil drilling were
introduced, and gathered a record number of cosponsors, the Congress failed
to act on them.

Protecting our Forests: A bill to end commercial logging of our National
Forests was introduced, gaining strong bipartisan support and a record
number of sponsors, but the Congress did not adopt the legislation, and
instead pushed bills that would further expose our National Forests to
damaging logging.

Cleaning Up Factory Farms: Legislation was introduced to give the EPA the
authority it needs to require better management of livestock manure from
large factory farms (H.R. 684) .  The bill would require plans for
beneficial use of manure, prevent the siting of factory farms in
ecologically vulnerable areas, and require large meat-processing
corporations, not just the individual livestock operator, to assume
responsibility for the proper use or disposal of livestock waste. However,
it has been bottled up in committee.

Land Legacy: Congress appropriated half of the $900 million requested by
the President to fund the Land Legacy program.  The Congress also began
action on a bill that would provide secure funding for land and wildlife
protection.  Although the bill has made progress, the version pending in
the House still has troubling tradeoffs that would create new incentives
for states to open their shorelines to oil drilling.

Global Warming: Congress barred the Administration from taking the single
biggest step to curbing global warming--raising automotive fuel economy
standards. It also blocked the Administration from taking other needed
actions.

Family Planning:  A compromise made by President Clinton and Congressional
leadership attached the "Global Gag Rule" to the repayment of U.S. debts to
the United Nations.  The rule will bar family planning organizations abroad
from receiving U.S. funds if they provide legal abortion services or
participate in public debates on abortion policies with their own money.
The
President can waive the rule, but at the cost of reducing the budget for
international family planning services by $12.5 million.

Despite some the missed opportunities, the good news to emerge from this
Congress was a growing bipartisan "Green Caucus" that blocked many harmful
riders that would have made existing regulations impotent and caused
irreparable environmental damage.

"As Congress shuts down for the year, the only bright spot is that
President Clinton, Vice President Gore and pro-environmental members on
both sides of the aisle were able to keep the federal budget from being
worse on the environment," Pope said.

"In 2000, not only will we solidify our green caucus, but we'll add to it
as Americans increasingly focus on the environment and quality-of-life
issues," Pope added.


##

Many of you were closely following the Interior Appropriations Bill, which
was the vehicle for most of the anti-environmental riders.  In the end
White House negotiators and our allies in Congress managed to strip most of
the bad riders, although a few slipped through.  Riders that were dropped
include ones that would have accelerated ancient forest logging in the
Pacific Northwest, delayed the President's Wild Forest Initiative until
2001 when a new President takes over, blocked grizzly bear reintroduction,
prevented new hardrock mining regulations on public lands, prevented the
federal government from taking steps to protect endangered salmon stocks in
the Northwest, blocked implementation of a court ruling preventing mountain
top removal coal mining that destroys streams in Appalachia, and allowed
new mines to dump mine wastes on public lands (pre 1997 mine permits will
be grandfathered).  Getting these provisions dropped or modified was a
tremendous victory.  There were also disappointments including the
extension of grazing permits by 10 years without completing environmental
reviews, increased funding for commercial logging on our National Forests,
and permitting lead mining in the Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri.

I want to thank each of you for the part you played in accomplishing these
victories.  Your voice was heard and the Earth is a better place for your
efforts.  We look forward to working with you next year as the Congress
resumes and we head into the 2000 elections where we can hold these
politicians accountable.

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