Earths.net

http://www.earthman.tv/html_files/emanconcerts.html

1. CREDIT CARS Ford, Toyota, and Honda are working with environmental groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council and Union of Concerned Scientists to urge Congress to pass tax credits for people who buy vehicles that are better for the environment. Legislation introduced in the Senate would create tax credits that range from $1,000 for gas-electric hybrids to much more for heavy-duty trucks that runs on electricity or fuel cells. Ford President Jacques Nasser said the bill "will help accelerate demand for cleaner, more fuel-efficient vehicles in the marketplace and put them on the road earlier and in higher volumes." DaimlerChrysler and General Motors say they support tax incentives, but they disagree with the way the bill calculates fuel improvements. The Sierra Club, on the other hand, supports higher requirements for gas mileage rather than tax credits.

do good: Take action and pledge to buy an eco-friendly car <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/dogood/autos.stm#pledge>

2. UM. HAVEN'T WE LEARNED ANYTHING? People across the former Soviet Union offered their prayers yesterday to victims of the Chernobyl disaster, 15 years after the world's worst nuclear accident occurred in Ukraine. The Ukrainian government says that more than 70,000 people were fully disabled by the accident and more than 4,000 who took part in the clean-up have died. At least 7 million people in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine suffer physical or psychological effects from the radiation released during the catastrophe. Meanwhile, half of Americans now say they support using nuclear plants to produce electricity, an increase over two years ago, according to an Associated Press poll. And the nuclear industry may soon seek its first permit in decades to build a new plant in the U.S.

straight to the source: MSNBC.com, Associated Press, 25 Apr 2001 <http://www.msnbc.com/news/564225.asp>

3. THEIR SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN A federal appeals panel earlier this week dismissed a lower court's ruling that mountaintop-removal mining in West Virginia violates environmental law by burying hundreds of miles of streams under tons of rock and earth. The three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found unanimously that the plaintiffs in the citizens suit against the state had no standing in a federal court because it was state's bailiwick, not the feds', to enforce the particular environmental law in question. Enviro groups said they would challenge the panel decision.

straight to the source: New York Times, Francis X. Clines, 26 Apr 2001 <http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/26/national/26MINE.html>

4. THE FOOL ON CAPITOL HILL Some Labor Party members in the U.K. are publicly deriding U.S. President Bush as the "toxic Texan" and "the fool on Capitol Hill" for his stance on climate change. In fact, the Bush administration, by all reports, has been astonished by the intense reaction around the world to its decision to withdraw from the Kyoto treaty on climate change. The State Department, at the request of the Bushies, put together a review of how the press in 43 countries covered the issue. One Seoul paper wrote that Bush's "scrapping" of Kyoto was "tantamount to a declaration of ... environmental terrorism against humankind." Read more quotes and learn how Kyoto could still be saved on the Grist Magazine website.

straight to the source: London Independent, Ben Russell, 25 Apr 2001 <http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=68594>

read it only in Grist Magazine: This just in -- in our Heat Beat section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/heatbeat/thisjustin042701.stm>

do good: Take action and tell Bush not to abandon Kyoto <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/dogood/climate.stm>

5. POLL POSITION Only 38 percent of the American public approves of the way President Bush is handling the environment, according to a poll taken this week by CBS News. More than twice as many Americans place a priority on protecting the environment over producing energy -- but the public overwhelmingly thinks Bush is on the side of energy production, the poll found.

straight to the source: CBSNews.com, 26 Apr 2001 <http://www.cbsnews.com/now/story/0,1597,287908-412,00.shtml>

6. THE BONNEVILLE HORROR Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber (D) on Wednesday said the Bonneville Power Administration and other federal agencies were not fulfilling their obligations to help salmon in the midst of a drought that has caused electricity prices to soar. In recent weeks, the BPA has twice declared power emergencies that allow the agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to skirt endangered species rules to protect salmon and steelhead runs. Kitzhaber urged the Northwest Power Planning Council to provide a counterweight to the BPA's approach. But yesterday the power council stuck to its guns and recommended that electricity generation remain concern No. 1 over salmon at federal dams this summer.

catch it only in Grist Magazine: Run, salmon, run! -- a cartoon by Suzy Becker <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/ha/ha070599.stm>

do good: Take action and tell the feds to fund salmon recovery <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/dogood/species.stm#recovery>

Also in GRIST MAGAZINE today:

Michigan seems like a scheme to me now -- Bush's attack on federal resources and rules was honed in the states -- by Keith Schneider in our Main Dish section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/maindish/schneider042501.stm>

Barton finks -- Austin is losing the battle to protect the Barton Springs salamander -- in our Main Dish section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/maindish/oko042401.stm>

Fairway to heaven, a gardening guru gives new meaning to a putting green -- in our Out on a Limb column <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/limb/limb120799.stm>

4/27/01
2:12:58 PM

Dear friends,

This week, all over the world, people are continuing their celebrations of the 31st annual Earth Day. Here are just a few highlights.

A WORLDWIDE INVITATION: This Friday, more than 300,000 elementary school children in South Florida, USA will sing the song, "The Pledge (An Earth Anthem)," in a special Earth Day commitment event. Children all over the world are invited to join in. To see the lyrics of the anthem, which has been translated into four languages, For information on how to join the event, contact Lanny Smith, Email: earthman.is@juno.com visit

INDONESIA: WALHI is calling for a moratorium on industrial logging nationwide in an effort to stop rampant illegal logging, which has devastated the country's natural resource base. Contact Longenna Ginting, WALHI, Email: walhi@walhi.or.id

SAMOA: Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary is hosting many activities island-wide this week, including environmental heroes awards, talent shows, sand sculpting, tours of national parks and national marine sanctuaries, and much more! Contact the Sanctuary at Tel: 684 633 7354, Email: punipuao.lagai@noaa.gov

GUINEA: Jour de la Terre, Guinea is holding two months of internet training for youth in honor of Earth Day. Students will use the internet to learn about renewable energy and other environmental concerns, and they will discuss what they learn with French speaking students elsewhere in the world. Contact Francois Atchina, Tel: 224 21 62 76, Email: robert_disney@yahoo.com

KUWAIT: To celebrate Earth Day 2001, Environment Public Authority (EPA) will coordinate various creative activities for school children, including drawing, painting, a poster exhibition and poetry recitals. Contact Dr Mohammad Al-Sarawi, Tel: 965 482 0580, Email: sarawi@epa.org.kw,

http://www.epa.org.kw

SOUTH AFRICA: Earthlife Africa and other South African NGOs will lodge a petition in honor of Earth Day 2001, appealing to the government of South Africa to abandon its nuclear power program and make a formal commitment to alternative energy as a lead-up to hosting Earth Summit 111 in 2002. Contact Richard Worthington, Tel: 011 339 3662, Email: richardw@earthlife.org.za

RUSSIA: CAEI is holding a creative action this weekend that aims to draw local students and children into the anti-nuclear movement. The action will include theater festivals, drawing competitions, the making of a quilt entitled "Children for a Nuclear Free Future" and many other activities. Contact Olga Pitsunova, Tel: 845 2 79 86 05, Email: volga@wildfield.ru

ARGENTINA: This weekend in Villa Elisa, there will be environmental film viewings and talks by local authorities, as well as bike rallies and guided tours. The events are being organized by Asociacion Vecinal ProSaneamiento Ambiental, Comite de Cuencas, Proyecto Cultural MACA, Centro de Fomento del Barrio San Jorge, and the local Parque Ecologico. Contact Elisa Araujo, Email: earaujo@ba.net

CANADA: This weekend, an Earth Day Celebration of the diverse community in Mile-End will feature 5,000 square feet of presentations by local groups showing viable solutions for the greening of our environment. The event, which will be coordinated by the Ad Hoc Committee of the Eco-Quartier Mile-End, will also feature activities and workshops for children and grown-ups, a community bazaar, live music, and a stage full of bustling talent. Contact Yves Poirier, Tel: 1 514 812 3476, Email: yves@mileend.org, Website:

http://www.mileend.org

GERMANY: In honor of Earth Day, Freiburger Bundnis Tag der Erde is holding an exhibition of special projects that will highlight a "World Map of Non-violence," which is a map illustrating 150 successful events of the 20th century (including the falls of dictators and prevented wars). Tag der Erde hopes that groups, schools, and individuals viewing the map will create a "World Map of Hope" themselves. Contact Birgit Birgit, Tel: 49 71 281956, Email: birgitberg@bigfoot.de

IMPORTANT CORRECTION: Send digital photos of your Earth Day event to photo@asap21.org for inclusion in the online Earth Day Photo Gallery. We referred to an incorrect email address in our last bulletin.

For more details of the many other Earth Day events and actions happening across the planet,

please visit www.earthday.net/dir/event.asp

Millions of people all over the planet are taking simultaneous action in honor of Earth Day 2001 to preserve, honor and defend their environment.

We look forward to hearing how you have celebrated Earth Day 2001. If you have not already done so, please register your Earth Day plans online at http://www.earthday.net or email them to us at worldwide@earthday.net.

Thank you for being part of the Earth Day Network.

For the Earth,

Earth Day Network Worldwide Team: Serryn Janson

Vickery J. Prongay

Helen Couture Rodriguez

Sierra James

Leigh-Anne Havemann

Earth Day Network

811 First Avenue, Suite 454 Seattle, WA 98104 USA

Tel: + 1.206.876.2002 Fax: + 1.206.876.2015

worldwide@earthday.net http://www.earthday.net

4/27/01
1:17:45 PM

EcoNet News

This Week's Headlines and Alerts from EcoNet

http://www.igc.org/igc/gateway/enindex.html

EcoNet Alerts: April 27, 2001

Toxic Texan to Scuttle Clinton Roadless Area Protections

In a stunning blow to wilderness protection in the United States, the Toxic Texan (aka President Bush) is moving to scuttle protection of America's last roadless national forests. Read More...

http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/988324049/index_html

FDA Will Not Require Labeling of Genetically Engineered Foods

http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/988324356/index_html

Letters Needed to Protect California's Imperiled Species

Developers in California are pushing the California Legislature to eliminate the strongest protections available for imperiled species under State law. California Condors, Bighorn Sheep, and dozens of other species need your help to stop this rollback in its tracks. Read More...

http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/988326710/index_html

Three Gorges Dam Protesters Arrested

[Amnesty International has] recently received reports that four farmers protesting the Three Gorges Dam have been arbitrarily detained and possibly tortured. The men attempted to complain to government officials about the embezzlement of funds that were to be used to resettle people affected by the Dam. Please write to the Chinese government to express your concern that these men were detained for exercising their right to freedom of expression and that they be released immediately. Read More...

http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/988327296/index_html

Papua New Guinea Logging Ban Must Stay

The final decision regarding whether the PNG Government, World Bank and Australia will sell out Papua New Guinea's rainforests to predatory logging is being determined RIGHT NOW! Read More...

http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/988327461/index_html

BC Grizzly Hunt Moratorium in Danger

Gordon Campbell and the Liberals have promised to overturn the BC grizzly hunt moratorium once they are in power. Read More...

http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/988327659/index_html

NRDC Earth Actions: Arsenic, Mining, National Monuments

1. ARSENIC IN DRINKING WATER **URGENT UPDATE**: Tell the EPA not to delay the new arsenic-in-drinking-water standard -- official comments due May 7!

2. MINING POLLUTION: Tell the Bush administration to protect our public lands from mining pollution

3. NATIONAL MONUMENTS: Urge Gale Norton to uphold protections for our national monuments Read More...

http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/988328147/index_html

Cove/Mallard Update

The Cove/Mallard Coalition is undergoing a transition, with Wild Rockies Earth First! taking over the role of using direct action to protect the integrity of the largest intact ecosystem in the lower 48 states. Read More...

http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/988335203/index_html

EcoNet Headlines: April 27, 2001

Japan's Insatiable Appetite for Timber Imports

Japan is the largest importer of timber in the World. Japan has just 2 percent of the world's population but imports 33 percent of internationally traded wood products. This level of wasteful and excessive consumption marks Japan as the World's greatest contributor to global deforestation. Read More...

http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/988335665/index_html

Shell Plans to Exploit Pakistani Wildlife Haven

Shell, and the military Government of Pakistan, will today face a legal challenge in a Karachi court over plans to explore for gas in the country's oldest national park. Read More...

http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/988335895/index_html

World's Largest Mangrove Forest in Great Danger

The destruction of the world's largest mangrove forest continues even as environmental experts and state officials warn against the dire consequences of its loss. Read More...

http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/988336060/index_html

Greenhouse Gases Main Reason for Quicker Northern Winter Warming

Greenhouse gases are the main reason why the northern hemisphere is warming quicker during winter-time months than the rest of the world, according to new computer climate model results by NASA scientists. Read More...

http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/988336304/index_html

Appeals Court Throws Out Mining Restrictions

A federal appeals court has overturned a ruling barring coal mining companies from dumping mining debris into most streams and rivers. The ruling, based on who has jurisdiction over state mining rules, is a major setback for opponents of a technique known as mountaintop removal mining. Read More...

http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/988337017/index_html

Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund Launches New Web Site

Earthjustice, the nation's premier public interest environmental law organization, announced today the launching of its new web site,

www.earthjustice.org.

GREEN: County Challenges ESA on Constitutional Grounds

Okanagan County, WA, is expected to file a lawsuit "in the next two weeks" challenging the constitutionality of restricting "state-granted water rights in the name of salmon recovery." Read More...

http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/988337622/index_html

4/27/01
1:08:19 PM

Fetus Don't Fail Us Now

By Scott Shuger

The WP and NYT lead with the House's approval yesterday of a bill that would make it a federal crime to harm a fetus while committing another federal crime against a pregnant woman. USAT stuffs that, leading instead with a report, based on unnamed inside sources, that defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld will soon seek something like 10%-15% more in money for the Pentagon over the next six years than current plans call for. The paper says that Rumsfeld's wish list includes more money for satellites and unmanned aircraft and for more B-2 stealth bombers, while retiring older bombers and de-emphasizing the role of ground troops, while contracting out to private companies many non-war-fighting activities like maintenance, supply and accounting. The LAT fronts the House fetus bill but leads with criticism from California government officials and energy experts of Wednesday's federally ordered power cost caps for the state. According to the paper, the day-after consensus is that the scheme is so flawed that power prices there will continue going up, because the caps don't apply at all unless the power supply is officially deemed dangerously low, nor to rates charged by power vendors based outside California, and only loosely to brokers.

The coverage reminds that the House bill, which passed handily, is identical to one that passed there in 1999 only to stall out in the Senate while facing a veto threat from Bill Clinton, but that now with the change of administrations, the president would sign it. Advocates say it would help combat a growing trend of assault on pregnant women while opponents depict the bill (which explicitly does not apply to abortions) as the first step in an incremental campaign to erode abortion rights by incorporating into the law the concept that a fetus has rights. The papers say yesterday's floor debate was particularly emotional. Both Times see no chance that it will pass the Senate any time soon. The papers completely overlook one question that gets at whether or not the bill is purely a means to the end of overthrowing abortion rights: What sorts of anti-women activities are federal crimes and what percentage of crimes against women do they constitute?

For a few days, stories on the Peru missionary shootdown have been quoting U.S. officials' descriptions of tapes of the incident, and it has emerged that U.S. personnel on board a nearby surveillance plane expressed doubts that the missionaries' aircraft was a drug runner. USAT is apparently the first paper to actually hear the tapes and today, it top-fronts its finding that three CIA crewmembers on that U.S. plane "repeatedly questioned" the assessment of the suspect plane and then "tried in vain" to stop the Peruvian jet from shooting. The story says that one of the CIA crew can be heard screaming, "Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"

The WP reports that in the mid-1980s, a United Nations agency made shooting down any civilian plane not engaged in a military attack a violation of international law, but that the U.S. never signed on because some members of Congress and other officials worried it could be construed as an admission that the United States was subject to the International Court of Justice. Both the NYT and WP front the new Japanese prime minister's selection of a cabinet, both emphasizing how conspicuously his choices depart from traditional Japanese political mores in that he selected a record five women and several men in their early forties, and that to do so he had to leave some powerful political factions unrepresented. The LAT continues to seem out of synch with its city by again stuffing the day's Japan politics story--on Page 12.

The WP and LAT both front pictures of ex-Sen. Bob Kerrey at the press conference he gave yesterday in response to a mounting controversy over a 1969 Vietnam raid he led and received a Bronze Star for, but which he this week admitted resulted in the deaths not of Vietcong but of a dozen or more civilians. The WP goes high with Kerrey saying he doesn't care if the military takes away his Bronze Star. The story also reports that Kerrey conceded that the civilians' bodies were found grouped together in the village center in a manner suggestive of an execution rather than a firefight. The Post reports that it tried without success to find out who wrote the Bronze Star citation crediting Kerrey's SEAL team with killing 21 Vietcong, and that Kerrey said yesterday his superiors knew civilians had been killed but he could not remember if he had mentioned those deaths in his report. The LAT says Kerrey says he gave his superiors the information orally. The WSJ op-ed page has John McCain weighing in on behalf of McCain, explaining that war is corrupting and that readers "should be careful not to form your judgment of [Kerrey] on your understanding of what constitutes a war hero." McCain also writes that Kerrey "would be the first to agree that his conduct, no matter how unintentional, did not merit commendation." (Well, actually he wasn't the first.) The LAT story emphasizes that the Pentagon said yesterday an investigation into Kerrey's medal might be launched if it appeared based on a false report. The papers report that during the press conference, Kerrey said he wouldn't be running for president in 2004.

USAT and the NYT report that Timothy McVeigh has, in a letter sent to a Fox News reporter, admitted considering, before deciding to bomb the Oklahoma City federal building, assassinating Janet Reno, a federal judge, or an FBI sharpshooter.

The NYT features an editorial that's a perfect specimen of the genre's slippery slopes. It addresses an important topic--humanitarian organizations' efforts to free Sudanese slaves by purchasing them. The editorial says redemption "may be expanding the very market it seeks to eliminate," and that it "may be a textbook case of good intentions gone awry" and that such efforts "are bound to fail unless Washington is prepared to lead a concerted international campaign to end the war itself." But the reader is never told whether slaves should be freed through purchase or not. Even the headline--"Redemption of Sudanese Slaves"--gives no clue.

Back for a beat to an overlooked aspect of that CIA tape of the Peru shootdown: That tape is unquestionably classified. If the tape instead had on it CIA officers ordering a resistant Peruvian pilot to shoot down the missionaries' plane, how many years and how many Freedom of Information Act requests would it have taken before any paper would have gotten to hear it? In other words, the USAT story is a reminder that classification rules only matter when the government wants them to.

http://www.tmia.com/tmisab.html

4/27/01
1:04:43 PM

Sabotage at Three Mile Island?

Investigators suspected sabotage at Three Mile Island

There is evidence to suggest that sabotage played a role in the "accident" at Three Mile Island. (This publication details only the evidence that has been documented by official government or NRC investigations.) Several days before the emergency, an unannounced NRC inspection of the plant's physical protection discovered access control infractions. Previous announced inspections found TMI to be in compliance with regulations. At the time of the accident, Three Mile Island was not required to enforce the then new "two-man rule." The two-man rule was designed to prevent a worker from being alone in vital areas. Additionally, TMI had not met the deadline for other newly required security upgrades.

In the first moments of the accident, emergency feedwater was prevented from entering the system because the "emergency feedwater valves" were closed. Indicator lights on a control room panel should have alerted the operators that these valves were closed. The two lights were hidden from view by a maintenance tag that was covering them. The valves are supposed to stay open so that emergency pumps can deliver water to the steam generators if the normal circulation is interrupted. The steam generators remove enormous amounts of heat from the reactor. Without feedwater, the steam generators boiled dry within two minutes. The temperature and pressure soared inside the reactor vessel.

The licensee's internal investigation did not consider intentional closure. The NRC Office of Inspection and Enforcement reasoned that it would take a monumental effort to interview each of the more than 750 people who had access to the emergency feedwater valves. The NRC claimed its investigators from the Office of Inspection and Enforcement were sensitive to any evidence of sabotage. But there is some disturbing and eye-opening evidence that wasn't criminally investigated. In fact, the NRC never even discovered the initiating event.

THE INITIAL PROBLEM

The accident started at exactly 4:00:37am on March 28, 1979. This was precisely to the minute of the one year anniversary of start-up or what is known as criticality. This aroused suspicions of worker celebrations involving drinking. The workers testified that they had their normal coffee and doughnuts only.

The trouble started somewhere in the condensate polisher system. Some unknown event caused the polisher outlet valves to close. There are several ways that a saboteur could have made this happen without being detected by plant telemetry or subsequent investigations.

The NRC Office of Investigation and Enforcement hypothesized that the initial failure was a result of a stuck-open check valve allowing water to pass into an instrument control air line and thereby cause the condensate polisher outlet valves to close. The investigators tried to duplicate this condition to test their theory. Despite pouring 15 gallons of water into this line, they could not cause the valves to shut. But, this remained the best guess as to what the first failure might have been. Because the NRC believed that the accident could have been averted at several points if human errors weren't committed, they were satisfied with not knowing the initiating event. Still, the investigators did conclude, "The problems encountered with the condensate system and condenser vacuum significantly detracted the operator's attention from the accident."

Then in the first seconds of the accident, a condensate polisher pump failure was followed by the immediate shutdown of its paired pump. The NRC investigators reported that a "wiring error" caused this second pump to quit when the first one had. A criminal investigator never assumes that an error is "only an error."

A broken air line in the condensate polisher system was ignored by NRC investigators who believed that air was prevented from leaking out by the actuation of another automatic valve. But, at least one worker testified that he had heard the broken line blowing air during the emergency. The licensee claimed that the air line was broken by a water hammer which caused equipment to shift two or three feet. (A water hammer is a sudden pressure change or a slug of water like the one that can rattle your household pipes when turning off a water faucet.) The NRC investigators reported that based on their visual inspection, the air line movement was not as great as the licensee claimed. The cause was never determined or considered necessary.

An hour into the accident, workers needed to re-establish water circulation by opening a bypass valve. The handwheel was missing from this important valve. A search for the handwheel delayed bypassing the condensate polisher system where the failed pumps were located.

The radiological releases began when a safety valve on top of the reactor failed to close. This valve opened to relieve the rapidly increasing pressure. Control room operators did not know that the Pilot Operated Relief Valve (PORV) was still open because the telemetry system was improperly engineered. The operators were fooled by a panel light which only indicated that an electrical signal had been sent to close the valve and not its actual status. Thousands of gallons of water in the form of steam spilled out of the reactor in what is known as a loss of coolant accident. For a short while the contamination was contained inside the reactor building. Although these valves had failed before at other plants, the PORV at Three Mile Island has yet to be inspected. A TMI engineer who believes that the valve simply failed said that sabotage could not be dismissed.

(Eighteen months before the TMI accident, the reactor at the Davis-Besse plant in Ohio started going out of control in what was actually a precursor to the Three Mile Island emergency. The PORV stuck open and operators struggled to understand the situation. Another design problem caused confusion about the water level inside the reactor. This problem reoccurred at TMI since both reactors were designed by Babcock & Wilcox. Davis-Besse was operating at only 9 percent compared to 97 percent at TMI when the troubles began. The Davis-Besse operators were able to return the plant to a safe condition. Afterwards, an investigation of the reactor revealed that an electrical relay had been removed from the PORV. Someone suggested sabotage. The reactor manufacturer finally decided that the relay was probably "borrowed" for usage in another part of the plant since it was compatible with several systems.)

The highly radioactive water steaming out of the TMI reactor would normally be pumped into an immense holding tank inside the reactor building. For some unknown reason the valve for this sump pump had been switched so that the contaminated water was transferred into the auxiliary building. From here the radioactivity was released to the environs through open vents.

INADEQUATE INVESTIGATION

In June 1979, an NRC special review group conceded that the NRC investigators of the TMI accident had "no training in investigative techniques or knowledge of the laws of evidence or criminal procedures." The NRC investigators did not have the authority to administer oaths and felt that the quality of the information they had obtained would have been enhanced if oaths were given. The NRC actually did have the authority to administer oaths and didn't appear to know this until after the interviews were conducted.

The report also said:

".... a trained investigator should have been dispatched with the initial response team to organize and retain portions of the supportive evidence (notes, logs, etc.) which were lost during the initial days of the accident."

Additionally, the review group found that the NRC investigation was hindered by the delay of receiving transcripts of worker interviews

(Also noteworthy is that the control room alarm printer fell behind by almost two hours. The printer was designed to store alarms in its memory until they can be printed. So many alarms were going off in the early stages of the emergency that the control room operators had to dump the stored alarms to get to the current ones. The information was forever lost.)

A technical investigator for the President's Commission on the accident questioned the adequacy and efforts of the Office of Inspection and Enforcement. Nuclear Regulatory Commission investigators had not even arrived at the plant until two weeks had passed. He also questioned the licensee's internal investigation.

The President's Commission obtained an internal TMI memo which had been written ten months before the accident. It said, "It's time to really do something on this problem before a very serious accident occurs. If the polishers take themselves off line at any high power level the resulting damage could be very significant."

The Chief Counsel for the President's Commission requested the licensee to examine its personnel files for "any person who might have long-standing grievances against the company." This was requested specifically as an attempt to discover workers who might have had incentive to close the emergency feedwater valves. Interrogation of the five workers who were identified by the company was considered.

On August 7, 1979 the President's Commission requested the FBI to determine the feasibility of an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the closed valves. The President's Commission had the authority to ask for assistance from any Executive agency and by vote had decided that the FBI was needed. But, the FBI went right back to the NRC which informed them that human errors and equipment failures were to blame for the accident; therefore, an investigation was not necessary.

An encrypted telegram sent by the FBI to the White House Situation Room around April 6, 1979 informed the President that sabotage was not responsible for the accident according to the NRC's Harold Denton. There was no reasonable way for Denton to have drawn this conclusion. The telegram which is now in the National Archives is labeled "encrypted for transmission purposes only." Portions of it are blacked-out even though it has been unclassified.

On August 15, 1979 the President's Commission asked NASA to perform an inspection of the condensate polisher system. Three Mile Island did not even have the "as built" technical drawings needed for a proper inspection. How could the NRC inspectors have done a thorough job without these? The fact was that they didn't. Investigators from NASA's Office of Flight Assurance found wires that were disconnected at five of the eight polisher panels. Operating and engineering personnel didn't know when or why they were disconnected. They also noted that an instrument air valve on the back of the polishing system control panel permits the air to be shut off and thus cause the outlet valves to close. Paul Leventhal, co-director of the US Senate investigation of the Three Mile Island accident (now director of The Nuclear Control Institute), wanted to perform a special sabotage investigation. "The initiating event was always so mysterious in that so little was known about it," Leventhal divulged in an interview. "I wanted to hire someone like a former FBI agent to do an investigation but the Minority co-director objected."

Just four days into the accident, the FBI had already announced that sabotage was ruled out and the investigation was closed. Maybe they were trying to quiet the fears of the public which had just seen the new film "The China Syndrome." (Some people actually wrote to the NRC accusing Hollywood of a sick publicity stunt.) In actuality, the FBI was planning to meet with confidential sources who believed that sabotage was to blame. An openly public source was Pennsylvania State Representative Joseph Zeller.

Both the Senate and President's Commission investigations were called off the hunt and instructed that a criminal investigation was not their responsibility. It is not entirely unusual for a valve or switch to be in the wrong position, but this many "errors" should have been investigated for criminal activity.

Soon after the emergency, the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory concluded:

"There was very little protection against insider sabotage. ...There was very little or no control of the whereabouts of people inside the vital area; so it cannot be said that sabotage to the auxiliary feedwater system was impossible." and

"...some vital area doors that should have been locked or guarded were found to be open and unguarded. Actually, there was very poor protection against the sabotage actions of the insider." and

"The conclusion can be drawn that the protection against the activities of an insider is still inadequate at TMI..." And an embarrassing incident did happen several months after the TMI accident when a newspaper reporter was hired as a security guard. He told of entering the control room unchallenged (only armed guards were permitted access). There was no lock on the door and a piece of clothesline hung where the doorknob should have been. A college textbook used this incident as an example of poor security. The book cited the reporter's headline -- "Three Mile Island: It's a Paradise Island for the Saboteur." General Public Utilities sought an injunction to block publication of the article on the grounds that it could compromise national security.

4/27/01
1:01:59 PM

UTNE WEB WATCH

The Best of the Alternative Web

http://www.utne.com/webwatch

BOVINE HORMONE WHISTLEBLOWERS HONORED

PR Watch

-- On April 23 Jane Akre and Steve Wilson, the Tampa journalists who took on the Fox Network in a legal suit over censorship of their investigative report which cast doubts on the safety of the bovine growth hormone rBGH, were announced as the winners of the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize.

INSIDE-OUT AND UPSIDE-DOWN: AN INTERVIEW WITH ANNE BRADEN

by June Rostan, Colorlines

-- One of the South's renowned freedom fighters, Anne Braden, talks to Colorlines about her participation in the civil rights movement and her vision of the future.

CRACK WARS: CASH-FOR-BIRTH-CONTROL PROGRAM COMES TO BALTIMORE

by Brennen Jensen, Baltimore City Paper Online

-- The controversial CRACK program which offers drug addicts money for long-term birth control methods such as sterilization arrives in Baltimore where it's accused of being "inherently coercive and unethical, even racist."

Links to the above articles: http://www.utne.com/webwatch

4/27/01
12:58:05 PM

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE

http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-26-10.html

"We Cover the Earth For You"

CHERNOBYL VICTIMS NEED FINANCIAL HELP

NEW YORK, New York, April 26, 2001 (ENS) - United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has called on the international community to "do far more" to help those still living with the after effects of the Chernobyl nuclear accident, which happened 15 years ago today.

About 1,800 cases of thyroid cancer in children who were exposed at the time of the accident are among those effects. So too is the psychological trauma felt by millions of people who lived near Chernobyl who have been relocated, lost social ties and fear radiation.

For full text and graphics, visit:

TURKEY'S GEDIZ DELTA LEFT OUT OF PROTECTIVE GRANT

By Jon Gorvett

ISTANBUL, Turkey, April 26, 2001 (ENS) - Turkish government officials have announced a $2 million World Bank grant to help conserve four of the country's top ecological protected areas. Yet, at the same time there are warnings of eco-catastrophe for the Gediz River Delta, one of Turkey's most important nature reserves.

For full text and graphics visit:

http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-26-01.html

CHILDREN MOST AT RISK FROM DEPLETED URANIUM

GENEVA, Switzerland, April 26, 2001 (ENS) - The World Health Organization (WHO) today published research on depleted uranium, including guidelines on how to deal with the substance's impact on human health.

Weapons made with depleted uranium pierce solid objects, like tanks, before erupting in a burning cloud of vapor. The vapor settles as dust, which is chemically poisonous and radioactive.

For full text and graphics, visit:

http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-26-11.html

DIESEL SCHOOL BUSES COULD BE HEADED FOR JUNKYARDS

WASHINGTON, DC, April 26, 2001(ENS) - Diesel buses, a familiar part of many childrens' school days, could become an endangered species, if a coalition of lawmakers and clean air advocates has its way. After decades of warnings about the health risks posed by diesel exhaust, the coalition launched a national campaign today to phase out diesel school buses.

For full text and graphics visit:

http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-26-06.html

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: APRIL 26, 2001

Bush Administration Takes Backwards Approach to Floods

Ventura Marsh Milk-Vetch Finally Wins Protection

Telecommuting Promoted to Reduce Air Pollution

Biotech Protesters Descend on FDA

U.S., Norway, Russia Meet on Arctic Environmental Cooperation

Tortugas Ecological Reserve Approved in State Waters

Nature Conservancy Protects Top Target on Clinch River

Udall Introduces James Peak Wilderness Protection Bill

Restoration Project Launched on Ten Mile River

Could Minnesota Forestry Save the Siberian Tiger?

For full text and graphics visit:

http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-26-09.html

4/27/01
12:55:23 PM

The Earth's Core Acts as an Electric Dynamo

By Larry Wright (ECTV)

<wright@iinet.com>

The internal heat engine within the planet Earth is only part of the equation. How much of this internal heat is caused by gravitational pressure and how much is caused by electrical energy? There are mega voltages of electric current flowing within the planet. Where there is electrical current there is heat caused by resistance. The greater the electrical current the more resistance and the more heat.

The core of the Earth acts as an electric dynamo and generates electrical currents that flow within the planet between the positive and negative poles. This is the source of Earth's magnetic field. This natural dynamo within the core is moving faster than the exterior of the planet at a relatively constant speed. The electrical current generated by this motion must therefore be fairly constant. The heat generated by this electric current must also be relativity constant. However, there are other sources of electrical energy that can be absorbed by the planet and add to and increase these internal voltages. One source would be electromagnetic induction caused by disturbances and movement of nearby magnetic fields. Another source is charged particle bombardments interacting with the atmosphere and magnetic field of the Earth. Both of these additional electrical sources can be directly linked to disturbances in the sun.

It's obvious to me that increased solar activity causes greater electrical current flow within the planet. This additional electrical current causes more heat and turns up Earth's internal heat engine. The more heat the greater the magma convection current flow. The greater the magma flow the more heat is transferred from the interior to the exterior of the planet. This then causes increased volcanic and earthquake activity as well as global weather changes and the melting of glaciers and polar ice.

I think that past and present climate changes and fluctuations can be attributed to cycles of solar activity of a greater or lessor degree. When solar activity increases we have global warming. During periods of extended solar decreases we have ice ages.

Mitch Battros

Producer - Earth Changes TV

http://www.earthchangesTV.com

4/27/01
12:47:58 PM

- World Resources Institute critical to FAO forest assessment

A new study by the World Resources Institute of the UN Food and Agriculture's (FAO) latest assessment of the world's forests reports that deforestation may not be slowing down and may have even increased in the tropics.

"FAO's own data show that the loss of natural forests in the tropics continues to be rapid," said Emily Matthews, author of the new WRI study, Understanding the Forest Resources Assessment 2000. "For FAO to say that global deforestation is slowing down is misleading given the differences in the regional and subregional conditions of the world's forests."

Deforestation rates have increased in tropical Africa, remained constant in Central America, and declined only slightly in tropical Asia and South America. The WRI report, which was endorsed by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), points out that understanding the true rate of deforestation is made more confusing because FAO's "net rate of change" measures the combined change in natural forest area and plantation area. During the 1990s, an average of 3 million hectares of new plantations were planted globally each year, and FAO counts these as offsetting natural forest loss.

If new plantations are excluded from consideration, it appears that natural forests in the tropics are being lost at the rate of nearly 16 million hectares a year. "The extent of tropical deforestation appears to be higher in all tropical regions except Latin America," says Matthews. "More tropical forests were lost in the 1990s than the 1980s."

The full WRI report is available at

http://www.wri.org/wri/forests/pdf/fra2000.pdf

Article based on information from: WRI study reports deforestation may be higher than FAO estimates, Washington, 12/3/01

http://www.wri.org/wri/press/fao_fra5.html

4/27/01
12:47:32 PM

OCEANIA

- Tonga: The underlying causes of forest loss

The Kingdom of Tonga is located in the central south-west portion of the Pacific Ocean. Its territory comprises more than 175 islands, with a total of about 750 square kilometres of land, inhabited nowadays by about 100,000 people residing in 166 villages on 43 islands. The climate of Tonga is sub-tropical. It has an annual temperature range of 17 - 30ºC, with annual rainfall of approximately 2,700mm.

It can be reasonably assumed that Tonga was at some past time completely covered by forests, which according to studies performed in today's remnant forest areas, were very diverse in species. Remaining natural forests are confined to small areas, typically on land with physical constraints that preclude human use. The largest portion of natural forest is found on the steep east coast of 'Eua. Other remnants are scattered throughout the country, on several relatively remote islands of difficult access --like Kao, Tofua and Late-- in mangrove swamps, and a few small remaining segments elsewhere in Vava'u and Tongatapu.

A study carried out in the country identified two primary and interconnected causes for the serious deforestation and forest degradation process: population growth and monetarisation of the economy. Ecological and spatial restrictions would be the reason for the effect of population growth (from about 20,000 inhabitants in 1891 to 100,000 in 1996) on the forests. Nonetheless, the effects of population pressure have been accelerated and further exacerbated by economic change, and its impact on patterns of land-use. The most important overall economic change has been the transition of Tonga from a non-monetary economy --based primarily on subsistence agriculture-- to a monetary economy, with a wider and more commercial economic base. The entrance of Tonga into the globalized economy started about fifty years ago, and nowadays, with the registered demand for cash, the economic transition can be considered complete.

As the interaction between Tonga --which had been a rather isolated country-- and the outside world increased, so did the risks of the intensification of pressure on natural resources, forests included. In fact, from 1980 to 1992 the level of exports tripled. Since agriculture based on monocrops --especially aimed at the Japanese market-- accounts for 75% or more of export earnings it is not surprising that the advance in the agricultural frontier has provoked the loss of forest lands.

Article based on information from: "Deforestation and Forest Degradation in the Kingdom of Tonga", Denis Wolff, Tonga Community Development Trust The full study is available at:

http://wrm.org.uy/deforestation/Oceania/Tonga.html

4/27/01
12:47:04 PM

- Ecuador: Call for action to stop oil pipeline

The Ecuadorian government has signed a contract with the company Oleoductos de Crudos Pesados (OCP) to build a pipeline that will cross the country from east to west, through the three geographical regions that form its territory. It will affect fragile areas of great importance from an ecological and agricultural point of view.

The 500 km long pipeline will transport low quality crude oil. Most of this oil will come from an oil block situated within the Yasuni National Park, which has not yet been leased for exploitation. This constitutes the last pristine area in the Park, which is the most important of continental Ecuador, and the home of the Huaorani indigenous people. There is also the risk that the oil frontier will reach the Amazonian territories of southern Ecuador, still relatively unaltered, where the Quichua, Shuar and Achuar indigenous people live.

OCP Ecuador is a consortium formed by Agip, Alberta, Kerr Mc Gee, Occidental, YPF, Perez Companc and Techint. The works would be carried out by the Argentinian company Techint, whose environmental record is abysmal. The total cost will exceed U$S 1,100 million, but according to local sources this cost is overvaluated, taking into account that the cost for the same oil pipeline was estimated in U$S 400 in 1999. In the long run, the difference in cost will be paid by the Ecuadorian people.

The route of the pipeline was approved before an environmental impact assessment was carried out, which is a legal requirement under the Environmental Management Law. The National Constitution establishes that prior to such kind of works a consultation among affected people needs to be performed, which did not take place in this case. After the approval of the project, the consultancy firm ENTRIX was given only two months to produce an environmental impact assessment, which is obviously insufficient taking into account that the 500 km pipeline will pass through extremely complex ecosystems.

Given that the pipeline will cross the entire country from east to west, it will also cross all the geological fault systems affecting Ecuador, which contains at least 94 faults. Several active volcanoes are in the way of the projected route of the pipeline, among which the Reventador, Antisana, the volcanic complex of Chacama, Guagua Pichincha and Pululahua. The Guagua Pichincha is of particular concern given that it erupted recently. A violent eruption would mean that the pipeline would be exposed to ashes, landslides and lava flows.

The pipeline would be built on vulnerable and prone to erosion soils, in regions of heavy rainfall where landslides frequently occur. Part of the pipeline would pass through an area with a high concentration of schools, which would endanger the most vulnerable part of the population: the children.

The pipeline would also pass through other fragile and ecologically important areas and would in fact cross all the country's ecosystems, including the sources of creeks and rivers, high quality agricultural zones, areas composed of unstable and seismically active land, primary tropical forests, etc. Almost 40 villages would be affected by the project.

The projected route would pass through the valley of Mindo, considered by many ornithologists to be the World's Bird Capital because of it being the area with the highest bird concentration per unit in South America. The pipeline would destroy important wildlife corridors, affecting the local fauna. Local people's livelihoods depend on cattle raising and tourism and both activities would be seriously affected by both the construction and the future functioning of the pipeline. The pipeline would also cross other protected areas and forests which prevent erosion processes in the foothills of the Andes.

The proximity to Colombia implies an additional risk, since more than 760 attacks have been carried out against pipelines in that country during the past 10 years. Since Ecuador is participating in the Plan Colombia and given that violence in that country is increasing, the new pipeline could become an important military target. In fact, during the past year the Trans Ecuadorian Pipeline System (SOTE) has already been the target of four attacks.

The consequences of inadequately planned pipelines are already well known in Ecuador. Such is the case of SOTE, built by Texaco 30 years ago, which has collapsed several times, provoking the loss of human lives.

Accion Ecologica has for several years been promoting a moratorium to the expansion of oil exploitation in the tropics and is now urging all those individuals and organizations who believe that the Amazon must survive to support the campaign against the construction of this pipeline and against the expansion of oil exploitation to the last primary forests in the Ecuadorian Amazon. If you wish to support this campaign, please address a letter to the Ministry of Energy and Mines (eiaocp@andinanet.net) with copy to: amazonia@hoy.net

By: Accion Ecologica. E-mail: amazonia@hoy.net

4/27/01
12:46:15 PM

Chile: Tree monocultures threaten unique forest type

The fragmentation of habitats resulting from human activities --among which industrial tree plantations-- provokes restrictions in the supply of resources and the spacial needs of animal and plant species, which can even lead to the extinction of entire ecosystems. Once landscape structure has been altered the persistence of both plant and animal populations is menaced.

The central and southern regions of Chile have been and are being extensively planted with fast-growing tree monocultures. These regions gather in their temperate forests the highest diversity and endemism in the country. Plantations' present area is estimated in some 2.5 million hectares, with Monterrey pine (Pinus radiata) representing 80% of the total. A study carried out by the government agency CONAF in 1997 already showed that the annual deforestation rate during the 1985-1994 period had been of 36,700 hectares and that almost 40% of such area was destroyed to clear land for industrial tree plantations.

Additionally to the social conflicts that such development has generated, several studies since the decade of 1980 point out that changes in the landscape provoked by plantations have caused negative effects on the environment, included the affection of the habitats of native species. Independent research coincides in stating that the degree of perturbation caused by plantations of P. radiata is high. Ecological alterations have sometimes affected the plantations themselves as happened during outbreaks of defoliating insects and rodents registered in plantations in Chile.

A research published by a group of researchers of the Universidad de Chile and the Carleton University of Canada analyses the deforestation and fragmentation of the ruil forest (Nothofagus alessandri), a temperate and endemic formation restricted to 100 km of the coastal range of Central Chile, in association with Nothofagus glauca, Nothofagus obliqua and other species. The ruil forest area was estimated as comprising 825 hectares in 1981, but had shrunk to 352 hectares in 1991, mainly due to the expansion of plantations of Monterrey pine. The remnants of the ruil forest now have the configuration of an archipelago --composed of several small, regular fragments and few large, irregular ones, relatively isolated-- and surrounded by a matrix of pine plantations. Despite being a unique and severely threatened ecosystem, only 45 hectares of the ruil forest are under protection in the Chilean System of Protected Areas, and such protection --even without taking into account that the area is insufficient considering the present state of the ruil forest-- is not actually implemented.

The research considers that the situation is critical, since the effects of deforestation and fragmentation imply, in the short term, the loss of species and that of this unique ecosystem: "The ruil forest as an ecosystem is heading toward extinction. If the current rate of deforestation remains unabated, even ignoring deleterious effects other than area reduction, the ruil forest as a recognizable biome will disappear within the next decade due to the extinction of many species associated with this forest", expresses the document.

Additionally, Monterey pine presents further threats to the ruil forest: it is an invasive species intruding on the fragments of ruil forest; due to its higher ability to obtain water, it could outcompete native trees; Monterey pine is also fire-prone and since the ruil forest is embedded in a pine matrix, any fire in plantations may obliterate the ruil remnants.

The authors conclude that land use in central Chile is not sustainable. "Sustainability implies economical, ecological and socio-cultural issues. Even when pine plantations may offer a profitable economical income (under current market interests), this benefit is reached at the expense of socio-cultural and ecological aspects. From a socio-cultural point of view, extensive forest plantations increase poverty and unemployment as plantations demand low workforce. The increasing local unemployment has triggered the emigration of peasants (Lara & Veblen 1993, Unda et al. 1997). Furthermore, the loss of native forest because of an inappropriate management is considered by local people to be one of the main environmental problems of the region (Hajek et al. 1990). From an ecological point of view, land management is definitively unsustainable. We have no evidence that Monterey pine is degrading the land where it is planted, but as discussed above, this exotic species is the main reason for ruil forest loss and fragmentation, and ultimately for its current endangered status."

Article based on information from: "Landscape Ecology, Deforestation, And Forest Fragmentation: The Case Of The Ruil Forest In Chile." by Audrey A. Grez, Ramiro O. Bustamante, Javier A. Simonetti and Lenore Fahrig

http://www.brocku.ca/epi/lebk/grez.html

4/27/01
12:45:11 PM

SOUTH AMERICA

- Argentina: Monoculture tree plantations impact on grassland bird populations

In Argentina, the invasion of tree monocultures is destroying the country's grassland-related biodiversity. Subsidised by the government with backing from the World Bank, plantations are expanding in the eastern Provinces of Misiones, Corrientes and Entre Rios, while significant areas are also being planted in the Provinces of Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Cuyo, Chaco and Patagonia. According to unofficial figures, the plantation area in Argentina has increased five fold from 1995 to 2000, and continues growing. The Argentinian authorities are keeping in line with neighbouring Chile and Uruguay, ignoring the social and environmental impacts that this plantation model is generating in those countries.

A study recently published by the ornithological association "Aves Argentinas" (Argentinian Birds), reveals that "the increase of plantations promoted through State subsidies has provoked a reduction in the populations of endangered bird species in the eco-region Los Campos, located in the northeast of the country". Many crucial areas for the conservation of bird species are being converted to large-scale pine and eucalyptus monocultures, which constitute a uniform and food-poor habitat for birds. Some of the grassland habitats of endemic bird species in the Argentinian Mesopotamia (a region located between the Parana and Uruguay rivers), are disappearing. The area of Los Campos is dominated by subtropical herbaceous vegetation, transitional between the savannah of the Chaco, the grasslands of the Pampa and the Atlantic Forest. It is a biodiversity rich environment where grasses, subtropical forests, riverine forest and wetlands coexist. It is the richest area in the country concerning the number of grassland bird species, of which more than ten are considered in danger of extinction at the global level, for example the ochre-breasted pipit (Anthus nattereri), the safron-cowled blackbird (Xanthopsar flavus), four species of seadeaters (Sporophila sp.) and the strange-tailed tyrant (Alectrurus risora).

The survey carried out in the area reveals that the destruction of the grassland natural habitats in the area of Los Campos and their substitution by eucalyptus and pine plantations has led to the loss of bird populations. Other practices related to afforestation --like the elimination of wetlands and the use of pesticides-- are resulting in further impacts to local bird populations. The study thus proves that large-scale tree plantations in grassland ecosystems have similar negative impacts on biodiversity as those implemented in forest areas, and that the larger the scale the more widespread are the impacts.

Article based on information from: Carlos U. Leoni, 8/4/2001, e-mail: focal@infovia.com.ar

4/27/01
12:44:44 PM

NORTH AMERICA

Accusations at logging giant Boise Cascade during its annual meeting

The US-based Boise Cascade has been practising unsustainable logging both in Southern and Northern countries, including the US itself. One of the most outstanding conflicts in which the company was involved is that of the community forests ("ejidos") of the Sierra of Petatlan in the state of Guerrero, Mexico, that resulted in the detention and prosecution of Rodolfo Montiel and Teodoro Cabrera, two peasants who organized resistance against Boise Cascade (see WRM Bulletins 26, 35 and 38).

Boise Cascade has also been criticized in Chile, where it has been the seventh largest importer of old growth wood from that country, thus affecting unique temperate forests. As a result of strong resistance from local communities and environmentalists, the company recently announced it would abandon the country. Boise Cascade is actively logging old growth forests in the USA, and in central Canada, serving also as a prime distributor of wood from British Columbia's Great Bear Rainforest, where a logging ban has recently been declared.

The company's annual meeting that took place last March in Idaho was the scenario for criticism towards its environmental performance. The meeting was totally unusual, because it focused on the questions posed by members and supporters of the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) on the negative environmental performance of the corporation. Enrique Rodriguez, a member of the Association of Peasant Environmentalists of the Sierra of Petatlan, blamed Boise Cascade for destroying forest land in Mexico and for the arrest of activists Rodolfo Montiel Flores and Teodoro Cabrera, who are still in prison. As a means of trying to avoid the issues raised by the environmentalists, a company spokesperson accused RAN of not being "a serious-minded environmental organization", defining the organization as "a group of reckless, lawless radical activists who lash out at modern society."

Outside the meeting room, RAN supporters marched from a rally at the Idaho Capitol to Boise Cascade's headquarters, chanting and waving signs. A huge banner was displayed denouncing the company's "dinosaur" logging methods. Patricia Vera, international coordinator of Defenders of the Chilean Forests, present at the protest, asked that the company put in writing its plans to terminate a proposed logging venture in the temperate rainforests of her country.

One thing is certain: this year, Boise Cascade's shareholders, employees and journalists were not bored at the annual meeting and perhaps, maybe, they will have gone home with some questions in their minds.

Article based on information from: "Protesters criticize Boise Cascade's actions. Activists draw caustic response from spokesman" by Beth Bow

4/27/01
12:44:22 PM

CENTRAL AMERICA

- Honduras: World Bank involvement in mangrove destruction

Industrial shrimp farming is a main cause for the loss of mangroves in the tropics. Even though private companies are the direct agents of such destruction it is important to highlight that governments and multilateral development agencies play a very active role in paving the way for this to happen.

The expansion of the "San Bernardo Marine Farms" (SBMF) shrimp company in the Gulf of Fonseca in Honduras is provoking grave concern. In June 1999 the International Finance Corporation (IFC) --private sector branch of the World Bank-- granted a U$S 6 million dollar loan to SBMF, where U.S. investors hold majority shares. The justification for the loan was apparently to "reactivate the shrimp production and recover from the damages caused by Hurricane Mitch". Such arguments do not seem to be very solid. On the one hand, it makes little sense with regard to the prevention against natural catastrophes --such as hurricanes-- to support an activity that implies the destruction of mangroves which, among other valuable functions, act as a natural barrier for the protection of the coastline. On the other hand, the infrastructures of the company had not been severely affected by this climatic phenomenon and thus the new funds are being used by the company to expand its operations, causing further negative environmental impacts on neighbouring wetlands and on the livelihoods of local fishing communities.

As a result of the struggle of local fisherfolk and supporting organizations to protect the local ecosystems and to stop shrimp farming development, the area was declared a Ramsar site at the end of 1999. However, neither that nor the World Bank's own environmental guidelines were taken into account by the IFC. As a result, the IFC itself now shares responsibility for the social conflict and environmental destruction that are resulting from the investment. Recently members of the local community who implemented an action to cut the access roads to the SBMF shrimp farm were subject to a savage repression by the national police. Additionally, the Environmental Impact Assessment carried out to obtain the environmental license to expand shrimp farming operations is under severe questioning.

The World Bank Group --to which the IFC belongs-- has a number of guidelines regarding environmental protection. In spite of that, the IFC appears to chose to ignore them when providing funds to this investment. Will the World Bank do something to make the IFC comply with its own rules?

Article based on information from: Late Friday News, March 2001, e-mail: mangroveap@olympus.net ; CODEFFAGOLF, 27/3/2001, e-mail: cgolf@sdnhon.org.hn

4/27/01
12:43:53 PM

Vietnam: Carbon sink plantations to avoid emission reductions in Australia

During the intergovernmental negotiations on climate change (COP-6) at the Hague last November, the Australian government sided with the US, Japan and Canada in refusing to negotiate reductions of its own carbon emissions. Five months later, the Australian government announced five projects aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Predictably enough, the projects, which are funded through the government's International Greenhouse Partnerships (IGP) Programme, are not aimed at reducing Australia's emissions, but are to be carried out in Peru, Fiji, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Launched in May 1998, and working from within the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, the IGP Programme aims "to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through projects overseas" that will in future be considered as carbon off-set projects under the Kyoto protocol.

Announcing the projects, Nick Minchin, the Australian Minister for Industry, Science and Resources, said "Not only will the projects be addressing global climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, they will be helping to develop Australia's expertise in clean, green technologies through sound, commercially viable projects."

One of the IGP Programme projects will establish fast-growing tree plantations in Vietnam. The US$242,000 project is to be carried out by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) with the Research Centre for Forest Tree Improvement of Vietnam. According to Minchin, CSIRO "will increase the carbon dioxide uptake of planted forests [sic] in Vietnam through the use of genetically improved planting stock."

CSIRO will supply acacia and eucalyptus seeds --the favoured trees of the pulp and paper industry-- and will establish four seedling orchards, each covering five hectares, two in Quang Tri province in central Vietnam and two in Binh Thuan province in the south. Seedlings from these orchards will be planted over a total area of 8,250 hectares on a range of sites in Vietnam.

CSIRO estimates that the plantations will remove "an extra 21,500 tonnes of CO2" from the atmosphere per year compared to other tree plantations. The calculation is based on a 15 per cent increase in volume growth, which CSIRO expects from using improved tree seeds. Recent research published in the journals "Nature" and "Science", however, indicates that forests are much better than plantations at absorbing carbon dioxide (see WRM bulletin 39). Yet, the publicly available information on the IGP project makes no mention of any attempts to compare the amount of carbon stored in natural forests to that stored in plantations.

CSIRO also anticipates developing predictive models for "other major plantation species", and argues that "such a capability will assist in the successful growth of plantations, enabling higher yields from the forests [sic] planted and greater carbon sequestration in the longer term." Even assuming plantations are useful in absorbing carbon dioxide, the logic is flawed -- higher yield plantations make no difference if the trees are cut after five years to produce short-lived commodities like woodchips, pulp and paper.

Elsewhere in Vietnam, private investors are finding it difficult to find enough land for their tree plantations. For example, the US$14 million Japanese-funded Quy Nhon Forest Plantation in Binh Dinh province aims to plant 13,000 hectares of acacia and eucalyptus plantations to produce wood chips for export to Japan. So far, in the seven years since the project was licensed, the company has received only around 8,000 hectares of land. "The land problem is increasing the risks for projects in plantations," Hironobu Ohara, the director of the project told the Vietnam Investment Review.

According to a recent article in the Thai newspaper, the Nation, the Vietnamese government stated that any carbon sequestration plantation projects in Vietnam must include support for communities that would be affected by the plantations. No such support is mentioned in the publicly available information on the IGP plantation project in Vietnam.

CSIRO receives 75 per cent of its funding from the Australian government, and is explicit about where its loyalty ultimately lies. In the organisation's own words: "CSIRO's primary functions are to assist Australian industry, contribute to Australia's national objectives and facilitate the application of the results of research."

The message is clear: the Australian government will not negotiate reductions in Australian carbon emissions, but CSIRO will "assist Australian industry" through planting eucalyptus and acacia trees in Vietnam -- supposedly to absorb those emissions.

Further information on this project should be available from IGP (e-mail: igp.office@isr.gov.au) and CSIRO (e-mail: stephen.midgley@ffp.csiro.au).

By: Chris Lang. E-mail: chrislang@t-online.de

4/27/01
12:43:25 PM

Thailand: A step forward in the resolution of a conflict

A conflict exists in Northern Thailand between certain groups of highland and lowland people over the use of natural resources. Many lowlanders accuse some highland minority groups of affecting their water supplies as a result of unsustainable agricultural practices which lead to deforestation, which itself is said to decrease water supply and increase sedimentation of watercourses due to soil erosion. The solution put forward: removal of the minority groups from the area. This being obviously unacceptable to the latter, the conflict has persisted for several years.

With the aim of achieving equitable solutions to the problem, a number of organizations --including the World Rainforest Movement -- organized an international symposium in March in Chiang Mai. Participants included international experts in watershed management and protected areas, as well as representatives from the Royal Forestry Department, government officials, academics, conservationists and local peoples organizations. Once the symposium was over, the participants were able to visit one area in which conflict has occurred and to hear the viewpoints of both highland and the lowland people.

The main achievement of the meeting was to open up a space for discussion of the different viewpoints and to bring to the debate experiences from other countries as well as the results of new research. The symposium concluded that the problem was not as simple as it had first appeared to be to some lowland groups and that therefore the solution could not be a simplistic one.

>From the visit to the conflict area we reached the following conclusions:

1) Soil erosion in the mountain area does constitute a major problem for downstream water users, but the major cause of erosion appears not to be deforestation but a badly- built road system.

2) Part of the problem in mountain areas has been the forced resettlement of peoples who used to carry out sustainable shifting agriculture practices but are now confined to carrying out permanent cultivation, which does entail some environmental impacts.

3) Water usage, particularly by lowlanders, has dramatically increased as a result of the expansion of cash crop cultivation and large-scale fruit orchards for export in the lowlands. The water shortages experienced by downstream users during the past years are to a large extent attributable to this increased lowland agricultural use.

4) A number of dams have been built along the lower reaches of the river tributary system in question and many irrigation canals divert the water, which has an impact on water supplies in downstream areas.

What is thus clear is that even if the hill people were removed from their homes, this unfair solution would not solve the problem. It is therefore necessary to continue efforts to bring people together and to facilitate a process for the achievement of true and equitable solutions to an issue which is creating problems to both lowlanders and highlanders. We sincerely hope that the recently held international symposium will mean a step forward in that direction.

By: WRM International Secretariat

4/27/01
12:42:56 PM

India: Reports of Forest Department involvement in violence against the Adivasi people

The Adivasi indigenous people have lived in India since time immemorial. Today they constitute an ethnic minority referred to pejoratively as "tribals". These people, even though being descendents of the original inhabitants of India, over the course of time, have been pushed aside to more marginal areas, sloping areas, and forestland. Only some decades ago the Adivasi still lived in slavery, without any political or civil rights, obliged to work in the factories owned by the Indian and European people. Nowadays their territorial rights continue to be ignored. Moreover they are victims of violence and all kinds of abuses to expel them from the forests they inhabit.

Local communities report that during March and April 2001 the police and members of the Van Suraksha Samities (Forest Protection Committees) attacked a group of unarmed Adivasi people in the Dewas district of Madhya Pradesh. The aggression resulted in the deaths of four unarmed villagers.

This is not the first case reported in Madhya Pradesh regarding these sorts of human rights violations against indigenous forest peoples. On 23 September 1999, forest officials fired on the village of Kadudiya causing the death of adivasi Roopsingh Bhilala. There have been reports of numerous cases since the middle of March 2001 in which forest officials, police and armed teams of the Special Armed Force (SAF) have attacked Adivasi villages, demolished homes, looted property and assaulted people including women. Among the atrocities committed to the detriment of the Adivasi there have also been reported cases of kidnapping and contamination of food and water with herbicides. Despite a large peaceful protest on 29 May 2000, the Dewas administration has failed to act on complaints about such abuses. No judicial inquiries have been established and local people continue to suffer further repression. Additionally, no compensation has been granted to the affected villagers and their families.

Local villagers and activists in Dewas refute the allegations made by the authorities that they are armed and incite people to violence. They also reject any allegations that they are involved in harmful illegal timber extraction. As a matter of fact the recent atrocities are a consequence of their resistance to the predatory and corrupt practices of some Forest Department officials that allegedly practice illegal timber extraction on a commercial scale. Local activists point out that they have encouraged local people not to pay bribes to forestry officials for the right to continue with their customary livelihood activities. Activists claim that the recent violent campaign by local officials is a direct backlash against their opposition to the corrupt forest administration and the repressive practices of the newly formed Forest Protection Committees that have been formed under Joint Forest Management schemes established in recent years, with the support of the various organizations, including the World Bank.

Article based on information from: Tom Griffiths, Forest Peoples Programme, 18/4/2001, e-mail: tom@fppwrm.gn.apc.org;

http://www.rfb.it/icc99/adivasi.htm

http://www.caritas.org.nz/Update/sept2000/update24land.htm

4/27/01
12:42:09 PM

ASIA

- China: Exporting deforestation and promoting tree monocultures

The growth of the Chinese economy, measured in conventional economy terms, is astonishing: its National Gross Product jumped to U$$ 4 trillion, which represents a 22-fold increase of its value in 1978. Whether this phenomenon can be considered a success for China and the region is doubtful since, on the one hand, it has been accompanied by important environmental problems in the country itself --among which the loss of significant areas of the country's forests and the expansion of tree monocultures-- and, on the other hand, it has led to deforestation in other countries of the region in order to satisfy the increasing demand for wood of its domestic market.

To face deforestation and subsequent soil erosion, the Chinese government put in place in 1998 a logging ban in 12 provinces, which was extended to 18 in 2000. As a result, national timber production decreased 97% from 1997 to 2000. But wood consumption increased and is currently leading to deforestation in neighbouring countries.

On of those such cases is Burma, where the town of Pianma, located 1,500 miles southwest of Beijing on the far edge of Yunnan province, is currently one of China's gateways into the forests of northern Burma. A massive, unregulated and largely unnoticed timber trade had been depleting the ancient tropical forests of the region. It intensified in 1998 after the above-mentioned logging ban. More than 350,000 cubic metres move through Pianma alone each year. Large amounts also come into China from Burma at towns farther south along the border, like Tengchong, Yingjiang, Zhangfeng, Ruili and Wanding. A Malaysian timber firm is building a bridge across the Salween River, 60 miles north of Pianma near Fugong, to bring in still more logs. According to official statistics, Burma supplies almost 10% of China's imports (740,000 cubic metres) but trustworthy estimations consider that the real volume is twice that high. In Burma, forest cover has dropped from 21% of the country's area in 1949 to less than 7% nowadays. The military dictatorship that rules the country since 1962 has paved the way to transnational logging companies that are devastating the forests and local peoples' livelihoods.

Unfortunately, Burma is one of several examples of deforestation linked to China's economic growth. Imports of Russian softwood logs have also considerably increased over the past two years and Russia now accounts for 42% of all logs that enter China.

Preparations for China's entry into the World Trade Organization have also sparked a further increase in timber imports. In a move for a more open trading system, tariffs on forestry products have fallen drastically, and in many places along China's borders, no tariffs are charged for logs. China's imports of logs have grown from less than 5 million cubic metres in 1998, to more than 10 million in 1999, and to some 15 million in 2000. The country has become the world's second largest importer of wood.

Within such context, the logging ban appears to be but a way of diverting the burden of China's economic growth to other countries. At the same time, the measure is leading to a dramatic increase in monoculture tree plantations within the country.

"As China gets richer, it's natural that it will consume more wood" stated recently a World Bank official. Is that the only answer? Is not the problem more based on the adoption by China of a development model based on a consumption style which results in unsustainable use of internal and external resources?

In the 1940s, India's Mahatma Gandhi was asked by a supporter how long it would be before India was as rich as England. Gandhi's response was: "if it took half of the world to make England as rich as it is, how many worlds will it take to make India that rich?" Is not the same applicable to China?

Article based on information from: EnviroNews Service, 6/3/2001, e-mail: newsdesk@envirolink.org; Glen Barry, 26/3/2001, e-mail: gbarry@forests.org

4/27/01
12:31:20 PM

South Africa: Quo vadis FSC?

Certification of monoculture timber plantations as "sustainably managed forests" by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) makes an absolute mockery of the concept of sustainable environment and ecosystem management.

In recent years vast tracts of industrial tree plantations in South Africa and many other countries, have been given the FSC stamp of approval.

How can this be possible? The natural vegetation in the areas where these plantations have been established was originally highly bio-diverse grassland or woodland. After conversion to plantations, these areas stand little chance, if any, of being able to revert to the natural climax vegetation type. The environment is subjected to a terrifying range of harmful impacts, starting with the construction of primitive roads and ending with huge, computerised mechanical harvesters compacting the soil, thereby destroying its function.

In between these environmentally catastrophic events, the land and its rightful inhabitants are subjected to an extensive suite of chemical, physical, biological and demographic alterations to their natural state. This all as part of the process that is imposed to meet the demands of first world greed for wood-fibre products:

1.- As a first step, the natural vegetation is either bulldozed or killed with herbicides to prevent competition with alien plantation trees for water, light and nutrients.

2.- Alien tree saplings are artificially fertilised to speed up their rate of establishment and other unnatural chemicals that absorb moisture are added to the soil to prevent the young plants from drying out.

3.- Spills of herbicides, insecticides, diesel fuel, engine oil and other human trash enter the natural environment without invitation.

4.- Alien invasive plants carried as seeds on vehicle tyres and worker's boots become established in the vacuum created by the destruction of the natural groundcover.

5.- Plantation contractors do not normally provide appropriate toilet facilities for their workers. Human faeces are deposited in the field, leading to pollution of streams, rivers and lakes with bacteria such as that which causes cholera. The recent cholera outbreak in the eastern region of South Africa could well have originated from this source.

6.- Contract workers are poorly paid and have little choice but to build makeshift homes within areas of natural forest near the plantation sites where they work, causing substantial ecological damage in the process.

7.- Animals and birds that are disturbed by the plantation establishment activities either flee the area or are hunted and snared as food for the contract workers.

8.- Local people who would have had access to the area if plantations had not been established, could have used the area to graze their cattle and sheep, harvest thatch grass for roofing their homes, and collect food and medicinal plants for their own limited use. They are now deprived of this resource and are forced to move into previously undisturbed areas in search of these commodities. This often leads to conflict with the management of protected natural areas.

9.- Surface water in the vicinity of new plantations is soon depleted and is usually only evident during the rainy season. People have to turn to the use of boreholes and wells that often are saline, or polluted with bacteria from pit toilets.

10.- Timber plantation contract workers are commonly unmarried men from other parts of the country and to a large extent from neighbouring countries. This can often lead to the problem of women in local communities being sexually harassed. Outcomes of this situation include unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases and destroyed relationships. There is a high likelihood that the increasing incidence of HIV infection in the rural areas of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) can be attributed in part to the employment practices of the timber plantation industry.

11.- Contract workers add a new dimension to local health care needs. Those that are recruited from remote rural parts of neighbouring states can be carriers of diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis. Coincidentally both these diseases have been increasing proportionately during the period that industrial timber plantations have been expanding (over the last 15 to 20 years).

12.- The loss of beneficial soil organisms in timber plantations has been well documented. Monocultures are inherently prone to the rapid spread of pathogens. Natural buffers that are present in bio-diverse ecosystems cannot be replicated in the timber monoculture environment.

13.- The establishment of timber plantations upsets the natural balance of species. These plantations create barriers that disrupt the normal migration and breeding patterns of birds, animals and insects.

14.- Community food security is one of the first victims of timber plantations. Areas used traditionally for growing fruit and vegetables become too dry or are shaded out when plantations are established too close to the fertile areas along streams and rivers. The remaining residents are left in a position where they have to use their limited financial resources (usually state pensions) to buy processed food from trading stores.

15.- Transport systems, especially roads, are subjected to high levels of usage for which they were not designed. The cost of upgrading or maintaining rural roads is usually borne by the state, which means that the timber industry benefits from an indirect subsidy.

16.- Negative effects on non-timber neighbouring farms are numerous. In much the same way as genetically engineered food crops will pollute fields of nearby non-GMO or organic crops, there are off-site impacts that undermine the economic viability of other farmers. These include an increase in alien invasive plants, loss of ground water, increased crime and poaching and the disruption of normal pasture management by burning, due to the risk of fire spreading to the timber plantations,

Large-scale timber plantations destroy whole ecosystems and rural economies. For some strange reason this calamity is virtually ignored by governments and research institutions. The onus should be on an organisation like FSC to insist that thorough, impartial research is conducted before certification can be considered.

In place of the natural landscape is a new visage dominated by fake forests. Fake not only in that their owners pretend that they can substitute meaningfully for the real thing, but truly fake in terms of how their economic benefits are exaggerated and inflated at the local level.

There is no doubt that a consumer commodity like paper, or pressboard, has great value in modern society. What is not acceptable is that the rate of consumption of paper products is increasing whilst the living standards of poor communities where the timber is produced do not. The growth of the throwaway culture of so-called developed countries has a direct correlation to the eroding natural environment, and standards of living in the countries that have been colonised by the tree plantations of the multinational corporations concerned.

The FSC must take a large share of the responsibility for this social and environmental injustice.

Plantations are not forests !!!

By: Wally Menne, member of the TIMBERWATCH Coalition. E-mail:

plantnet@iafrica.com

4/27/01
12:30:43 PM

- Liberia: Forest destruction backed by the government

Liberia hosts the last two significant blocks of the remaining closed canopy tropical rainforest within what is known as the upper Guinea Forests of West Africa, which spans Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. The original extent of tropical rainforest in the upper Guinea forest is estimated at 727,900km2, but has shrunk to about 92,797km2, which represents only 12.7% of its original size. Liberian forests account for 44.5% of the remaining 92,797km2 followed by Cote d'Ivoire with 29.1%. This region holds a rich biodiversity, with over 2000 species of plants of which 240 are valuable timber species (see WRM Bulletin 44).

In the case of Liberia, the deforestation process is the result of the greed of international logging companies that invaded the country in the last decade, coupled with the attitude of the Liberian government that promotes their activities. Almost every significant national forest land, including areas previously designated as national parks or forest reserves, has been granted as concessions to logging companies, while those yet not granted are being encroached upon by various other companies. Monitoring and regulation by the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) exist only on paper. Logging operations have reached an unprecedented proportion, with approximately 60% of the country's forests now severely degraded. The country's biodiversity and the livelihoods of rural communities are further threatened, because deforestation has effectively separated the northern/northwestern and eastern/southeastern portions of the rainforest.

In January 2000 the government announced it was cancelling all concession agreements and that only applications for concessions of more than 300,000 acres would be granted. While the FDA insisted that this new measure was aimed at maximizing national income and promoting the sustainable utilization of the forest, it is now apparent that the actual motive was to grant larger concessions to few foreign giant logging companies. This is proven by the fact that areas seized from smaller companies were immediately redistributed amongst giant companies.

Even though there is very little difference in the modus operandi of the logging companies, the case of Oriental Timber Company (OTC) is paradigmatic (see WRM Bulletin 30). In the 1990s, during the Liberian civil war, a Dutch businessman --Mr. Gus van Kouwenhaven, known in the official circles as "Gus" and closely connected to Charles Taylor, who would become President of the country-- succeeded in acquiring several concessions in southeastern Liberia, --a significant portion of the forest block stretching from Grand Bassa through River Cess and into Sinoe County. Even though the agreement was kept in secret, the concession's present size is estimated to range between 900,000 hectares and 1.44 million hectares. In 1999 a Malaysian company registered in Liberia as the Oriental Timber Company (OTC) and --surprisingly enough-- had "Gus" as its president. In addition to its logging operations, OTC manages the port of Buchanan and upgraded the road connecting the ports of Buchanan and Greenville, originally constructed by "Gus" during the Liberian war to transport logs.

The OTC agreement has been and still is subject of much speculation and criticism. Ownership of the OTC is yet somewhat uncertain, and while some believe that the Indonesian Djan Djanti Group is the OTC's parent company in Asia, others point at the Hong Kong-based Global Star Group.

No environmental impact assessment was ever carried out regarding its logging activities. Clearcutting is practised in vast areas using more than 140 assorted caterpillars/bulldozers and about 75 trailers which work seven days a week, day and night, each trailer making at least two daily trips to the port of Buchanan to deliver logs. Given the speed at which OTC operates, a realistic estimate of log extraction can be put within the range of 2500 - 3000m3 of logs/day, or 75,000m3 - 90,000m3/month. These practices are in flagrant violation of established FDA regulations.

All OTC production is exported as round logs. According to OTC Director Joseph Wong, the company exports some 60,000-70,000 m3 per month to southeast Asia to supply its plywood factories. This comes to 720,000-840,000 m3 per year. The excess production is sold in the port of Buchanan to buyers mostly for export to Europe --France and Spain being the most frequently cited.

As usually happens, the arrival of OTC to the region was trumpeted as something positive because it would result in the creation of thousands of new jobs and in the building of roads, hospitals and schools to assist rural dwellers. Nevertheless, residents of rural communities where OTC operates complain of numerous abuses, among which the destruction of houses, crops and sacred forests belonging to local communities. At the same time, local dwellers have in several instances been subjected to harassment, intimidation and even unlawful detention by officers of the OTC's militia. Some 600 Asian labourers (mostly from the Indonesian island of Sumatra) have been imported and were all given free work permits. All skilled jobs are operated by Asians with reportedly few going to Liberians. Only unskilled jobs at the port, or spotters and chainsaw operators in the forest are reserved for Liberians.

All the above proves that OTC and the Liberian government are close partners and this partnership is enhanced by the controversial Strategic Commodity Act, whereby the President can declare any of the country's natural resources --from forests to mines-- as a "strategic commodity". He has the sole power to execute, negotiate and conclude all commercial contracts or agreements with any foreign or domestic investors for the exploitation of any of those commodities. In one of the most high profile incidences, President Taylor dismissed Grand Bassa county's Superintendent when he criticized the OTC and threatened to arrest its top management for failing to respond to complaints against the company by locals. In another incident, the president granted the OTC permission to log 114,935 hectares of forest which had been designated to be used by the University of Liberia for scientific studies and research purposes only.

The result of this de facto "joint-venture" between the private and the public sector is apparent: it is OTC and a reduced group of officials who win, while Liberian forests and people continue to loose.

Article based on information from: "Living Dangerously. An Assessment of Multinationals in Liberia Logging Industry (August 2000-January 2001)" by The Agenda for Global Trade Project (AGTP) & Save my future (SAMFU) Foundation, February 2001. Sent by: Ronnie Siakor, 1/3/2001, e-mail: samfu1@yahoo.com ; Investigative Report on Oriental Timber Corporation:

http://www.theperspective.org/otc.html

4/27/01
12:30:04 PM

Kenya: Pollution and deforestation caused by Pan African Paper Mills

The large-scale monoculture pulpwood plantation model being implemented in the South not only results in negative social and environmental impacts in the forest areas, but has also additional impacts from pollution resulting from the industrial process for the production of pulp as well as deforestation linked to logging for supplying the pulp mill with raw material.

Such is also the case of Pan African Paper Mills (Panpaper), based in Webuye town, in the Western Province, with a population of some 60,000 people. The mill is situated in an environmentally sensitive area on the bank of River Nzoia, which flows into Lake Victoria. It has been denounced that the factory belches out smoke and sludge, polluting air, water, and nearby rivers. So strong has been the impact provoked by this plant, that the iron sheets within Webuye town are rusted, and people passing through the town, on the Nairobi-Kampala Road, have to lock the windows of their vehicles and close their noses until they are well passed the town.

Problems caused by Panpaper in the region are not new. According to a survey performed in 1994, pollution provoked by this mill is believed to be responsible for a number of health problems: more than 60% of the children born after 1974 --when the plant began to operate-- have had breathing problems from the age of one to five years. Other health problems verified in Webuye are chronic coughing, flu, nervous disorders, diarrhoea, typhoid and migraine, which health officials attribute largely to the air and water pollution produced by the mill.

At the same time, the mill's wood supply needs constitute a powerful incentive to deforest the remaining forests in the region --Kakamega and Mt. Kenya forests in particular-- which are being plundered at alarming rates. Pan African Paper Mills is one of the main buyers of the wood extracted from them. At the same time, the company is one of the three firms that have been exempted from the partial logging ban in force in the country. To the official viewpoint, this step was taken because "the government has shares in it and is important to the economy". The record of Panpaper regarding forest conservation is terrible. From 1972 --when the mill was built-- to the present day, the whole forest cover of the area --as well as that of Turbo and Mosorit, located 200 km far away-- has disappeared.

The argument that this is the price to be paid to achieve "development" is no more acceptable nor accepted. As a result, local dwellers and activists have organized themselves in the Panpaper Anti-Pollution Lobby Group, and have organized a protest to stop such abuses. Those interested in expressing their support to this initiative can send e-mails to the company (accounts@panpaperkenya.com or nmohalta@panpaper.ke.com) expressing their concern for the present state of things and their support to the defence of local people's environmental rights.

Article based on information from: Eusebius Mukhwana, 27/3/2001, e-mail: sacred@africaonline.co.ke ; "Death mill". A case study of Pan African paper Mills (EA) Limited, Webuye, Kenya by Oduor Ong'wen, May 1994.

4/27/01
12:29:21 PM

AFRICA

Chad-Cameroon: Oil revenues versus human rights and environment

"This is the world's most scrutinized and controlled project," retorted a senior French official in Chad to representatives of Chadian human rights organizations who went to see him in March 2001. "There is absolutely nothing to worry about", he added. However, many people are very worried and have been fighting against the project for a very long time.

Indeed, the international campaign on the Chad/Cameroon Oil and Pipeline project which was spearheaded by African NGOs and supported by NGOs throughout the world, has been very successful in terms of getting the project to include numerous pre-cautionary measures designed to make the project environmentally and socially more responsible. For example, the pipeline was re-routed to avoid some of the biodiversity-rich areas, an Oversight Committee which includes civil society representatives was established in Chad to ensure that the oil revenues be used for poverty alleviation and, overall the role of civil society, local communities and indigenous peoples has been highlighted in the official documents. Furthermore, an International Advisory Group has been established whose task is to monitor the environmental and social impacts of the project as well as "governance" issues, which include human rights. At least on paper, all these measures indicate a serious departure from the previous laissez-faire approach in which the World Bank and the private companies it supports would leave it to recipient governments, no matter how corrupt, to manage the projects according to their own interests.

Despite these impressive changes on paper, there are serious doubts about what all these measures amount to in practice, since they cannot be considered in isolation from the countries' overall political situation. The most recent U.S. State Department's Reports on Human Rights confirm that both governments continue to commit serious human rights abuses with impunity and that citizens do not have access to an independent judicial system.

Chadian and Cameroonian NGOs demanded a moratorium on the funding decision until proven safeguards were in place to ensure that the project would not lead to further human rights violations and environmental destruction. However the governments, the oil companies and their international financial backers were in a hurry and the project was approved in June 2000.

The fears of the NGOs were soon thereafter confirmed when the Chadian government used a part of its first payment from the oil companies for weapons purchases (see WRM Bulletin 41). Despite World Bank claims that the Oversight Committee is working, no regulations concerning its functioning have been published. In addition, the government's draft implementation decree proposes a decision-making process based on a simple majority system which would assure that the government would always have the majority. Furthermore it severely reduces the area of intervention for the Oversight Committee and requires that it only report to the government.

Construction of the pipeline of Cameroon will destroy biodiversity, especially in the littoral rainforest which is inhabited by the indigenous Bakola people. As required by World Bank environmental policies, the World Bank requested that the Government create a protected area to compensate for the loss of biodiversity. However, the off-set area, the Campo Reserve, is now being threatened by a French logging company which is part of the well-known Bollore Group which has close connections to the Cameroonian government.

The International Advisory Group, which is headed by a former Senegalese Prime-Minister, is about to make its first field visit to Chad and Cameroon. The effectiveness of the group will depend on its ability to cut through the public relations efforts that are likely to surround its visit and establish independent relationships with the affected communities and the NGOs on-the-ground.

Independently of the IAG's work, the World Bank's Inspection Panel has just registered a claim presented by a Chadian member of parliament who represents the oil-producing region and 120 local residents. The claim states that local people and their environment have or are likely to suffer as a result of the World Bank violating its own policies. It is only after World Bank management has had a chance to respond to the allegations that the World Bank Board of Executive Directors will decide whether the Inspection Panel should be allowed to investigate the claim or not. Given the controversial nature of the project and climate of political oppression in both Chad and Cameroon, the World Bank's credibility would be seriously damaged if it should fail to get to the bottom of the allegations made by the claimants who are risking jail, torture and assassination for speaking up.

Perhaps the most positive outcome of the international campaign on the project so far has been the strengthening of civil society organizations in Chad and Cameroon. Despite enormous difficulties and danger, there are plans for a coordinated NGO-effort to monitor the oil fields and pipeline construction with the goal of preventing a humanitarian and ecological disaster. These efforts deserve the international community's full support.

Korinna Horta, e-mail: Korinna_Horta@environmentaldefense.org

4/27/01
12:27:55 PM

The FAO forest assessment: Concealing the truth

The FAO recently presented the results of its Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000, which it characterises as being "the most comprehensive, reliable and authoritative baseline survey of forest reources to date". But the main question is: is it useful?

The main message of the FAO's assessment is that the situation has improved compared to previous global forest surveys. Current deforestation is described as happening at "a significantly lower net rate compared to FAO's previous report for the period 1990-1995", and adds that "net deforestation has likely decreased since the 1980s at the global level." So it appears that the situation is --at long last!-- improving. But when one takes a closer look at the study, it becomes clear that the situation has not improved at all, and that those conclusions result from manipulating the data in different ways:

1) By changing the definition of forests. The study itself is self explanatory on this in the case of Australia, whose forest area now appears to have increased from 41 million hectares in 1995 to 150 million hectares in the year 2000! The reason is that "the dramatic increase of over 115 million hectares of forest is a consequence of the application of a 10 percent canopy cover threshold for defining forest, as opposed to the 20 percent threshold used for industrialized countries in previous assessments." The forest area has thus not necessarily increased --it may have even decreased-- but the change in definition has made it to appear much larger than before.

2) By not including logging as deforestation. According to the FAO, "by definition, logging does not in itself result in deforestation, if the forest is allowed to regenerate." While they are regenerating they are still considered to be forests and defined as "temporarily unstocked areas." This means that a country may have logged most of its forest, but --unless it converts the area to other productive activities-- it will appear as having the same forest area as before.

3) By continuing to include plantations as "forests" in the FAO definition. This allows the study to show "reductions in net deforestation", but which are "mainly due to significant increases in forest plantations and the succession of forests on abandoned agricultural lands." According to the study, the current annual rate of plantation establishment is 4.5 million hectares worldwide, which means that the same area of forests may disappear annually, but the "forest" area will appear as not having changed at all.

4) By including even further types of plantations as forests --such as rubber tree plantations-- which were not included in previous FAO assessments and thus artificially increasing the "forest" area.

But even with all those manipulations, the FAO has to recognize that "net deforestation rates were highest in Africa and South America, whereas afforestation through forest plantations, significantly offset the loss of forests in Asia". Which means that if plantations were to be considered as what they are --tree crops and not forests-- the picture in those three continents would show that the situation has either not improved or has further deteriorated.

In spite of all the above, everyone knows that few countries --if any-- can say that none of their primary forests have been degraded and that secondary forests are being allowed to regrow. Everyone knows that monoculture tree plantations have nothing in common with forests. Everyone knows that --among other-- the Amazon forest, the Central African forest and the East and Southeast Asian forests are being destroyed at at least the same rate as before.

Whether willingly or unwillingly, the FAO is sending out the wrong messages. It is suggesting that deforestation is slowing down, which according to its own data is not true. It is telling governments that they can log all their forests, which will only be considered to be "temporarily unstocked." It is approving the substitution of forests and grasslands by monoculture tree plantations, which will "offset net deforestation." It is artificially increasing the forest area of industrialized countries by simply changing a definition. It is completely ignoring the issue of forest degradation.

The world needs to know the truth about the real state of the forests. Not as an academic exercise but as a tool to adopt and implement policies to ensure the conservation of its imperiled forests. Unfortunately, the FAO has missed the opportunity to provide the world with such a tool.

4/27/01
11:52:16 AM

DontBlowIt.org

Within the next few days, the U.S. Senate is likely to vote on President Bush's nomination for Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security - the top arms control positions in the government.

The nominee is John R. Bolton, an extreme hard-liner who has previously served in several positions within the Reagan and Bush administrations and has a track record of attacking past arms control treaties.

Bolton is being championed by Senator Jesse Helms who said "Bolton is the kind of man with whom I would want to stand at Armageddon." Many national security experts believe that Bolton is the last man the nation needs to oversee nuclear treaties. He opposes the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), to ban nuclear testing and the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty, the cornerstone of strategic nuclear stability around the globe.

In fact, Jesse Helms has already given Bolton explicit instructions, if confirmed. "John," Helms said, "I want you to take that ABM Treaty and dump it in the same place we dumped our ABM co-signer, the Soviet Union -- on the ash heap of history."

We need your help to STOP BOLTON FROM SERVING IN THIS CRITICAL POSITION. If confirmed, every arms control policy would be in jeopardy! Send a message TODAY to your Senators to oppose the Bolton nomination.

With your help, we can let the Senate know that John Bolton is dangerous for our country and is the WRONG person for the job.

Thanks for your support,

Laura Kriv

http://www.DontBlowIt.org

4/27/01
11:47:58 AM

MINNESOTA CANDIDATE MARY MELLEN APPOINTED TO MINNESOTA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY BOARD BY GOVERNOR JESSE VENTURA

Natural Law-Independence coalition candidate Mary Mellen, who ran for the Minnesota State House of Representatives (District 62A) in the 2000 election and won 17% of the vote, has just been appointed by Governor Jesse Ventura to the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board.

The 15-member Board, composed of 10 state commissioners and 5 public members, assures coordination and cooperation among state agencies on environmental issues and advises the governor and legislature on environmental legislation and issues.

Ms. Mellen was selected as a board Member from among several hundred applicants. In her certificate of appointment, Gov. Ventura states, "Because of the special trust and confidence I have in your integrity, judgment and ability, I have appointed and commissioned you to have and to hold [this] office." Ms. Mellen's appointment will last four years.

All of us at the Natural Law Party send Ms. Mellen our deepest congratulations for this wonderful achievement.

MARY MELLEN, NAT GOLDHABER, AND SARINA GROSSWALD TO SPEAK ON APRIL 29 NATIONAL CONFERENCE CALL

Ms. Mellen will join John Hagelin and other featured speakers on the Natural Law Party national conference call this Sunday, April 29 (see details below) to update everyone about the successes of her 2000 campaign and about her new role in Minnesota.

Also joining the call will be Nat Goldhaber, the Natural Law Party's vice presidential candidate in 2000, who will connect from California with the lastest news about his activities; and Dr. Sarina Grosswald, chair of the Natural Law Party of Virginia, who will update everyone about Natural Law Party involvement in Virginia's primary election campaigns.

With such a wonderful list of speakers, Sunday night's conference call will be a very uplifting and informative experience. Don't miss it!

APRIL 29 NATIONAL CONFERENCE CALL

Please join us on Sunday evening, April 29, for an inspiring Natural Law Party national conference call updating everyone on

o the latest Natural Law Party news and successes from around the nation;

o ongoing progress in building our Natural Law-Independent coalition; and

o Dr. John Hagelin's new, foundational research into the field of human consciousness.

Featured speakers on the call will include

o Dr. John Hagelin, the Natural Law Party's 2000 presidential candidate

o Nat Goldhaber, the Natural Law Party's 2000 vice-presidential candidate

o Robert Roth, author of the political bestseller "A Reason to Vote"

o Kingsley Brooks, Natural Law Party Co-Chair

o Mary Mellen, Minnesota NLP-Independent candidate in 2000 and newly appointed member of Minnesota's Environmental Quality Board

o Judy Barath Black, Chair of the Natural Law Party of California

o Cathy Carter, Chair of the Natural Law Party of North Carolina

o Dr. Sarina Grosswald, Chair of the Natural Law Party of Virginia

TO CONNECT: Dial 512-305-4608

DATE: Sunday, April 29 TIME: 8:30 p.m. & 10:30 p.m. Eastern time

If you have any difficulties connecting, please call 512-404-2300.

Please encourage your family and friends to connect to the call as well. We look forward to sharing an evening of knowledge and inspiration with you!

ATTENTION: You are receiving this email because you requested to be included on our news flash list. If you'd like to remove yourself from this list, please see the instructions below. We respect your electronic privacy and will NOT give out or sell your email address under any circumstances.

For more information, please visit the John Hagelin website at:

http://www.hagelin.org

4/27/01
11:41:07 AM

DISCLOSURE PROJECT CALLS ON U.S. CONGRESS FOR HEARINGS & LEGISLATION

http://www.ecologynews.com/cuenews21.html

MILITARY, GOVERNMENT WITNESSES TO PROVIDE TESTIMONY ON UFO / EXTRATERRESTRIAL PRESENCE; HEARINGS & SPACE WEAPONS BAN SOUGHT

http://www.ecologynews.com/cuenews22.html

EcoNews Service - Ecology, Consciousness & Universe Exopolitics

http://www.ecologynews.com/ mailto:econews@ecologynews.com

1512 West 40 Ave. Vancouver, BC V6M 1V8

Tel: 604-733-8134 Fax:604-733-8135

geri destefano, phd alfred lambremont webre, jd, med

4/26/01
5:15:08 PM

Harvest of Fear

But others aren't so sure. Concerned about the unknown hazards genetically altered foods may present, many of the world's so-called "green movements"-including such groups as Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, and the Union of Concerned Scientists-have mounted a vocal opposition campaign that has effectively stopped the development and use of genetically modified foods in Europe. Critics say modern scientists are playing with fire, creating new organisms with little thought to how these new hybrid plants will affect the environment or mankind.

"We feel that this is a mass genetic experiment that's going on in our environment and in our diets," says Charles Margoulis, who heads Greenpeace's anti-GM campaign. "These genetically engineered foods have never been subject to long-term testing and yet there are millions of acres of them growing in the United States and pervading the food system here."

By putting new genes into plants, opponents say, mankind runs the risk of these genes migrating to other plants not intended to receive them. New, potentially lethal toxins, allergens, and resistant organisms could be created, they argue, while the safety of the world's food supply could be dangerously compromised.

Critics also fear that genetically modified crops grown outside in uncontrolled environments could prove harmful to "non-target organisms"-animals, insects, or other wildlife that may come in contact with these experimental plants. Moreover, by favoring mass production of a few lucrative cash crops, they say, genetically altering foods could result in reducing the world's biodiversity.

What's more, opponents say, genetically modified food is only the beginning. "In the next few years, they want to introduce not just genetically engineered foods, but genetically engineered grasses, ornamental plants, trees," warns environmental activist Jeremy Rifkin, "They want to re-seed the planet with a second Genesis."

In "Harvest of Fear," farmers and scientists say such alarm is unfounded. Noting that genetically modified crops and food are the most regulated on the market-coming under the control of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Food and Drug Administration-supporters say the world's food supply has contained genetically modified ingredients for years. Virtually all breads, cheeses, sodas, and beer, for example, are made with genetically engineered enzymes.

"Food companies have learned that the [anti-GM] groups are not intent on having a reasoned debate about biotech or helping consumers find out about biotech," says Gene Grabowski of the Grocery Manufacturers of America. "It seems that their motive is to scare people."

"Harvest of Fear" contains footage of anti-GM demonstrations, including one at Kellogg's "Cereal City," where a demonstrator-dressed as a mutated Tony the Tiger-bemoans what genetic engineering has done to him. (A security guard arrives swiftly and blocks the camera.) But not all protests are so amusing: Some farmers have had their genetically modified crops hacked away during the night by "eco-terrorists." Members of the Earth Liberation Front, meanwhile, claimed responsibility for a fire at Michigan State University that destroyed a building being used for work related to agricultural biotechnology.

"Companies are not going to listen to morals," says Earth Liberation Front spokesperson Craig Rosebraugh. "If you cause them enough economic damage or economic sabotage to their industry, hopefully they'll see that it's in their best interest to stop their unjust acts."

Such demonstrations and protests have yet to deter the technology's most fervent supporters. Pandora's box has been opened, they say, and no amount of protests or alleged scare tactics will be able to put the lid back on.

"We will not be able to stop this technology," says USDA Secretary Dan Glickman. "Science will march forward."

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/harvest/

4/26/01
5:11:41 PM

Human cloning to be banned in genetic science 'revolution'

Britain is to become the first country in the world to ban human cloning under government plans to ease public fears about genetic technology.

Alan Milburn, the Secretary of State for Health, announced today that he will bring forward legislation within months to outlaw the practice, which is currently restricted to those granted licences.

Mr Milburn declared in a speech to scientists and doctors in Newcastle upon Tyne that the human genome project offers huge potential benefits to NHS patients and announced plans to build on British advances in the field.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/science/story.jsp?story=67472

4/26/01
5:09:39 PM

NO TO THE FTAA!

ANOTHER AMERICAS IS POSSIBLE!

We, the delegates of the Second People's Summit of the Americas, declare our opposition to the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) project concocted secretly by the 34 Heads of State and government hand in hand with the American Business Forum.

Who are we? We are the Hemispheric Social Alliance, the voices of the unions, popular and environmental organisations, women's groups, human rights organisations, international solidarity groups, indigenous, peasant and student associations and church groups. We have come from every corner of the Americas to make our voices heard.

We reject this project of liberalised trade and investment, deregulation and privatisation. This neo-liberal project is racist and sexist and destructive of the environment. We propose to build new ways of continental integration based on democracy, human rights, equality, solidarity, pluralism and respect for the environment.

BROKEN PROMISES

Since the 1994 Miami Summit, the Heads of State and government have committed themselves to reinforce democracy and human rights, to support education and to reduce poverty in the Americas. For seven years nothing has been done. The only issue that has moved forward, taking advantage of deficit in democracy, is the negotiation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).

This is not the first time that presidents and Heads of State have promised a better world. This is not the first time that the people of the Americas have been told to wait for the fruits of free trade to come. This is not the first time that we are forced to take note that the Heads of State have broken their promises.

The FTAA project is a charter of investors' rights and freedoms, sanctions the primacy of capital over labour, transforms life and the world into merchandise, negates human rights, sabotages democracy and undermines state sovereignty.

THE ASYMMETRIC AMERICAS

Indeed, we live in an Americas marked by intolerable inequalities and unjustifiable political and economic asymmetries. Half of the population of 800 million, of whom almost 500 million are Latin American, live in poverty. The south has a debt of $792 billion US to the north, resulting in a debt servicing of $123 billion US in 1999 alone. Capital, technologies and patents are concentrated in the North. Canada and the United States hold 80% of the economic might. Many new jobs are in the informal sector, where labour rights are constantly flouted.

Free trade agreements aggravate inequalities between the rich and the poor, between men and women, between countries of the north and countries of the south, and destroy the ecological links between human beings and the environment. 20% of the world population consumes 80% of the natural resources of the planet. These free trade agreements prioritize exports at the expense of the needs of local communities. We are witnessing the consolidation of economic and legal corporate power at the expense of popular sovereignty.

Free trade agreements favour the commodification of public goods and the planet (water, genetic heritage, etc.). The neo-liberal logic reduces the citizen to a mere consumer and ultimately to a product. It favours short term gains without considering the social and environmental cost of goods and services.

Under the pressure of large agribusinesses and dumping policies, free trade agreements threaten local small-scale agriculture, mostly performed by women, putting food security in danger.

Free trade agreements encourage the systematic privatisation of public goods such as health, education and social programs along with of Structural Adjustment Programs in the South and budget cuts in the North. These agreements rely on women to take up the collective tasks now abandoned by the state.

Free trade agreements foster the marginalisation of indigenous people and the appropriation and subsequent marketing of their knowledge.

Free trade agreements lead to an increasing feminisation of poverty and an exacerbation of existing inequalities between men and women. For example, women get paid less, work in hard and often degrading conditions without union rights, undertake unpaid and unrecognised work for the family and community, suffer the commodification of their bodies -- now the third most lucrative trafficking after drugs and arms, and are subjected to increased domestic violence and violation of their fundamental rights.

Free trade agreements are accompanied by the militarisation of entire societies through schemes such as Plan Colombia and are also related to arms trafficking.

There is no possible fair agreement in such a context.

WHAT WE WANT

We want to build bridges between the peoples of the Americas, draw on the pluralism of our histories and our cultures and to strengthen each other in the exercising of a representative and participatory democracy. We want to share the same passion for an absolute respect of human rights and the same commitment to have these rights respected. We want to live together a true equality between men and women, to take care of all our children and to share the wealth fairly and in solidarity.

We want complete respect for workers rights, trade union rights and collective bargaining.

We want to ensure the primacy of human rights and collectives rights as defined in international instruments over commercial agreements.

We want states that promote the common good and that are able to intervene actively to ensure the respect of rights. We want states to strengthen democracy, to ensure the production and distribution of wealth, to guarantee universal and free access to quality public education, and to health care particularly concerning women's reproductive rights. We want states to eliminate violence against women and children and to ensure respect for the environment on behalf of the current and future generations.

We want socially productive and ecologically responsible investment. The rules applied across the continent should encourage foreign investors who will guarantee the creation of quality jobs, sustainable production and economic stability, while blocking speculative investments.

We want fair trade.

We welcome the conclusions of the deliberations of the different forums in the People's Summit. These reflections will be integrated into the Alternatives for the Americas document.

We call upon the peoples of the Americas to intensify their mobilisation to fight the FTAA project and to build other integration alternatives based on democracy, social justice and sustainable development.

ANOTHER AMERICAS IS POSSIBLE!

4/26/01
5:06:26 PM

Democracy Trampled in Quebec City

by Sinclair Stevens

I never thought I'd be writing this article, surely not in Canada. There aren't many people in this country who view free trade as positively as I do. As industry minister in the Mulroney government, I participated in the 1985 Shamrock Summit that set the stage for our trade agreement with the United States. I was even responsible for replacing the Foreign Investment Review Agency with Investment Canada, a welcome mat for our partners to the South. There also aren't many people who view the maintenance of law and order as a higher priority than I do.

But this past weekend, I was shocked by events in Quebec City. Shocked by what I saw, and stunned by what my wife, Noreen, and I personally experienced. I believe Canada is right to view free trade as a model for democratic development in every corner of our hemisphere, and I was delighted to see us host the Summit of the Americas. But our government is dead wrong to behave in a manner that suggests we have forgotten what democracy is all about.

Noreen and I arrived in Quebec City last Friday at about 5 p.m. We had heard about the so-called security fence and wanted to see it firsthand, to walk along beside it. My first view of the fence was in front of the Château Frontenac. It brought back memories of many happy visits to that hotel. But, this weekend, I could not enter: The hotel was inside the fence, I was outside.

As we walked around the perimeter, a 40-year-old chap passed us, and asked: "Where is your gas mask?" I asked what he meant. He said: "There is gas farther on -- watch out." We continued until we saw our first contingent of riot-geared police lined up three deep behind a closed gate. They were an intimidating sight -- in battle dress, with helmets, masks, shields and assorted elaborate weapons. I was glad, this time, that they were inside the fence and we were outside. Farther on, just before we got to Dufferin Street, there were perhaps 50 people -- protesters, it turned out -- who were standing or sitting on a small side road. At the end of the road, we saw a much larger group of riot police standing shoulder-to-shoulder, several rows deep. The road was well away from the security fence. In fact, the fence was nowhere in sight.

I spoke with many of the people in the street, asked them why they had gathered, why they opposed the free trade proposals. It was a lively but friendly exchange.

We were interrupted as the police down the road began an eerie drumming, rattling their riot sticks against their shields. Slowly, in unison, one six-inch step at a time, they began marching toward us. Noreen and I moved to the side of the street, as the protesters remained stationary. Some formed V signs with their fingers.

To my horror, the police then fired tear gas canisters directly at those sitting or standing on the road.

As clouds of gas began to spread, Noreen and I felt our eyes sting and our throats bake. We pulled whatever clothing we could across our mouths. One young woman, who had been among the protesters, offered us some vinegar.

"What's that for?" I asked. "It takes away the sting," she said. And it did help. The police, however, kept advancing. One large policeman with the number 5905 on his helmet, pressed right against me and ordered me to get behind a railing. "I haven't done anything," I protested. "Why?" He simply replied: "Get behind the rail." Then he added, "and get down." I did so.

I shook my head. I never thought I would ever see this kind of police-state tactic in Canada. What we witnessed that night was mild compared to events the next afternoon.

This time, we walked along the fence until we reached the gate at René Lévesque Boulevard, where a great crowd had gathered that included TV cameras and reporters. I was asked for an interview by a CBC crew but, before we could begin, dozens of tear gas canisters were fired, water cannons were sprayed and rubber bullets began to hit people nearby. Three times, I felt could not breathe, my eyes were sore and all I could do was run. In the bedlam, my wife and I were separated for almost three hours. She said she had almost passed out from the gassing. We lost something else, besides each other, last weekend in Quebec: our innocence. This government, and some reporters, like to brand the Quebec City demonstrators as "hooligans." That is not fair. I talked to dozens of them, mostly university students, aged about 20. They came to Quebec, not to have "a good time," as some suggest, but to express their well-thought-out views on a subject that is important to them, to all of us.

I may not have agreed with their position, but I sure believe in their right to express it. The police had no cause to violently suppress it. Some will say that a handful of demonstrators got out of hand and forced the police to take collective action. I can't agree. The police action in Quebec City, under orders from our government, was a provocation itself -- an assault on all our freedoms.

Sinclair Stevens, minister of regional industrial expansion under Brian Mulroney, was an MP from 1972 to 1988.

4/26/01
5:04:30 PM

Manipulation Anyone?

Would any of you enjoy being manipulated by your neighbour, or your boss? No one that I know of would allow this to happen at least not without a complaint, and yet there are those behind closed doors that are doing just that. But as long as we don’t know who they are it's Ok. Right?

Had you been at the peace march in Quebec city you would have a new perspective on manipulation. You would likely react to the same degree as if a fellow worker stole from you. For example in Quebec City, some 1700 journalists were enticed inside the barricades to report on the niceties of the summit. According to their own accounts, while police flung tear gas, journalists were locked up inside, unable to report on events including the march itself. How convenient! This is why you heard and read so little facts about the biggest event happening in Canada. The Liberals created an excuse to confine the journalists, all under the disguise of keeping protestors at bay. Imagine the threat a handful of teenagers shooting insults at police who are fully armed and ready for action. Teachers on yard duty are more at risk.

So you were deceived into thinking that a misguided group of students spent the weekend having a fun time of destroying property. Isolated incidents did occur, but is this what you want to believe people from around the world gathered there for? I don't think so. Police reported 35,000 in a march that took almost 3 hours to pass. These numbers excluding the thousands of enthusiastic supporters watching from sidewalks, windows and bridges. Organizers figured 60,000, and what number did Conrad Black's collection of newspapers report? 30,000. Just a little more manipulation please. Well there is much more in store for our future.

Even those who are making the decisions affecting our lives are now mere pawns in this new regime made up of North American corporations. It may sound pessimistic to suggest that the future will not be as good for our own children as it has been for us, but this is already so. I had a much greater selection of job opportunities than my children have now. They accept their situation because this is all they know. Their children will accept their plight as well and for the same reason. So goes the slow degeneration of our lifestyle.

Ask yourself one question, will our children enjoy less wealth than ourselves? If so where did that wealth go? Was it directed to poorer nations to give them a more even standard of living with our own? No! . . Did it simple disappear? No! . . . Did it end up in the pockets of multinational corporations? Yes! . . . Does this explain their increased influence over strong Nations, to enforce an agreement that will have all of us dancing to their tune? Yes!

The large corporations need our silence to continue their practice. It comes down to individual choice. As consumers, we either support the continued theft of our freedoms or we do our best to support the values that align more with our own. Everything alternative already exist. It awaits our support.

Hugh Perry author of

Silent Partners . . . an eco-spiritual adventure

www.silentpartners.ca

4/26/01
4:55:48 PM

Environmental news from GRIST MAGAZINE

1, MICHIGAN SEEMS LIKE A SCHEME TO ME NOW It has been a busy few months of cutting costs, stifling regulations, and limiting government's reach for President Bush and his business allies. For conservation advocates working at the state level, though, the president's campaign to reverse sound environmental policy is all too familiar. The early forays by the White House to undermine popular safeguards are part of a proven strategic plan, tested and perfected in GOP-dominated states in the 1990s, writes Keith Schneider in Grist. And no state, arguably, has been a more important testing ground for the GOP's efforts to turn environmental programs into mush than Michigan. Read more on the Grist Magazine website.

read it only in Grist Magazine: Bush's attack on federal resources and rules was honed in the states -- by Keith Schneider in our Main Dish column <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/maindish/schneider042501.stm>

2. SMELLS LIKE CLEAN SPIRIT Environmentalists in Kuwait -- indeed a rare breed -- celebrated scent-free, fresh air on Earth Day in the town of al-Qurain, nine miles south of Kuwait City. Thirty years ago, before the town was developed, officials began dumping the nation's trash in an abandoned quarry in al-Qurain. Fifteen years later, housing went up, and residents since then have had to deal with constant fumes of methane, carbon monoxide, nitrogen, and other smellies rising from the mess. But to the surprise of almost everyone, the nation's Environmental Protection Agency has come to the rescue. The agency, which relies mostly on private donations for its funding, has leveled the heap and turned it into a clean source of energy. In fact, the dump could produce enough methane gas to power 300 homes for the next 30 years. EPA Director General Mohammed al-Sarawi thinks the townspeople should get the energy free "as compensation for years of bad smells."

straight to the source: Christian Science Monitor, Miriam Amie, 26 Apr 2001 <http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2001/04/26/p7s2.htm>

3. CAUGHT WITH THEIR BRIEFS DOWN The White House has told the Justice Department to figure out a legal way to cast aside former President Clinton's plan to ban road-building and logging on 58.5 million acres of national forestland, reports the Washington Post. The Bush administration has until the end of next week to file a brief in an Idaho federal court announcing whether it will support the plan. Some Western Republicans and administration officials say the roadless rule was approved hurriedly before President Clinton left office, but enviros note that the rule was more than a year in the making, during which time the U.S. Forest Service collected 1.6 million public comments on the plan.

straight to the source: Washington Post, Eric Pianin, 26 Apr, 2001 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1831-2001Apr25.html>

do good: Take action to defend Clinton's roadless plan <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/dogood/forests.stm#roadless>

4. DOUBLE, DOUBLE FOR SOIL AND TROUBLE Laying the groundwork for what may become the first environmental law signed by President Bush, the U.S. Senate yesterday voted 99-0 to more than double spending to clean up of hundreds of thousands of moderately contaminated and abandoned industrial sites around the country. In the past, developers have often steered clear of the sites, known as brownfields, because they didn't want to be held liable under the Superfund law for messes they didn't create. The bill, which is expected to be approved by the House, would protect developers from U.S. EPA lawsuits and Superfund fines relating to pollution left by earlier owners. Republican senators in recent years have prevented the brownfields bill from reaching the Senate floor because they wanted the issue addressed as part of a broader review of Superfund -- but this year, the White House gave the nod to the bill and the vote went forward.

straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Nick Anderson, 26 Apr 2001 <http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environ/20010426/t000035377.html>

5. RESERVE JUDGMENT Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) and the state cabinet unanimously approved a plan yesterday to create the largest no-fishing zone in the U.S. The Tortugas Ecological Reserve, which lies 70 miles west of Key West and 140 miles from the mainland, came about after enviros, fishers, and scientists met for 10 years to discuss ways to protect the coral reefs and spawning grounds in the area. Greg DiDomenico, executive director of Monroe County Commercial Fishermen, said, "I can't say everyone is overly thrilled with the Tortugas Reserve, but I can say the process was done correctly if we're going to have to have marine reserves." The vote added 77 square miles to an existing 74-square-mile no-fishing zone located in federal waters; the U.S. Interior Department still has on the table a plan to add 46 more square miles to the zone.

straight to the source: Miami Herald, Lisa Fuss, 25 Apr 2001 <http://www.miami.com/herald/content/news/local/keys/digdocs/083365.htm>

straight to the source: CNN.com, 25 Apr 2001 <http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/science/04/25/fish.sanctuary/index.html>

Also in GRIST MAGAZINE today:

Crimea and punishment -- a day in the life of Rhys Roth, Climate Solutions <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/week/roth042501.stm>

Growth me out -- The state of the planet is grim. Should we give up hope? -- by Donella Meadows <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/citizen/citizen042001.stm>

The best thing since sliced bread -- organic bread: a life -- in our Main Dish section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/maindish/foster041601.stm>

4/26/01
4:45:07 PM

Joe Camel Versus Hamburglar

By Dahlia Lithwick

What is it about Big Tobacco that makes all us so crazy? Why is this vice different from all other vices? Is it simply the blackness of the hearts (and lungs?) of the fat cats at the cigarette companies? Or the tobacco lobby's brazen domination of Congress, and even, as it would now seem, the president (who's reportedly stiffing the federal tobacco-litigation team to the tune of $55 million)? Is it the decades of fraud and deception? The needless illness and death? Why do we find the nice folks at Philip Morris so easy to hate, while McDonald's gets off scot-free?

Well, jump back Hamburglar, because Clarence Thomas has set his sights on you. And there's nowhere to run, Grimace. Because this time it's personal. Oral argument today in Lorillard Tobacco v. Reilly, stands mainly for the proposition that in tobacco cases, perception is everything. The facts are virtually undisputed. The question turns mostly on how you cast Big Tobacco. Is it the misunderstood victim of a vengeful campaign to dismantle a venerable American institution? Or a mighty Hydra, pouring billions of dollars into addicting our children? Whose side are you on anyway, Marlboro Man?

Even the nine justices betray their own biases about smoking today, as they question industry and government lawyers about the constitutionality of Massachusetts' draconian advertising laws. Justice Ginsburg announces to Jeffrey Sutton—attorney for Lorillard, Brown & Williamson, R.J. Reynolds, and Philip Morris: "Tobacco is not like any other commodity. It's highly addictive. It's especially dangerous to children. … This is a drug most people will get hooked on." Justice Scalia, on the other hand, wonders why tobacco should be treated any differently than porn. Is tobacco different than other dangerous substances? There's the rub.

Former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger also seems to be of the Big-Tobacco-as-Darth-Vader school of legislating. In 1998, after signing off on the huge 46-state settlement with the tobacco companies, Harshbarger enacted in his own state the same advertising restrictions he'd been unable to shoehorn into the national agreement. The Massachusetts law bars retail and convenience stores from displaying outdoor cigarette ads within 1,000 feet of schools, parks, or playgrounds and requires that cigarette, cigar, and smokeless tobacco ads in stores be posted five feet off the ground so that children and dwarves will not see them.

The tobacco companies sued, alleging that the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act (FCLAA) of 1965 pre-empts state regulation on cigarette ads and that the Massachusetts law violates their First Amendment free-speech rights. The tobacco companies lost on both claims in the district court and again in the 1st Circuit.

Now if you're thinking, "Hmm ... pre-emption doctrine ... where have I heard that before," the answer may be in , Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.Natsios v. National Foreign Trade Council involving, well, Massachusetts, and its attempt to enact its own foreign policy toward Burma. What is up with Massachusetts? Tougher foreign policy, stricter advertising regulations … are they building their own space program too?

Although many of the amicus briefs in Lorillard come from advertising and free-speech groups hoping the court will do away with the long-standing distinction between vigorously protected speech and less-protected "commercial" speech, no one but Sutton really gets to talk about the speech claims today, except to say, "If I might use my remaining 12 seconds to address the First Amendment issue. …" So, it looks like the court's golden opportunity to gut the goony four-part commercial speech test from Central Hudson v. Public Service is lost. Instead, undaunted by yesterday's exercise in statutory construction, the court manages to devote the better part of an hour to interpreting the words "based on" in the FCLAA.

Did Congress mean to pre-empt all state regulation of cigarette ads? Or did they mean to regulate merely the warning label on cigarette labels? You be the justice:

FCLAA 5(b) provides that: "No requirement or prohibition based on smoking and health shall be imposed under state law with respect to the advertising or promotion of any cigarettes."

Not surprisingly, the good folks at Jones, Day, Munger, Tolles, and Latham & Watkins, and every other behemoth law firm representing the tobacco companies here today, feel that the language above precludes the states from regulating virtually anything to do with smoking. Sutton says it was a "bargain" struck between Congress and the cigarette companies when FCLAA was amended in 1969. No advertising of smokes on television and radio, in exchange for a blanket ban on state regulation of other kinds of ads.

Breyer points out that the petitioners' maps suck. How is he supposed to figure out what proportion of Massachusetts is affected if he can't even find Worcester on their damn maps? Sutton then turns to the speech issue and explains that if racist speech and "fighting words" warrant strict scrutiny (the highest order of governmental protection), why is commercial speech accorded less protection? Here is where Ginsburg reminds Sutton that smoking is more dangerous than "sticks and stones may break my bones."

Smoking is probably also more dangerous than a beating with actual sticks and stones, but Ginsburg is too subtle to tell us that. "There is no vice exception to the First Amendment," thunders Sutton (except he thunders very softly because both he and William Porter, the assistant attorney general from Massachussets, speak so softly, you might think a baby was napping in the clerk's alcove this morning). "Speak up!" hollers Justice O'Connor at Porter.

Big Tobacco is walking a thin line today because it must argue for the right to produce glossy adds that—if spectacularly effective—will lead millions more American citizens to a slow painful death from lung cancer. It's tough to make that sympathetic. The Massachusetts regulations came into effect in part because when the luscious smoking billboards came down pursuant to the 1998 national settlement, billions of dollars of tobacco money went to putting luscious smoking ads in convenience stores, bus shelters, and other places kids hang out. Tobacco companies spend millions to addict new smokers, the same way gun companies spend millions to hook new killers. But so long as it's legal to smoke and kill, they have the right to advertise. Really, the court is simply deciding how effective they're going to let the ads for lethal, legal, products be. Justice Stevens, patron saint of children and, well, me, asks Sutton: "What is the message your advertising tries to convey? Sutton: "Brand loyalty." Stevens: "ONLY brand loyalty?" Sutton: "Yes." Souter tags in: "If that were so, you'd only need the name and image of your product." He adds that it's not necessary to post ads that say "Smart Kids Smoke" or feature "Wind in the Willows characters" to show that cigarette ads target kids. Ads show "people in country suits, bars, and beaches doing healthy and sophisticated things."

Scalia goes for the glove-save by reminding Sutton that ads can say "Smoking ain't so bad. It's worth it," and they'd be permissible too. Advertising is legal. William Porter, arguing for the state of Massachusetts, has a tough time parsing the "based on smoking and health" language in the pre-emption statute. A good deal of wrangling about the legislative history of the text ensues. Porter then concedes to Breyer and Kennedy that Massachusetts could ban all smoking and cigarette ads without violating the pre-emption statute. Four justices' jaws hit the bench.

Barbara Underwood, the acting solicitor general, is given 10 minutes to support Massachusetts. With a minute before the buzzer, the booming, cartilage-crushing voice of Clarence Thomas rings out. Even though he already spoke once last term. He offers a hypothetical: "What if we learned that eating at fast-food joints, like McDonald's, causes health problems for kids." He wonders what principle Underwood would use to distinguish regulating McDonald's ads from regulating Joe Camel.

"It's the distinction between a wide variety of health dangers and the unparalleled magnitude of the smoking problem," she replies, especially in this "critical window of 14.5 to 18." Smoking is different enough to warrant ad regulation, she's saying, but not different enough to be illegal. Smoking is different for Thomas, because last year in a speech he reamed the Supreme Court press corps for reporting in the FDA-tobacco case how many justices smoked. It's irrelevant, he feels. He smokes, by the way. What possessed Thomas to speak on the last day of oral argument this term? The indignity of the Big Mac? The insipidness of the Filet-O-Fish? The wilted lettuce leaf that is the commercial-speech jurisprudence of the First Amendment? Or the fact that he understands the paradox underlying this mess of a case: Smoking, like McDonald's, can kill you without ever breaking a law.

http://www.wilderness.org/standbylands/forests/20010425_roadless.htm

4/26/01
4:40:36 PM

WILD ALERT

Several weeks ago you received a WildAlert that described the timber industry assault on the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which would protect the last remaining wild forests from logging, road-building, and mineral leasing. At that time we did not ask you to take action.

Now we need your help. In the next few weeks, the Bush administration may try to reverse the rule. These last pristine areas in our national forest system provide recreational opportunities for millions of Americans who go to these places to hunt, fish, camp, and hike. These wild forests are safe harbors to economically important fish and wildlife and provide clean drinking water for thousands of communities.

Please tell the President to implement the Roadless Area Conservation Rule without further delay and keep these last unspoiled forest lands off-limits to industry. Take action now from

BACKGROUND

In January 2001, President Clinton issued the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, ending virtually all logging, roadbuilding, and mineral leasing on 58.5 million acres of unspoiled national forest lands. The action was the direct result of a tremendous outpouring of public support: citizens attended over 600 public hearings and submitted more than 1.1 million comments in favor of the rule.

But the Bush administration appears to be taking steps to reverse the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. First, the administration delayed implementation of the rule until May 12. Second, it has mounted an anemic defense to lawsuits filed by Boise Cascade Company, the State of Idaho, and others to have the rule overturned. At a court hearing earlier this spring, the administration promised to complete its review of the rule and submit a plan by May 4. Both Vice President Dick Cheney and the new Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth have recently complained about the rule's impact on the timber industry.

This eagerness to capitulate to the desires of timber interests despite overwhelming public support for protecting our wild forests puts millions of acres of precious lands at risk - lands that serve as habitat for threatened and endangered species, provide recreational opportunities, protect against invasion of non-native species, and ensure clean drinking water. On the other hand, protecting the roadless areas will affect less than one-quarter of one percent of US timber supplies.

Over the last two decades, millions of acres of wild national forests have been logged or disrupted by roadbuilding. The national forests currently contain more than nine times more miles of roads than our country's interstate highway system. The Roadless Area Conservation Rule would provide valuable long-term safeguards for the few wild areas that remain. But industry continues to demand more access for roadbuilding, mining, and logging - and the Bush administration is listening.

TAKE ACTION

Please act today! The administration may make a decision about the Roadless Area Conservation Rule any time before May 4. Send your comments online at:

http://www.wilderness.org/standbylands/forests/20010425_roadless.htm

Or contact the administration directly at:

President George W. Bush

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW

Washington, DC 20500

202-456-1414 phone (business hours only)

email: president@whitehouse.gov

Here are some points to make:

* The Roadless Area Conservation Rule is a popular and environmentally responsible policy that is the result of a three year process, not some last minute decision.

* The development of this policy included an astounding amount of public participation. The Forest Service held more than 600 hearings nationwide and over 1.1 million people responded with comments that were in favor of strong protection for our nation's wild forests.

* These pristine areas of national forests are important to Americans. They are special places that we go to hunt, fish, camp, and hike. They also serve as important habitat for fish and wildlife and provide sources of clean drinking water for thousands of communities.

* Thus far the Bush administration has neither implemented this popular rule nor adequately defended it in court. The administration should respect the will of the American people by implementing the Roadless Area Conservation Rule immediately.

4/26/01
11:34:16 AM

Namming Names

By Scott Shuger

The WP leads with President Bush's pledge yesterday that the U.S. "would do whatever it took" to defend Taiwan if it were attacked by China, including using the U.S. military. The story also tops the WSJ's front-page world-wide news box. USAT doesn't front the comment but (its final edition) leads with the Pentagon's conclusion that the crew of that EP-3 that landed in China did not destroy as much of its secret material as was initially believed, and that therefore the plane represents "a significant technological and intelligence windfall for the Chinese." The NYT does front Bush/Taiwan but its top non-local story is yet a third China story (coming out more fully today in Nature and fronted by USAT): there, paleontologists have discovered a dinosaur fossil with clear traces of having been completely covered with feathers, the clearest evidence so far that birds stem from dinos. The LAT goes above the fold with Bush/Taiwan but leads with a semi-national story, the decision by federal energy regulators to implement conditional temporary price caps on wholesale electricity in California that would go into effect only in an energy emergency.

Even though the coverage notes that later in the day, President Bush and a State Dept. official said that U.S. Taiwan policy had not changed, it also reports that his initial remarks suggested otherwise. The WSJ says that they had "sowed confusion," and both the Journal and the NYT say they are "certain to further rile Beijing" (the Journal's words), coming as they do on the heels of the EP-3 incident and a new U.S. offering of weapons to Taiwan. The papers ably explain the problem: Since 1979, the U.S. position has been to endorse "strategic ambiguity," which is to suggest the possibility of a U.S. intervention on behalf of Taiwan without promising one, so as to perhaps deter China while not giving Taiwan a means of automatically pulling the U.S. into any conflict it might provoke with China over its status. The WP is alone in noting that four senior administration members once signed a letter advocating scrapping this ambiguity.

The papers themselves provide examples that Bush's statements hardly eliminated vagueness. The NYT says that the president "did not go so far as to say that he would send American forces into battle with China" over Taiwan, although everybody else seems to think he did. And the WP concludes, "At the end of the day, it was unclear whether Bush had made a significant change in U.S. policy or had misspoken and did not want to acknowledge it."

The papers are full of ex-Sen. Bob Kerrey's revelation that a 1969 Vietnam raid he led as a Navy SEAL officer and for which he won a medal and was credited with killing 21 Vietcong actually resulted in the deaths of more than a dozen civilians instead, a story that first broke into print yesterday in the WSJ and the Omaha World-Herald. Kerrey says the deaths came inadvertently in a night firefight. The NYT Magazine is coming out with a story this Sunday (posted online last night) that includes charges by another SEAL on the raid that the civilians died after Kerrey ordered them rounded up and killed, and that Kerrey helped kill some of them. The Post fronter goes high to say that the remarks by Kerrey (who has not ruled out running for president in 2004) after 32 years of silence are "an effort to preempt" this more critical account. The NYT runs a fairly tough editorial, reminding readers that the purposeful killing of civilians was what happened at My Lai, and is a violation of American military law, and that Kerrey once called Bill Clinton "an unusually good liar."

The WP off-leads President Bush's comment yesterday that he will have to scale back his $1.6 trillion/10 year tax cut because of resistance from some Senate Democrats. The story has another Bush switch: the president didn't say no when asked on CNN if he would accept a budget with a 6 percent increase in spending, rather than the 4 percent he proposed.

The WP reports on a poll regarding U.S. attitudes towards Chinese Americans. Large majorities of those surveyed (from 68-73 percent) believe Chinese Americans are "taking away too many jobs from Americans," (Ahem--aren't Chinese Americans also Americans?) "don't care what happens to anyone but their own kind" and "have too much power in the business world." And 46 percent believe that "Chinese Americans passing on information to the Chinese government is a problem." A full quarter of respondents were found to have "decisively negative" views of Chinese Americans. The poll was taken before the EP-3 incident took place.

The WP reports that a self-described "former CIA narcotics officer" who was interviewed on CNN on two of its shows Monday was yesterday declared an impostor by the CIA. A CNN anchor read a statement from the CIA to that effect, but the network did not issue a retraction or apologize. The Post adds that the man had previously appeared on Fox News. According to the story, after doing some pre-interview due diligence, neither network had been convinced that the man was a fake. Today's Papers could have helped: it thoroughly investigated the man's claims and found them wanting nearly ten years ago.

4/26/01
11:18:50 AM

Planet Ark World Environment News

Doing environmental research? Search our news archives at: http://www.planetark.org/searchhome.cfm

Aventis asks for bio-corn residue limit - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10636

EPA sees no change in US low-sulfur diesel rule - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10626

Bush says he wants to drill in Alaska refuge - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10619

US farm group urges alternative to roadless rule - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10635

US Republican submits plan to battle global warming - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10634

Florida approves largest U.S. no-fishing sanctuary - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10633

Mass. govenor sets new rules for old power plants - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10632

Chernobyl anniversary haunts Ukraine - UKRAINE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10629

UK oil industry looks to sustainable development - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10620

Internal engine drives Earth's changes - scientists - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10638

Bush called "The Toxic Texan" in British parliament - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10637

Update - Ozone depletion drops over N. Hemisphere - SWITZERLAND http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10627

Sweden to reform vehicle tax in anti-pollution drive - SWEDEN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10621

Greenpeace members arrested at Russia incinerator - RUSSIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10625

UPDATE - Japan village to hold referendum on nuclear fuel - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10630

Iraq's battered refineries battle pollution - IRAQ http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10622

Indian police recover 11 animal skins - INDIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10623

Greenpeace occupies Greek fertiliser plant - GREECE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10628

UPDATE - Monsanto replacing GMO canola seed in Canada - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10631

Inco to clean Port Colborne soils - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10624

EU proposes energy saving standards for buildings - BELGIUM http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10639

4/25/01
7:45:24 PM

Public Citizen

Dangerous Tires Prone to Shred Are Still on Road, Investigation Shows

Consumers Call for Expanded Recall, Information Campaign and Updated Safety Standards

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The public is at risk from Firestone tires that remain on Ford Explorers. These tires are just as prone to separate as tires recalled last year, an in-depth investigation by Public Citizen and Safetyforum.com has found.

Far from "making it right" - as Firestone's recent ad campaign has claimed the company is trying to do - Firestone and Ford have made it all wrong by replacing faulty tires with tires that are just as prone to fail, according to the report, The Real Root Cause of the Ford-Firestone Tragedy: Why the Public Is Still At Risk.

The investigation found that the tires fail because they are poorly designed and, in some cases, the design problems are exacerbated by inadequate quality control in the manufacturing process. Rollover crashes occur because the design of the Ford Explorer makes it difficult for motorists to maintain control of the vehicle when the tires fall apart.

Both companies are to blame for the tragedy in which more than 184 people have already died and more than 700 have been injured in rollover crashes (primarily in Ford Explorers caused by separating tread on Firestone tires). But the ultimate responsibility lies with Ford, because many key decisions leading to the tragic deaths were made by Ford, the groups have concluded.

The report is based on all available information, including the physical examination of more than 100 Firestone tires obtained in the U.S. and abroad, including both tires that had failed and tires that had not. The report also is based on X-rays of tires, Ford and Firestone documents, an examination of NHTSA's defect investigation database, independent laboratory and real world tests, and depositions from litigation. The report is the official consumer reply to reports issued earlier by Ford and Firestone that outlined the companies' findings of the Ford/Firestone debacle.

Based on the findings, Public Citizen and Safetyforum.com are calling on Ford and Firestone to expand the recall to include the approximately 10 million non-recalled 15-inch Wilderness tires, as well as all 16-inch Wilderness AT tires before the summer, when heat will take its toll. Data show that approximately half of the Firestone tread separations have occurred in June, July and August.

"Unless these companies take immediate steps to get these tires off the road, we could have another summer of carnage on our highways," said Ralph Hoar, executive director of Safetyforum.com. "Firestone's promise to 'make it right' is nothing but PR palaver until they recall all of these tires."

Said Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook, "These tires fail because they are poorly designed, and the situation was made worse by poor manufacturing processes. It's criminal for executives to sit idly by as more people are unnecessarily killed in the lethal combination with the rollover-prone Explorer just because the top brass wants to save a few dollars."

Last year, Firestone recalled 6.5 million tires, which consisted of all 15-inch ATX II, and the 15-inch Wilderness AT tires made in its Decatur, Ill., plant. Most of the tires were sold as original equipment on Ford Explorers and were made according to Ford specifications. The recall excluded millions of identical tires made in Firestone's Wilson, N.C., and Joliette, Canada, plants. But the recall should have included all 15-inch and 16- inch Wilderness AT tires made for the Ford Explorer, the report concludes. Further, Ford and Firestone compounded the problem by doing nothing more than replacing old defective tires with new defective tires.

The report concludes that the tires are failing because of a design problem, and that the non-recalled Wilderness AT tires are of the same design as the recalled tires and suffer from precisely the same defects. Further, the report finds Ford responsible for many of the decisions that led to the tragedy. Ford developed specifications for the tires, recommended a low inflation pressure as a cheap fix for the Explorer's instability, then initiated action that resulted in a weight reduction in the tire in an effort to improve the Explorer's fuel economy.

"Ford and Firestone continue to tell the American public that the Wilderness AT tires are safe despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, including the results of their own investigations,"said Tab Turner, Safetyforum.com's "attorney of record"on tire and vehicle stability issues.

The groups also are calling for:

* Ford to launch an owner notification program and a public information campaign to inform Explorer owners of the dangerous propensity for the vehicles to roll over, the difficulty in controlling an Explorer when a tire tread separates, the risks posed by the Explorer's weak roof (which frequently crushes in rollover crashes) and the failure of the Explorer's safety restraint system to provide protection in a rollover crash;

* The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to update its 30-year-old tire safety standard as required by the TREAD Act and 30-year-old roof crush standard, and to issue a rollover standard (more than a consumer information program) based on real world tests. The agency also should require improved window glazing or other protection to ensure that people aren't ejected during rollovers, and should promptly issue the rule requiring auto manufacturers to provide "early warning" information about potential defects to NHTSA; and

* Auto manufacturers to make sport utility vehicles (SUVs) safer and more socially responsible. If the manufacturers desire to continue to market these vehicles as safe and stable station wagon replacements, they should reduce their size to improve fuel efficiency, make them lower and wider to prevent rollovers and make design changes to reduce the likelihood that the high-framed SUVs will override lower-framed small cars in crashes.

April 25, 2001

Ford Ultimately Responsible for Ford-Firestone Tragedy; Steps Must Be Taken Now to Ensure No More People Die Unnecessarily

Statement of Joan Claybrook, Public Citizen President

We are here today to look both forward and backward. We look forward to explore how we can prevent the Ford-Firestone tragedy from happening again. And we turn backward to tell you what Ford and Firestone will never admit about how this happened.

At its core, the Ford-Firestone tragedy was largely the responsibility of Ford Motor Company.

First, Ford designed a vehicle that was prone to rolling over - the Bronco II - and the company refused to fix it. Then, Ford built the Explorer using a virtually identical design theme.

Ford also drew up the specifications for the now infamous Firestone tires with treads that unexpectedly separate while unwitting victims drive down the road. It was Ford that decided to put a car tire on a pickup truck chassis, which strained the tire. And it was Ford that recommended a low inflation pressure and then demanded the weight of the tire be reduced to improve fuel economy - measures that contributed to the tire's propensity to shred.

But Ford is not the only entity culpable for the deaths and injuries that have occurred with this tire and vehicle. Firestone is responsible as well. It was Firestone that agreed to manufacture the tire despite the fact that the tire was inadequate for the vehicle. And between lawsuits and warranty data, Firestone had plenty of notice that the tire had grave deficiencies, but it never told the public or initiated a recall.

While both companies have done "root cause" analyses, they haven't told the whole story, which is what we will do today. Attorney Tab Turner will present the nuts and bolts of our report, which shows that people are still at risk because the non-recalled tires and the new replacement tires are just as dangerous as the recalled tires. We will show you that the tires fail because they are poorly designed and, in some cases, the design problems are exacerbated by poor quality control in manufacturing. And Ralph Hoar will discuss the urgency of the need for the recall.

Before we go into the details, let's look forward and talk about how we can avoid such tragedies in future. Today, we are calling for several measures to be taken immediately.

First, we call for the prompt recall of all the tires still on the road that the extensive research documented in our report, The Real Root Cause of the Ford-Firestone Tragedy: Why the Public Is Still at Risk, has shown are defective. That includes all non-recalled 15-inch and 16-inch Wilderness AT tires made for the Ford Explorer.

We also call on Ford to launch an owner notification program and a public information campaign to inform Explorer owners of the dangerous propensity for the vehicles to roll over, as well as the difficulty in controlling an Explorer when a tire tread separates.

The federal government has a role in this too. We call on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to update its 30-year-old tire safety standard by the June 2002 deadline required in the recently passed TREAD Act. We also call on the agency to update its 30-year-old roof crush standard, basing the standard on real world tests, rather than the mathematical calculations. The agency should issue a rollover standard based on real world tests in addition to the information from mathematical calculations it recently released. And the agency needs to require improved window glazing and other protection to ensure that people aren't ejected during rollover.

Finally, we call on all auto manufacturers to make sport utility vehicles safer and more socially responsible. They should adopt efficiency technologies and reduce the vehicles' size to improve their fuel economy. They should make SUVs lower and wider to prevent rollovers. And manufacturers should make design changes to reduce the likelihood that the high-framed SUVs will aggressively override lower- framed cars in crashes.

These are basic steps, but they are essential. These companies have too much blood on their hands - we hope they will do what is necessary to ensure no more is needlessly spilled.

Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.

For more information, please visit www.citizen.org

4/25/01
7:43:05 PM

Environmental news from GRIST MAGAZINE

http://www.moveon.org/priceshocked/index.html

1. FAD TUESDAY President Bush said yesterday he supports a clean environment, but would "make decisions based upon sound science, not some environmental fad or what may sound good." He defended his environmental record at an environmental awards ceremony for youths, and he continued to talk green in interviews aired this morning on network shows. Since becoming president, Bush has broken a campaign promise to regulate carbon-dioxide emissions, ended U.S. participation in the Kyoto treaty on climate change, canned a rule to lower arsenic levels in drinking water, slashed a rule to make air conditioners more efficient, and rescinded a plan to make sure mining companies clean up after themselves. Yesterday, he said his biggest mistake since taking office was "allowing people to define me as somebody who's not friendly toward the environment." On ABC's "Good Morning America," Bush said, "Somehow I got tagged for not wanting to reduce arsenic in drinking water."

do good: Take action to demand less arsenic in drinking water <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/dogood/air.stm#arsenic>

2. KEMPTHORNE IN THEIR PAWS Say goodbye for now to one enviro fad -- more grizzly bears in the lower 48 states. Interior Secretary Gale Norton is preparing to drop the Clinton administration's plan to reintroduce grizzlies into the Bitterroot Mountains of Montana and Idaho. The bears have been removed from 98 percent of their historic range and only about 1,200 remain south of Canada. The Clinton administration's reintroduction plan was built on the work of a local partnership of environmentalists, timber officials, and mill workers -- just the sort of model that Norton and her ilk claim to love. But Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne (R) has said he doesn't want "massive, flesh-eating carnivores" reintroduced into his state (note: grizzlies are omnivores); he sued to stop the plan right before President Bush took office. Norton's aides say she wants to respect states' rights and will likely defer to Kempthorne on this one.

straight to the source: Washington Post, Michael Grunwald, 25 Apr 2001 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60908-2001Apr24.html>

catch it only in Grist Magazine: The simple bear necessities -- a cartoon by Suzy Becker <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/ha/ha090800.stm>

read it only in Grist Magazine: Bottoms up or tops down? -- should locals be more involved in public lands decisions? -- by Rocky Barker <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/imho/imho011701.stm>

3. BARTON FINKS It hardly seems fair to compare the plight of the Barton Springs salamander to that of species such as the grizzly in the Northern Rockies or the no-longer-so-resilient salmon of the Pacific Northwest. After all, the salamander is a tiny creature, with full-grown adults measuring just a little more than two inches, and the salamander's range is only a few miles of stream running through Austin, Texas. Don't be fooled. Even if you favor charismatic megafauna, there's much to be learned from the deep-in-the-heart-of-Texas struggle to save the salamander. Read more on the Grist Magazine website.

read it only in Grist Magazine: Austin is losing the battle to protect the Barton Springs salamander -- in our Main Dish section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/maindish/oko042401.stm>

4. NAPPY STIR UP Environmental groups in the U.K. want the country's National Health Service to spearhead a campaign to use cloth nappies (that's Brit for "diapers") instead of disposable ones. The Women's Environmental Network says parents attending pre-natal classes in the U.K. are shown only how to put a disposable nappy on an infant -- and that's wrong, wrong, wrong. It says that disposable nappies contain a chemical compound thought to disrupt sex hormones, require 200 to 500 years to decompose in landfills, and take 3.5 times the amount of energy to produce as "real" nappies. But the Absorbent Hygiene Products Manufacturers' Association says that disposable nappies are the better choice for parents and that real nappies require gobs of electricity and water when washed. Its Nappy Information Service says, "Neither disposable nor reusable nappies can claim environmental superiority."

straight to the source: BBC News, Alex Kirby, 23 Apr 2001 <http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_1287000/1287722.stm>

Also in GRIST MAGAZINE today:

Mir, love, and understanding -- a day in the life of Rhys Roth, Climate Solutions, writing from the Crimea <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/week/roth042401.stm>

How the police count protesters in three easy steps -- a cartoon by Suzy Becker <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/ha/ha042301.stm>

Here's the scoop -- Grist reader stops eating Starbucks ice cream! -- and other letters to the editor <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/letters/letters041701.stm>

4/25/01
7:26:57 PM

Energy prices are skyrocketing across the nation, yet Washington is doing nothing. Energy producers are taking huge windfall profits. Consumers and taxpayers are given the shaft.

Enough is enough. Join our citizens' campaign by sending an instant email to your representatives in Washington. Go to:

The energy markets are controlled by a small number of companies -- Enron, Duke, Dynegy, Reliant, etc -- which supply local utilities throughout the country with gas and power. These companies are so big, they are more like monopolies than players in a price-competitive market. Their irresponsible behavior calls for a strong federal hand.

In California alone, these companies and their affiliates have already overcharged by more than $6.3 billion (1). If nothing is done, the number is expected to rise to as much as $70 billion (2). That's $2,000 for every man, woman, and child in the state.

This may be the biggest scam ever to hit the U.S. -- potentially dwarfing the Savings and Loan mess of the 80s. Yet FERC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the Bush administration are taking no action.

A new bill sponsored by Senators Feinstein (D-CA), Smith (R-OR), and Lieberman (D-CT), would direct FERC to set temporary "cost-plus" rates allowing wholesalers to charge a reasonable rate of profit, not the excessive premiums they are now charging.

Join us in voicing your support for this important bill at:

http://www.moveon.org/priceshocked/index.html

Thank you for your help. And pass on the word. We cannot let this go unchallenged.

Sincerely,

-Wes Boyd

MoveOn.org

4/25/01
7:24:27 PM

The War on Cheap Drugs

By June Thomas

The announcement last Thursday that 39 international pharmaceutical companies had abandoned their legal efforts to stop South Africa from importing cheaper, generic anti-AIDS drugs was presented almost universally as a triumph of David over Goliath. The Financial Times, conveying the sentiments of the British charity Oxfam, said: "South Africa is to the global pharmaceutical industry what Vietnam was to the US military. Nothing will be quite the same again." Hong Kong's South China Morning Post declared, "To the four million South Africans suffering from HIV, this is more than a victory, it is the rebirth of hope." Johannesburg's Saturday Star pronounced, "[I]t represents the power of mass action to make even huge multinational corporations back down."

Most papers suggested that the drug companies capitulated because of the PR hit. Libération of Paris huffed: "Entrenched in an untenable position, the pharmaceuticals wound up throwing in the towel. The damage to their image would have been devastating if, in a country where close to 5 million people are doomed to die from AIDS, they had continued to plead the primacy of profit over the right to life." The SCMP concluded that the companies "finally accepted the weakness of their case in the face of a humanitarian disaster." La Libre Belgique of Belgium posited that, despite appearances, Big Pharma may in fact have come out on top because they got the South African government to affirm the primacy of their patent rights while at the same time appearing humanitarian by giving up their lawsuit.

The immediate consequences for South Africa's health-care system are hard to predict. The country's health minister announced that the government would immediately implement the 1997 law that Big Pharma had challenged; however, according to the Sunday Independent, in the same press conference, she "made it clear that providing Aids drugs was not a government priority." The minister said that anti-retroviral drugs "remained too expensive" and that the government preferred to deal with the "opportunistic diseases" that afflict people with HIV. An AIDS activist responded by pointing out that a cost-benefit analysis has not been prepared nor has a detailed treatment plan been drawn up to deal with the nation's HIV epidemic. President Thabo Mbeki's longtime (though now abandoned) denial that HIV causes AIDS, a piece of medical apostasy that many claim set back South African AIDS treatment by years, was in evidence when a drug company spokesman confirmed that "someone in government had changed a phrase in the final letter of agreement between the [Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Association] and government from 'HIV and Aids, malaria and tuberculosis' to 'communicable diseases,' thus avoiding mention of HIV and Aids."

The government's reluctance to declare AIDS a national emergency, although as many as one in eight citizens are HIV-positive, may keep cheap AIDS drugs out of reach. The Saturday Star reported that the disputed 1997 law does not challenge drug companies' patent rights, which allow them a 20-year monopoly on drugs they develop. Since anti-retroviral drugs are recent creations, their patents have years to run. Several countries, notably Brazil, have taken advantage of what Canada's Globe and Mail described as "an escape clause" in the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights that allows countries to import or produce generic drugs in the case of "an emergency." Nevertheless, there will be benefits for consumers: South Africa's Sunday Times pointed out that when the legislation takes effect, pharmacists will be compelled to tell customers about generic alternatives; pharmacists and doctors will be prohibited from accepting manufacturers' incentives; and "[d]octors, pharmacists and hospitals will receive a standard dispensing fee and no longer be able to profit by marking up medicines." An editorial in the same paper said:

We now need to admit that the victory scored this week was a minor one in the battle against HIV/AIDS. The real battle is the one we will have to fight in our policies, in our minds and in the way we conduct our sexual relations. This will require the same kind of leadership that the government showed in the fight against pharmaceutical companies. It is a war that will need the backing of our first citizen, who, while no longer questioning scientific fact about AIDS, cannot be allowed to maintain his silence on the disease.

The Financial Times profiled Zachie Achmat, an openly gay, HIV-positive veteran of the anti-apartheid movement, who, the paper said, "has come to personify a disease still taboo in his country despite its ubiquity." Achmat refuses to take anti-retroviral drugs until they are available to all South Africans. He formed the Treatment Action Campaign, the country's leading AIDS lobby, "when he realised that people in the west were no longer dying from HIV." Surprisingly few voices were raised to defend the pharmaceutical companies. Austria's Der Standard advanced the argument that companies invest in research in order to make profits, which is only possible if they are guaranteed patent rights for "at least a few years. … This is why we must hope that other countries won't follow the example of South Africa." (German translation courtesy of BBC Monitoring.) An op-ed in the Sunday Telegraph attacked the oversimplification of those who brand large drug companies "symbols of capitalist rapacity, second only in their wickedness to the tobacco companies" and defend the plucky manufacturers of generic drugs. Dr. Anthony Daniels concluded:

The multi-nationals are portrayed as blood-sucking parasites, feeding off human misery. But if that is the case, then the companies that produce generic drugs are feeding off the pharmaceutical multi-nationals' expenditure on research. Is the parasite of your parasite really your friend? … The main difference between the two types of pharmaceutical company is in the market niches they occupy. Let us therefore lay St Generic to rest. No miracles will be produced by worshipping at his shrine.

The battle of the Ba: Britain's Observer reported that concerns about claims for personal injury and property damage might bring an end to one of the world's oldest remaining ball games. The Ba, "a game peculiar to the Orkney Islands … involves two teams of hundreds of players battling to shift a rock-hard leather ball. … There are no rules." Traditionally, the local council covered the cost of any property damage caused by the game, but the litigiousness of the modern age worries the finance committee. A member told the paper, "While we do not believe that the council would be liable for personal injuries sustained during the Ba, we realise that times have changed and that there has been an Americanisation, if you like, of the way people view liability."

4/25/01
7:21:31 PM

Suits Out, Cuffs In

By Scott Shuger

The LAT leads with the Supreme Court's ruling limiting the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by holding that neither states, nor schools nor agencies receiving federal funds can be sued by private parties to halt practices on the grounds that they have a discriminatory effect, although discriminatory intent is still grounds for litigation. The case in question involved Alabama's decision to give written driving tests only in English. The WP, which fronts the civil rights ruling, and the NYT, which does not, both lead with the Court's other big decision yesterday, also fronted by the LAT: that police may without a warrant arrest and take into custody people for minor offenses punishable only by a fine. The case in question involved a woman and her children caught driving in Texas without seat belts. The WSJ puts the two Supreme Court rulings atop its front-page world-wide news box. USAT, which fronts the police ruling but not the civil rights one, leads instead with a bedside interview with the pilot of that plane carrying missionaries shot down by a Peruvian air force jet last week. The pilot says he "heard nothing" from the jet on his radio.

The LAT lead says that conservative lawyers predict that the civil rights ruling will kill off lawsuits that have been filed against the University of California and the NCAA alleging that their use of SAT scores results in the disqualification of a disproportionate number of blacks, and that Title IX, the parallel to the Civil Rights Act forbidding sex discrimination in schools and colleges, might also be rendered less effective. The paper also sees a weakening of the so-called environmental justice movement in which states and cities have been sued for locating waste facilities in minority neighborhoods.

The WP lead observes that the Court's police decision affects not only the power to arrest but also the power to search, because previous decisions have granted officers the power to perform warrantless searches once they've made an arrest. The paper says the ruling "could reshape everyday interactions between law enforcement and ordinary citizens, although both Times say it fits with the Court's trend of according police broad powers regarding traffic stops. It's widely noted that Sandra Day O'Connor, a dissenter, referred to police racial profiling even though race wasn't a factor in the case at hand.

The LAT is alone in fronting the Federal Trade Commission's continuing displeasure with the major record labels' failure to cut out marketing violence to young people. The FTC's new report says however that the movie and video game folks have cut back on targeting kids. Universal Music Group was cited for running Marilyn Manson ads on an MTV show where nearly 6 in 10 of the viewers are younger than 18, and for promoting Ludacris and Limp Bizkit on other shows with large youth audiences.

The NYT fronts flooding in Davenport, Iowa and criticism directed at the city's officials by the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Joseph Allbaugh, over their prior decision not to build a permanent flood wall. Allbaugh is quoted wondering, "How many times will the American taxpayer have to step in and take care of this flooding, which could be easily prevented by building levees and dikes?" Reporters wondering if in fact the White House was pro-levee and pro-dike were told by spokesman Ari Fleischer, that in the meeting Allbaugh had with President Bush on Monday, there was no discussion about "pressuring communities." The WP stuffs the dispute, but the paper's lead editorial takes it up, saying of Allbaugh's hesitancy about repeated subsidies: "He's right about that--and lot's of luck….[T]he politics of such disasters push in favor of providing the aid, and forget the discipline."

That refreshing degree of directness is not in evidence in the NYT's lead editorial, about the administration's choice of a weapons package to sell to Taiwan. High up, the editorial call it a "course of diplomatic caution," without saying there whether it approves of the course, and waits until its last sentence to say "it is a balanced package that honors Mr. Bush's desire to help Taiwan's democratic government without plunging it into a new and needless confrontation with Beijing." The headline? "Getting It Right on Taiwan." Would it have killed the Times to have gone instead with "Bush Gets It Right on Taiwan"?

The WSJ tops its front-page biz news box with word that General Dynamics plans to buy Newport News Shipbuilding, which would leave GD the nation's sole manufacturer of military nuclear-powered ships. The stock-purchase deal is for 75% percent more than GD's failed 1999 bid for the same company. That plan was met by opposition from the Clinton administration and from some congressional heavyweights, but, the paper says, the players are hopeful the Bush administration will have a more relaxed attitude about strategic mergers. The story says one beneficiary of the deal will be Bill Gates, who owns just over 7 percent of Newport News stock, and thus would make about $173 million. The LAT front goes long to report how locked-up inmates, "with the 1st Amendment as a shield" and call volume too great for effective monitoring, widely use prison phones to threaten witnesses, arrange alibis, get evidence destroyed and even to arrange murders.

USAT goes inside to report that two new studies involving the same pool of nearly 14,000 women with breast implants, link the implants to a higher risk of brain or lung cancer. But one researcher is quoted as saying that the results are "likely just chance." Both the implant recipients and those receiving other forms of plastic surgery also included in the study, had lower death rates than the general population, probably, the researchers conclude, because both groups are healthier than their peers. But the implantees had higher cancer death rates than those having other types of tune-ups.

Do the folks at the WP's "Style" section read anything? Two days ago the section ran a piece about how the female host of "Weakest Link" was a counterexample to a historically heavily male-dominated field of endeavor and soberly proclaimed that nobody had previously noticed this, although Slate ran a piece making that observation almost three weeks before. And today, a bunch of those wacky guys go Stylin' from Washington to New York via plane, train, car and bus to see who gets there first, never letting on that the NYT did the same bit over a month ago.

http://www.tompaine.com/news/2001/04/24/index.html

4/25/01
7:18:22 PM

UTNE WEB WATCH

The Best of the Alternative Web

AFTER QUEBEC: FTAA ROUNDUP

-- TV reports of last weekend's Summit of the Americas were full of images of men in suits talking trade while masked protesters clashed with police outside. Leif Utne takes a look at what really happened in Quebec, and why you should care.

INDIA'S POSITIVE ACTION, STEELY ENDEAVOURS, AND QUIET TRIUMPHS

GoodNewsIndia.com, website review by Sara V. Buckwitz

-- After years of reading torrents of dismal Indian news, 58-year-old D V Sridharan opted to highlight the positive stories that rarely get heard and to publish them on his website.

AMERICAN STORYTELLER: PETE SEEGER

by Warren Berger, Book Magazine

-- Legendary folk musician and raconteur Pete Seeger has co-written a "how-to" book on the vanishing art of "Storytelling." Learn this ancient art, turn off the TV, and actually "tell" your kids a bedtime story.

Links to the above articles: http://www.utne.com/webwatch

4/25/01
7:12:23 PM

This Week at TomPaine.com

http://www.TomPaine.com

EATING IN THE DARK

FDA Will Not Require Labeling of Genetically Engineered Foods

Americans have a right to know what's in our food. So how come the Food and Drug Administration wants us eating in the dark?

The FDA has proposed new rules that would NOT require genetically engineered (GE) food to be labeled as such. The rules would also continue to allow these foods to be sold without any required safety testing. We don't know what these foods might do to people with allergies or weak immune systems, or if they have any long-term effect on children.

The new FDA rules are not yet final. Consumers have one more week -- until May 3 -- to let the agency know what they think. They can do so at http://www.TrueFoodNow.org.

Credible polling shows Americans overwhelmingly favor GE food labeling. But if the FDA's new rules go through as drafted, Americans will be left eating in the dark.

READ OUR NEW YORK TIMES 'OP AD'... http://www.TomPaine.com/opad

...AND READ THESE OP-AD FEATURE STORIES...

THE LABELING LOGIC

by Charles Margulis, Greenpeace

A detailed critique of the FDA's new GE food regulations. In sum: No labels, no tests, no problem, says FDA.

THE A-B-C's OF GE FOOD

by Rachel Massey, Environmental Research Foundation

In the rush to promote genetic engineering, safety testing has fallen through the cracks. The fourth in a series of articles on the science and regulation of GE foods, with links to the entire series.

http://www.tompaine.com/opinion/2001/04/18/1.html

COMMON SENSE ON BIOTECH

by Michael F. Jacobson, Center for Science in the Public Interest

The author is does not share the same suspicion of GE foods that other environmental and public health advocates have, but he agrees that labeling would help GE foods gain credibility with the public.

http://www.tompaine.com/features/2001/04/24/1.html

CAN GE FOOD FEED THE WORLD?

by Brian Halweil, WorldWatch Institute

The biotech industry says we need GE foods to feed an exploding world population. In congressional testimony, this researcher says that such technology isn't the solution to world hunger.

http://www.tompaine.com/features/2001/04/24/index.html

Also this week at TomPaine.com...

TELL THE PREZ: EVERY DAY IS EARTH DAY

by Andrew Werbrock, Assistant Editor, TomPaine.com

At the third presidential debate of the 2000 election, candidate George W. Bush announced: "If you own the land, every day is Earth Day." It looks like he missed a few days since taking office in January. A chronology.

http://www.tompaine.com/opinion/2001/04/23/1.html

THE COLOR OF YOUTH CRIME

by Lydia Holden, TomPaine.com Intern

A new report takes the media to task for its inaccurate coverage of crime, race and youth. Do distorted portrayals have an impact on policy or on public perceptions?

http://www.tompaine.com/news/2001/04/23/1.html

MAKING GLOBALIZATION A LOCAL ISSUE

by Neil Watkins, Center for Economic Justice

World Bank bonds are bought by institutional investors, trade union pension funds, and university endowments. This gives us a powerful tool to exert influence over an institution promoting an unsustainable model of globalization.

A TomPaine.commentary -- audio and text -- produced by Rupert Basco.

http://www.tompaine.com/opinion/2001/04/23/index.html

CONFLICT IN QUEBEC

by Mark Engler

Last weekend's demonstrations voiced criticisms of "free trade" and poked a hole in the anti-democratic "wall of shame" surrounding the meeting site in Quebec. But that fence needs to come down for good. How will globalization's critics make that happen?

http://www.tompaine.com/opinion/2001/04/24/index.html

4/25/01
7:12:19 PM

This Week at TomPaine.com

http://www.TomPaine.com

EATING IN THE DARK

FDA Will Not Require Labeling of Genetically Engineered Foods

Americans have a right to know what's in our food. So how come the Food and Drug Administration wants us eating in the dark?

The new FDA rules are not yet final. Consumers have one more week -- until May 3 -- to let the agency know what they think. They can do so at http://www.TrueFoodNow.org.

Credible polling shows Americans overwhelmingly favor GE food labeling. But if the FDA's new rules go through as drafted, Americans will be left eating in the dark.

READ OUR NEW YORK TIMES 'OP AD'... http://www.TomPaine.com/opad

...AND READ THESE OP-AD FEATURE STORIES...

THE LABELING LOGIC

by Charles Margulis, Greenpeace

A detailed critique of the FDA's new GE food regulations. In sum: No labels, no tests, no problem, says FDA.

http://www.tompaine.com/news/2001/04/24/index.html

THE A-B-C's OF GE FOOD

by Rachel Massey, Environmental Research Foundation

http://www.tompaine.com/opinion/2001/04/18/1.html

COMMON SENSE ON BIOTECH

by Michael F. Jacobson, Center for Science in the Public Interest

http://www.tompaine.com/features/2001/04/24/1.html

CAN GE FOOD FEED THE WORLD?

by Brian Halweil, WorldWatch Institute

The biotech industry says we need GE foods to feed an exploding world population. In congressional testimony, this researcher says that such technology isn't the solution to world hunger.

http://www.tompaine.com/features/2001/04/24/index.html

Also this week at TomPaine.com...

TELL THE PREZ: EVERY DAY IS EARTH DAY

by Andrew Werbrock, Assistant Editor, TomPaine.com

http://www.tompaine.com/opinion/2001/04/23/1.html

THE COLOR OF YOUTH CRIME

by Lydia Holden, TomPaine.com Intern

A new report takes the media to task for its inaccurate coverage of crime, race and youth. Do distorted portrayals have an impact on policy or on public perceptions?

http://www.tompaine.com/news/2001/04/23/1.html

MAKING GLOBALIZATION A LOCAL ISSUE

by Neil Watkins, Center for Economic Justice

A TomPaine.commentary -- audio and text -- produced by Rupert Basco.

http://www.tompaine.com/opinion/2001/04/23/index.html

CONFLICT IN QUEBEC

by Mark Engler

http://www.tompaine.com/opinion/2001/04/24/index.html

4/25/01
7:07:18 PM

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE

http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-24-06.html

"We Cover the Earth For You"

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ISSUES FORCE CEMENT PLANT TO CLOSE

By Cat Lazaroff

CAMDEN, New Jersey, April 24, 2001 (ENS) - In a precedent setting environmental justice decision, a federal judge has halted operations at a New Jersey cement plant, saying toxic emissions from the facility would harm nearby residents and violate their civil rights. The plant was officially dedicated last March by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christie Whitman, then New Jersey's governor.

For full text and graphics visit:

ENVIRONMENTAL TREATIES ENFORCED FROM THE HEAVENS

PARIS, France, April 24, 2001 (ENS) - Earth Observation technology used to monitor the environment from space is at the heart of four studies commissioned by the European Space Agency this month.

For full text and graphics, visit:

http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-24-11.html

HUMAN MAY HAVE CONTRACTED FOOT and MOUTH IN UK

LONDON, United Kingdom, April 24, 2001 (ENS) - Tests are being carried out on a slaughterman suspected of having contracted foot and mouth disease (FMD), the UK government confirmed Monday. The disease is extremely rare in humans and not fatal.

For full text and graphics, visit:

http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-24-10.html

WALLSTROM STARS IN HER OWN CREATION: EUROPEAN GREEN WEEK

BRUSSELS, Belgium, April 24, 2001 (ENS) - The European Commission's most ambitious attempt yet to engage with European citizens on environmental issues began today in Brussels.

For full text and graphics visit:

http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-24-07.htm

RUSSIAN EARTH DAY A PRO-DEMOCRACY, ANTI-NUCLEAR FORCE

MOSCOW, Russia, April 24, 2001 (ENS) - Earth Day in Russia is centered on a roundtable Thursday covering the global problems caused by the nuclear industry. Organized by environmentalists, human rights groups and members of the independent press, the roundtable will take place at the Sakharov Museum in Moscow.

For full text and graphics visit:

http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-24-04.htm

BRITISH ZOOLOGIST BANNED FROM GHANA DAM SITE

GLOSSOP, Scotland, April 24, 2001 (ENS) - A British scientist has been banned from Bui National Park in Ghana, which is due to be flooded by a hydroelectric dam on the Black Volta River.

For full text and graphics visit:

http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-24-05.htm

NEW SOLAR TECHNOLOGIES EMERGE TO MEET ELECTRICITY DEMAND

GOLDEN, Colorado, April 24, 2001 (ENS) - A longstanding efficiency record for electricity produced by solar cells made from cadmium telluride has been broken by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

For full text and graphics visit:

http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-24-08.htm

WALLSTROM STARS IN HER OWN CREATION: EUROPEAN GREEN WEEK

BRUSSELS, Belgium, April 24, 2001 (ENS) - The European Commission's most ambitious attempt yet to engage with European citizens on environmental issues began today in Brussels.

Devised by people friendly Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom, the Green Week conference and exhibition includes four days of seminars and debates on European Union environmental policy and an exhibition showcasing success stories in member and candidate states.

For full text and graphics visit:

http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-24-07.htm

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: APRIL 24, 2001

StarLink Widespread in Corn Products

Yellowstone Snowmobile Ban Upheld

Greenhouse Gases Blamed for Northern Winter Warming

Human Activities Can Cause Global Cooling Too

New Technology Reduces Diesel Emissions

Endangered Manatees Awarded New Protection in Florida

Florida Gets Great Deal on Land Purchase

Eco-Friendly Foods Get Marketing Boost

In Alaska, As Tourism Grows, So Does Economy

Take Action During National Parks Week

For full text and graphics visit:

http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-24-09.html

4/25/01
6:55:10 PM

MediaChannel.org

MediaChannel's international, biweekly, multimedia magazine

Asian Culture Vs. The Internet

Muzzling Foot-And-Mouth

Media's Black Crime Problem

And much, much more... Plus: Streaming audio and video

http://www.mediachannel.org/news/mediareader

24-HOUR NEWS AND THE ALLURE OF VOYEURISM

The allure and impact of live news coverage in our high-tech age may have us speeding past vital journalistic concerns, cautions Philip Seib.

http://www.mediachannel.org/views/oped/seib.shtml

COVERING TRADE AND PROTESTS

How will big media spin the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas, asks Greg Guma, and are independent media prepared to do better?

http://www.mediachannel.org/front.shtml#ftaa

NEWS DISSECTOR: CONFRONTING THE MEDIA BLACKOUT

Protests against Fox News and debates over recounts keep the U.S. presidential election in the public eye - or at least Danny Schechter wishes they did.

http://www.mediachannel.org/views/dissector/blackout.shtml

DAILY MEDIA NEWS

Breaking news stories about the media internationally, from mainstream and alternative sources.

http://www.mediachannel.org/news/today/

TAKE OUR SURVEY! (AND GET AN E-BOOK!)

Please take a few minutes to help MediaChannel provide you with the resources and information of most interest to you. Every respondent will get a free download of our new, full-length MediaChannel e-book, "Mediaocracy: Hail to the Thief."

http://64.224.42.246/survey1/survey5.cfm

**FROM OUR AFFILIATES**

DRUG WAR NEWS WAR

MediaChannel affiliate Narco News and Mexican newspaper Por Esto! face what might be "one of the most riveting libel cases in recent history."

http://www.mediachannel.org/front.shtml#narco

ANATOMY OF RUSSIA'S TV CRISIS

MediaChannel Advisor Ivan Zassoursky, director of the Center on Cultures and Communication at Moscow State University, explores the Russian fusion of politics and media.

http://www.mediachannel.org/front.shtml#russia

KIDS VS. CRIME VS. THE NEW YORK TIMES

When teens criticized The New York Times for its skewed coverage of kids and crime, the paper dismissed their concerns and suggested they badger reality cop shows and tabloids instead.

http://www.mediachannel.org/front.shtml#nyt

4/25/01
6:49:06 PM

Hunbatz Men is a respected Mayan Elder, Day Keeper - an authority on the history, rituals, art, ancient healing techniques, and chronology and calendar systems of Mayan civilization. The Daykeeper, in the tradition of the Maya, is the recipient of knowledge that has been passed down from generation to generation-through centuries of time. It is an oral tradition that implies a lifetime of learning. From the time of his birth, Hunbatz Men was chosen and taught by his uncle don Beto, the Daykeeper who preceded him.

He has authored many books, including The Secrets of Mayan Science/Religion and Mayan Vision Quest: Mystical Initiation in Mesoamerica. Hunbatz Men is the founder of Maya Mysteries School and Indigenous Mayan Community for Studies and Cultural Dissemination in Mérida, Mexico.

"Hunbatz Men unlocks the secret mysteries of Mayan thought in a way never attempted before. As in a safe in which jewels are kept, the hermeticism of Mayan teachings is revealed to the believer through his powerful teachings. The fact that Mayan philosophy could have influenced Greek thought processes and language is a daring suggestion. His teachings contain revelations that are most needed in today's anxious world and are a great contribution to the quest for the ultimate truth." --Robert Boissiere, author of Meditations with the Hopi

"Hunbatz Men presents convincing evidence for a profound sacred science underlying Mayan art and architecture. A valuable contribution to the ongoing study of ancient wisdom." --John Anthony West, author of Serpent and the Sky

INITIATION IN THE MAYAN CONSCIOUSNESS

Mayan Elder Hunbatz Men

It has been prophesied that the initiates shall return to the sacred Mayan lands to continue the labor of the Great Spirit. Here in the Mayan lands, the Great Wisdom emerged from its cycle of light and lit humankind for several millenniums. This wisdom was previously placed here by the Maya-Atlantis Itza Masters in order to light the human beings forever.

Now, in these days the incarnated masters will come back to the lands of the Mayab to make contact with the great Itza spirits so they can indicate together the new initiation, which will be taught to all human beings for them to practice. The great masters, together with the great spirits, will become a unique being, and they will be able to travel as the wind itself to fall down like the rain does, to heat like the fire does, and most importantly, to impart sacred knowledge.

The masters will arrive here from many different places. Among them there will be many differences, there will be masters of different skin colors, some of them will speak of topics very difficult to understand, some will be very old, others will be not so old, some will dance, and others will be still like rocks. But, it will be the gazes of these masters that will communicate the initiatic message to be followed in the New Time.

It has also been prophesied that this initiation will be only for the future initiates in the cosmic wisdom. Many people will come, some of them will be very young, and others will not be so young. Among these people, there will also be adult men and women who will have already understood that this modern civilization is not properly fulfilling its task of educating people with responsibility, because as it is already known by everybody, this modern civilization is provoking a big lag in people's cosmic spiritual development.

The Mayan ceremonial centers have started emanating the light of the New Time. Many of these cosmic Mayan ceremonial centers have already started emitting their solar reflex that is a call for the initiates who will come to continue the labor of the Great Spirit. In many of these centers, people will see the solar priests walking among the crowds of tourists for the first time. These tourists will be touched by the solar priests in order to be initiated in the cosmic wisdom.

The Mayan Masters will start manifesting themselves in the trees, the sun, the moon, and the stars. They will also be manifesting themselves in the houses to indicate to the families that the new time to continue the cosmic Initiatic work has reached us. Many people will not understand this since it will happen when they will be sleeping, sleepy, or lose the notion of time for a few seconds. Everything will change in this New Time including human genetics that will be moved by the sacred energy of the Father Sun and its seven cosmic brothers to help elevate human consciousness.

Altogether, when the sacred energies of the masters and initiates are performing the ceremonies in the sacred Mayan centers, then the gods, who are in the stars, will peer and bless their sons and daughters who have returned again to continue the cosmic, spiritual labor of the New Time. These gods from the stars will announce in all directions of the four cardinal points the good news of the new beginning of the Cosmic Human Being.

These gods from the stars will call the masters of the day, of the night, and those beyond and ask the, once again, to take a glance over the humanity and help them have a good awakening within the solar light. These gods will also peer inside the human bodies and ask the heart to beat rhythmically according to the rhythm of the universe. They will ask the stomach to only accept natural food, and they will ask the head to stop believing in this false, modern society.

Then, when both masters and initiates agree to all this, the spirits will manifest in different forms. The eagle as well as the serpent and the jaguar will show us what they know about our ancestors. Then, the sacred tree will illuminate us with all its wisdom. All of these beings will transmit to us information about our Mayan ancestors. This will be the moment when a grand ritual of the cosmic conjugation between the human and all the other living beings will take place.

http://www.greatmystery.org/mayaninitiation.html

4/25/01
12:31:05 AM

Latest News On The FTAA Action

http://www.indymedia.org

4/25/01
12:22:05 AM

AlterNet Headlines

NOT ONE OR TWO, BUT HUNDREDS OF PROTESTS

Naomi Klein, Globe and Mail

There weren't two protests that took place in Quebec City -- one a "peaceful" labor march, the other "violent" anarchist riot. There were hundreds of protests, all resisting the passive vision of democracy pushed by the FTAA.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=10754

See AlterNet's full FTAA coverage:

NO ONE GETS AWAY CLEAN

Roberto Rivera, Breakpoint.org

The death of a missionary and her daughter in Peru has drawn national attention because they were American citizens killed by a foreign military. They were also another casualty of the war on drugs.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=10784

** See also: DRUG WARRIORS SHOT DOWN PLANES BEFORE

ALL PORN, ALL THE TIME

Don Hazen, AlterNet

An interview with investigative reporter Gary Webb, who spent nine months surfing online porn sites to conclude that today's teens are the first "post-censorship generation."

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=10782

THE CASE FOR TIMOTHY MCVEIGH

Geov Parrish, AlterNet

The May 16 execution of Timothy McVeigh promises to be one of the most repulsive, sickening media and cultural spectacles in the modern history of a country numbed by them.

THE RELOADING OF HUGH HEFNER

Lara Riscol, AlterNet

At 75, the founder of Playboy is awash in blond booty and Viagra -- a hero (for some) of the adolescent age of American sex.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=10753

GEARING UP FOR THE PRO-CHOICE BATTLE

Kristen Lombardi, Boston Phoenix

With a pro-life president in the White House, pro-choice forces worry that reproductive rights may be severely limited. Is the fear warranted?

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=10774

Action: Next week the House is scheduled to hold its first anti-choice vote of the year. Join the ACLU in opposing covert attacks on reproductive freedom.

http://www.aclu.org/action/antichoice107.html

SHRUB'S FIRST 100 DAYS

Will Durst, AlterNet

Q. So the Shrub has been President for approximately 100 days and the consensus is...? A. Excepting his frequent dips into the tar pit of toxic love, he isn't regarded to have done too badly.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=10769

WHERE HAVE ALL THE PROTEST SONGS GONE?

David Corn, AlterNet

Could any current rock star rival the hard-hitting political songs of the recently deceased Joey Ramone? Might the misdeeds of George W. arouse such passions today?

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=10768

DRUG COMPANIES: SELL HARD, SELL FAST AND COUNT THE BODIES LATER

Arianna Huffington, OverthrowTheGov.com Last week pharmaceutical companies dropped their suit against South Africa's importing of generic AIDS drugs -- proof that public pressure and grassroots protest work.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=10758

CAUGHT IN THE DRUG WAR

Silja J.A. Talvi, AlterNet

In 1989, Sandy Pofahl was sentenced to a 24-year term in federal prison for conspiring to sell Ecstasy. She also joined the 164,000 women locked away in US prisons -- a third of whom are drug offenders.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=10776

HOW THE GOP GAMED THE SYSTEM IN FLORIDA

John Lantigua, The Nation

A blow-by-blow report on the voting rights violations that took place during the 2000 Florida election fiasco. Rights offender #1: the GOP.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=10785

ALL THE WHITE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT

Donna Ladd, AlterNet

Quick: What do the following two recent news stories have in common? 1. Cincinnati race riots. 2. Pool of minority journalists shrinks.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=10781

LET'S KICK ADS!: ROUND FIVE OF THE SCHMIOS

Marion Wrenn, AlterNet

This year's mock advertising industry awards ceremony did its usual service: it bedeviled seemingly innocuous ads, took them out of context and offered the necessary subversions.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=10783

AlterNet depends on word-of-mouth to publicize our site. If you found the AlterNet Headlines useful, interesting, or entertaining, we hope you'll e-mail them to a friend and suggest they sign up. The Headlines are free and anyone can sign up to receive them at http://www.alternet.org.

4/25/01
12:16:37 AM

http://www.bushcartoon.com

4/24/01
6:28:46 PM

The Nation

Let there be no doubt as to the identity of George W. Bush's least favorite U.S. Senator. It's Paul Wellstone, the rabble-rousing Progressive who represents not just Minnesota but what remains of the fighting populist spirit of the upper midwest.

And, as John Nichols shows in the latest installment of the "Online Beat," the Bush Administration is showing a remarkable level of involvement in trying to thwart Wellstone's ability to win a third term in office.

Read Nichols' dispatch, as well as his other recent reports on the FTAA protests and the occupation of the administration building at Harvard by students supporting a living wage for the university's janitorial staff. All exclusively accessible at:

http://www.thenation.com/thebeat/

THE FTAA PROTESTS:

Read numerous reports culled from the best of the alternative media about the recent Quebec City protests against attempts to forge a NAFTA-like free-trade agreement across Latin America. All available at:

http://www.thenation.com/special/2001quebec.mhtml

THE NATION HITS LA:

Check out the series of Nation-related events taking place in Los Angeles on April 27th, 28th and 29th with Nation writers Katha Pollitt, Marc Cooper, Vincent Bugliosi and Christopher Hitchens.

http://www.thenation.com/special/2001losangeles.mhtml

WEB-ONLY ARCHIVE:

You can also find a new archive comprising dozens of special Nation web-only reports from the likes of David Corn, John Nichols, Amy Bach, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Bruce Shapiro, Richard Kim, Mouin Rabbani, Congressman Bob Filner and Ken Silverstein. All available at:

http://www.thenation.com/special/web-onlyindex.mhtml

RECENT NATION ARTICLES

And still available are recent articles of interest from the pages of The Nation, including Bill Moyers on journalism and democracy; John Lantigua and Gregory Palast on the purging of African-American names from the Florida voter rolls; William Greider on global sweatshops; Marc Cooper on Plan Columbia and Eric Alterman, Alec Dubro and Peter Kornbluh on tainted Bush appointee Otto Reich. All accessible at:

http://www.thenation.com

4/24/01
6:13:47 PM

Environmental news from GRIST MAGAZINE

1. FUNEREAL DISEASE Pyres of animals being burnt in the U.K. because of the foot-and-mouth disease are producing more dioxin than all of the country's factories combined. The burning has put the country on pace to double its annual dioxin emissions. Meanwhile, the government has admitted that it hasn't conducted an assessment of the health effects of the burning and it isn't systematically monitoring the pollution coming from the pyres. Environmentalists fear that the pollution from the pyres will make nearby farmland unusable for years to come. Some residents are up in arms over the burning; in one instance about two weeks ago, protesters caused the government to abandon a pyre designed to burn 3,000 animals a day.

straight to the source: London Independent, Geoffrey Lean, 22 Apr 2001 <http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=68005>

straight to the source: London Independent, Marie Woolf, 19 Apr 2001 <http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=67483>

2. GROWTH ME OUT TO THE MAX Things sure aren't looking good for Mama Earth. We humans have done our darndest to screw up, and now we seem to be running into the limits of growth. Should we give up hope? Not a chance, writes Donella Meadows, in a posthumous column. There is too much bad news to justify complacency. There is too much good news to justify despair. Read more on the Grist Magazine website.

read it only in Grist Magazine: The state of the planet is grim. Should we give up hope? -- by Donella Meadow <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/citizen/citizen042001.stm>

3. WELL, AT LEAST HE KEEPS SOME OF HIS PROMISES White House spokesperson Ari Fleischer said yesterday that U.S. EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman had spoken in "confusion" on Sunday when she announced that Vice President Dick Cheney's secretive energy task force would not recommend oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Fleischer went on to directly contradict Whitman, saying that the task force would call for the drilling to occur. Last month, Whitman told the world that President Bush would stand by his campaign promise to regulate carbon-dioxide emissions and that the Bush administration would engage in negotiations over the Kyoto treaty on climate change -- only to have the president break the promise and take steps to withdraw from the treaty. In related news, 40 members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans, wrote to Bush yesterday to ask him to give up on the idea of drilling in the refuge. Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens (R), a big drilling fan, doesn't think the president will be able to ram through a drilling plan this year.

straight to the source: New York Times, Katharine Q. Seelye, 24 Apr 2001 <http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/24/politics/24ENVI.html>

straight to the source: Anchorage Daily News, Liz Ruskin, 24 Apr 2001 <http://www.adn.com/nation/story/0,2360,260412,00.html>

read it only in Grist Magazine: Dear Christie ... 10 Reasons to stay the course -- in a confidential memo, Bush tells Whitman what's on his mind -- satire in our opinions section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/imho/imho040901.stm>

catch it only in Grist Magazine: How many licks does it take to get to the center of the Arctic Refuge? -- a cartoon by Suzy Becker <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/ha/ha082500.stm>

4. RAINBOW WORRIERS Wearing surgical masks to draw media attention, Greenpeace activists sailed out of Russia yesterday on a month-long crusade to raise public awareness about the problems of chemical pollution in the Baltic Sea. They will visit Estonia and other spots along the sea before arriving in Stockholm, Sweden, where officials from countries around the world are convening toward the end of May to show their support for a treaty phasing out some persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Greenpeace says that POPs in the Baltic Sea may be responsible for lower birth-weights and slower development among some children born in the region, and that the treaty should be viewed as only one step toward addressing the problem.

straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, 24 Apr 2001 <http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10613>

5. NO, MOBILES The Bush administration yesterday let stand a rule approved by former President Clinton to ban snowmobiles in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, but it said that it hoped to craft a compromise in the near future to amend the rule and allow some snowmobile use to continue. The rule, finalized on Clinton's last day in office, outlaws recreational snowmobiles in the parks by the winter of 2003-04. To the dismay of enviros, attorneys working for Interior Secretary Gale Norton are trying to reach a settlement with snowmobile users, manufacturers, and others who have sued over the ban. The U.S. EPA has found that snowmobiles cause "significant environmental and human health impacts."

straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Deborah Schoch, 24 Apr 2001 <http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environ/20010424/t000034604.html>

6. BEE BOP The environmental movement has become big business, concludes the Sacramento Bee in a five-part series this week. In 1999, the most recent year for which such figures are available, the heads of nine of the country's 10 largest environmental groups earned at least $200,000 a year; one of the big wigs earned more than $300,000. (Note: No one at Grist earns more than $300,000.) Money to the movement reached $3.5 billion in 1999, a 94 percent increase from 1992, but much of the dough was spent on overhead and fundraising -- not directly on protecting the environment. To further depress you: Some believe enviro groups play with scientific facts to suit their own agendas and the loads of lawsuits filed by enviro groups are no longer producing big gains for the environment.

straight to the source: Sacramento Bee, Tom Knudson, 22 Apr-26 Apr 2001 <http://www.sacbee.com/news/projects/environment/index02.html>

Earth Day, My Foot! -- the latest in the comic adventures of Zed, last of his species <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/zed/zed042001.stm>

Just say no! -- a review of Arctic Refuge -- in our Books Unbound section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/books/books041101.stm>

Sugar beets, Ukrainian breakfast of champions -- a day in the life of Rhys Roth, Climate Solutions <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/week/roth042301.stm>

4/24/01
11:39:35 AM

Planet Ark World Environment News

Doing environmental research? Search our news archives at: http://www.planetark.org/searchhome.cfm

Japan adamantly against biotech wheat - US report - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10609

Bush's green record defended - subpoena threatened - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10617

Eight activists share world environmental prize - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10602

LIPA helps business buy solar power panels - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10603

PECO to offer wind power in Pennsylvania - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10604

US lawmakers urge Bush to drop Arctic oil drilling - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10616

Bush task force will recommend Alaska drilling - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10612

BP Amoco to pay $804,700 fine in US oil spill - EPA - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10600

Britain probes health risk of animal pyres - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10618

WRAPUP - Sustainable growth takes centre stage at EBRD - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10610

Sweden may host talks on Kyoto compromise - minister - SWEDEN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10611

EU, Senegal postpone deal on fishing rights - SENEGAL http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10608

Greenpeace launch cruise against Baltic pollution - RUSSIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10613

UPDATE - Six plead guilty in Japan's worst nuclear accident - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10607

INTERVIEW - Jakarta says fails to meet donor forestry demands - INDONESIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10615

UPDATE - German nuclear waste shipment prompts protest - GERMANY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10614

German wind energy production to rise in 2001 - BWE - GERMANY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10605

Tanker industry rebuts US government criticism - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10606

World warming said melting Australia's alpine snow - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10601

4/24/01
11:37:57 AM

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE

http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-23-01.html

"We Cover the Earth For You"

2001 GOLDMAN PRIZE WINNERS FIGHT FEAR AND GREED

SAN FRANCISCO, California, April 23, 2001 (ENS) - The day Jane Akre and Steve Wilson were fired from their jobs as investigative reporters at the Fox TV affiliate in Tampa, Florida they could never have guessed that today they would win a $125,000 prize for a report that never aired.

For full text and graphics visit:

PROTESTS FAIL TO HALT PROGRESS AT FREE TRADE SUMMIT

QUEBEC CITY, Canada, April 23, 2001 (ENS) - Democracy was front and center of a declaration issued by the 34 leaders of the Americas gathered in Quebec City, Sunday. Protection of the environment, an issue that had drawn many of the 50,000 protesters to the Summit of the Americas over the weekend, registered far lower in the leaders' priorities.

CLIMATE BREAKDOWN PITS USA AGAINST THE WORLD

NEW YORK, New York, April 23, 2001 (ENS) - High level talks on the Kyoto climate protocol at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York over the weekend have confirmed global opposition to America's decision to abandon the deal in its current form.

For full text and graphics visit:

http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-23-02.html

BP AMOCO PAYS BIG BUCKS FOR OIL SPILL IN SMALL KANSAS TOWN

KANSAS CITY, Kansas, April 23, 2001 (ENS) - BP Amoco has agreed to pay a $804,700 civil penalty for a 1994 oil spill into the Marais des Cygnes River by ARCO Pipeline Company (ARCO) which it purchased last year.

For full text and graphics visit:

http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-23-03.html

LABOR DEPARTMENT TO DELAY NUCLEAR WORKER COMPENSATION

WASHINGTON, DC, April 23, 2001 (ENS) - Labor Secretary Elaine Chao has bowed to Congressional pressure to keep a compensation program for nuclear workers in the Labor Department, where the Clinton administration put it. But the Bush administration still has until next Sunday to determine which workers can expect compensation, and which may be left out in the cold.

For full text and graphics visit:

http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-23-06.html

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: APRIL 23, 2001

Bush Administration May Be Backing Off Arctic Drilling

Diplomats Instructed to Hedge on Kyoto

U.S. to Continue Environmental Reviews of Trade Agreements

Scientists Watch Moon to Monitor Earth's Climate

DC Humane Society Will Overhaul Bird Care

Solar Power Station to Be Built at Hanford

Sicklefin, Sturgeon Chub Fail to Win Protection

Grant Funds Ecosystem Management Test in Chesapeake Bay

One Stop Map Shop

Pennsylvania Big Game Hunter Going to Jail - Again

For full text and graphics visit:

http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-23-09.html

4/24/01
11:35:14 AM

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE

http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-20-11.html

"We Cover the Earth For You"

FREE TRADE CIRCUS DESCENDS ON QUEBEC CITY

QUEBEC CITY, Canada, April 20, 2001 (ENS) - Thirty-four world leaders, 4,000 delegates, 2,500 international journalists, 6,000 police officers, 1,200 troops, several thousand protesters and a four kilometer chain link fence. What can it all mean? Why, another free trade summit of course.

For full text and graphics, visit:

ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERS ARRESTED IN EARTH DAY PROTEST

WASHINGTON, DC, April 20, 2001 (ENS) Several leaders of prominent environmental groups were arrested Thursday after they locked themselves inside the main entrance of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency headquarters.

For full text and graphics visit:

http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-20-01.html

ENVIRONMENTAL ROLLBACKS CALLED WORST THREAT TO WILDLANDS

WASHINGTON, DC, April 20, 2001 (ENS) - Of all the environmental hazards now facing America's national parks, national forests, national monuments and other public lands, the Bush administration's anti-environmental proposals pose the greatest threat, according to The Wilderness Society's fifth annual listing of the "15 Most Endangered Wildlands." The list was released today to mark Earth Day on April 22.

For full text and graphics visit:

http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-20-06.html

ANNUAL EARTH DAY ENVIRONMENTAL INDEX FINDS IMPROVEMENTS

SAN FRANCISCO, California, April 20, 2001 (ENS) - Improvement in U.S. environmental quality is one of the great "success stories of the last generation," says the Pacific Research Institute (PRI) in its 6th Annual Index of Leading Environmental Indicators, released every year for Earth Day.

For full text and graphics visit:

http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-20-02.html

CANADIAN AQUACULTURE BLAMED FOR OCEAN DAMAGE

By Neville Judd

VANCOUVER, Canada, April 19, 2001 (ENS) - Still reeling from a damning report earlier this year, Canada's fish farming industry has received a second blow from a government report stating that open netcage aquaculture seriously damages the marine environment.

For full text and graphics, visit:

http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-20-10.html

ANTI-NUKE RALLY HIGHLIGHTS EARTH DAY IN NEW YORK

NEW YORK, New York, April 20, 2001 (ENS) - Anti-nuclear and environmental activists will hold a march and rally in New York's Times Square on Sunday, to protest the categorization of nuclear energy as a sustainable power source.

For full text and graphics visit:

http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-20-03.html

SPRING FLOODS SUBMERGE UPPER MIDWEST

WASHINGTON, DC, April 20, 2001 - Spring flooding across the Midwest that has driven families from their homes in four states is not going to subside soon, according to the National Weather Service. The floods are blamed on snow melt combined with heavy spring rains.

For full text and graphics visit:

http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-20-05.html

PENTAGON EARTH DAY MISSION COATS WALLS WITH BEAN BASED PAINT

ARLINGTON, Virginia, April 20, 2001 (ENS) The United States Department of Defense is not often thought of as a particularly green agency, but in celebration of Earth Day the Pentagon is hosting a three day event to highlight some of its environmentally friendly projects.

For full text and graphics visit:

http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-20-04.html

HEALING OUR WORLD: WEEKLY COMMENT

By Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D.

Earth Day 2001 - A Celebration or a Wake?

The 31st Earth Day this year will mark an unprecedented time of resource consumption and chemical load in the environment. Government agencies are acknowledging that tens of thousands of chemicals are in our earth, air, water, and bodies. As our growing population increased its demand for resources, the objectives of the first Earth Day in 1970 may be far from accomplished and many are wondering if we will ever have cause for celebration.

For full text and graphics visit:

http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-20g.html

4/24/01
11:30:18 AM

Congratulations to investigative TV journalists Jane Akre and Steve Wilson, recipients of this year's prestigious 2001 Goldman Environmental Prize. Jane Akre tells the couple's story of their courageous battle against media censorship at the hands of the Fox and Monsanto corporations in PR Watch Volume 7, 4, at http://www.prwatch.org

Three years ago in PR Watch Volume 5, 2, also at http://www.prwatch.org, we revealed how Akre and Wilson were fired by Fox TV station WTVT in Tampa after refusing to go along with misleading alterations to their story about Monsanto's genetically engineered bovine growth hormone (BGH). Last August Jane Akre won a landmark whistleblower lawsuit against WTVT, yet their former network continues its legal efforts to reverse the ruling and crush them financially.

The Goldman Environmental Prize which Akre and Wilson will receive this evening at a ceremony in San Francisco is an honor that should send a message to journalists everywhere. We hope that their example will encourage other reporters to display similar courage in standing up against efforts at self-censorship by media corporations and their advertisers.

Journalists should examine this case and its implications. If the Fox network and Monsanto could destroy the careers of these two seasoned reporters, the same thing could happen to anyone. With few resources other than courage and truth Akre and Wilson have struggled to place issues before the public that otherwise would remain hidden from view. In addition to their battle in the courts, they have used the skills they honed in the newsroom to fight back in the court of public opinion, refusing to be silenced.

Goldman Environmental Prize: http://www.goldmanprize.org

Jane Akre & Steve Wilson: http://www.foxbghsuit.com

PR Watch: http://www.prwatch.org

4/24/01
11:28:11 AM

World's Largest Award for Grassroots Environmentalists

Two American journalists who risked their careers to expose the dangers of rBGH (recombinant bovine growth hormone), a Rwandan who fought to save mountain gorillas amidst his country's genocidal wars, and a Bolivian worker who won the world's first major victory in the struggle over privatizing public water, are winners of the 12th annual Goldman Environmental Prize, to be awarded on April 23, 2001.

They are among eight environmental heroes from around the globe who will receive the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize. The award, given in six geographical categories, includes a prize of $125,000 from the Goldman Environmental Foundation. (Two of this year's categories have two winners each.)

The total of $750,000 is given annually to grassroots heroes from North America, Africa, South/Central America, Asia, Europe, and Island Nations. Seventy-one previous Goldman Prize winners have successfully defended the safety and health of their homelands from destructive government projects and practices, multinational corporations, corrupt leaders, international financial institutions, and even the destruction of wars. The Goldman Prize allows many to continue their work and expand public awareness of what are often life-and-death environmental crises.

This year's winners are:

- North America - Jane Akre and Steve Wilson: Two TV journalists who researched the potential health risks of rBGH (recombinant bovine growth hormone)-the genetically modified hormone injected into U.S. dairy cows to stimulate milk production. The hormone is among of the first genetically modified products approved by the FDA. It is banned in Europe, Japan and most other industrialized nations. Their resulting story proved too hot for the local TV network affiliate for which it was produced and ultimately led to their firing.

- Africa - Eugene Rutagarama: A conservationist who risked his life to save Rwanda's last 355 mountain gorillas. He was forced to flee Rwanda during the massacres of the 1990s, during which most of his family was killed. As soon as possible, he returned to rebuild the national park system and protect the gorilla habitat from human encroachment as the government resettled millions of refugees. While his country was overrun with brutality and murder, he risked his life to save the silent victims of this genocidal war.

- South America - Oscar Olivera: A Bolivian labor leader who became an advocate for universal rights to affordable, clean water. In 1999, the Bolivian government reacted to pressure from international financial institutions by selling the public water system of one of its largest cities to a U.S. corporation. The corporation immediately raised water rates to the point where many families were paying up to a third of their income for water. Finding this intolerable, he led a coalition that took to the streets in the tens of thousands to bring the city to a halt for days. After a brutal government crackdown forced him into hiding, he emerged and continued protests and negotiations that forced the government to cancel the sale.

- Asia - Yosepha Alomang: An indigenous woman of West Papua (Irian Jaya, Indonesia) who has organized resistance to the destruction of the world's largest gold mining operation, set amidst at-risk virgin tropic rainforests. She has been detained, placed in inhumane confinement, and tortured for her efforts. Her ethnic group has declared independence to gain control over their resources, and their actions have been met with repressive and violent government action. Regardless of these dangers, she continues to shepherd projects promoting traditional cultures, collective action and the well being of indigenous people in West Papua.

- Europe - Myrsini Malakou and Giorgos Catsadorakis: Two Greek biologists who led the charge to create a crucial wetlands conservation area located in remote northwestern Greece, adjacent to the borders of Albania and Macedonia (former Yugoslavia). No other area in Europe of comparable size is as biologically rich and diverse. Post-World War II government policies nearly destroyed the wetlands and the traditions of the people in the region. The Prize recipients worked for years researching, organizing, and advocating sustainable farming and economic activities to restore this precious area. Their hard work paid off last year when Albania, Macedonia, and Greece jointly created the first trans-boundary protected area in the Balkans, an area better known for conflict than cooperation.

- Island Nations - Bruno Van Peteghem: A New Caledonia (in the South Pacific east of Australia) resident working against time and mining interests to protect one of the world's coral reefs from destruction. International companies are ready to dig up huge portions of the living reefs to provide neutralizing agents for acidic nickel mine tailings. Van Peteghem is leading a campaign to place the reef on the World's Heritage List-the reef's best hope for permanent protection. A successful island environmental activist since the early 1990s, he has confronted severe intimidation and abuse including the suspicious burning of his family's home.

"The world is getting smaller, and the need is growing for everyone to take responsibility for keeping our planet healthy," said Richard N. Goldman, founder of the Goldman Environmental Prize.

"The winners this year illustrate how the environment is affected by wars, international business, economic policies, and the tendency to put short-term gains ahead of long term solutions. They also illustrate how the courage and commitment of a single visionary individual can make a difference for generations to come."

The first Goldman Environmental Prizes were awarded in 1990 by civic leaders Mr. Goldman and his late wife Rhoda H. Goldman. Mr. Goldman is Chairman of Goldman Insurance Services in San Francisco. Rhoda Goldman was a descendant of Levi Strauss, the founder of the worldwide clothing company that bears his name.

Goldman Prize winners are selected by an international jury from confidential nominations submitted by a network of over 20 environmental organizations and individuals representing nearly 50 nations. The Goldman Prize is the world's largest award for environmental activists. In addition to the cash award, recipients travel to San Francisco and Washington, D.C. for an awards ceremony and presentation, press conferences, media briefings, and meetings with political, public policy, financial and environmental leaders.

The Prize ceremony, including 3-minute speeches by the winners and 5-minutes videos about their work will be webcast live on the Internet at http://www.goldmanprize.org on April 23, 5:00 p.m. Pacific/8:00 p.m. Eastern time.

FOR BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE PRIZE AND PREVIOUS WINNERS

http://www.goldmanprize.org

CONTACTS: Goldman Environmental Prize: Beverly Becker: 415 788.9090

4/24/01
11:26:18 AM

New Theory On AIDS Origin Explains Chimpanzee Connection

London: A new twist on the theory that vaccines may have triggered the AIDS pandemic is advanced in the May 2001 issue of the scientific journal of Medical Hypotheses by an independent investigator and author of a bestselling book on the subject, Dr. Leonard Horowitz. The report explains for the first time the link beween the human AIDS virus, HIV, and the chimpanzee immunodeficiency virus. Scientists who previously advanced the possibility that polio vaccines may have contributed to the initial African outbreak must take heed. This new theory proposes that HIV/AIDS was triggered by hepatitis B (HB) vaccines, partly developed in chimpanzees, given to gay men in New York City and Blacks in central Africa during the mid-1970s among persons who received suspected polio vaccines a decade earlier. Dr. Horowitz, who holds a post-doctoral degree in public health from Harvard, presented his preliminary findings at the XI International Conference on AIDS in Vancouver in 1996. Last November, his controversial thesis attracted a standing room only audience in Boston at the annual American Public Health Association conference. The subject of a forthcoming BBC documentary, his publication in Medical Hypotheses underlies widespread suspicions, especially among minority populations, that HIV/AIDS was vaccine induced. Based on a three year study of the pandemic's origin, Dr. Horowitz determined that risky pilot HB vaccine trials involved growing hepatitis viruses in chimpanzees commonly known to be contaminated with retroviruses related to HIV. These findings scientifically explain for the first time how the chimpanzee AIDS virus (SIVcpz), closely related to HIV's gene sequence, suddenly jumped species to humans simultaneously on two far removed continents. Four lots of HB vaccine containing 200,000 human doses, believed to be contaminated with gene sequences common to HIV/SIVcpz, were prepared by passing live HB viruses, grown in chimpanzees, to polio vaccine recipients previously exposed to monkey cancer viruses already suspected of playing a role in initiating AIDS. The final preparations were injected into gay men in New York City and Blacks in Central Africa between 1974 and 1975. According to several investigators, this may best explain how and why there was a sudden simultaneous outbreak of at least four major HIV strains, on two far removed continents, in two demographically distinct populations, in the late 1970s, corresponding to the only complete virus discoveries.

These disclosures come at a time of heightened concern regarding the risks posed by HIV/AIDS to minority groups and U.S. national security. In recent months, the leader of the African National Congress, South African President Thabo Mbeki, and Kenya's Minister of State, Major Madoka, reported to the press that AIDS "did not originate in Africa."

"HIV certainly has links to sub-human African primates," Dr. Horowitz explained. "What was done to these monkeys and chimpanzees during viral vaccine experiments should come under closer scientific scrutiny." The doctor's documentation strongly supports the iatrogenic theory of AIDS versus the commonly accepted belief that the virus evolved naturally.

Dr. Horowitz's full thesis, published in Emerging Viruses: AIDS & Ebola-Nature, Accident or Intentional? (Tetrahedron Press, 1998; 1-888-508-4787), gained him the 1999 "Author of the Year Award" from the World Natural Health Organization. His work has gained increasing respect from members in Congress and the medical scientific communities, some of whom are calling for a reevaluation of AIDS's origin with respect to vaccines.

4/24/01
11:24:11 AM

LIFE OF THE PLANET---WATER---BEING COMPROMISED

Maude Barlow, chair of the Council of Canadians, Canada's largest public advocacy group, states, "Governments around the world must act now to declare water a fundamental human right and prevent efforts to privatize, export, and sell for profit a substance essential to all life.

Research has shown that selling water on the open market only delivers it to wealthy cities and individuals. The finite sources of freshwater (less than one half of one per cent of the world's total water stock) are being diverted, depleted, and polluted so fast that, by the year 2025, two-thirds of the world's population will be living in a state of serious water deprivation."

Governments are signing away their control over domestic water supplies by participating in trade treaties such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and in institutions such as the World Trade Organization (WTO). These agreements give transnational corporations the unprecedented right to the water of signatory companies.

Monsanto plans to earn revenues of $420 million and a net income of $63 million by 2008 from its water business in India and Mexico. Monsanto estimates that water will become a multibillion-dollar market in the coming decades.

This international water crisis news story was selected by over 150 faculty and student researchers at Sonoma State University's Project Censored in California as the number one most censored news story for 2000.

Credit for original reporting goes to: International Forum on Globalization: Special Report 6/99, The Global Water Crisis and the Commodification of the World's Water Supply by Maude Barlow

www.ifg.org/bgsummary.html

Water Fallout: Bolivians Battle Globalization by Jim Shultz

http://www.inthesetimes.com

Canadian Dimension, Monsanto's Billion-Dollar Water Monopoly Plans

by Vandana Shiva

http://www.purefood.org/Monsanto/waterfish.cfm

Canadian Dimension, 2/00, Water Fallout,

by Jim Shultz San Francisco Bay Guardian, 5/31/00

Trouble on Tap, by Daniel Zoll

http://www.sfbg.com/News/34/35/bech2.html

San Francisco Bay Guardian, 5/31/00, The Earth Wrecker, by Pratap Chatterjee.

Peter Phillips Ph.D. Sociology Department/Project Censored

http://www.projectcensored.org

4/24/01
11:21:08 AM

FRONTLINE Bulletin - Harvest of Fear - about biotech food products

Virus proof papayas. Edible in-a-banana vaccines. Pest resistant crops. Super fast growing salmon. These are some of the current and future pay offs of genetic modification of food.

But are you wary of biotech food products? Maybe wondering why Europe is so skittish about them? Do you know how much genetically modified food is already on U.S. grocery shelves?

FRONTLINE and NOVA's joint report "Harvest of Fear"--this Tuesday April 24--explores the intensifying debate over this new technology. It interviews top scientists, biotechnology critics, farmers, food industry and regulatory agency representatives to present both sides of the controversy. And it tells some compelling stories about the breakthroughs of this technology, the potential unintended consequences, and the fierce opposition in some quarters.

"Basically, this is a story about the increasing power of science to alter our world and the fear this power generates," says producer Jon Palfreman. "The fact that the story is about food-a subject about which people have entrenched opinions, tastes, and beliefs-makes it that much more controversial."

Next Tuesday, FRONTLINE and NOVA disentangle the fight over genetically modified food-the risks...the benefits..the hopes..and the fears. It's April 24th at 9pm - ON PBS

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/harvest/

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week434/cover.html

http://www.pbs.org/frontline/

4/24/01
11:19:09 AM

INJURY AND ARREST REPORTS MOUNT AS SITUATION CALMS DOWN

By Cliff Pearson, co-chair Green Party of Dallas County Dallas, Texas USA (2001-04-22)

(QUEBEC CITY, Quebec) - The state of emergency declared last night for the headquarters of CMAQ, the Quebec Independent Media Center, has been rescinded.

At approximately 10:44 p.m. EDT, members of the Quebec Legal Collective, a group of attorneys volunteering their services to protesters, arrived at the newsroom in case CMAQ personnel required legal assistance.

At approximately 11:00 p.m. EDT, approximately 20 riot police fired rubber bullets down the stairs into the CMAQ foyer, injuring one activist. He suffered wounds to his leg and was treated at the scene by medics. CMAQ staff and reporters responded to the police assault by barricading the doors.

By 11:06 p.m. EDT, the police retreated down Rue Cote d'Abraham to confront protesters.

At 11:24 p.m. EDT, CMAQ had to block the doors with clothes and blankets to prevent tear gas -- presumably fired at the activists -- from seeping into the newsroom.

At 12:57 a.m. EDT, CMAQ reporters confirmed via eyewitnesses that the Medical Center had been tear-gassed by riot police. The clinic was moved to the CMAQ building.

As of 1:29 a.m. EDT -- Sunday, April 22, 2001 -- CMAQ staffers confirmed that the young man shot in the throat with a plastic bullet last night is in critical but stable condition at St. Foy Hospital in Quebec City, Quebec.

Other reports of serious injuries and police brutality continued to mount all last night and this morning and afternoon. People who had attended the previous protests in Seattle, Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia continue to insist that the situation here is worse than all prior protests.

One of the more serious reports is that a man suffered eye injuries after being struck in the face by shrapnel from an exploding tear gas canister.

The Quebec Legal Collective reports confirmation that more than 30 canisters of "noxious gases," such as tear gas and pepper spray, were fired in various places in the city last night.

Besides gassing, many of the acts of police brutality include the firing of rubber and plastic bullets at protesters. Quebec Legal Collective observers have collected whole bullets and shells from the ground.

The legal team also reports the use of metal "bean bags" shot from police weapons. Additionally, there is one confirmed report of a man with a broken arm hit by a tear gas canister reportedly fired at close range (less than one meter, or two feet).

As for arrests, the Quebec Legal Collective confirmed -- by receiving calls from jailed prisoners themselves -- a total of 430 arrested protesters. Of these, 250 were arrested between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m last night.

Most of the arrests took place near Rue St. Joseph and Rue de l'Couronne. These streets are several city blocks from the security perimeter and are supposedly in designated "green" zones -- areas of low-risk of arrest, where no illegal behavior was to take place.

Some of the protesters arrested yesterday and Friday have been released. The charges are varied, and are mostly for minor infractions such as criminal mischief and "being suspect," a dubious term that does not appear to be a legal criminal charge.

Patrick Deschenes, the missing roommate of my Canadian host, has still not been positively located. But at approximately 8:00 a.m. EDT, our host, Sarah Gognan, was told that others of her friends arrested in the same incident are now out of jail. These friends confirmed that Mr. Deschenes is in the jail.

Jaggi Singh, the activist reported kidnapped by police on Friday, is still in jail and police say he will not be released until Wednesday, April 25, 2001. Police have not said why he will be detained so long.

At 1:30 p.m. EDT this afternoon, an attorney from the Quebec Legal Collective came to the CMAQ newsroom to announce that he is filing a class action lawsuit on behalf of those who have suffered civil rights abuses and police brutality. He is looking for victims of police brutality to interview.

The Quebec Legal Collective reports they have received more than 30 reports of people being detained on the streets and questioned by riot police.

They also report they have spoken with and received reports that many vans, buses, and cars have been stopped. Reports include incidents of police unlawfully demanding identification from all passengers in cars, unlawful searches of people on the street who are not under arrest and do not consent to the search, and the ticketing of people who have tear gas masks -- none of which are illegal acts under the Canadian Charter of Government.

Additionally, the Quebec Legal Collective reports numerous eyewitness reports of over a dozen "targeted arrests" of protesters. Police have made targeted, pre-planned arrests of specific people, without regard to their current actions -- presumably as "preventive arrests."

For example, the legal team reports three police cars pulled up on the side of the road, jumped out and tackled a person to the ground. In another situation witnessed by legal observers, two undercover police vans picked up three people as they were walking peacefully by a gas station.

Finally, the legal team reports that more than 300 people from the United States were turned back at the border attempting to enter Canada. People turned back had their personal belongings (including phonebooks, literature, and journals) photocopied and were interrogated about their political beliefs and activities before they were turned away. Over 15 people were detained at the New York and Vermont borders and have not yet been released.

Actions today are decidedly calmer so far. Activists are apparently centering their attention around "solidarity protests" outside the Orsainville prison, the Quebec City facility where those arrested last night are currently jailed. Protesters are shouting outside the prison walls for the unconditional release of all the remaining protesters who are imprisoned.

There are no scheduled actions planned for the security perimeter fence, as there were yesterday, but there are reports of tear gassings at Rene Levesque near the site of yesterday's initial fence destruction. CMAQ independent reporters have been dispatched to investigate.

4/24/01
11:14:03 AM

Protesting the Trade in Lies and Violence

"This is what democracy looks like". A common chant in large protests nowadays, revealing the creativity and freedom of diverse peoples converging to celebrate their unity, reclaim streets, and envision a better future. So what might democracy look like or feel like in Canada today? Thousands of protestors found out on April 20th during the Day of Action organized by Anti-Capitalist Convergence to mark the opening day of the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City. Opposed to the neo-liberal policies at the heart of the proposed Free Trade Summit of the Americas (FTAA), thousands of activists from North and South America found out what form democracy currently takes in Canada: the stinging of eyes after repeated tear gas canisters were shot by thousands of assembled police; the restriction on movement, after the government erected a 4-kilometre long barricade enclosing trade negotiators; and the arrest of several activists by officers for daring to express dissent.

Odd then, that George Bush, the president of the United States, and Jean Chretien, the prime minister of Canada, continue to bleat their unproven mantra that free trade enhances democracy. On the opening day of the summit, Bush said that "Together, we will put forward an agenda to strengthen our democracies, to tackle common challenges, and we will seek to expand our prosperity by expanding our trade. Our goal in Quebec is to build a hemisphere of liberty. We must approach this goal in the spirit of civility, mutual respect and appreciation for our shared values". Commenting on the destruction of property- not violence to other humans- done by a minority of the protestors, Chretien said "The actions of a few extremists this afternoon are contrary to the democratic principles we all hold dear".

The activist response is this: What kind of "democratic principles" is Canada upholding by heavily promoting Canadian corporate investment in repressive countries such as Indonesia, Sudan and China? In particular, how democratic is it to give taxpayer funded loan guarantees, subsidies, and political support to corporations through the Export Development Corporation, that have ended up usurping Third World populations for hydro, mineral, and energy development? Similarly, Bush's vow to respect others and create a "hemisphere of liberty" would be nice if it weren't so transparently false; neoliberal policies pushed upon poor South American companies by the IMF and World Bank in the past two decades have made Haiti, Nicaragua, and Mexico ideal places for American corporate sweatshops that often have draconian and coercive working conditions. As one of the signs in the Day of Action expressed, the FTAA (ZLEA in French) is the "Zone de Libre-Exploitation des Ameriques".

At this point in the evolution of international protests against economic globalization, there have been enough facts and figures trotted out to thoroughly disprove any rational claim that such policies will create lasting conditions of prosperity, liberty, and stability. Seeing that their conventional statements do not work anymore, free trade proponents are thrashing about wildly for a response; sometimes they try slipping the usual lies past activists, other times they try character assassination, complete fabrications, and unproven claims. It is in this way that activists and others concerned about globalization can be dismissed as anarchists, hooligans, ignorant fools and party-goers.

The Day of Action in Quebec City put liberalization proponents on alert by asserting that activists are not going to accept the elite control of economies any longer and that globalization will be challenged for a long time to come. A sign at the Day of Action best expressed the attitude towards people such as Bush and Chretien, using the French acronym for the WTO, OMC: "Organisation Mondiale des Crosseurs"- the World Organization of the Deceptive. Not only at meetings of the global economy's architects- the WTO, IMF, World Bank- will such actions be challenged, but in factories, fields, and classrooms the world over. Another sign put it more simply: "Attention: Le Monde N'est Pas Une Marchandise"- Attention: The World is not for Sale.

http://indymedia.org/

4/23/01
5:57:04 PM

NIRS Alert & Sign-on letter: Tell the UN nuclear power is not sustainable!

http://www.NIRS.org

Dear friends:

The US is poised to insist that nuclear power be considered sustainable in a United Nations document dealing with sustainable development and sustainable energy. Right now at the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, the US is lobbying to keep nuclear in the list of accepted, sustainable energy technologies. WE MUST LET THEM KNOW NUCLEAR CANNOT EVER BE SUSTAINABLE. PLEASE CALL BY THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2001 AT 5PM EST AND ALSO SIGN THE SIGN-ON LETTER BELOW. Reply to nirnet@nirs.org for the sign-on letter by WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2001 AT NOON EST.

Time is of the essence. Thank you.

ALERT-ALERT-ALERT-ALERT-ALERT ALERT-ALERT-ALERT-ALERT

TELL THE US DELEGATION TO THE UNITED NATIONS- NUCLEAR POWER IS NOT SUSTAINABLE

CALL

Ambassador Mark G. Hambley, Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES), United States Department of State; 202-647-3489

TELL HIM:

Nuclear power is unsustainable-even under the United States' definition of sustainability. The US claims that there are three pillars of sustainable development and sustainability which must be considered: economic, social and environmental concerns How well any practice preserves and strengthens these determines whether or not it fits the definition of sustainability.

Nuclear power fails all three tests. Please feel free to use the FACTS BELOW to compose your own statement to the US delegation and call by Thursday, April 26, 2001, 5PM eastern standard time.

Thank You.

For further information, contact Cindy Folkers at Nuclear Information & Resource Service, 202-328-0002.

FACT SHEET

Nuclear Power: Unsustainable in so many ways

Luckily, there are alternatives.

Generating electricity using nuclear power is unsustainable. Nuclear power has historically been and is an economic boondoggle, wasting preciousresources better used on alternative forms of technology. Nuclear power generates long-lived radioactive waste streams for which there is no known environmental isolation method. Nuclear power is not an appropriate technology for addressing climate change. Nuclear power presents clear and often destabilizing cross-boundary issues.

Consider the following facts:

Despite a half-century of massive subsidy, 1 Trillion dollars in the United States alone, nuclear power generates only 11% of world electric generating capacity.

All renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies have received $15-25 billion from United States taxpayers.

The nuclear industry likes to argue that it is being strangled by over-regulation in certain countries, but in reality nuclear power suffers cost overruns of 2-3 times projected real capital cost, despite very different regulatory/political regimes across countries.

While nuclear proponents champion nuclear power's "cheap" operating cost, they are not representing the full cost accounting. In the United States, industry claims a 1.5-3.5 cent/kWh cost of operation. However, if one adds in cost of repair, huge capital cost and cost of delivery, the electric consumer will pay about 10.2 cents/kWh. This figure does not include waste/decommissioning costs and omits all subsidies.

Energy industries in general like to threaten impending electricity shortages, but history shows their predictions are usually wrong and actual electricity use ends up being less then they predicted.

Alternatives

If the United States, for instance, fully retrofitted with the best available, more energy efficient technologies, it's citizens could save about 3/4 of their electric use. This would save about 4 times the nuclear output and be cheaper than nuclear's operating costs (.0006 dollars/kWh saved using energy efficiency).

Three-quarters of electricity use can be saved in Denmark,1/2 of Sweden's total electricity could be saved at $.016 as well as 4/5 of German home electricity.

Using energy efficient technology would also benefit the economy by increasing labor productivity (6-16%), retail sales (40% increase), and better industrial production.

Intermittency, an issue with wind turbines, has been resolved in Denmark and they are targeting 50% of their electricity from wind by 2030.

One kilogram of silicone in thin-film solar photovoltaic cells can produce more electricity than 1 kg uranium in a pressurized water reactor.

Wind turbines release 5 times less CO2 than nuclear power reactors per unit energy generated and cost a lot less to construct and operate.

Nuclear power requires a central point of generation and a grid system not available in some Southern countries. Renewable energy, such as solar or wind, can be constructed quickly, relatively cheaply, and onsite. These energy sources are also mobile. Qualities like these make renewable energy much better suited to the "developing" world.

If nuclear power costs the United States approximately 10 cents/kWh and energy efficiency costs .0006 dollars, the US (and the other countries mentioned) would be wasting their money addressing global climate change with nuclear power. Unless nuclear power is the cheapest way to fight climate change, buying it will actually make the climate worse; the difference between the higher cost of nuclear and the lower cost of alternatives will represent the greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere that could have been avoided with the cheaper option The fact that nuclear releases less greenhouse gas than coal is irrelevant. To quote Amory Lovins of Rocky Mountain Institute: The order of economic priority is also the order of environmental priority.

Photovoltaic technologies will be widely affordable over the next 15 years or so and no new technologies are needed to deal with the intermittency challenge. Overall land requirements would be quite modest even if wind and solar account for most electricity generation in future energy scenarios.

Proliferation

If nuclear power were to replace all coal power by 2100, then co2 emissions would only be 20% lower than the business as usual scenario articulated by the IPCC.

However, by mid century (2050 or so), uranium resource constraints would force a shift to plutonium breeder reactors, along with increases in fuel reprocessing and plutonium recycling. Not only has no breeder reactor been operated successfully, but also fuel reprocessing has been associated with incidents of disease among the public around these facilities.

The amount of plutonium circulating in global commerce under the above scenario would be 5.5 million kilograms per year. Less than 10 kilograms of plutonium is required to make a nuclear weapon. Viewing these figures, the nuclear weapons danger becomes apparent.

This danger exists either using current nuclear technology or the planned modular reactor types such as the pebble bed modular reactor that the industry claims is inherently safe. In fact, between 2040-2100 under the above scenario, the deployment of these reactors would have to reach two per day.

In addition, the pebble bed reactor technology is unrealized, untested, and inherently dangerous as evidenced by a reactor accident in Germany at a PBMR facility that occurred simultaneous to the Chernobyl explosion. Rather than admit to the accident and radiation release, the industry covered it up initially claiming the radiation released came from the Chernobyl accident. The public eventually found out and the PBMR program was shut down.

The numbers in this fact sheet were largely taken from Why Nuclear Power's Failure in the Marketplace is Irreversible. Amory Lovins. and Nuclear and Alternative Energy Supply Options for an Environmentally Constrained World. Robert H. Williams. Conference: Nuclear Power and Nuclear Weapons: Can We Have One Without the Other?; Nuclear Control Institute, Washington, DC. 9 April 2001.

SIGN-ON LETTER

Dear Ambassador Hambley,

Nuclear power is unsustainable under any definition. This includes the United States definition stated recently at the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development negotiations. The United States says it judges a sustainable technology by how it interacts or affects three basic pillars: economic, social and environmental.

Nuclear is a negative impact on all three areas.

Nuclear power is uneconomic. With an actual domestic price tag of at least 10 cents per kilowatt hour, even after an investment of one trillion US taxpayer dollars, the United States should be the first nation to recommend against nuclear energy use.

Nuclear power is socially destructive. The Chernobyl nuclear explosion destroyed community life for surrounding citizens and caused immense damage to human health, especially the health of children; damage that industry-promoting groups have tried to hide. Attempted placement of nuclear waste dumps in the United States has pit community against community with none willing to be the sacrifice zone. No one should be forced or bribed into taking nuclear waste. Common sense says we should stop generating the nuclear trash and stop threatening communities.

Nuclear power is environmentally destructive. Electricity is not the primary product of nuclear power, nuclear waste is. Radioactive waste is extremely expensive to make and cannot be isolated permanently from the environment with any know technology. Every resource we expend on nuclear energy gives us less abatement of CO2 greenhouse gases than if we had invested the money in cheaper, more effective alternatives such as energy efficiency. Nuclear power generates five times more CO2 than wind power and, again, is far more expensive per kilowatt. Finally, nuclear power releases man-made radionuclides into our air and water that put especially children and the elderly at inordinate risk.

In light of these facts, we wish to remind the United States Department of State and the administration that you represent the People of the United States, not simply the isolated, often out-of-touch view of the United States Government and business interests. Time and again the People of the United States have preferred energy efficiency and truly renewable energy technologies such as wind and solar power, over construction of more nuclear reactors. We demand the actions of our government reflect the views of the people it represents to the rest of the world.

Sincerely,

4/23/01
5:39:31 PM

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