Earths.net

1/29/01
12:24:21 AM

I'm in control of my life. It belongs to me. I do not need to have any children. I have the right to be childfree. This world already has too many people in it. 180 more are born every minute. Too many people will turn the world into one gigantic city, with lots of pollution and huge crowds. That will NOT be pretty. To end the problems of crime and pollution, there is but one solution: For people to produce FEWER babies. Then for sure (not just maybe) the crime will lessen and pollution will lessen,too. And the world will be a better place for me and you.

1/27/01
11:55:22 AM

Public Citizen Report Regulations Violated at Nuclear Reactors Across Country

Public Citizen Study Finds Government's Failure to Enforce Regulations Undermines Safety

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Safety has been compromised at nuclear reactors throughout the United States, with more than 90 percent of the country's reactors run in violation of government safety regulations over the last three years, a Public Citizen study has found. Rather than holding nuclear utilities accountable for violating these regulations, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has established an amnesty program that will last until March 30, 2001. This amnesty means that the NRC only holds utilities accountable for the most egregious rule violations.

The study, Amnesty Irrational, found that between October 1996 and May 1999, 102 of the country's 111 reactors were operated outside the safety parameters established in their licenses. When a nuclear reactor is operated outside these safety parameters it is called operating "outside design basis." During the three years analyzed, utilities operated their nuclear reactors "outside design basis" more than 500 times, the study found.

Utilities have failed to follow rules pertaining to such key safety systems as the emergency core cooling system and the electrical cables that control the nuclear reactor, the records revealed. Additionally, in some instances, a single event could have prevented the functioning of safety systems needed to do such things as shut down the reactor, cool the radioactive fuel in the reactor's core and prevent the release of radiation into the environment.

"Safety has been compromised at nuclear reactors across the United States," said James Riccio, staff attorney for Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy Project. "In some cases, safety margins were significantly reduced, if not eliminated."

When a nuclear utility operates its reactor "outside design basis," it is impossible for the NRC or the utility to determine whether the reactor poses an undue risk to public health and safety. The more often a nuclear reactor is operated "outside design basis," the less certain that the reactor and its safety systems will operate as designed.

The NRC has long known that design basis problems were undermining the safety of nuclear reactors it was supposed to regulate. However, due to the potential financial impact on the nuclear industry, the NRC has obfuscated the issue and delayed taking action, the report says.

"The NRC has ignored these important safety issues for decades," said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy Project. "If these nuclear reactors don't meet safety requirements, they should be shut down until they do."

Design basis issues already have contributed to the closure of three nuclear reactors: Haddam Neck, and Millstone Unit 1 in Connecticut, and Maine Yankee in Maine. However, the design basis issues that resulted in these shutdowns were not identified by the utilities. These problems came to light only because of events or whistleblower allegations that prompted NRC inspections. Futhermore, Public Citizen has found that the same design basis problems that resulted in these shutdowns exist at other reactors throughout the U.S.

"The NRC's amnesty program is an irrational move by an ineffective regulator and will not address the significant design basis issues that still exist at nuclear reactors across the United States," Riccio said.

Those reactors that have filed the most design basis event reports with the NRC are listed below.

REACTORS REPORTING "OUTSIDE DESIGN BASIS" 1996 -1999

Reactor Unit # Owner State Reports Number VERMONT YANKEE 1 VT Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. VT 42 PILGRIM 1 Boston Edison Co. MA 27 THREE MILE ISLAND 1 GPU Nuclear Corp. PA 26 COOK 2 Indiana/Michigan Power Co. MI 22 COOK 1 Indiana/Michigan Power Co. MI 18 POINT BEACH 1 Wisconsin Electric Power Co. WI 18 POINT BEACH 2 Wisconsin Electric Power Co. WI 18 MILLSTONE 1 Northeast Nuclear Energy Co. CT 16 OYSTER CREEK 1 GPU Nuclear Corp. NJ 16 MILLSTONE 3 Northeast Nuclear Energy Co. CT 16 PRAIRIE ISLAND 1 Northern States Power Co. MN 14 CATAWBA 2 Duke Power Co. SC 14 DIABLO CANYON 2 Pacific Gas & Electric Co. CA 14 NINE MILE POINT 2 Niagara Mohawk Power Corp. NY 14 HADDAM NECK 1 Northeast Nuclear Energy Co. CT 13 PRAIRIE ISLAND 2 Northern States Power Co. MN 13 OCONEE 3 Duke Power Co. SC 12 DIABLO CANYON 1 Pacific Gas & Electric Co. CA 11 OCONEE 2 Duke Power Co. SC 11 CATAWBA 1 Duke Power Co. SC 10 DAVIS-BESSE 1 Toledo Edison Co. OH 10 NINE MILE POINT 1 Niagara Mohawk Power Corp. NY 10 OCONEE 1 Duke Power Co. SC 10 PALISADES 1 Consumers Power Co. MI 10 INDIAN POINT 3 New York Power Authority NY 10 INDIAN POINT 2 Consolidated Edison Co. NY 9

http://www.geocities.com/mothersalert/violations.html

Mothers Alert Home Page With Great Links: http://www.geocities.com/mothersalert

Dr John Gofman on NO SAFE LEVELS OF RADIATION: http://www.geocities.com/mothersalert/gofman.html

1/27/01
11:48:58 AM

NIRS: Nuclear Information and Resource Service

Michael Mariotte

Dear Friend,

This April, the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) will be meeting in New York to discuss the definition of sustainable energy technologies. A pre-meeting will be held in late February in NY. The nuclear power industry is, of course, attempting to get nuclear included in the list of "sustainable" energy technologies--although it may be the least sustainable technology available. Should the industry succeed, it will have a new marketing tool (official sanction by the U.N. as a sustainable source of energy) and may become eligible for different types of international credits. At the COP6 global warming conference in the Hague in November 2000, nearly all the world's nations rejected nuclear power as eligible for "clean development" credits. If the atomic industry is successful at CSD9, that victory would be placed in jeopardy.

The following sign-on letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell provides more background on the issues. We encourage all U.S. groups and individuals to sign this letter. A separate petition, for both U.S. and international groups and individuals will be distributed soon for delivery to the CSD9 conference on Earth Day, April 22, at the UN.

Sign-ons for the following letter must be received by 9 am, February 15. To sign on, simply e-mail us your name, organization (if one), city and state. Please include this information and please don't assume we know who you are from your e-mail address. You may also fax this information to 202-462-2183.

Please distribute this letter widely.

Thanks!

Michael Mariotte Nuclear Information and Resource Service nirsnet@nirs.org

Hon. Colin Powell Secretary of State United States Department of State

We are writing to encourage the Department of State to take a leading role in ensuring that nuclear power is rejected as a "sustainable technology" in the upcoming talks of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD 9) in February and April. While CSD handles many sustainability issues, this year's talks will focus on sustainable energy technologies. Since the mandate of CSD is sustainable development, we feel that the Commission should discuss only truly sustainable energy technologies, and that the final recommendations of CSD 9 should reflect the fact that nuclear energy is non-sustainable.

The Brundtland Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development defines sustainable development as follows: "Humanity has the ability to make development sustainable - to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs." (WCED 1987) While every energy technology has some environmental ramification, nuclear power is particularly non-sustainable, even by this very broad and non-specific definition. Rather than use sustainability principles to promote technology and capital intensive, exclusive projects through the United Nations, CSD should ensure that they support economic development which benefits a broad base, especially small business. Nuclear technology compromises the ability of future generations to meet their needs for numerous reasons, among them:

Cost and scarcity of uranium Nuclear power's fuel-uranium-is not sustainable. The more reactors that are in operation, the more uranium used. As is the case with other polluting fuels, such as oil and coal, the more uranium used, the less remains and the more expensive it becomes to obtain; eventually it runs out. The large amount of money invested in nuclear energy technology would be wasted because of the inevitable and not-so-distant exhaustion of its uranium fuel source. Reprocessing of atomic fuel has been rejected by the U.S. on both economic and proliferation grounds. Solar, wind and energy-efficiency investments would not waste money on fuel that will inevitably disappear. Instead, the more money invested in these technologies, the cheaper they become.

Proliferation concerns Each year every 1000-megawatt reactor produces 40 bombs worth of plutonium, adding to the threat of nuclear proliferation. This is a critical concern given many countries' close links between the military and civil nuclear fuel cycle. We do not understand how a technology whose radioactive waste could be used to build a weapon of unthinkable destruction could be considered sustainable under any definition. Nuclear proliferation is destabilizing and threatens our national security.

Cross-boundary issues and radiation contamination When one country chooses a nuclear reactor, it chooses it for the countries around it as well. Radioactive contamination from the Chernobyl nuclear power reactor explosion reached as far as California. Contamination also traveled over most of Europe, resulting in food restrictions and the wasteful slaughter of animals. In Belarus currently only 10% of the children are born healthy. The Chernobyl reactor was in neighboring Ukraine, but Belarus received most of the radioactive fallout.

It doesn't take an accident to spread radioactive pollution. As a matter of normal operation, reactors release radioactive substances to the air and water. Many human population studies demonstrate that additional, low, constant levels of radiation can cause cancer and genetic mutations in this and future generations. Subjects of these studies, often nuclear facility workers and communities, suffer higher rates of diseases than non-nuclear communities, even with apparent normal operation of these facilities.

The operation of nuclear power reactors currently is causing civil and national unrest between non-nuclear Austria and its nuclear neighbors, such as Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Austrian government and NGOs are rightly concerned that a nuclear accident outside Austria could pollute their country. A push for nuclear power in other countries in Africa or Asia for instance, may provoke hostilities in fragile political and economic systems already fraught with tension. This situation could draw the world into unnecessary conflict.

The nuclear industry argues that defining sustainability is a sovereign issue. But with nuclear power, everyone's sovereignty is at risk and the potential for national conflict increases.

Waste isolation Nuclear power creates atomic waste. This radioactive waste cannot be isolated from the environment for its entire hazardous life (from thousands to millions of years). Consequently, and rightly so, no community (domestic or international) is willing to sacrifice itself for a waste dump-nor should they have to. Hence we are left with an intractable radioactive waste problem that gets larger the longer reactors operate.

Nuclear power not only compromises the ability of future generations to meet their needs, it does not even "meet the needs of the present" for the following reasons:

Enforcement of nuclear regulations Effectively and responsibly enforcing regulation of nuclear power is costly and meets with limited success even in countries able to pay for it. Atomic power regulation and enforcement continues to be a controversial issue in terms of public safety margins versus corporate profit margins in a deregulating electricity market. The fact is, nuclear power cannot exist without heavy and continued subsidies from tax and ratepayers. It cannot survive on its own in a free market economy and must rely on subsidy to guarantee its existence. Meanwhile, the money invested in sustaining a profit for nuclear power generators could be invested in other societal needs; yet another reason why nuclear power could compromise the ability of future generations to meet their own needs while not giving the current generation what it needs: clean power that can eventually support itself without constant, exorbitant subsidies.

Generation costs and deregulation bail-outs Nuclear power is the most expensive of all conventional energy sources and more expensive than almost all renewable energy. As proof of nuclear power's economic failure, no successful nuclear power reactor order has been placed in the U.S. since 1973. Ratepayers in the United States are bailing out nuclear reactors to the approximate tune of $200 billion dollars in the face of a deregulated market. Nuclear energy costs an average of 12 cents/kWh compared with 7.6-9.1 cents/kWh for solar thermal and 4-6 cents/kWh for wind. According to the Renewable Energy Policy Project, U.S. government subsidies have been highest for the nuclear power industry. It has received the majority (96.3%) of $150 billion in investments since 1947 when compared with wind and solar; that's $145 billion for nuclear reactors and $5 billion for wind and solar combined. Nuclear subsidies have cost the average household a total amount of $1,411 [1998 dollars] compared to $11 for wind.

Nuclear power is implicated in the deregulation boondoggle and rolling blackouts in California. Two California utilities on the verge of bankruptcy operate four large reactors in the state. Additionally, they are part-owners of three units outside the state. Under the 1996 deregulation agreement, these utilities can receive 28.5 billion dollars in stranded cost recovery. The largest part of this will most likely support their nuclear reactors which they felt could not survive in a deregulated market. The money that has been paid to the utilities so far was invested in a questionable fashion. Recently FERC ruled that this money is untouchable by the utilities' creditors.

Nuclear power, because of its failed and dangerous track record also faces deserved public and government opposition. Countries including Greece, Sweden, Austria, Nauru, and Ireland, conclude that nuclear power is not sustainable. Some nuclear countries, such as Germany, have begun nuclear phase-out programs, while some non-nuclear countries, such as Turkey, recently have decided they are better off not joining the nuclear club.

Nuclear Power and Kyoto Other countries have also expressed dislike of nuclear power in international fora. Both the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) and 12 Central and South American countries opposed giving nuclear power clean air credits under the Kyoto Protocol saying " it is simple colonialism to push nuclear power onto developing countries, leaving them with all the burdens that come with it " and " nuclear power" does not match "the environmental integrity principles that guide this group "

Additionally, Klaus Toepfer, the director of the United Nations Environment Programme is "utterly convinced that [nuclear energy] should not be included in any type of [global warming agreement]."

Finally, international banking institutions such as the World Bank and IMF do not officially subsidize nuclear projects.

Even though the Kyoto COP 6 talks concluded without a written and signed agreement, all countries-including the United States--with the exception of India, China and Japan agreed to language that would exclude nuclear power from receiving credit for reducing greenhouse gases through the Protocol.

CSD 9 should emphasize truly sustainable energy Nuclear power does not contribute to the economic development of industrializing nations-indeed it is a drain on their resources while posing a risk of spillover from civilian to military use. In common with many heads of Government, citizens, and national delegations, we want to emphasize the reasons (radioactive pollution, lack of radioactive waste storage and nuclear weapons proliferation, among others) why nuclear power should never be considered sustainable. We expect any documents from the CSD 9 meetings to reflect this reality.

Sincerely,

1/27/01
11:36:37 AM

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE

(ENS) http://ens-news.com

"We Cover the Earth For You"

QUAKE TURNS INDIA'S REPUBLIC DAY INTO DAY OF MOURNING

By Tara Chand Malhotra

AHMEDABAD, India, January 26, 2001 (ENS) - India's Republic Day celebrations turned into a day of national mourning as a the worst earthquake in 50 years rocked the western and northern parts of the sub-continent early this morning. The 30 second quake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale has claimed the lives of more than 1,000 people and left thousands of others seriously injured.

For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-26-01.html

SEA TURTLE STRANDINGS COME BACK TO HAUNT BUSH

By Cat Lazaroff

WASHINGTON, DC, January 25, 2001 (ENS) - Newly inaugurated President George W. Bush may think he is back in his home state of Texas when officials of the National Marine Fisheries Service tell him about their latest initiative. The agency is planning a comprehensive approach to reducing sea turtle deaths - an issue that confronted Bush repeatedly during his tenure as governor of Texas.

For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-26-07.html

NEW PRIMATES DISCOVERED IN MADAGASCAR AND BRAZIL

WASHINGTON, DC, January 26, 2001 (ENS) - Nine new lemur and two marmoset species have been discovered in the forests of Madagascar and Brazil, scientists announced earlier this month. But the news is not all good - some of the newly named species may already be endangered, joining the dozens of other primate species that may face extinction this century.

For full text and graphics visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-26-06.html

ELAHO PROTESTER FREED FROM UNFIT JAIL SENTENCE

By Neville Judd

VANCOUVER, Canada, January 26, 2001 (ENS) - A 73 year old great-grandmother sentenced to a year in jail after peacefully protesting logging in the Elaho Valley has been released early on appeal.

For full text and graphics, visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-26-10.html

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: JANUARY 26, 2001

Climate Change Hastened Collapse of Ancient Societies

Current El Niños the Most Intense Ever

Florida Buys, Protects 68,000+ Acres

Conservationists Oppose Lawsuit to Build Road

Rebuilding Evident in Three Northeastern Fish Species

New York Increases Support for Wind Energy

Government Recoups Money from Superfund Cleanup

Youth Rally Highlights Impacts of Globalization

For full text and graphics visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-26-09.html

HEALING OUR WORLD: WEEKLY COMMENT By Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D.

Space Seeds in China - A Miracle or Ecological Disaster?

Concern has been expressed by ecologists for some time that using genetically altered seeds in agriculture could yield unpredictable - and possibly catastrophic - results in the ecosystems of the Earth. No one really knows what the long term effect on our environment will be of mixing these mutated seeds with wild strains. New, unexpected plants could result and damage could be done to the original seed stock. The long term effects on humans and animals of eating these crops is unknown.

For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-26g.html

SEND NEWS STORY TIPS TO news@ens-news.com

TO ENVIRONMENTAL EDITOR:

Galapagos Wreck Operation Gets Under Way - Good News For Wildlife

SANTA FE ISLAND, Galapagos, Jan. 26 -/E-Wire/-- An attempt began today to remove the wreck of the bulk carrier Jessica, which sank off the Galapagos Islands a week ago causing an oil spill that has threatened the unique eco- system made famous by Darwin, announced the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

/CONTACT: Simon Pope of IFAW UK, +44 (207) 587-6714 or +44 (207) 703-3655 or +44 (7801) 613-527 or Christopher Bailey of IFAW U.S., 508-744-2069 or 508-737-6677/

/Web site: http://www.ifaw.org/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/26Jan0103.html

TO MEDICAL, ENVIRONMENTAL AND POLITICAL EDITORS:

Health Care Without Harm Praises Senator for Pioneering Proposal to Ban The Retail Sale of Mercury Thermometers

WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 -/E-Wire/-- Today, Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) announced her intention to introduce legislation that would end the retail sale of mercury fever thermometers and provide the opportunity for consumers to exchange their home thermometers for non-mercury replacements.

/CONTACT: Jamie Harvie of Health Care Without Harm, 218-525-7806, Jackie Hunt Christensen of HCWH, 612-870-3424 or 612-387-3424, or Michael Bender of Mercury Policy Project, 802-223-9000/

/Web site: http://www.noharm.org /

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/26Jan0106.html

TO BUSINESS, ENVIRONMENTAL AND TECHNOLOGY EDITORS:

Diesel Technology Forum Lauds EPA's Voluntary Retrofit Program Success

WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 -/E-Wire/-- An "unqualified success" -- that is the term being used by Diesel Technology Forum executive director Allen Schaeffer to describe the commitments toward EPA's Volunteer Diesel Retrofit Program that has surpassed the 10,000 engine mark. The program helps identify owners and operators of diesel construction equipment and heavy-duty vehicles for application of exhaust retrofit equipment that reduces diesel engine emissions.

/CONTACT: Diesel Technology Forum, 703-234-4411, www.dieselforum.org; or Ken Cynar of Rowan & Blewitt Incorporated, 516-741-8877 ext. 26, for Diesel Technology Forum/

/Web site: http://www.rbcommunications.com http://www.dieselforum.org/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/26Jan0105.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection Honors Loureiro Engineering Associates, Inc. (LEA) with the GreenCircle Award

CROMWELL, CONN, January 26, -/E-Wire/-- LEA was recently honored by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (CTDEP) for the company's cleanup efforts last May along the Connecticut River.

/CONTACT: Troy Charlton, of Loureiro Engineering Associates, Inc. email: tjcharlton@loureiro.com

/Web site: http://www.loureiro.com

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/26Jan0104.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TO AUTO AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:

Westport Announces Truck Emissions Results

VANCOUVER, B.C., Canada, Jan. 26, -/E-Wire/-- Westport Innovations Inc., (WPT:TSE) announced today that it has obtained independent test results for a heavy-duty truck engine operating with Westport's natural gas fuel system. The test confirmed that Westport can meet 2002 emissions standards established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency while maintaining the full torque of the same engine operating on diesel fuel.

/CONTACT: Alan Bayless, Manager, Media and Investor Relations phone (604) 718-2016, fax (604)718-2001, e-mail abayless@westport.com

/Web site: http://www.westport.com/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/26Jan0102.html

TO ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:

Enviros Move to Undermine Norton at Interior Department

BATTLE GROUND, WASHINGTON, Jan. 26, -/E-Wire/-- Having failed at their lavishly financed public relations effort to derail Interior Secretary nominee Gale Norton, the national environmental community has switched to "Plan B," undermining Norton from within. Central to their plans are efforts to place liberal Republican John Turner in a high-ranking position at Interior, or as Chairman of the President's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ).

/CONTACT: michael hardiman, lobbyist, american land rights association, 202-251-3473, mike@hardimanconsulting.com/

/Web site: http://www.landrights.org/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/26Jan0101.html

SEND YOUR PRESS RELEASE ON E-WIRE -- 1-888-764-NEWS

1/26/01
7:14:16 PM

AP Newswire: Science Alert 18 January 2001

Cambridge, England (UK) Investigators at a major research institution have recently discovered the heaviest element known to science. This startling new discovery has been tentatively named Administratium (Ad). This new element has no protons or electrons, thus having an atomic number of 0. It does, however, have 1 neutron, 125 assistant neutrons, 75 vice neutrons, and 111 assistant vice neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.

These 312 particles are held together by a force called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peeons. Because it has no electrons, Administratium is inert. However, it can be detected as it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. According to the discoverers, a minute amount of Administratium causes one reaction to take over four days to complete when it would normally take less than a second.

Administratium has a normal half-life of approximately three years; it does not decay but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons, vice neutrons, and assistant vice neutrons exchange places.

In fact, an Administratium sample's mass will actually increase over time, because with each reorganization some of the morons inevitably become neutrons, forming new isodopes. This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to speculate that Administratium is formed whenever morons reach a certain quantity in concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as the "Critical Morass".

1/26/01
7:13:11 PM

USA Anti-FTAA Caravan: Quebec comes to you!

From: "la C.L.A.C." <clac@tao.ca>

USA Anti-FTAA Caravan: Quebec Comes to You!

Between February 10 to March 3, members of the Anti-Capitalist Convergence (CLAC) and the Summit of the Americas Welcoming Committee (CASA) in Quebec will be undertaking an anti-FTAA, anti-capitalist caravan to the Northeastern United States. This tour follows on similar caravans to Ontario last October, as well as the Eastern provinces of Canada. Both groups are actively involved in grassroots mobilizations against the upcoming Summit of the Americas in Quebec City, and are organizing for a Day of Action on April 20.

The following is a second call-out for the Northeast USA tour. Plans are coming together for the caravan, but we need local groups to get in touch in order to confirm dates and times if they feel a caravan stop by Quebec-based activists would be useful to their own efforts.

The caravan aims to help and to participate in local mobilization and awareness-raising efforts, ranging from workshops, talks and panels. Topics covered on the Caravan include the FTAA and the Summit of the Americas; resistance in Quebec, Canada and Latin America: the context of capitalist globalization; tactics and strategies in the anti-globalization movement; the "Color of Resistance" (race, racism and representation in the "anti-globalization" movement); the People's Global Action (PGA) network; Plan Colombia; solidarity between resistance struggles; as well as specific information about actions in Quebec City in April. One overarching theme of our caravans is: "It didn't start in Seattle, and it isn't going to stop with Quebec City." While are focussed on organizing and mobilizing for the Quebec City Summit, we are just as focussed on local awareness-raising efforts and actions.

CLIP

We have already had several confirmations for our caravan. Below is a tentative schedule of our stops. Contact clac@tao.ca or phone 514-526-8946 to confirm a stop in your area.

NOTE: The caravan will be from February 12 to March 2 and will visit a number of US cities including Boston, Buffalo, New York, Philadelphia and Washington. Contact them for the exact schedule if you are interested to meet with them.

CHECK ALSO THE NEWS ABOUT THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM IN DAVOS

FULL COVERAGE AT http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/Business/World_Economic_Forum/

Police Seal Off Davos As Business Summit Starts http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010125/wl/forum_leadall_dc.html

The Daily Davos http://207.46.150.254/news/nw-davos_front.asp

The Public Eye on Davos (An anti-globalization parallel Conference) http://www.davos2001.ch/

1/26/01
7:08:32 PM

Orders of Seizure

Some Executive Orders (EO) recorded in the Federal Register and accepted by Congress as the law of the land. These can be mobilized by President Bush with nothing but his signature.

EO#10955: by President Kennedy. Empowers the federal government to seize all communications media including radio and television stations, newspapers, magazines, CB, Ham short wave, telephones, satellite systems, and the Internet. The first amendment would be suspended. Freedom of speech and religion would not be permitted.

EO#10997: Seizure of all electrical power, fuels, including gasoline and materials.

EO#10998: Seizure of all food resources, farms and farm equipment. Anti-food hoarding regulations go into effect, all food resources to be under control of Secretary of Agriculture who could ration food.

EO#10999: Seizure of all kinds of transportation, including your personal car and control of all highways, seaports, waterways, railways, airports, and public storage facilities, empowering the Secretary of Commerce with full jurisdiction.

EO#11000: Seizure of all civilians for work under Federal supervision of the secretary of Labor, including involuntary location of workers without regard to payment or reimbursement. ( The Defense Production Act of 1950, Section 2153 of War and National Defense.)

EO#11001: Federal takeover of all health, education and welfare, including Catholic hospitals and schools and pharmaceuticals.

EO#11002: Postmaster General empowered to register every man, woman and child in the U.S.A.

EO#11003: Seizure of all aircraft and airports by the Federal Government.

EO#11004: Housing and finance authority may shift population from one locality to another. Housing could be seized.

EO#11005: Seizure of railroads, inland waterways, and storage facilities.

EO#11051: The Director of the office of Emergency Planning authorized to put Executive Orders into effect in times of increased international tension or financial crisis. He is also to perform additional functions as the President may direct.

EO#11490: Presidential control over all U.S. citizens and businesses including churches in times of emergency.

EO#11921: The Government would seize control over education, welfare, mechanisms of production and distribution, energy sources, wages, salaries, credit and the flow of money in the U.S. financial institutions and impose total censorship.

EO#13010: Directs FEMA to take control over all government agencies in time of emergency.

An Executive Order is issued by the President and appears in the Federal Register for 30 days. If there is no challenge by Congress, the order then becomes law.

Sister Lucy (Fatima Prophecy) was asked in 1946 if communism would one day rule in America. She said: "Yes". That day may be at hand as Bush who has many communist links has prepared the scene for a complete communist takeover by issuing many executive orders and combining the old orders into one big order EO#12919.

Howard J. Ruff, economist and publisher of The Ruff Times stated: " since the enactment of EO#12919, the only thing standing between us and dictatorship is the good character of the President, and the lack of a crisis severe enough that the world would stand still for it."

1/26/01
6:56:13 PM

Oppose Gale Norton and the Wise Use Agenda Date: Fri, 12 Jan 2001 From: CLEAR_View@afore.org

A special report of CLEAR, the anti-environmentalism watchdog.

** Please distribute ** ** Please distribute ** ** Please distribute **

More than 200 national, state and local groups, along with labor and civil rights leaders, have united to oppose the nomination of Colorado attorney Gale Norton for Secretary of the Interior (www.SayNoToNorton.org).

There are many reasons that Gale Norton should not serve in Interior. Most of these reasons are related to Norton's connections with and work on behalf of the anti-environmentalism movement.

CLEAR has been conducting research in Norton's wise use affiliations.

Citizens, activists, and members of the US Senate need to ask: "Will Gale Norton pursue the "Wise Use Agenda" if she is confirmed as Secretary of Interior?"

Visit -- www.presidentbushwatch.org

Gale Norton's Associations with Anti-Environmental and Wise Use Groups

Gale Norton has a long history of involvement with anti-environmental groups and the Wise Use movement. Below are descriptions of some of the groups in question, and details of her involvement with them. CLEAR is currently looking into other groups with which Norton has worked, so this list should not be considered exhaustive.

Coalition of Republican Environmental Advocates

Gale Norton was a founder and the National Chair of CREA, an "environmental" group with a highly questionable green pedigree. Republicans for Environmental Protection (REP), a group of Republicans with demonstrably good environmental records, has described CREA as "a transparent attempt to fool voters who care about environmental protection." REP's newsletter went on to say that "CREA shows no signs of being either grassroots or pro-environment. The word greenscam comes first to mind. Their enthusiasm for taxpayer- soaking corporate subsidies betrays a lack of sincerity in their alleged support for the free market." CREA positioned itself as a grassroots organization, but all evidence pointed to the contrary. CREA was, in fact, a political action committee. This was not mentioned on the CREA web site (www.gop4environment.org, now out of commission). The group has been inactive since 1998.

When the Atlanta Journal and Constitution asked Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), whom REP named "Environmental Legislator of the Year" in 1998, if he was a member of CREA, he replied, "Oh gosh, no. I belong to a respectable environmental organization." In fact, no Republicans with good environmental voting records are involved with CREA. Instead, the group's "Honorary Board Members" included Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-GA), Rep. Don Young (R-AK), Richard Pombo (R-CA), Rep. Helen Chenoweth (R-ID), Sen. Dirk Kempthorne (R-ID), Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID). These six members of Congress had a 1997 combined average League of Conservation Voters score of only 5 percent.

Also an honorary board member was Americans for Tax Reform's Grover Norquist, who was at the time a registered lobbyist for British Petroleum. According to the Christian Science Monitor, CREA's steering committee included "registered lobbyists for the petroleum, mining, auto-making, firearms and alcoholic beverage industries." CREA was funded by Coors Brewing Co., American Forest and Paper Association, the Chemical Manufacturers Association, Amoco, ARCO, Ford Motors, and similar corporations, all of which fund other anti-environmental organizations.

Defenders of Property Rights

Norton sits on the Board of Advisors of Defenders of Property Rights (DPR), a Washington-based legal foundation dedicated entirely to property rights matters, which was founded in 1991 by former Mountain States Legal Foundation staffers Roger and Nancie Marzulla. DPR is clearly excited about the prospect of Norton's confirmationÐsoon after her nomination, the group optimistically changed Norton's affiliation on its web site to "Secretary of the Interior."

DPR's primary goal has been to promote "takings" laws, which threaten to make environmental laws and regulations prohibitively expensive by requiring payments to private landowners and others who might be affected by regulations. The group litigates takings-related cases, and also lobbies for the passage of such laws at both the state and the national level. Defenders of Property Rights staffers reportedly worked, behind the scene, on the 1995 Omnibus Property Rights Bill, sponsored by Larry Craig.

Unlike most D.C.-based conservative policy organizations, DPR is also active in the more state-based Wise Use movement. The organization is a regular participant in the Alliance for America's Fly-In for Freedom. Defenders has supported Chuck "Rent-a-Riot" Cushman's private-property voter scorecard, and is involved in several other anti-environmental coalition groups, including one with the goal of dismantling the Endangered Species Act.

Since its inception, DPR has been a bridge between the activities of the sagebrush Wise Users and the Washington political set. For example, at the group's 1998 national conference, panelists included distinguished members of the conservative elite. The keynote speaker was then-Senator John Ashcroft (R-MO), who has been nominated as Attorney General by George W. Bush. Oliver North spoke on "International Issues and Property Rights," and former vice-president Dan Quayle presented DPR's "Ronald Reagan Public Service Award" to former Virginia Governor George Allen. Other speakers included Congressmen David McIntosh (R-IN) and Charles Canady (R-FL) and Bob Cole, Vice President of Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corporation.

Hoover Institution

Norton was identified as a National Fellow of the Hoover Institution in 1994. It is not clear how long before or after she held the position. The conservative think-tank, which is affiliated with Stanford University, is best known for its advocacy of the "star wars" missile defense system during the Reagan Administration, and for its anti-Communist zeal in the late 1950's. It is also involved in the anti-environmental movement, and in recent years, has been particularly aggressive in promoting the opinion that global warming does not represent an environmental problem.

One example of Hoover's anti-environmental activities was a conference on "the greening of American foreign policy," which was held at the institution in October 1998. According to Hoover, the symposium was needed because "American armed forces have become increasingly distracted by inappropriate environmental issues, including global warming and sustainable development," and "U.S. tax dollars have gone to environmental groups waging spurious economic campaigns against American companies." The conference was organized by, among others, Hoover fellow Terry Anderson, who is also executive director of the free market Political Economy Research Center in Bozeman, MT, where Gale Norton is also a fellow.

Independence Institute

Norton was a fellow of the Independence Institute until 1990, and now sits on its board of directors. Publications by the free-market Colorado think-tank have called smart growth "an elitist assault on the American Dream." Not surprisingly, the Institute supports polluter privilegeÐor "environmental self-audit"Ðlaws, which Norton has promoted, and opposes centralized planning of any kind, even for natural resources such as water.

Mountain States Legal Foundation

Norton worked in a staff position at the conservative Mountain States Legal Foundation (MSLF) between 1979 and 1983. Movement godfather, Ron Arnold, once called MSLF the "litigating arm of the Wise Use movement." MSLF was founded in 1976 and originally bankrolled by Joseph Coors, who was once called "one of the country's leading anti-environmentalists" by Reader's Digest. James Watt served as founding president before he became Reagan's controversial Secretary of the Interior. Anne Gorsuch Burford, Reagan's equally controversial Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, also worked at MSLF. Active in "Wise Use" circles from the beginning, MSLF was a sponsor of the first Wise Use leadership conference in Reno, NV in 1998 and has participated in many other Wise Use meetings over the years.

MSLF started the careers of some of the most anti-environmental attorneys in the country, including Karen Budd-Falen, who largely thought up the county supremacy argument, and Roger and Nancie Marzulla, founders of Defenders of Property Rights (where Gale Norton serves as an advisorÐsee above). The bulk of MSLF's activities have been focussed on public land litigation and on "takings" issues. In recent years, MSLF has attempted to block wildlife management plans, defended the American Farm Bureau Federation against the Department of Interior over wolf re-introduction, and defended oil and gas companies that violated EPA pollution regulations. The group also opposed President Clinton's national monument designations, represented Rep. Helen Chenoweth (R-ID) in a suit against Clinton's American Heritage Rivers Initiative, backed a suit claiming the ESA violates the Commerce Clause, and unsuccessfully challenged a voluntary climbing ban on Devil's Tower designed to protect Native American religious rites.

(CLEAR is conducting additional research on MSLF and its cases with which Norton was involved, and will release that information soon.)

Political Economy Research Center

Norton is currently a fellow at the Political Economy Research Center (PERC), which is based in Bozeman, MT. PERC bills itself as a "free market environmental think tank," which means, in practice, that it opposes most environmental regulations in favor of "market solutions." PERC has recommended weakening the Endangered Species Act and promotes "takings" legislation, among other anti-regulatory schemes.

PERC has received funding from Amoco, ARCO, the Chemical Manufacturers Association, Conoco, Eli Lilly and Co., Pfizer, and Coors. It is also supported by a long list of conservative foundations, including the JM Foundation, the Olin Foundation, the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, the Sarah Scaife Foundation, the Scaife-run Carthage Foundation, and the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation. PERC is listed as a "networking participant" in the Wise Use movement's umbrella organization, the Alliance for America. Terry Anderson of PERC was a member of George W. Bush's presidential campaign environmental advisory staff, as was Gale Norton

The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition

Norton was an Advisor to the The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition (TASSC), which was launched in 1993. Initially, TASSC's principal backer was Philip Morris, and the group presented an industry-oriented view of science-based regulations. Among its first targets were health risks from secondhand smoke (which it questioned) and other tort issues. Over time, the industry-funded group dismissed most major government environmental programs as based on "junk science."

Led by Steven Milloy, a lobbyist whose primary client was Monsanto, TASSC was little more than a corporate front group. In the five years of its existence, TASSC was run by a bare-bones staff out of the Washington, DC, offices of the public relations firm APCO and Associates. Though initially conceived as a pro-tobacco public relations vehicle, the "sound science" coalition was supported by dozens of corporations, including Exxon, Procter and Gamble, Dow, and 3M. TASSC's goal was to raise doubt in public forums about the scientific legitimacy of environmental protection. Their standard practice was issue calls for "sound science," and to decry alleged alliances between environmentalists and biased journalists.

TASSC criticized studies ranging from the quality of drinking water to pesticides in baby food, claiming that the reports were based on unscientific findings, and were merely scare tactics used by interest groups to drum up financial support. TASSC also considered global warming a farce, and opposed stricter air quality standards. In the spring of 1998, the New York Times revealed that TASSC was part of a corporate plan to pump millions of dollars into a campaign to cast doubt on global warming. TASSC faded into oblivion after September 1998, soon after the story appeared.

Washington Legal Foundation

Norton is currently on the Advisory Board of the Washington Legal Foundation (WLF). WLF is yet another pro-business, anti-regulatory legal foundation. WLF works more on business cases than those involving environmental issues, but is still a proponent of "takings" laws and other anti-regulatory schemes that favor industry profits over environmental protection.

Wise Use Leaders consider Gale Norton sympathetic to their cause

"She's been a friend to everyone (in wise-use groups) for a long, long time." ÐRon Arnold, Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise (USA Today, January 2, 2001, parentheses in original article)

"Gale Norton cares about private property, access to federal lands and multiple use of those lands for the benefit of all Americans," ÐChuck Cushman, American Land Rights Association (Sacramento Bee, January 7, 2001)

"The 'wise use' movement - industry groups and rural Americans, mostly in the West - sees a new Republican administration as presenting their best chance in eight years to open up public lands to more logging, ranching, and mining, while providing greater protections for private property." ÐChristian Science Monitor, January 8, 2001

Background on the Wise Use Movement's 25 Point Agenda

The "wise use" movement held its first national gathering in Reno, Nevada, in August 1988. The conference was organized by Ron Arnold and the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise and was attended by almost 300 individuals and organizations. The aim of the event was to develop a strategy for promoting the unregulated use of the nation's natural resources, including public lands.

Conferees contributed suggestions that were forged into a list of the twenty-five top goals of the "wise use" movement and published in the book The Wise Use Agenda. The goals include opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil development, passing a global warming prevention bill which would allow logging of "oxygen-using" trees in established forests, property rights protection, and weakening the Endangered Species Act.

1/26/01
6:55:10 PM

The Wise Use 25 Point Agenda

Which elements of the Wise Use Agenda does Gale Norton Support?

The Wise Use Agenda, published after the 1988 wise use leadership conference delineates the following twenty-five goals of the movement:

1 Wise Use Public Education Project - Initiate a public education project to demonstrate how Wise Use of the national forests and federal lands can reduce the federal deficit.

2 Development of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge - Open ANWR for oil exploration and extraction.

3 Inholders Protection Act - Give broader property rights to inholders (persons who own land within the borders or tangent to federal or state lands).

4 Global Warming Protection Act - Increase young stands of "oxygen producing" trees by removing "oxygen-using" old growth timber in National Forests.

5 Tongass National Forest Timber Harvest Area - Increase harvesting of timber in the Tongass National Forest in Alaska.

6 National Mining System - Open all public lands, including wilderness areas and national parks, to mining and energy production.

7 Beneficial Use Water Rights Act - Assert states' sovereign rights in matters pertaining to water distribution and regulation.

8 Forest Reserves Commemoration - Commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Forest Reserves by calling attention to the commodity use of forests and the homestead settlement of these areas in the early years of the Service.

9 Rural Community Stability Act - Increase harvesting of trees in national forests to promote "rural, timber-dependent community stability."

10 National Timber Harvest System - Create a national timber harvesting system that allows for greater harvesting of timber on public lands.

11 National Parks Reform Act - Reorganize the National Park Service. This includes the implementation of Mission 2010, a 20-year construction program that would maximize concession stands and accommodations in national parks, remove entry limits and bring in private firms experienced in people moving, such as Walt Disney, to manage the parks.

12 Pre-Patent Protection of Pest Controls - Expand the window of time that a patent protects companies and individuals that develop new pest-control products by excluding the time spent testing the product.

13 National Rangeland Grazing System - Open all federal lands for grazing.

14 Compassionate Wilderness Policy - Open all wilderness areas to motorized wheelchair access.

15 National Industrial Policy Act - Support the enactment of an act requiring all Federal actions -- legislative and regulatory -- to include an economic impact statement.

16 Truth in Regulation Act - Require greater specificity in all costs associated with compliance with environmental regulations.

17 Property Rights Protection - Allow property owners to recover easements on property taken for railroad construction once the railroads have been abandoned.

18 Endangered Species Act Amendments - Amend and weaken the ESA to exclude "non-adaptive" and "relic species in decline before the appearance of man," such as the California Condor, and requiring cost-benefit analysis.

19 Obstructionism Liability - Require parties that challenge any development or economic action in court to post a bond equivalent to the economic benefits of the action (plus cost overruns for delay), and pay damages to the developer in the event the challenge is unsuccessful.

20 Private Rights in Federal Lands Act - Strengthen the claims to private rights on federal lands for mining, grazing, harvesting timber, etc.

21 Global Resources Wise Use Act - Calls for the adoption of a pro-industry consideration in natural resource-use decisions and for free trade measures.

22 Perfect the Wilderness Act - Change the National Wilderness Preservation System to allow for commercial uses. Reorganize areas so that some are designated for partial development while others are allowed more extensive development.

23 Standing to Sue in Defense of Industry - Allow Wise Use groups standing to sue on behalf of industries that are threatened or harmed by environmentalists.

24 National Recreation Trails Trust Act - Use monies from the federal gasoline tax to create trails for off-road motorized vehicles.

25 End the "Let It Burn" Policy - Discontinue the Forest Service's policy of allowing some naturally occurring fires to burn, and introduce an active prevention system.

**Corporations and Organizations that supported the 1988 Reno Wise Use Leadership Conference (partial listing) **

American Land Rights Association, National Inholders Association, Associated Logging Contractors of Idaho BlueRibbon Coalition California Cattlemen's Association California Chamber of Commerce California Farm Bureau California Women In Timber Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise Citizens Equal Rights Alliance; Montana Chapter Citizens for Multiple Use Columbia Gorge United Committee to Preserve Property Rights Competitive Enterprise Institute Consumer Alert; California office Council of Forest Industries Du Pont Company; Agricultural Products Dept Elko County Farm Bureau Exxon Company, U.S.A. Georgia Pacific Corp Idaho Cattle Association Louisiana Pacific Corporation Motorcycle Industry Council Mountain States Legal Foundation Multiple Use Association National Association of Mining Districts National Rifle Association North West Timber Association Northwest ATV Association Northwest Forestry Association Northwest Legal Foundation Oregon Farm Bureau Pacific Lumber Company Washington Contract Loggers Association Washington County Commission Western Forest Industries Association Willamette Forestry Council Yakima Valley Dust Dodgers Motorcycle Club

Research provided by CLEAR. Contact CLEAR: Daniel Barry, daniel.barry@mindspring.com, 202-291-7515 Emily Headen, eheaden@earthlink.net, 503-236-8788

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< Alert: Bush Plans Roll-Back of Clinton Initiatives | Alert: Clinton Won't Designate ANWR Monument >

1/26/01
6:00:50 PM

More Eco News Stories:

USE 40% LESS FUEL BY PURCHASING ON THE INTERNET!

Consumers will save a significant amount of energy if they do their holiday shopping on-line, according to an analysis from Purchasing a present online uses 40 percent less fuel than driving to the mall, and an average book on a retail shelf uses 16 times more energy for heating, cooling and lighting than one waiting in a warehouse. Maximize benefits are possible if consumers order before the last minute, since slower delivery means bigger energy savings.

ENERGY CRISIS AFFECTS SNAKE RIVER DAM PROPOSAL

Nevertheless, conservation groups maintain that the energy crisis does not dim their current proposal to remove the four Lower Snake River dams in order to recover endangered salmon populations. For more information click here.

ECO-WARRIORS WAGE STEALTH CAMPAIGN; MONKEY WRENCHING ALIVE & WELL!

They work by night, with stealth, burning construction sites, dumping sand in bulldozers' gasoline tanks, freeing mink from cages and wild horses from corrals, all - as one of their manifestoes puts it - "to inflict economic sabotage on Earth-rapers." For more information click here.

REAL GOODS DEMO HOME FOR SALE

We must sell our beautiful rammed earth contractor built "Real Goods" demo home. Rammed earth contractor built "Real Goods" demo home on 40 fenced acres, 10 minutes from downtown Bisbee, Arizona. 2043 sq. ft, 3 bedroom, 2 bath home with incredible kitchen, features active and passive Real Goods solar system, well, septic, no power lines. Two phone lines and satellite system, woodstove, claw foot buts, Mexican tile floors, portico with fountain, Sunfrost refrigerator, Staber wash machine, propane store, Honda 6500 Generator included. Basketball court and bocci court, fenced garden with raised beds, fruit trees. Great for kids, horses or retirement. Million dollar views. Great investment. To see virtual tour click here. Appraised at $188,000 and motivated to sell.

Sloane Bouchever Email: sbouchever@authorize.net Office Number: 801.437.0495

OPPOSE BUSH'S ANTI-ENVIRONMENTAL APPOINTEE FOR SEC. OF INTERIOR, GALE NORTON

President George W. Bush has announced his nomination of Gale Norton to head the Department of the Interior, the federal agency that directs the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs. Unfortunately, Gale Norton's history illustrates a sore lack of commitment to the protection of natural resources. Instead, her record seems to privilege resource exploitation for business gain.

Join the thousands upon thousands of Americans who are speaking out against this worrisome nomination! To send an instant letter to the key Senate committee click here.

HONOR DAVID BROWER'S WORK TO PROTECT GRAND CANYON AND THE COLORADO RIVER

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WORLDWATCH INSTITUTE: POLITICAL WILL TO SAVE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL FALTERING...

Signs of "accelerated ecological decline" and a loss of political momentum on environmental issues are emerging simultaneously, according to State of the World 2001, issued by the Worldwatch Institute, a Washington based research organization. For full text and graphics click here.

1/26/01
5:59:37 PM

Eco News Stories:

CLINTON'S OUTGOING BUDGET EARMARKS BILLIONS OF DOLLARS FOR RENEWABLES

Outgoing U.S. President Bill Clinton is pleased with last week's agreement on the federal budget that includes $1.2 billion to support renewable energy technology and energy efficient products. The budget provides an increase of $6.5 billion for Education and $9 billion more to Health. An increase of 13 percent was provided for climate change activities to supports research, development, and deployment of solar and renewable energy technology and energy efficient products.

PHOTOVOLTAICS TO BE FASTEST GROWING SOURCE OF ELECTRICITY

Solar photovoltaic will be the fastest growing source of electricity generation in the U.S. for the next 20 years, according to government data. The use of solar PV to generate power will grow by more than 19 percent per year until 2020, while wind will grow at an annual pace of 3.9 percent, and grid-connected solar thermal will grow at 1.7 percent a year. Conventional hydroelectric dams will remain static for the next 20 years, while geothermal will grow at 2.1 percent each year. MSW will expand at 2.9 percent and biomass will grow at 2.2 percent.

CAN A METEORITE HEAT STOCKHOLM?

Sweden will spend $775,000 to see if a meteorite crater can heat the city of Stockholm. The meteorite hit near Lake Mälaren, creating a 10-km crater and 250 km3 of crushed rock. The fragmented bedrock has a porosity that is ten times greater than normal and the temperature rises 15ºC for every kilometer of depth. The area could contain sufficient heat to provide 70 percent of the energy in Stockholm on a sustainable basis. STEM will fund 7 million kronor to study the crater and the potential for geothermal recovery, and the structure's suitability as a heat exchanger.

HOW DANGEROUS ARE WIND GENERATORS TO THE BIRD POPULATION?

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I WANT MY ZEV

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1/26/01
5:59:01 PM

How Much Does It Cost to Run Your Home Appliances?

Based upon a $0.10 per kWh charge for electricity, here is what some of your home appliances cost to run:

Hair dryer - 1 cent per 5-minute use Portable Heater - 9 to 18 cents per hour Incandescent light bulb, 100 watts - 1 cent per hour Equivalent compact fluorescent bulb (27W) - 1 cent for four hours Window Air Conditioner - 9 to 28 cents per hour Color TV - 1 to 5 cents per hour Personal computer - 1 to 2 cents per hour Vacuum cleaner - 5 to 9 cents per hour Microwave oven - 1 to 3 cents per 10 minutes Electric oven - 30 to 60 cents per hour Electric Rangetop Burner - 7 to 30 cents per hour Gas oven - 5 to 11 cents per hour Gas rangetop burner - 4 to 8 cents per hour Dishwasher - 8 to 9 cents per load Electricity for washing machine water - 37 cents per load Gas for washing machine water - 10 cents per load Refrigerator (frost free): 16 cu. Ft: $10 - $18 per month 20 cu. Ft: $12 - $22 per month Freezer - $15 to $30 per month Gas furnace for 2,000 sq. ft home - $41 to $200 or more per month Electric Water heater - $20 to $70 per month Gas water heater - $7 to $19 per month

1/26/01
5:57:59 PM

Environmental news from GRIST MAGAZINE

<http://www.gristmagazine.com>

DID YOU EVER KNOW THAT WE'RE YOUR HERO? -- only two more days to vote for Grist (please) in this contest for "new media hero" <http://www.alternet.org/heroes/>

1. STIFF AS A BOARD Withstanding pressure from automakers, air quality officials in California voted 9-0 yesterday to move forward with a mandate requiring that 3 million electric and low-polluting vehicles be sold in the state over the next decade. The vote by the California Air Resources Board automatically triggers similar mandates in Vermont, Massachusetts, and New York, and affects six of the largest auto manufacturers -- DaimlerChrysler, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Nissan, and Toyoto. The mandate is far less progressive than what was originally proposed 10 years ago, requiring more low-polluting vehicles on balance and fewer zero-emissions vehicles. Still, enviros were pretty dang pleased with yesterday's outcome.

straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Gary Polakovic, 26 Jan 2001 <http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environ/20010126/t000007610.html>

straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Robert Salladay, 26 Jan 2001 <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/200 1/01/26/MN184838.DTL>

do good: Take action and tell Detroit you want eco-friendly cars <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/dogood/autos.stm>

2. EL NINO -- AND EL OTHER NINO In its first move on global warming, the Bush administration has asked that the next international summit on climate change be delayed two months. When talks to hammer out the details of the Kyoto treaty collapsed last November at The Hague, Netherlands, the chair of the talks, Jan Pronk, scheduled another session for this May. But U.S. State Department spokesperson Richard Boucher said this week that the Bush administration needs more time to undertake a "thorough look at the U.S. policy on climate change." As a candidate, President Bush made clear that he didn't support Kyoto, although he wouldn't fully discount the possibility that global warming was occurring. Meanwhile, a study published today in the journal Science suggests that rising greenhouse gas levels might bring about more destructive weather patterns by intensifying the effects of El Nino and La Nina.

straight to the source: MSNBC, 25 Jan 2001 <http://www.msnbc.com/news/481170.asp>

straight to the source: New York Times, Andrew C. Revkin, 26 Jan 2001 <http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/26/science/26CLIM.html>

read it only in Grist Magazine: Bill McKibben's five-part series live from The Hague on the failed climate change talks <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/maindish/mckibben111700.stm>

3. RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE Betty Krawczyk, a 73-year-old great-grandmother, romance writer, and hero to many Canadian environmentalists, was released from jail yesterday, after a judge ruled that she had served enough of her year-long sentence for protesting old-growth logging in the Elaho Valley in British Columbia. Krawczyk began serving her jail term four months ago just as five loggers were given only suspended sentences for assaulting a protest camp in the valley. Krawczyk, who is a member of the group Raging Grannies, said yesterday that when she blockaded logging roads to protect trees, "it affirmed human values over the profit motive and that's considered far more dangerous by corporations and governments." On a related note, check out the diary entries this week on the Grist Magazine website by Susan Tixier of the enviro group Great Old Broads.

straight to the source: Ottawa Citizen, Greg Joyce, 26 Jan 2001 <http://www.southam.com/ottawacitizen/newsnow/cpfs/national/010125/n01 25102.htm>

straight to the source: Toronto Globe and Mail, Caroline Alphonso, 26 Jan 2001 <http://www.globeandmail.com/gam/Environment/20010126/UGRANN.html>

read it only in Grist Magazine: A week in the life of Susan Tixier of Great Old Broads for Wilderness <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/week/tixier012201.stm>

4. TRENT WARFARE U.S. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) has promised Alaska Sen. Frank Murkowski (R) that his energy bill, which is backed by oil interests, will be one of the first five bills introduced in the Senate this year. A draft of the bill proposes more drilling for oil and gas on federal lands, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, as well as millions of dollars to revive nuclear power as a major energy source. Murkowski said, "Consumers want power. New power plants have to be built." The draft also includes some incentives for conservation and renewable energy. In times like these, where won't oil drilling occur? Maybe, Florida? Jeb Bush (R), the state's governor and baby brother to the president, sent a letter this week to the Interior Department opposing oil drilling off Florida's coast.

straight to the source: Portland Oregonian, Tom Detzel, 25 Jan 2001 <http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf?/news/oregonian/01/01/wr_51e nerg25.frame>

straight to the source: Las Vegas Review-Journal, Steve Tetreault, 25 Jan 2001 <http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2001/Jan-25-Thu-2001/news/15307680.html>

straight to the source: St. Petersburg Times, Julie Hauserman, 25 Jan 2001 <http://www.sptimes.com/News/012501/State/Don_t_drill_here__Gov.shtml>

5. BIG YAK ATTACK A ragtag group of about two dozen men fighting to stop poaching of the Tibetan antelope in China was forced to disband this month. Leaders of the China's Wild Yak Brigade were told to take county jobs, and other members were offered jobs with the government's less-experienced anti-poaching program. The antelope, whose fine wool is smuggled out of China to make expensive shahtoosh shawls sold in the West, live in the Kekexili wilderness. With very limited resources, the brigade over eight years uncovered nearly 100 poaching operations and confiscated more than 8,600 antelope pelts, winning an international following in the process. Two of the brigade's leaders were killed for the cause. Poachers seem to be winning the battle, however: Eight years ago, some 200,000 roamed the wilderness, but only 30,000 now remain.

straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Chin-Ching Ni, 26 Jan 2001 <http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environ/20010126/t000007616.html>

Also in GRIST MAGAZINE today:

Electric slide -- deregulation in California didn't help consumers, or the environment -- by Donella Meadows <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/citizen/citizen012201.stm>

Reality TV bites -- the latest in the comic adventures of Zed, the last of his species <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/zed/zed011901.stm>

Finders, keepers -- this Georgia riverkeeper has a red neck and a green heart -- in our Out on a Limb column <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/limb/limb072700.stm>

1/26/01
5:56:50 PM

World Wildlife Fund

Oil Spill Threatens Fragile Ecosystem

One of the worst man-made disasters ever to affect the Galapagosstruck last week, when the Ecuadorian tanker Jessica began spilling about 185,000 gallons of fuel off the island of San Cristobal. At risk are species such as sea lions, pelicans and blue-footed boobies. Some of these species are found no where else on earth.

World Wildlife Fund responded immediately with an emergency contribution of $100,000 and an on-site response team to help with clean-up efforts on the Islands in the wake of this disaster.

Click below to make a special contribution to help fund emergency clean-up efforts and preserve this ecological treasure:

http://Worldwildlife.bfi0.com/X0RT07DD7A4C3B21FE4A

WWF has funded conservation programs on the Galapagos Islands for four decades working closely with research and park service staff. We are committed to continuing our efforts to protect one of the most important and diverse ecosystems on earth. For press releases, background information, a special Galapagos slideshow, and other ways you can help save this unique place, please visit our special web site at:

http://Worldwildlife.bfi0.com/X0RT07DD7A4F3B21FE4A

or call 1-800-207-7346.

Thank you for your support.

1/26/01
5:56:01 PM

EcoNet News

This Week's Headlines and Alerts from EcoNet

EcoNet Alerts: January 26, 2001

Insist Bush Maintain Roadless Forest Protection

Please send a greeting to America's new President, and insist upon protection for America's last great natural landscapes. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/980465992/index_html

Wise Use Group Targets RAN with Attack Website

Though they are not honorable enough to list their own names, "The Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise," a Wise Use group out of Bellevue, WA has made a website that attacks Rainforest Action Network and our campaigns to protect forests, support the rights of indigenous people and confront corporate globalization. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/980466200/index_html

EcoNet Headlines: January 26, 2001

Bush Blocks Clinton's Eleventh-Hour Environmental Initiatives

President George W. Bush on Saturday moved quickly to block the implementation of a host of environmental protection initiatives that had been put in place during the waning days and weeks of the former Clinton/Gore administration. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/980467041/index_html

Bush's Ties to Monsanto

One way conspiracy buffs can get a handle on the new Bush administration is by examining the many ties between the president's team and Monsanto, the big Missouri chemical company that promotes genetically engineered foods. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/980467213/index_html

Native Groups Oppose Norton Nomination

American Indian and Alaska Native groups from Alaska, Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, Washington and California announce their opposition to the nomination of Gale Norton as Secretary of Interior. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/980467481/index_html

Brazil Will Not Let Amazon Become a "Sanctuary"

The government of Brazil is poised to unleash a surge of infrastructure development across the Amazon that will threaten this huge ecosystem's very existence, along with global planetary sustainability. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/980467671/index_html

Plutonium Importer Admits MOX Plan Could Be Scrapped

The shipment of plutonium MOX fuel, enroute to Japan from France, should be abandoned, Greenpeace said today, following an announcement by the Japanese power company importing the fuel, that it would scrap the programme if a majority of residents living near the nuclear plant are against it. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/980467846/index_html

Alaska's Spreading Oil Fields under New Scrutiny

Critics have long charged that government agencies allow new oil drilling without considering cumulative effects of past development on the land, water, wildlife and people of the Minnesota-sized North Slope Borough. Now a scientific committee has launched a study of just that. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/980468018/index_html

Shell in Court over Pakistan Park Scandal

Environmentalists in Pakistan are taking Shell, the giant oil multinational, to court in Karachi today (Wednesday 24) over its plans to drill for oil in one of most beautiful and precious areas of Pakistan. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/980468210/index_html

Colombia Abandons Research on Biological Agents for Drug Eradication

Colombia has abandoned a project to develop biological agents to eradicate coca and opium poppy plants, dealing another major defeat to the US-promoted idea to use biological weapons in the Drug War. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/980468343/index_html

WTO Meeting: Will Protests Be Allowed?

The World Trade Organization has indicated that it will hold its next ministerial meeting at the beginning of November in Qatar. This has prompted objections from human rights groups and critics of the WTO concerned that Qatar will not allow protests. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/980468512/index_html

NAFTA Panel Rules on Authority to Accept Amicus Briefs

The North American environmental community is celebrating following a 16 January preliminary ruling by a NAFTA tribunal on the Methanex-US case. Read More...

http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/980468908/index_html

1/26/01
4:51:28 PM

Bogus FDA Feed Ban

Sandra Blakeslee of the New York Times reported on Jan. 11 that the US Food and Drug Administration's supposed 1997 ban on feeding rendered animal protein to cows and other ruminant animals is full of loopholes, and moreover that the so-called ban is not being enforced among the thousands of companies involved in the $3.2 billion dollar rendering industry and the $20 billion dollar animal feed industry. As Blakeslee wrote: "Among 180 large companies that render cattle and another ruminant, sheep, nearly a quarter were not properly labeling their products and did not have a system to prevent commingling, the FDA said. And among 347 FDA-licensed feed mills that handle ruminant materials--these tend to be large operators that mix drugs into their products--20 percent were not using labels with the required caution statement, and 25 percent did not have a system to prevent commingling. Then there are some 6,000 to 8,000 feed mills so small they do not require FDA licenses. They are nonetheless subject to the regulations, and of 1,593 small feed producers that handle ruminant material and have been inspected, 40 percent were not using approved labels and 25 percent had no system in place to prevent commingling."

In other words millions of US cows, sheep, game farm deer and elk, and pigs (pigs and cow's blood were inexplicably exempted in the so-called FDA feed ban of 1997), not to mention household pets, are still being fed billions of pounds of animal feed or pet food containing meat and offal from ruminant animals--despite the obvious danger to human and animal health and despite the fact that the FDA and the USDA for the past three years have been reassuring the public that this was no longer happening. But the story gets scarier. In the Times on the front page of the Sunday Jan. 14 edition, (tucked under a misleading headline "Stringent Steps Taken by US on Cow Illness") Blakeslee drops the bombshell. Not only has the US Mad Cow feed ban been a joke, but apparently US feed companies, pet food companies, pharmaceutical firms, and nutritional supplement manufacturers have been carrying on with business as usual by importing large quantities of possibly contaminated bovine parts and rendered animal protein--no doubt at bargain basement prices--in 1989 and 1997. It appears that the same thing that has European consumers' blood boiling, that their government and industry stupidly or greedily imported tons of likely contaminated rendered animal protein from Britain since 1989 has also been happening in the United States, and likely other nations as well. After British authorities made it illegal to feed rendered animal protein to ruminant animals in their own country, the UK feed industry simply sold it overseas.

"Since 36 million cattle are slaughtered annually in the United States, about 36 cows spontaneously infected with mad cow disease could be entering the nation's food chain each year." Thirty-six domestic US Mad Cows a year being ground up and fed back to other animals may not sound that alarming until you consider the fact that an average cow, pig, chicken, game farm deer, elk, fish farm fish, or household cat and dog--because of the commingling of many different animals' body parts at the rendering plant and the feed mill--will be consuming the body parts of literally thousands of different animals in their feed over their lifetime.

Mad Sheep, Deer, & Elk

Consider the fact that at the height of the first Mad Cow crisis in Britain 1-2% of all cows were being diagnosed with BSE, while the Times reports that up to 18% of mule-tail deer in the Fort Collins area of Colorado are now carriers of Chronic Wasting Disease. Hunters that kill deer in Colorado are required to turn in the heads of these animals so that they can be tested for CWD or Mad Deer Disease. Officials tell hunters not to eat the meat of infected animals, (lab tests can take as long as six weeks) but have stubbornly refused to ban hunting or eating venison, despite calls from consumer groups such as the Center for Food Safety and the Organic Consumers Association to do so. Meanwhile several million people are eating venison and venison sausage every year in the US, while several million more in the US and overseas are taking "glandular supplements" or body-building hormones which contain concentrated brain and pituitary material from US, British, and European cows. For the full Jan. 14 Blakeslee article see http://www.purefood.org/meat/madcowexplosive.cfm

Another FDA Ban?

The FDA warned US drug companies, cosmetic companies, and nutritional supplements firms Dec. 6 to stop using European bovine parts in most of their products as of Jan. 1. It may already be too late. As Blakeslee points out, even this ban--assuming it actually gets enforced--still has loopholes. As she writes, nutritional supplements "must have labels listing ingredients like bovine pituitaries and adrenals, but manufacturers are not required to list the country of origin. Other beef byproducts that are still allowed in the country include milk, blood, fat, gelatin, tallow, bone mineral extracts, collagen, semen, amniotic fluid, serum albumin and other parts of European cattle that are widely used in vaccines and medicines."

For more information on Mad Cow and Mad Cow-like diseases see our website http://www.organicconsumers.org as well as the following sites http://www.prwatch.org http://www.mad-cow.org

The best book on the threat of Mad Cow in the US is the book by John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton called Mad Cow USA: Could the Nightmare Happen Here? You can order hardback copies of the book from the Organic Consumers Association for only $10 (this includes shipping). Or you can access the entire book for free on the internet by going to the excellent website of the Center for Media and Democracy http://www.prwatch.org

America and the world's 50-year experiment with chemical-intensive industrial agriculture and genetic engineering may soon be moving into its final, terminal stage. Mad Cow Disease and the growing global opposition to factory farming and genetic engineering may turn out to the harbingers of a new era of sustainable living and organic agriculture. One can only hope that we make the necessary transition to organic farming and ban the most dangerous practices of genetic engineering and industrial food production before it is too late. In the meantime, stay tuned to BioDemocracy News and the Organic Consumers Association website http://www.organicconsumers.org for the latest news and analysis.

By the way you can still get to the OCA website by going to http://www.purefood.org

We're now using http://www.organicconsumers.org as our primary internet address simply because our adversaries have set up a counterfeit internet site, filled with lies and industry propaganda, at http://www.purefoods.org

Take a look at this site if you want to see what we're up against. Keep in mind, however, that the "Bad Guys" wouldn't be doing this except for the fact that we're winning the battle.

1/26/01
4:47:30 PM

Hello everyone

For a long time I've suspected that the same greed and stupidity that led to the onset of the Mad Cow disease in Britain and Europe have been at play here as well in North America. Well, the evidence is now in that such was the case (see Bogus FDA Feed Ban below). If you are a meat-eater - especially of beef - the risks are great that you have already contracted this slow-developing, debilitating and deadly disease - if you are not also already having cardio-vascular problems because of the high-fat content of most kinds of meat anyway.

If tampering with the genetic code of food plants to make them resistant to higher doses of herbicides (73% of GE crops were modified solely for herbicide tolerance in 2000) so as to make more profits; systemically adding antibiotics to most animal feeds so as to make more profits; poisoning our land, air and water supply with a toxic brew of chemical herbicides and pesticides so as to make more profits, irradiating a growing number of foodstuff to make them last longer so as to make more profits; polluting our atmosphere with greenhouse gases while shipping hundreds or thousands of miles/kilometers away foodstuff grown in countries with low wages and lax environmental regulations so as to make more profits; disseminating ozone-depleting chemicals through fertilizers used to make plants grow bigger and faster so as to make more profits; adding neurotoxic chemicals such as aspartame and a loooong list of other carcinogenic food additives to most foodstuff sold in supermarkets so as to make more profits; processing food beyong recognition, packaging it in lots of chemically-leeching plastics and wasteful cardboard boxes and all kinds of bottles filling up dumps and spoiling beaches and nature all over the world so as to make more profits; overfishing and strip-mining all the oceans with huge trawler fleets and mile-long drifting nets so as to make more profits; using an enormous percentage of our dwingling world supply of grains (worldwide reserves of grain are now at an all-time low level) to feed livestock and wasting in the process 60 to 90% of the proteins that could be fed directly to humans, especially poor people dying of hunger by the millions so as to make more profits; ------ if all these insults to our bodies and our planet were not enough, and I'm certainly forgetting lots of other for-profit schemes in this list -- think for instance about the deaths caused by the E-Coli bacteria found in ground beef; think about the vast tracks of land in national parks damaged by the hoofs of grazing cattles; think about the tremendous polluting load of millions of tons of manure both solid and liquid from livestock around the world - and the *stench* in so many rural areas!!; think about the horrendous conditions in which so many industrial farm animal live and die; think about the millions of acres of rainforest burned and transformed into pastures to raise beef for fast-food restaurants; and the list goes on and on endlessly!!! -- now ON TOP OF ALL THAT we must contend with the knowledge that the multinational corporations, their governmental accomplices and the handful of individuals that want to run most of this world and profit from us have allowed contaminated bovine parts - euphemistically called "rendered animal protein" -- not to mention the body parts of cows, pigs, chickens, sheeps with the Mad Sheep Disease or even household cats and dogs, all "commingled" together at the rendering plants and the feed mills -- to make their way, directly or indirectly, for years into your plate and your stomach... if you are a North American beef-eater.

Personally, I prefer to organically grow most of my own vegetables, buy as much organic food as possible, avoid beef entirely and eat other kinds of meat and fish only very occasionally as I've done for the last 20 years. It is a small contribution to the health of the planet - and mine as well! - but at least I feel I contribute to the solution instead of compounding the problem.

How about you?

Jean Hudon Earth Rainbow Network Coordinator http://www.cybernaute.com/earthconcert2000

P.S. If you need more clear-cut reasons to quit eating beef and lower your meat intake in general, read the eye-opening facts (A MUST!!) from the book "Diet For A New America" at http://www.muzanji.com/jrobbins/

See the Far-Reaching Consequences of Meat and Dairy - another *MUST READ* and a book review of Diet For A New America at http://www.hacres.com/html/newamer.html

Visit the Vegan site at http://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/

1/26/01
4:37:43 PM

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE (ENS) http://ens-news.com

"We Cover the Earth For You"

ONE MILLION SALVADOREANS TOUCHED BY QUAKE

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, January 25, 2001 (ENS) - More than one million people have been directly affected by the earthquake that rocked El Salvador on January 13, according to the latest assessment by the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.

For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-25-04.html

NATO SAYS NO LINK BETWEEN DEPLETED URANIUM, CANCER

BRUSSELS, Belgium, January 25, 2001 (ENS) - There is no link between the depleted uranium munitions used in the NATO led Balkans wars and the rash of cancers that have been reported by soldiers who fought in the conflicts, according to the chairman of a multinational committee convened to study the matter.

For full text and graphics, visit: http://www.ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-25-15.html

LONDON TURNS RISING GROUNDWATER INTO LIQUID ASSET

LONDON, United Kingdom, January 25, 2001 (ENS) - Engineers are finding innovative uses for London's rising groundwaters, including filling lakes at Buckingham Palace.

For full text and graphics, visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-25-10.html

U.S. REQUESTS FURTHER DELAY IN CLIMATE TALKS

WASHINGTON, DC, January 25, 2001 (ENS) - The United States has asked for a further delay before formal negotiations restart on the ground rules for implementing the United Nations Kyoto Protocol governing greenhouse gas emissions.

For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-25-05.html

MEDICAL REPORT FINDS BIOTECH FOODS SAFE ... SO FAR

WASHINGTON, DC, January 25, 2001 (ENS) - No long term health effects have been detected from the use of transgenic crops and genetically modified foods, says a report by the scientific council of the American Medical Association. The report also concludes that bioengineered foods are "substantially equivalent" to their conventional counterparts.

For full text and graphics visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-25-06.html

MOUNTAIN GORILLA GROUP GROWS DESPITE 10 YEARS OF WAR

NAIROBI, Kenya, January 25, 2001 (ENS) - Conservationists and park officials have managed to protect the Virunga population of highly endangered mountain gorillas despite the armed conflict in and around their habitat - the mountains where Congo-Kinshasa meets Rwanda and Uganda.

For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-25-01.html

TURKEY'S GULF OF IZMIT AWASH WITH DEAD FISH

By Jon Gorvett

ISTANBUL, Turkey, January 25, 2001 (ENS) Turkey's Gulf of Izmit, just south of Istanbul, became the focus of environmental concern this week, as Greenpeace activists launched a protest while scientists argued over just why the Gulf has been filling up with dead fish.

For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-25-02.html

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: JANUARY 25, 2001

Bush Cabinet Nominees Advance Through Senate

Mayors Urge America to Cut Energy Use

500th Chemical Safety Test Published

Golden Eaglets Trapping Wins Tentative Approval

Forest Activists Sentenced for Logging Protests

Los Alamos National Lab Cited For Safety Violations

New Wildlife Refuge Proposed in Northwestern Kentucky

Michigan Fisheries Trust Could Be National Model

Boy Scout Rings May Contain Deadly Metal

For full text and graphics visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-25-09.html

SEND NEWS STORY TIPS TO news@ens-news.com

TO ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:

Audubon of Florida and Orlando Sentinel Launch "Eagle Watch 2001" Live online video view of an active Florida Bald Eagle's nest

MIAMI, FL, Jan. 25 -/E-Wire/-- Audubon of Florida and the Orlando Sentinel launched "Eagle Watch 2001" on (Monday, January 22) at 1:00 p.m., a live online video view into an active Florida Bald Eagle nest. Internet users can watch the phenomenal growth of two recently hatched eaglets, which are less than a week old. The site can be reached by linking from "EagleWatch" on the Orlando Sentinel home page www.orlandosentinel.com.

/CONTACT: Resee Collins (407) 644-0190, Irela M. Bague (305) 371-6399/

/Web site: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/25Jan0103.html

TO FOREIGN, BUSINESS AND ENVIRONMENT EDITORS:

William McDonough, Internationally Recognized Expert on Sustainable Design Charts Earth-Friendly Path for Business Productivity and Profit at The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland

WASHINGTON, DC, Jan. 25, -/E-Wire/-- William McDonough, internationally acclaimed architect and designer, was named "Hero of the Planet" by TIME and "Designer of the Year" by Interiors magazine. President Clinton awarded McDonough the Presidential Award for Sustainable Development, the nation's highest environmental honor, and his architectural firm twice won Business Week/Architectural Record awards for corporate design profitability and effectiveness.

/CONTACT: Katherine Christie/Global Communicators - 202-371-9600 - e-mail: kc@globalcommunicators.com/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/25Jan0106.html

TO BUSINESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:

IBR Appoints New VP Operations & Engineering

VANCOUVER, BC, Jan 25 -/E-Wire/-- International Bio-Recovery Corporation (IBR) is pleased to announce that Scott Curry, P.Eng. has joined the management team of the Company as Vice President, Operations and Engineering.

/CONTACT: Ross MacLachlan, ross@ibrcorp.com Daniela Louie, dlouie@ibrcorp.com Director of Corporate Communications Communications & Investor Relations International Bio Recovery Corporation Tel: (604) 924-1023, Fax: (604) 924-1043, 52 Riverside Drive, North Vancouver BC, Canada V7H 1T4/

/Web site: http://www.ibrcorp.com/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/25Jan0105.html

TO BUSINESS, ENVIRONMENTAL AND SCIENCE EDITORS:

Garden State Labs Earns NELAP Accreditation

HILLSIDE, N.J., Jan. 25 -/E-Wire/-- Garden State Laboratories, Inc. of Hillside, NJ is proud to announce that it is in the first class of laboratories accredited under the new National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (NELAP) sponsored by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

/CONTACT: Harvey Klein, M.S. Laboratory Director, 800-273-8901, hklein@gslabs.com, for Garden State Laboratories, Inc./

/Web site: http://www.gslabs.com/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/25Jan0104.html

TO AUTO, BUSINESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:

Environmental Issues Take Center Stage with CarTrackers.com Redesign

FREMONT, Calif., Jan. 25 -/E-Wire/-- CarTrackers.com, (http://www.cartrackers.com), one of the largest and most influential automotive content destinations on the Internet, has introduced the first comprehensive automotive environmental sector available to consumers online. "Think Green is an engaging, organized approach to the environmental issues affecting consumers and the automotive industry, forming an integral part of the redesigned CarTrackers.com," says Jeff Voth, President. "With its dynamic information, extensive library of terms, images and reviews, consumers will appreciate the usefulness and visual appeal of Think Green."

/CONTACT: Jeff Voth, president of CarTrackers.com, 905-704-1140, ext. 34, fax, 905-704-0230, or e-mail, jeff@cartrackers.com/

/Web site: http://www.cartrackers.com/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/25Jan0102.html

TO ENVIRONMENTAL EDITOR:

More Galapagos Islands Under Threat From Oil Slick - IFAW Team Sets Up Centres To Help At Risk Wildlife

SANTA CRUZ ISLAND, Galapagos, Jan. 25 -/E-Wire/-- The oil slick from the sunken oil carrier Jessica is reported today (January 25) to be spreading north and putting wildlife on more of the Galapagos Islands under threat.

/CONTACT: Simon Pope of IFAW UK, +44 (207) 587-6714 or +44 (207) 703-3655 or +44 (7801) 613-527 or Christopher Bailey of IFAW U.S., 508-744-2069 or 508-737-6677/

/Web site: http://www.ifaw.org/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/25Jan0101.html

SEND YOUR PRESS RELEASE ON E-WIRE -- 1-888-764-NEWS

1/26/01
4:32:36 PM

NATO Says No Link Between Depleted Uranium, Cancer

Daniel Speckhard, the U.S. Ambassador to Belarus and the chairman of NATO's ad hoc committee on depleted uranium (DU), said Wednesday that "based on the data today, no link has been established between depleted uranium and any forms of cancer."

"To date, no nation has found evidence of an increase in incidence of illness among peacekeepers [who served] in the Balkans compared with the incidence of illness among armed forces not serving in the Balkans," Speckhard said at a news conference. "None of the nations reported finding a link between health complaints of personnel employed in the Balkans and depleted uranium munitions."

NATO Spokesman Mark Laity, third from left, discusses the possible health effects of depleted uranium with several military experts at a recent news conference in Brussels, Belgium (Photo courtesy NATO) Speckhard's committee, which represents about 50 nations, was formed earlier this month to investigate the alleged link between the adverse health effects that have been reported by NATO soldiers and the DU munitions that were used in the wars waged in Bosnia, Herzegovina and Kosovo. Speckhard said on Wednesday that the committee intends to bring "maximum transparency" to the inquiry, which he said was undertaken to ensure that there is "no health risk to our troops or civilians in the Balkans" as a result of the DU munitions used there.

The United States and a host of other allied nations have for years supplied their armed forces with machine gun rounds and rocket like projectiles tipped with depleted uranium, which by definition contains statistically insignificant amounts of radioactivity. The Pentagon and NATO both maintain that DU munitions are essential war fighting tools, because of their ability to pierce through armor plated tanks and other heavily defended targets.

Depleted uranium munitions are effective at piercing heavily armored vehicles, such as this tank (Photo courtesy NATO) The Pentagon acquires much of its DU at no cost from nuclear weapons plants, which are generally eager to get rid of the tens of thousands of tons of wastes that are piling up at their facilities. Both the Pentagon and NATO have long denied that DU munitions pose any health risks from residual radioactivity.

DU munitions were used widely in the Persian Gulf War as well as the more recent conflicts in the Balkans, and thousands of veterans who fought in those campaigns disagree with NATO's conclusions. Many of these veterans have been plagued by a rash of unexplained health effects, including chronic fatigue, paralysis and death.

Gulf War veterans gathered in Washington, DC, last year to demand recognition and treatment for their illness (Photo courtesy American Gulf War Veterans Association) DU, which is regulated in the United States by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, is supposed to contain no other radionuclides other than uranium. But critics charge that the substance often contains other dangerous elements associated with nuclear power plants, such as plutonium, radium and americium.

That fear was at least partially borne out earlier this week, when a Pentagon spokesman acknowledged that traces of plutonium were inadvertently incorporated into DU munitions that were made some 30 years ago. The mistake came about because of contaminated equipment at a domestic power plant, the spokesman said.

NATO spokesman Mark Laity, appearing at the Brussels news conference on Wednesday along with Speckhard, was quick to downplay the significance of the Pentagon's revelation. Laity said that it was "quite possible" that traces of plutonium or other radionuclides will turn up in soil samples now being taken in the Balkans. But such findings, he said, would not constitute a threat to public health or the environment.

"These contaminants are known about and are in minute amounts," Laity said. "Those trace elements have been found to be too small to add to the existing low level health risk that there is."

"If they find [traces of plutonium or other radionuclides], we will not be surprised, and I will not be worried," added Laity, who delivered his remarks with a DU round sitting nearby.

That point was echoed by NATO's Supreme Commander in Europe, U.S. Air Force General Joseph Ralston. Ralston, speaking in Athens, Greece, told reporters that he would not hesitate authorizing the firing of DU rounds "tonight," should such action be called for.

U.S. Air Force General Joseph Ralston, NATO's Supreme Commander in Europe (Photo courtesy NATO) But a team of scientists at the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Wednesday unveiled a study that found that DU of the type used by the U.S. military can cause cancer in laboratory animals.

Fletcher Hahn, a senior scientist on the project, told the Reuters news organization that the study represents a "warning flag that we shouldn't ignore."

Still, Hahn emphasized that the study "doesn't mean that [DU] is carcinogenic to humans."

Meanwhile, two international organizations today announced that they may take action to assist the World Health Organization (WHO) team of researchers, which is currently studying the matter of DU use in the Persian Gulf. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) may launch "fact finding missions" to the Balkan region, their respective officials said.

UNEP officials will decide soon whether to dispatch a team of researchers to Bosnia Herzegovina for the purpose of studying the public health and environmental implications of the DU munitions used there, officials said.

The IAEA is considering holding a training course to help researchers in the Balkan region to better understand the complex measurement and assessment methods associated with conducting analysis on depleted uranium, officials from the group said.

That is of little comfort to Francis Boyle, a professor of international law at the University of Illinois at Urbanna/Champaign. Boyle, who consulted on a 1994 documentary film that linked a host of health effects to DU, said that the IAEA was only getting involved in the project to do "damage control."

"The IAEA is a front organization for the nuclear power industry, so you can't believe anything they say," Boyle said. "It is an unfortunate sign, in my opinion, that the WHO and UNEP would be coordinating anything with the IAEA. They're going to try and cover this whole thing up."

Boyle, like many critics, maintains that DU poses far greater risks to public health and the environment than the Pentagon and NATO are letting on. He said that DU munitions are teeming with plutonium and other radionuclides that should not be exempted from regulatory oversight.

When DU munitions hit their targets, Boyle noted, they typically release particles which can contaminate air and nearby water.

"Even a speck of plutonium can kill you," Boyle noted. "But there's a lot more in DU munitions than just depleted uranium, and in any event, once it vaporizes . and people are breathing it and eating it, it kills people."

Boyle, like many others, believes that DU played a causal role in mysterious "Gulf War Syndrome" that affected tens of thousands of veterans who fought in that war.

The Pentagon flatly denies such charges.

Boyle and other legal experts have also long maintained that DU munitions are illegal under a host of international laws, such as the Hague Convention of 1907. The U.S. government is party to the convention, which prohibits weapons that are "unnecessary," as well as those that cause cruel, long lasting or uncontrollable effects.

Boyle argues that DU munitions are "unnecessary" because weapons made with another metal - tungsten - are equally as effective. The Pentagon does not use tungsten, Boyle said, because it would have to pay for it.

"They get the DU for free, and this is basically a question of money," Boyle said. "DU is an unnecessary weapon."

The Geneva protocol of 1925, to which the U.S. is also a signatory, prohibits the use of radiation as a weapon, Boyle noted. And a protocol to the 1977 Geneva Convention contains a provision that bans weapons and techniques of warfare that cause severe, long term environmental impacts, he noted.

The U.S. is not a signatory to that agreement.

NATO has posted a detailed map on its website showing where DU munitions were targeted in Bosnia and Kosovo. The map can be viewed at http://www.nato.int

http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-25-15.html

1/26/01
4:21:04 PM

The Nation

George Walker Bush has barely warmed his Oval Office chair, and the national media already seem eager to forget the rancor he incited on his way there, all but ignoring the shouts of the thousands of protesters who turned his inaugural celebration into a festival of dissent. Thousands of demonstrators--black-masked anarchists alongside khaki-clad Gore supporters, greens and elderly unionists--lined Pennsylvania Avenue with thickets of protest signs to greet the presidential motorcade with boos and hisses, drowning out the cheers of Bush supporters.

In a web-only exclusive for The Nation, Ben Ehrenreich reports what the mainstream media didn't from the streets of DC: Available exclusively at:

http://www.thenation.com

Also currently available is Vincent Bugliosi's explosive report, "None Dare Call It Treason," published recently in the pages of The Nation and sparking controversy coast to coast. Available only at:

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010205&s=bugliosi

1/26/01
4:18:09 PM

U.S. Reports Successful 'Star Wars' Technology Test

Thursday, January 25, 2001

By Jim Wolf

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force and three contractors announced on Thursday a successful test of optical systems that a space-based laser would use to shoot down ballistic missiles.

The six-second test, carried out Dec. 8 in a California vacuum chamber that simulates space conditions, yielded important data on focusing a high-energy beam to zap a "distant boosting missile target," the contractors said.

Lockheed Martin Corp., TRW Inc. and Boeing Co. have teamed in the $240 million technology demonstration program aimed at putting an experimental laser in space in 2012.

Under the current funding, a space-based laser would try to shoot down a dummy ballistic missile in 2013, en route to possible deployment as part of a layered missile shield for the United States and its allies.

The program could pick up steam if President George W. Bush opts to incorporate space-based weapons in his campaign promises to beef up former President Clinton's limited, land-based missile defense program. The Clinton program was projected by the Congressional Budget Office to cost at least $60 billion.

The test last month fed a laser beam through a 13-foot-diameter "beam director" telescope to gauge optical pointing and alignment while the laser was firing.

"The test was a solid success," Col. Neil McCasland, director of the Air Force's space-based laser project office said in a statement released by the contractors.

DIAGNOSTIC DATA

Weapons developers gathered "a wealth of diagnostic data about the high-energy laser environment," he added. "It's all part of our ongoing strategy to ... identify and rigorously test design concepts that will lead us to a successful on-orbit demonstration" of the laser's capability against a missile.

Maj. Arnie Streland, McCasland's deputy, said the six-week delay in announcing the latest test had nothing to do with waiting for the first days of the Bush administration, which has announced a thorough review of major weapons programs.

"That's a coincidence," he said in a telephone interview, citing the time it took for experts to analyze data collected and the time to get a press release cleared by all those who had to sign off on it.

Such space-based weapons, at the heart of former President Ronald Reagan's original plan for a Star Wars-style shield, has long been the "holy grail" of missile defense, said William Hartung of the World Policy Institute, a New York-based research group concerned with national security issues.

"I think it's to try to soften up the public and the Congress for the idea that their missile program is going to be different from the Clinton one and somehow more effective and somehow more capable," he said.

JUMBO JETS

The Air Force -- and the same contractors -- are also developing a high-energy laser that would be fitted to a customized Boeing 747 jumbo jet to shoot down a ballistic missile from hundreds of miles away.

The Airborne Laser is technically a "theater," or regional, missile defense system and not part of the currently proposed national missile defense architecture.

But it could also conceivably be used as part of an integrated national missile defense network to intercept missiles in their boost phase, soon after launch. Currently, seven jumbo jets are due to be equipped with onboard lasers in the $11.3 billion program.

With the latest ground test, "we have demonstrated the technology that says we know how to solve the problem," Art Woods, manager of Lockheed Martin's space-based laser program, said in a telephone interview.

http://news.lycos.com/headlines/TopNews/article.asp?docid=RTNEWS-SPACE-ARMS-DC&date=20010125

1/26/01
4:08:48 PM

Environmental news from GRIST MAGAZINE

< http://www.gristmagazine.com>

1. NOTHING COULD BE FINER THAN TO BE AN OIL REFINER In one of the first major environmental challenges for the Bush administration, the oil refining industry yesterday announced plans to sue the U.S. EPA over its rule to require cleaner diesel fuel, which was finalized in the last days of the Clinton administration. Bob Slaughter, general counsel for the National Petrochemical Refiners Association, said, "We would hope that the new administration would be more interested in balancing energy supply and environmental concerns." The industry in the past has said it would accept requirements to reduce the sulfur content of diesel fuel by as much as 90 percent, but the EPA measure requires a 98 percent reduction. The Bush administration could change the diesel rule only by restarting the time-consuming process that led to it, but Congress could vote to overturn the measure if it acts by 17 March.

straight to the source: New York Times, Douglas Jehl, 25 Jan 2001 <http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/25/politics/25DIES.html>

straight to the source: MSNBC, Miguel Llanos, 24 Jan 2001 <http://www.msnbc.com/news/506462.asp>

2. THE DAVOS IS IN THE DETAILS Anti-globalization protesters are swarming to the ski resort town of Davos, Switzerland, to demonstrate against the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, an elite group that includes representatives from 1,000 of the world's largest corporations. Organizers of the meeting, which begins today, say they have given environmentalists, unions, and other activists an unprecedented amount of access to the session. But the lefties aren't satisfied and have organized an alternative conference in Davos to address issues of fair trade and ways to make corporations more accountable to public interests. Some 10,000 activists are also expected to attend the World Social Forum, a parallel meeting in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

straight to the source: New York Times, Elizabeth Olson, 25 Jan 2001 < http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/25/business/25DAVO.html>

straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, 25 Jan 2001 < http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9614>

3. CALIFORNIA, HERE WE COME, RIGHT BACK WHERE WE STARTED FROM As California's energy woes continue, the Bush administration is considering easing air-pollution rules to make it less difficult to build power plants in the state. On a related note, Bush last week asserted that environmental regulations in the state were "preventing California from having a 100 percent max output at their plants -- as I understand there may be -- then we need to relax those standards." But he's wrong, both power companies and air-quality officials say. Nearly every power plant in the state is in fact operating at full capacity. Meanwhile, some power companies in California are aggressively encouraging consumers to conserve more energy. Up north in Washington state, which has had to send some its energy to California, Gov. Gary Locke (D) has proposed legislation with $7 million in tax breaks to spur use of renewable energy sources and hold down power rates for low-income residents.

straight to the source: Wall Street Journal, John J. Fialka and Jeanne Cummings, 25 Jan 2001 (access ain't free) < http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB980379939311947480.htm>

straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Marla Cone and Gary Polakovic, 25 Jan 2001 < http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environ/20010125/t000007397.html>

straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Maria La Ganga and John M. Glionna, 25 Jan 2001 < http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environ/20010125/t000007366.html>

straight to the source: Seattle Times, Lynda V. Mapes, 25 Jan 2001 <http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/SeattleTimes.woa/ wa/gotoArticle?zsection_id=268466359&text_only=0&slug=energy25m&docume nt_id=134262710>

4. PUT ON MY GREEN SWEDE SHOES Sweden's Environmental Minister Kjell Larsson yesterday said that his country -- which currently holds the European Union presidency -- would push hard during its term to make the E.U.'s regulations on toxic chemicals much tougher. Sweden itself is already taking steps to ban chemicals that accumulate in the body, and Larsson thinks the entire E.U. should adopt such a policy. Earlier in the week, Larsson announced that Sweden would cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 2 percent below 1990 levels by 2010, even though the Kyoto treaty on climate change allows the country to increase its emissions by 4 percent.

straight to the source: CNN.com, Reuters, 25 Jan 2001 < http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/scandinavia/01/24/environment.eu .chemicals.reut/index.html>

straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, Eva Sohlman, 25 Jan 2001 <http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9608>

read it only in Grist Magazine: Swede dreams are made of these -- Sweden takes big steps to ban chemicals -- by Donella Meadows <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/citizen/citizen121500.stm>

5. CAR AND DRIVEL With California regulators poised today to set in stone the state's zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate, automakers have been mounting a last-ditch effort to prevent the rule from being so tough. The rule would require that thousands of ZEVS be sold in the state by 2003. Among their complaints, automakers are contending that the electricity used by electric cars would bring California's already-strapped energy system to its knees. The state Energy Commission disagrees, saying that the electricity needed to power the cars would be trivial relative to the state's supply and that most cars would be recharged at night, when electricity demand is at its lowest.

straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Gary Polakovic, 25 Jan 2001 < http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environ/20010125/t000007372.html>

Also in GRIST MAGAZINE today:

Did you ever know that we're your hero -- vote for Grist (please!) in this contest for "new media hero" <http://www.alternet.org/heroes/>

The grandma swat team -- a day in the life of Susan Tixier, Great Old Broads for Wilderness <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/week/tixier012401.stm>

Mr. Green Beans -- he's all abuzz about socially responsible coffee -- in our Out on Limb column <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/limb/limb081100.stm>

1/26/01
3:54:49 PM

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE (ENS) http://ens-news.com

"We Cover the Earth For You"

EMERGENCY CALLED AS GALAPAGOS OIL SPILL SPREADS

PUERTO BAQUERIZO MORENO, San Cristobal Island, Ecuador, January 24, 2001 (ENS) - A massive oil spill from the Ecuadorian tanker Jessica, grounded on a reef in the Galapagos Islands, now covers an area of 600 square kilometres (232 square miles) threatening the fragile marine environment of the world famous wildlife refuge.

For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-24-01.html

DEMS SAY GORE'S PRESIDENTIAL BID RUINED BY POPULIST MESSAGE

By Brian Hansen

WASHINGTON, DC, January 24, 2001 (ENS) - Al Gore, the self-styled environmental candidate in the 2000 Presidential election, lost his bid for the White House because he campaigned on an outdated "populist" platform that was too liberal for most Americans, according to a new report drafted by the Democratic Leadership Council.

For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-24-15.html

DIOXIN NAMED A KNOWN CARCINOGEN

WASHINGTON, DC, January 24, 2001 (ENS) - Dioxin - already blamed for a host of ills ranging from immune system suppression and infertility to learning disabilities - has now been officially linked to cancer. The National Toxicology Program announced last week that dioxin has been added to a federal list of substances "known to be human carcinogens."

For full text and graphics visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-24-06.html

NARROW INTERPRETATION COULD DECLAW WETLANDS RULING

MADISON, Wisconsin, January 24, 2001 (ENS) Lawyers for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have issued a narrow interpretation of the scope of a Supreme Court decision that could threaten wetlands nationwide. But even the narrow interpretation leaves millions of wetland acres at risk, experts say.

For full text and graphics visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-24-07.html

NEPAL SUPREME COURT BANS IMPORT OF POLLUTING VEHICLES

By Deepak Gajurel

KATHMANDU, Nepal, January 24, 2001 (ENS) - In a sweeping ruling, the Nepal Supreme Court on Monday ordered the government to immediately stop the import of Indian vehicles not meeting Euro-I vehicular emission standards. The smoke belching vehicles are a primary cause of pollution in the Kathmandu Valley which contains eight sites listed in UNESCO's World Heritage List.

For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-24-03.html

UN WARNS AGAINST COMPLACENCY AS DEFORESTATION SLOWS

ROME, Italy, January 24, 2001 (ENS) - The global rate of net forest loss has slowed to nine million hectares per year, according to the latest global forest assessment by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

For full text and graphics, visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-24-11.html

GREENPEACE DENOUNCES ARCTIC ROUTE FOR NUKE WASTE

MOSCOW, Russia, January 24, 2001 (ENS) - A plan to ship highly radioactive nuclear waste from Europe to Japan via the Arctic has been described as "desperate madness" by international environmental group Greenpeace.

For full text and graphics, visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-24-10.html

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: JANUARY 24, 2001

Climate Change Conference Hosted by Defense Department

Contaminated Trailer Park Gets $16 Million Cleanup

Aventis Pays Millions for StarLink Corn Debacle

Emergency Power Sales to California Extended

Detroit River's Mud Island Added to Wildlife Refuge

Vandenberg Needs Better Plan to Protect Plovers

Automakers Say Clean Cars Will Make Dirty Air

Idaho Worries Grizzlies Could Endanger Hunters

For full text and graphics visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-24-09.html

SEND NEWS STORY TIPS TO news@ens-news.com

TO BUSINESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:

Skanska recognized by US Environmental Protection Agency for environmental achievements

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Jan. 24 -/E-Wire/-- Three Skanska companies in the US Beacon Skanska, Beers Skanska and Sordoni Skanska were recently recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for outstanding compliance and information efforts in the environmental field.

/CONTACT: Axel Wenblad, Vice President Environmental Affairs, Skanska AB,Tel +46 8 753 89 98/

/Web sites: http://www.epa.gov/performancetrack http://www.skanska.com/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/24Jan0109.html

International Experts Arrive to Aid Galapagos Wildlife Crisis

SANTA FE ISLAND, Galapagos, Jan. 24 -/E-Wire/-- The first team of international wildlife experts has arrived in the Galapagos Islands today in response to requests for assistance from local scientists and organizations fighting to save rare animals threatened by the oil slick from the stricken bulk carrier Jessica.

/CONTACT: Simon Pope of IFAW UK, +44 (207) 587-6714, or +44 (207) 703-3655, or +44 (7801) 613-527; or Christopher Bailey of IFAW U.S., 508-744-2069, or 508-737-6677/

/Web site: http://www.ifaw.org/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/24Jan0108.html

TO INTERNATIONAL, BUSINESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:

EARTH (Canada) Middle East Contracts Update

MONTREAL, Quebec, Jan 23 -/E-Wire/-- EARTH (Canada) Corporation (CDNX:EAR - news) has been informed that, Mounir Wassef, the dissident shareholder whose proposals were rejected by EARTH's shareholders at the Annual Meeting on January 10, 2001, has commenced legal proceedings before the Egyptian Courts against MISR Environmental Services Company, complaining that his alleged rights as a former distributor in Egypt were violated.

/CONTACT: EARTH (Canada) Corporation Investor Relations, 514/522-5550 or l-877-4RPA-TEC investor@earthcanada.com/

/Web site: http://www.earthcanada.com/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/24Jan0107.html

Statement of Stuart D. Strahl, Ph.D. President and CEO, Audubon of Florida Vice President, National Audubon Society On Governor Bush's stance on off-shore oil drilling

MIAMI, FL, Jan. 24 -/E-Wire/-- Audubon of Florida commends Florida's Governor Jeb Bush for his opposition to the authorization of any new oil and gas leases in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico. Governor Bush has correctly chosen the interests of the diverse marine life of Florida's tropical Gulf Coast as well as Florida's tourism industry over oil company profits.

/CONTACT: Irela M. Bague (305) 371-6399/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/24Jan0104.html

TO ENVIRONMENTAL AND FOREIGN EDITORS:

Large-scale Training Event on Sustainable Community Development to Be Held by LEAD (Leadership for Environment and Development) in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Jan. 24 -/E-Wire/-- LEAD Pakistan and LEAD International (Leadership for Environment and Development) will host an international training session on the theme of "Sustainable Community Development: A Challenge for Governance and Resource Management," from 20 February to 3 March 2001 in Lahore, Pakistan.

/CONTACT: Media - Zafarullah Khan of LEAD, zkhan@lead.org.pk, +92-51-2264742, fax - +92-51-2264743/

/Web site: http://www.lead.org/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/24Jan0106.html

TO BUSINESS, ENVIRONMENTAL AND TECHNOLOGY EDITORS:

Special Report: The Environmental Industry - Year in Review

SOUTHPORT, Conn., Jan. 24 -/E-Wire/-- Environmental Data Resources, Inc. ("EDR") today announced the publication of its annual year-end report, "2000: The Year in Review." For this Year in Review report, the editors of EDR's EnvironmentNOW(R) News Service compiled the most memorable developments in the environmental industry from 2000.

/CONTACT: Brett Donahue of EDR Public Relations, 800-352-0050, or bdonahue@edrnet.com/

/Web site: http://www.edrnet.com

http://www.environmentnow.com/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/24Jan0105.html

TO BUSINESS, ENVIRONMENTAL AND FOOD EDITORS:

Paul Newman Donates $50,000 to UNICEF to Aid El Salvador Earthquake Victims

WESTPORT, Conn., Jan. 24 -/E-Wire/-- Paul Newman has donated $50,000, from the profits of Newman's Own food company, to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, which will be used to help victims suffering from the disastrous earthquake in El Salvador. These funds will be used to help UNICEF programs that provide medical supplies and water tanks in order to help fight the spread of disease.

/CONTACT: Kirsten McKamy of Newman's Own, 203-222-0136/

/Web site: http://www.newmansown.com

http://www.unicefusa.org/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/24Jan0103.html

TO BUSINESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:

The Leading Job Network for Environmental Professionals Has Expanded Its Services

NEW YORK, NY, Jan. 24 -/E-Wire/-- The web's leading environmental job network has added new services for employers and job seekers in environmental industries.

/CONTACT: Dan Krebs, VP Business Development, naturalist.com, 212-279-4356, dan@naturalist.com/

/Web site: http://www.EnviroNetwork.com/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/24Jan0102.html

TO BUSINESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:

Millennium Plastics Enlists The Consulting Services of The Gingrich Group Led By Newt Gingrich

LAS VEGAS, NV, Jan. 24 -/E-Wire/-- Millennium Plastics Corporation (OTCBB: MPCO - news) announced today the strategic enlistment of the Gingrich Group LLC to provide communication and management consulting services.

/CONTACT: Millenium Plastics Corp. by Investor Communications Co. Barry Labell, 800/550-5165 or 800/419-0611/

/Web Site: http://www.millenniumpolymers.com/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/24Jan0101.html

SEND YOUR PRESS RELEASE ON E-WIRE -- 1-888-764-NEWS

1/26/01
3:50:08 PM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACTS: January 24, 2001 Don Moniak (803) 644-6953 Kristen Ostling (613) 789-3634 Gordon Edwards (514) 489-5118

GROUPS URGE SUSPENSION OF PLUTONIUM FUEL EXPERIMENT IN CANADA Yesterday in a letter to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), twenty-five organizations from three countries urged the CNSC to take immediate action to suspend a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) test--called Parallex--of mixed oxide (MOX) plutonium fuel planned in Canada's National Research Universal (NRU) reactor. The letter requested a review of quality assurance documentation held at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, U.S.A., and the Bochvar Institute in Moscow, Russia. The letter is available at: http://www.nci.org/c12301.htm Several instances of questionable work quality within the Los Alamos plutonium fuel fabrication program were cited in the letter, including: the recent disclosure by Oak Ridge National Laboratory that plutonium fuel pellets made at Los Alamos for another project contained numerous and very large plutonium agglomerations; Los Alamos' plutonium fuel program employed equipment deemed unreliable for making suitable plutonium fuel pellets; Los Alamos encountered difficulties making plutonium fuel pellets for the Parallex test that met technical specifications, and had to reject unspecified amounts of plutonium fuel pellets.

Area resident Ole Hendrickson adds that the age of the NRU reactor

aggravates the issue. "We're worried about what this means for safe operation of the 44-year old NRU reactor," said Dr. Hendrickson, a researcher for Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and Area who lives 30 miles from the Chalk River Laboratory. "The authorities should halt the test until questions about the quality of the plutonium fuel are resolved."

The plutonium fuel test--known as "Parallex"--is the first step towards using plutonium fuel from surplus U.S. and Russian military plutonium in Canadian Deuterium Uranium (CANDU) nuclear reactors. The Parallex plutonium fuel is scheduled to be inserted this month into the NRU reactor at the Atomic Energy of Canada's (AECL) Chalk River Nuclear Laboratory in Renfrew County, Ontario. AECL is the DOE contractor responsible for assembling the fuel bundle and conducting post-irradiation examinations.

The CANDU plutonium fuel program originated in the early 1990's, and

DOE spent millions of

dollars on the project in spite of major opposition on both sides of the U.S./Canadian border, lukewarm support from Russia, and nonproliferation concerns within DOE. In January 1997 the DOE office of Nuclear Nonproliferation wrote that, "the CANDU alternative would

mean encouraging the use of plutonium fuel in a foreign non-nuclear- weapon state which is not currently using plutonium fuels." Any future efforts to irradiate tens of tons of military plutonium in CANDUs is already in question because the U.S. National Academy of Sciences concluded in a November 2000 report that the CANDU option is insufficient in terms of preventing future re-use of the plutonium in nuclear weapons. "Plutonium fuel irradiated in CANDU reactors fails to meet the 'spent fuel standard' established by the NAS to deter subsequent removal of the plutonium via reproccessing," said Tom Clements, Executive Director of the Nuclear Control Institute in Washington D.C.

"The technical quality assurance problems with the plutonium fuel are another reason the test should be stopped," added Kristen Ostling of the Campaign for Nuclear Phaseout in Ontario. "We remain firmly opposed to the plutonium fuel project on the grounds that it will stimulate a global plutonium economy thereby encouraging increased circulation of plutonium and making it more accessible for nuclear weapons." "In addition to stimulating traffic in plutonium worldwide, the use of plutonium fuel in nuclear reactors puts nearby populations at much greater risk of devastating nuclear reactor accidents, particularly if the plutonium fuel is incorrectly manufactured," said Gordon Edwards of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility. "The strategy of using plutonium fuel is simply invalid," he added. "While more important programs suffer from a lack of funding, DOE has spent millions of dollars on a program that will yield symbolic results at best," added Don Moniak of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League.

Don Moniak Organizer, Aiken Office Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League P.O Box 3487 Aiken, SC 29802-3487 (803) 644-6953 Fax: (803) 644-7369 donmoniak@earthlink.net

1/26/01
3:44:03 PM

Hawaii introduces hemp legislation to make research program permanent

Thursday, January 18, 2001

House of Representatives HB 57 Twenty-First Legislature, 2001 State of Hawaii

Industrial Hemp Research

Makes permanent Act 305, Session Laws of Hawaii 1999, which allows privately funded industrial hemp research to be conducted in Hawaii.

Introducers: Chang, Abinsay, Yonamine, Meyer, Gomes, Morita, Takai, Suzuki, Ahu Isa, Jaffe, Leong, Hale, Arakaki, Kahikina, Rath, Kanoho, Hamakawa, Fox, Say, Schatz, Thielen, Takumi, M. Oshiro, Kawakami, Luke, Espero, McDermott, Case, Hiraki, Marumoto, B. Oshiro, Pendleton, Garcia

A Bill For An Act relating to agriculture.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The purpose of this Act is to make permanent Act 305, Session Laws of Hawaii 1999, which allows privately funded industrial hemp research to be conducted in Hawaii when the department of public safety issues a controlled substance registration and the United States Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, issues a federally-controlled substance registration for research on the agronomic potential of industrial hemp.

SECTION 2. Act 305, Session Laws of Hawaii 1999, is amended by amending section 6 to read as follows:

"SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval[, and shall be repealed on June 30, 2002]."

SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Date Status 1/18/01 H Introduced 1/18/01 H Pass First Reading

1/26/01
1:36:44 PM

If you love your Mother...

Just Say NO to Gail Norton for US Secretary of the Interior

The Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committee will vote on Norton's nomination Wednesday morning and the full vote could go to the Senate at any time. We need you to call or email your Senator to voice your opposition to Gale Norton as Interior Secretary. To make it easier you can visit http://www.SayNoToNorton.org/ to send a quick email to your Senator.

You don't even have to know who your Senator IS.....they send it for you. And the sample letter will tell you of her frightening track record for someone who is supposed to UPHOLD the laws that the Dept of the Interior has put in place.

1) As a lawyer, she lobbied for a lead-paint manufacturer that had been sued repeatedly over toxic-waste sites.

2) As Colorado attorney general, she stood by as polluters contaminated the state.

3) She suggested that the government recognize the "right to pollute."

4) While at the Interior Department, she worked to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, an objective she has pledged to pursue again.

I, personally, have NEVER felt our precious planet to be in more danger than it is at this moment. If too many Big Business Supporters get into power, things will be RUINED... Permanently RUINED... and we won't be able to fix them.

This only takes a few seconds. We need to create an OVERWHELMING response -- and we need to do it now.

Thanks to Liz Randol for forwarding this message.

I heartily recommend that you go to this website and send the letter from there.

Following is a copy of the actual Action Alert and Action Letter from the above mentioned "SayNoToNorton.org" website:

Welcome to SayNoToNorton.org, a Web site to make it easy for citizens to tell their U.S. senators that they oppose President-elect Bush¹s selection of Gale Norton as Secretary of the Interior. Since the Senate must vote to approve the Norton nomination, we urge citizens to make their voices heard.

A protege of the notorious Reagan Interior secretary, James Watt, Gale Norton¹s publicly stated positions make it clear that she should not be trusted to head the agency charged with protection of 500 million acres of federal land, rescuing endangered species and managing the national parks.

Norton is a close friend of oil companies and other corporate interests, and she has spent her career advancing the causes of polluters.

She publicly supports oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge -- a critical area for caribou, polar bears and other creatures and the crown jewel of America¹s wildlife sanctuaries. While at the Interior Department, she helped craft the legal basis for the Reagan administration¹s efforts to open the refuge¹s coastal plain to drilling

As Colorado¹s attorney general, she allowed polluters to evade environmental fines and did little after a gold mine¹s cyanide leaks killed all life in a 17-mile stretch of river. In another case, she sat out the fight against a corporate power plant that broke air pollution laws 19,000 times.

She advocates laws allowing polluters to police themselves and believes that taxpayers should pay polluters to comply with environmental laws.

Ask your senators to say no to Norton and oppose her nomination. Save our public lands from extremist multinational oil and mining companies, the timber industry and other polluters.

Dear Senator:

I urge you to reject Gale Norton¹s nomination as Secretary of the Interior when it comes before the Senate. Her record supporting polluters and corporate interests over natural resources makes it clear that she would try to circumvent the very laws the Interior Department is sworn to uphold.

As a lawyer, she lobbied for a lead-paint manufacturer that had been sued repeatedly over toxic-waste sites. As Colorado attorney general, she stood by as polluters contaminated the state. She has suggested that the government recognize the "right to pollute." While at the Interior Department, she worked to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, an objective she has pledged to pursue again.

Gale Norton is an extremist who is out of touch with the views of the overwhelming majority of Americans. She espouses the radical opinions of her mentor, former Interior Secretary James Watt. Americans deserve an Interior secretary who will protect our nation¹s natural heritage, not destroy it. For the sake of our environment now and in the future, please vote against her appointment and urge your Senate colleagues to oppose her as well.

Sincerely, [your name]

The "SayNoToNorton.org" website is a joint project of the following organizations:

ALASKA WILDERNESS LEAGUE

AMERICAN OCEANS CAMPAIGN

DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE

EARTHJUSTICE LEGAL DEFENSE FUND

ENDANGERED SPECIES COALITION

FRIENDS OF THE EARTH

LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS

NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL TRUST

NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL

PHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

SIERRA CLUB

SOUTHERN UTAH WILDERNESS ALLIANCE

U.S. PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH GROUP

THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY

1/26/01
1:28:50 PM

Dear Greens,

Attached please find a copy of the Sarasota County Green Party bylaws, as developed by many interested members over the last couple of months. Two full General Meetings were devoted to creating this document, and it was agreed that I would do the formatting and final edit. Here it is.

If you have any comments, please be prepared to discuss them (briefly, we hope) at the meeting next Thursday, February 1st, at Pam & Wayne's, 7:00 pm sharp. We expect to ratify the bylaws at that meeting and then move on to other projects. Remember, there will always be opportunity to amend the document. In fact, we should probably view it as a work in progress in any event. Many thanks to the people who have worked on it so far.

In Partnership,

Heidi Neale

PS Please print yourself a copy of the attachment and bring it with you to the meeting. If you can't print the attachment, I've cut and pasted the text below.

SARASOTA COUNTY GREEN PARTY BYLAWS

ARTICLE I. NAME

The name of this organization shall be the Sarasota County Green Party (SCGP).

ARTICLE II. PURPOSE AND VALUES

2.1 PURPOSE STATEMENT

The purpose of this organization shall be to work toward a Green society as represented by the Ten Key Values of the Greens:

1) Ecological Wisdom - The Greens recognize that the Earth sustains all life processes. Green ecology moves beyond environmentalism by understanding the common roots of the exploitation of nature and the exploitation of people.

2) Social Justice - Greens oppose systems which create and perpetuate poverty and injustice, and are working to end oppression based on sex, class, race, citizenship, age or sexual orientation.

3) Grassroots Democracy - Greens believe that the power concentrated in big business and corporate government must be returned to the people. We believe in direct participation by all people in the environmental, political and economic decisions which affect their lives.

4) Nonviolence - Greens reject violence as a way of settling disputes; it's shortsighted, morally wrong and ultimately self-defeating. We are working to create a world where war is obsolete.

5) Decentralization - Power and responsibility must be restored to local communities within an overall framework of ecologically sound, socially just values and ways of living.

6) Community-based Economics - Greens seek a new economics based upon the natural limits of the Earth. A Green economy would meet the basic needs of everyone on the planet and be under democratic, decentralized community control.

7) Gender Equity - The Green movement is profoundly inspired by principles of gender equity. The ethics of partnership and understanding must replace the systems of domination and control.

8) Respect for Diversity - We honor the biological diversity of the Earth and the cultural, sexual and spiritual diversity of Earth's peoples. We seek to promote this country's finest ideals: popular democracy, the dignity of the individual and liberty and justice for all.

9) Personal, Local and Global Responsibility - Greens are committed to such responsibilities through political solidarity across all borders and life styles, and to ways of living based on ecological principles which respect our bioregions.

10) Future Focus - Like the Iroquois Nation's "Principle of the Seventh Generation," Greens seek a society where the interests of future generations are considered as important as those of the present generation. We must reclaim our future for our children and ourselves.

2.2 METHODS

The Sarasota County Green Party may use any and all non-violent methods for achieving social change including, but not limited to: direct action, community organizing and education, personal empowerment, issue-oriented campaigns, ballot initiatives and electoral campaigns.

ARTICLE III. STRUCTURE

3.1 GENERAL MEETINGS

All General Meetings shall be open to the public.

3.2 SESSIONS OF THE GENERAL MEETINGS

The Membership shall meet monthly. Notice and agendas of upcoming General Meetings shall be made available to all Members at least three days in advance of each meeting.

3.3 GENERAL POWERS OF THE MEMBERSHIP

The Membership shall have final approval over all SCGP policies and financial decisions. It may elect or recall the Secretary, the Treasurer and at-large members of the Coordinating Council; it may also re-direct the efforts of Standing Committees and working groups and amend the bylaws as necessary.

3.4 COORDINATING COUNCIL PURPOSE AND DUTIES

The Coordinating Council (Council) of the Sarasota County Green Party shall facilitate work between General Meetings, oversee press and media activities and serve as a primary liaison body with other organizations. The Council shall make endorsements and statements only in keeping with policies set forth in these bylaws. When necessary, the Council shall serve as the legal board of the organization. In addition, the Council shall complete a fiscal audit on an annual basis. All Council decisions are subject to review and revision by the Membership.

In all matters, the Council must bear in mind that they are merely elected to serve the SCGP Membership, and therefore must act in accordance with the Ten Key Values. No Member shall be placed in a position of unqualified authority over others. In all actions, the Coordinating Council shall be answerable to the Membership as a whole.

3.5 COORDINATING COUNCIL MEETINGS AND DECISION MAKING

The Coordinating Council shall meet at least once a month. The time, place and agenda shall be set by the Council and publicized to all SCGP Members. Council meetings shall be open to all Members and those whom the Council chooses to admit.

Consensus decisions are encouraged, but in the event that a vote is required, a two-thirds majority is sufficient to decide the issue at hand.

3.6 COMPOSITION OF THE COORDINATING COUNCIL

The Council shall be composed of the Secretary and the Treasurer who are elected by the Membership. Each Standing Committee must also select a representative to the Council, subject to the approval of the Membership. In addition, a maximum of three at-large representatives may be selected by the Membership to serve.

3.7 COORDINATING COUNCIL TERMS OF SERVICE

The Secretary, Treasurer and at-large Members will serve terms of one year each. Standing Committee Members shall serve terms of six months each.

3.8 MEMBERSHIP INVOLVEMENT IN ANOTHER POLITICAL PARTY

Coordinating Council Members shall not serve on another political party's decision making body. Further, if they decide to do so, they shall immediately disclose such membership and remove themselves from the Council.

3.9 SECRETARY

The Secretary shall be responsible for notifying the Membership of upcoming meetings, taking and publishing minutes of General and Coordinating Council meetings, and keeping accurate records, including a current membership list. The Secretary shall exercise special care to make all records, announcements and other important communication easily accessible to all Members, especially those without Internet access. The Secretary's duties shall also include maintaining a SCGP post office address and telephone. If the Treasurer is unavailable, the Secretary is authorized to write and sign checks on behalf of the SCGP.

3.10 TREASURER

The Treasurer shall keep well-documented accounting records, prepare yearly budgets, monitor ongoing expenses and make monthly reports to the Coordinating Council and the Membership. The Treasurer is authorized to write and sign checks on behalf of the SCGP.

3.11 SUSPENSION OR REMOVAL

Any Member of the Coordinating Council or Membership may be suspended or removed for reasonable cause by a three-quarters vote of the Council. The vote shall be approved by the Membership, and is subject to appeal (see section 3.12). The term of suspension or removal shall be determined by the Council and be subject to Membership review.

A suspended Member may not participate in consensus decision-making, voting or electronic communications. A removed Member is restricted in the same manner as is a suspended Member, and additionally may not attend Council meetings.

3.12 APPEALS

Any Member who is suspended or removed may appeal. Appeals may be made to the Coordinating Council or directly to the Membership. One appeal may be submitted per term of suspension or removal. Appeal decisions made by the Council must be approved by the Membership.

3.13 STANDING COMMITTEES AND WORKING GROUPS

The Membership may establish Standing Committees and other working groups as necessary to initiate and coordinate the activities of the SCGP. The Coordinating Council may establish such bodies on an interim basis, pending review and confirmation by the Membership.

Proposals for new Standing Committees and working groups must be supported by at least three Members in good standing, and must clearly define the purpose of the proposed new body. Working groups shall not have representation on the Council.

ARTICLE IV. MEMBERSHIP

4.1 APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP

Membership in the SCGP is open to anyone who pays dues, regardless of gender, race, age, color, national origin, spiritual belief, sexual orientation, economic status or physical challenge. The Coordinating Council may waive the dues requirement under special circumstances. An applicant shall sign a statement affirming that s/he is in general agreement with the Ten Key Values and the bylaws of the Sarasota County Green Party.

4.2 POWERS AND DUTIES OF MEMBERS

Members are those who participate in SCGP activities and have paid annual dues, or have made other arrangements with the Coordinating Council regarding dues. Members may vote on issues, serve on the Council and Standing Committees, and join working groups. They may also participate in all electronic communications of the SCGP.

Membership in this organization is based on mutual respect. Members are encouraged to embrace the principle that Green success is based on integrity, unity and placing the harmonious well-being of the SCGP ahead of personal ambition and self-interest. Members must participate in good faith in discussion and decision making, and resolve conflicts peacefully. Members shall refrain from abusive and/or disruptive behavior. Any Member who fails to fulfill these responsibilities may be subject to suspension or removal (see section 3.11).

ARTICLE V. DECISION MAKING METHODOLOGY

The Sarasota County Green Party shall seek consensus on all decisions, open-mindedly hearing all views and concerns in full. This provision shall be subject to reasonable time constraints. Where consensus cannot be reached, decisions by all bodies of the SCGP shall be approved by a two-thirds vote. The SCGP shall always honor and respect the minority opinion and ensure its expression in an appropriate manner. Subsequent to all Membership votes, Members shall have an opportunity to request, and have the right to receive, reconsideration of the decision.

ARTICLE VI. BYLAW AMENDMENTS

6.1 PROCEDURE FOR AMENDMENT

Proposed bylaw amendments must be submitted in writing to the Secretary no later than three weeks prior to the General Meeting at which the proposed amendments will be considered. In order to be considered, an amendment must have the support of three Members in good standing.

6.2 NOTIFICATION

At least two weeks in advance of the General Meeting at which an amendment or amendments to these bylaws are to be considered, the Secretary shall notify all Members of: a) the date and time of the meeting, b) the complete text of the proposed amendment(s), and c) the complete text of the provision being considered for amendment.

6.3 RATIFICATION

At General Meetings, the Membership may adopt bylaw amendments through consensus, or in the absence of consensus, by three-quarters majority vote.

1/25/01
11:19:16 PM

Love and Peace

1/25/01
11:45:10 AM

Clemency denied, but fight far from over

DAY OF SHAME :

WE MUST STAY TOGETHER AND KEEP ON FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE FOR LEONARD

January 20, 2001

Dear Friends,

Today is a grim and shameful day. We must confirm that President Clinton, despite all his good words this week about racial unity, "One America", and healing historical injustices, has denied clemency to Leonard Peltier. We do not know why. Yet disturbing questions are obviously raised by the last minute "deal" on the Monica Lewinsky perjury issue.

Leonard himself has asked that we thank each and every one of you for your phenomenal efforts on his behalf during the last year. Towards the end the world support had turned into a literal human rights tidal wave, with every high level leader and organization calling or writing to President Clinton on Leonard's behalf. Yet somehowit was not enough to outweigh the outright terror the FBI was able to instill in our government leadership.

We are all hurting badly just now, and we ask that you turn your prayers and thoughts towards Leonard himself today. Send him letters of support and stay with us. We must remain tightly organized.

We will be in a huddle with lawyers and organizers for the next several days working on new plans and proposals. We will have to work out a very new strategy, as President Bush's government will be quite different from Clinton's. (or perhaps not so different after all). Bear with us while we reorganize and do some new thinking. and of course send us your ideas and thoughts as well.

We know you want to keep up the fight and we know that this must be done. The future of our society depends on our point blank insistence on justice for all.

Please watch our web site and keep checking in. We will have some new strategies and battle plans ready to go very soon. We must never leave Leonard behind, but we can only bring him home if we keep working together.

This network has grown to amazing new levels of strength and commitment this year. We must take a breather now but we must not fall apart orgive up. Leonard is depending on us. If he can keep up his sacrificing then so must we.

Here is the address by which you can write to Leonard Peltier and send him words of encouragement:

USPL Leonard Peltier 89637-132 PO Box 1000 Leavenworth, KS 66048

In Solidarity, LPDC

Today will be remembered as but another day of U. S. government shame and betrayal of Native people.

Leonard Peltier Defense Committee PO Box 583 Lawrence, KS 66044 785-842-5774 www.freepeltier.org

1/25/01
11:39:21 AM

Clemency denied to Leonard Peltier, but the fight is far from over

Clinton will not face prosecution. His lies under oath will not be punished. A slap on the wrist this leader gets.

This is fine.

A man sits in prison. Twenty-five years of his life stolen away from him like the land that was taken away from his grandfathers. A family not known to him the way he should know them. Illness gripping his aging yet unrelenting body. No evidence against him. Hundreds, thousands, millions crying for his release into the hands of justice. Hope and Truth, his friends, could not break the bars that hold him, much less the lies that bind him. He and silence sit alone in a cell.

This is not fine.

Truth, however, has not left his side. Nor has Hope left his heart.

We must continue . . . as does he.

To All my relations

Leti

1/25/01
11:33:38 AM

Fish - A good neighbor but a dangerous food

At the same time that the "Journal of the American Medical Association" has published a study recommending that women eat fish two to four times a week to cut the risk of stroke, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a warning to limit fish intake. Last week, the FDA issued a warning that pregnant women should not eat shark, swordfish, king mackerel, and tilefish because they could contain enough mercury to harm an unborn baby's developing brain.

Read about this troubling contradiction in this week's Healing Our World commentary entitlted "Fish - A good neighbor but a dangerous food," available on the Environment News Service at http://www.ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-19g.html.

It is estimated that 60,000 babies born each year are effected by mercury poisoning from their mothers' eating contaminated fish. Countless others are having their own nervous systems harmed from this contamination.

Time and time again, evidence surfaces that eating meat from any commercially processed animal is dangerous. As our ecosystems become more and more polluted, these cases are on the rise. Mass producing such foods and putting profit over safety cannot be tolerated. Since the industries and government agencies that are responsible consider thousands of deaths and tens of thousands of illnesses acceptable, the best course of action is to take charge ourselves and change our dietary choices. An infinite variety of non-animal foods exist that will keep you and your children healthy, excited about food, feeling better, and safe.

Thank you for your time and efforts and I wish you peace in trying to craft a safer, more compassionate diet for yourself and your family. Don't hesitate to contact me if I can help in any way.

All the best.

Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D. http://www.healingourworld.com

1/25/01
11:30:20 AM

I felt the urge to re-read my country's Declaration of Independence.

Part of it I shall quote:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

1/25/01
11:16:32 AM

Dubya’s Acceptance Speech ( First Draft )

My fellow Americans, it's about damn time.

All you liberals can just kiss my big, white Texas ass if you think I'm gonna spew a boatload of bipartisan bullshit.

Let's set the record straight here. I won, dammit. Hell, I won FOUR OR FIVE TIMES, you stupid bastards.

We got the Presidency, we got Congress, and by the end of four years we'll have even more of the Supreme Court. The Republicans are here, and we're gonna show you how it's done.

Ya'll want me to reach across party lines now? How 'bout I reach across and bitch-slap all your sorry-liberal-monkey-asses? How'd ya like that?

Don't get me wrong, here. The sense of satisfaction I'm feeling right now isn't that I've won-it's that I won't have to listen to Al Gore bitch and moan about "letting every vote count."

The only reason this went as far as it did is because you Democrats have a playground crybaby as your poster-boy, and I for one am glad I won't have to see him on TV anymore.

This might sound snippy, Mr. Gore, but as we used to say in the sandlot...LOSERS WALK!!!

As I said in my campaign, I promised to be a president who focuses on education. My first task as President will be to start and educational program for all you Florida-idiots who can't tell your elbow from your asshole or how to poke a stylus through the right hole.

I don't get you liberal Democrats: when we're talking about Bill Clinton and some office whore, you say that lack of penetration doesn't count; but when it comes to ballots, lack of penetration DOES count.

You want a solution to this problem? Take some Viagra, you old farts, and finish what you started next election. Until then, I want to ask you just one question: "Who's yer daddy???"

And so I humbly accept the office of President of these United States.

Thank you.

1/25/01
9:43:43 AM

Geeky Tossers I Hope all trees and animals die

1/24/01
7:54:27 PM

World Environment News - January 25th, 2001 from Planet Ark

Due to a public holiday in Australia the World Environment News will not be published tomorrow. Stories from Friday 26th will be published on Monday 29th January.

Here are today's Reuters 'World Environment News' headlines, proudly brought to you by Planet Ark.

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

Oil refiners to sue EPA over Clinton's diesel rules - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9603

Emergency power seen averting California blackouts - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9613

Republicans to offer broad energy bill in 2 weeks - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9605

Britain provides cash for Galapagos clean-up - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9616

Sweden sets tougher goal for CO2 emissions - SWEDEN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9608

Norway utility to offer home-owners "smart" houses - NORWAY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9609

Conservationists try to prevent Norway wind farm - NORWAY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9604

UN - global warming may heap disasters on Africa - KENYA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9617

UPDATE - Germany's Trittin halts planned nuke waste shipments - GERMANY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9607

EU says worried by possible Bush stance on climate - EU http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9611

UPDATE - Galapagos oil spill cleanup runs into problems - EU http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9612

Swedish minister talks tough on toxics phase-out - EU http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9615

EU/Norway ban spring cod fishing in North Sea - EU http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9610

Ballard gets $1.3 million fuel-cell order from Honda - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9606

UPDATE - Canadian smelters pump out toxic waste - report - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9602

Global activists to hold "Anti-Davos" in Brazil - BRAZIL http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9614

Campaign launched in Bangladesh to save turtles - BANGLADESH http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9601

1/24/01
7:53:09 PM

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE (ENS) http://ens-news.com

"We Cover the Earth For You"

UK LEGALIZES CLONING OF HUMAN EMBRYOS

LONDON, United Kingdom, January 23, 2001 (ENS) - The United Kingdom has become the first country to legalize the creation of cloned human embryos, after the House of Lords voted last night to relax government regulations. Pro life groups and religious leaders had appealed to the Lords to reject regulations that will allow scientists to clone human embryos up to 14 days old. Those appeals were in vain as the unelected upper house voted their approval by a majority of 120.

For full text and graphics, visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-23-11.html

BUSH BLOCKS U.S. FUNDS FOR FAMILY PLANNING

By Cat Lazaroff

WASHINGTON, DC, January 23, 2001 (ENS) - President George W. Bush has decided to block U.S. funds to international family planning groups that offer abortion and abortion counseling. The order reverses the position held by the Clinton administration, and constrains efforts to control a growing population.

For full text and graphics visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-23-06.html

IS IT SAFE IN HERE?

By Pat Agnew

WASHINGTON, DC, January 23, 2001 (ENS) - Dirty air makes headlines - if it is outside where you can see it. You cannot see the air inside your house, office or school, but its quality may be an invisible health hazard, causing symptoms you are blaming on some other factor.

For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-23-02.html

BRAZIL CHOOSES ENVIRONMENTALIST TO HEAD TOP AGENCY

BRASILIA, Brazil, January 23, 2001 (ENS) - Respected environmentalist Hamilton Casara, known affectionately as Indiana Jones after the film hero, took over leadership of the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Natural Renewable Resources (IBAMA) Thursday.

For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-23-01.html

RESEARCHERS LINK WELDING AND PARKINSON'S DISEASE

ST. LOUIS, Missouri, January 23, 2001 (ENS) - Scientists have identified the first clue that welding might trigger the early onset of Parkinson's disease. A research team found that 15 professional welders developed typical clinical and neurological signs of the disease an average of 15 years earlier than the general population.

For full text and graphics visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-23-07.html

LAWMAKERS URGE BUSH TO SUPPORT LANDMARK CONSERVATION BILL

By Brian Hansen

WASHINGTON, DC, January 23, 2001 (ENS) - Two key Capitol Hill lawmakers have asked President George W. Bush to support a landmark environmental bill that former Democratic President Bill Clinton had hoped to sign into law during his final months in the White House.

For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-23-15.html

MUNITIONS FIRE DESTROYS SOUTH ATLANTIC BIRD SANCTUARY

PORT STANLEY, Falkland Islands, January 23, 2001 (ENS) - A remote haven for South Atlantic seabirds has been all but destroyed in a fire started by British troops attempting to remove ordnance.

For full text and graphics, visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-23-10.html

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: JANUARY 23, 2001

Settlement Protects Millions of Desert Acres

Babbitt Joins World Wildlife Fund

Arsenic Found in Playground Soil

$30 Million Offered to Protect Farmland

Companies Volunteer To Clean Up Tank Emissions

Map Shows Earthquake Hazards in San Francisco Area

Bighorn Sheep Return to West Needles

Super Bowl XXXV Tackles Environmental Principles

For full text and graphics visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-23-09.html

SEND NEWS STORY TIPS TO news@ens-news.com

TO BUSINESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:

Air Quality Sciences, Inc. Appoints Anthony Worthan As President & COO

ATLANTA, GA, Jan. 23 -/E-Wire/-- Air Quality Sciences, Inc. (AQS), the world's leading indoor air quality firm, is pleased to announce that Anthony Worthan has been appointed to the position of President and Chief Operating Officer by the company's Board of Directors. Effective immediately, Mr. Worthan will be responsible for overall company operations, including business development, financial planning, and strategic planning.

/CONTACT: Marilyn Black, Air Quality Sciences, Inc., 770-933-0638, Ext. 258, mblack@aqs.com/

/Web site: http://www.aqs.com/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/23Jan0107.html

TO NATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:

Clinton EPA Takes 11th Hour Action On FQPA Implementation

WASHINGTON, DC, Jan. 23 -/E-Wire/-- The American Crop Protection Association has challenged the Natural Resources Defense Council lawsuit settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency involving implementation of the Food Quality Protection Act as "11th hour political mischief by the Clinton EPA, which will only hurt the public."

/CONTACT: Margaret Speich, (202) 872-3863 or Pat Getter, (202) 872-3893/

/Web Site: http://www.acpa.org/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/23Jan01076.html

TO BUSINESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:

Environmental Management Information Systems Market Surges to $4.1 Billion Market to Grow to $6 Billion in 2005

BOSTON, MA, Jan. 23 -/E-Wire/-- A new survey of more than 200 environmental and IT managers shows that the market for Environmental Management Information Systems (EMIS) is going to grow from its current $4 billion to $6 Billion in 2005. BTI's exclusive research shows that the advent of the Internet, and web-based environmental information systems is impacting the market in a big way.

/CONTACT: Roanne Neuwirth, Phone (617) 439-0333, Rneuwirth@bticonsulting.com/

/Web site: www.bticonsulting.com/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/23Jan0105.html

TO BUSINESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:

Helping the Environment Through Email:

AndEarth.com raises money to help preserve more than twenty rare and endangered species on the San Bruno Mountain with an innovative email service.

BRISBANE, CA, Jan. 23 -/E-Wire/-- If you have never seen it, the San Bruno Mountain is one of the Bay Area's hidden treasures. The wild grass and scrub on the mountain provide a habitat to more than twenty rare and endangered species, and it survives as one of the last wild areas on the north peninsula. Subscribers to AndEarth.com helped to preserve this rare unspoiled area by receiving the free AndEarthToday email newsletter.

/CONTACT: Richard Gill, AndEarth.com, 650-473-0443, richgill@andearth.com or David Schooley, San Bruno Mountain Watch, 510-843-3661/

/Web site: http://www.andearth.com/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/23Jan0104.html

TO BUSINESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:

Itronics Silver and Gold Sales Up 457 Percent in Fourth Quarter

Up 59 Percent for the Year 2000

RENO, Nev., Jan. 23 -/E-Wire/-- Itronics Inc. (OTCBB:ITRO - news) reported today that silver and gold sales by its subsidiary, Itronics Metallurgical, Inc., are up 457 percent in the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2000 compared to the same quarter in 1999. Silver and gold sales for the entire year 2000 are up 59 percent compared to 1999. The Company said complete financial results will be available upon filing the Form 10-KSB with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in March 2001.

/CONTACT: Itronics Paul Knopick, 888/795-6336/

/Web site: http://www.itronics.com/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/23Jan0103.html

TO BUSINESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:

Canadian Association Of Agri-Retailers Includes IBR In List Of Top 10 Technologies

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 23 -/E-Wire/-- International Bio-Recovery Corp. (CDNX: IBR) is included as one of the "Top 10 Hot New Technologies" for 2001 in the December issue of Communicator, a Canadian Association of Agri-Retailers publication.

/Web site: http://www.ibrcorp.com/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/23Jan0102.html

TO TECHNOLOGY, BUSINESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:

3G Software Defined Radio - Revolutionary New Wireless Network Solution Australian Company Well Positioned to Lead the Global 3G Charge

MELBOURNE, Australia, Jan. 23 -/E-Wire/-- Advanced Communications Technologies (Australia) Pty Ltd (ACT Australia), developer of SpectruCell, the first multiple protocol (CDMA, GSM, 3G, UMTS) wireless Software Defined Radio (SDR) base station, and a leader in the field of SDR network solutions, today issued the following statement regarding the leading role the company's 3G SDR technology is positioned to play in the rapidly evolving global 3G marketplace. The Australian company is the affiliate of the US-based public company Advanced Communications Technologies Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: ADVC - news).

/CONTACT: Advanced Communications Technologies Roger May, 011.61.3.9672.8888 Chief Executive Officer (in Australia) Mobil: 011.61.411 189 931 actusa2000@aol.com Jeremy Norton, 949/622-5566 or 949/500-6288 Vice President of International Business Development jeremyn@adcomtech.net/

/Web site: http://www.act-usa.net/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/23Jan0101.html

SEND YOUR PRESS RELEASE ON E-WIRE -- 1-888-764-NEWS

1/24/01
6:43:48 PM

Environmental news from GRIST MAGAZINE <http://www.gristmagazine.com>

DID YOU EVER KNOW THAT WE'RE YOUR HERO? -- vote for Grist (please) in this contest for "new media heroes" -- <http://www.alternet.org/heroes/>

1. SLOW DOWN, YOU CHEW TOO FAST The Slow Food movement, which strives to save foods that are produced locally and organically, has taken root in the U.S., with some 4,000 members participating in 50 chapters across the country. It seeks to put people in touch with food and the farmers who produce it. Some 60,000 people worldwide in 35 countries now view themselves as part of the movement, which began in Italy in response to the opening of a McDonald's restaurant. Jordan Vannini, a member in Los Angeles, said, "I see it as a kind of food activism. I'm excited about the idea that there's a counterforce out there to a society that has become dependent and interdependent on mass food production."

straight to the source: Christian Science Monitor, Sara Terry, 24 Jan 2001 <http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2001/01/24/p11s1.htm>

read it only in Grist Magazine: A day in the life of Stacy Mitchell, Institute for Local Self-Reliance <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/week/mitchell100400.stm>

2. MOUNTIN' GORILLAS Only two mountain gorilla populations exist in the world, but the good news is that the larger of two has grown by 10 percent in the past decade, according to conservation groups. About 355 gorillas live in the Virunga mountain range spanning Rwanda, Uganda, and the Republic of Congo, despite armed conflict in the area that has threatened the primate's habitat for the past several years. About 15 gorillas have been killed as a "direct consequence of war," says the African Wildlife Federation, although poaching and a general lack of resources for conservation have also taken a toll on the population. A second group of mountain gorillas, numbering about 300, lives in the Impenetrable Forest of Uganda.

straight to the source: Salt Lake Deseret News, Reuters, 23 Jan 2001 <http://www.deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,245015714,00.html?>

3. OIL THINGS TO OIL PEOPLE The Bush administration says the California electricity crisis gives weight to its argument that the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska needs to be opened to oil and gas drilling as soon as possible to provide more fuel to the country. The Bush team is working with Alaska Sen. Frank Murkowski (R) to propose a broad national energy plan focusing on increasing energy supplies (as opposed to, say, focusing on conservation and ways to decrease demand). Meanwhile, stores in the San Francisco area have been swamped with customers who want to buy energy-efficient bulbs and other products that reduce energy bills. Some hippies in Northern California have been getting along just fine in recent weeks because they are off the grid, relying instead on solar panels and wind power. Ironically, however, the crisis isn't helping out all small-time renewable energy producers in the state -- many make their money selling their energy back to the grid, but big-time customers like Southern California Edison now can't afford to pay the bills.

straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, 23 Jan 2001 <http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9592>

straight to the source: Santa Rosa Press Democrat, Michael Coit, 22 Jan 2001 <http://www.pressdemo.com/local/news/22lights_a1empirea.html>

straight to the source: New York Times, Patricia Leigh Brown, 24 Jan 2001 <http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/24/national/24GRID.html>

straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Robin Fields, 23 Jan 2001 <http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/calpol/20010123/t000006701.html>

4. HELLO, GALE. GOODBYE, TREES! In a blow to environmentalists, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted 18-2 this morning to confirm the nomination of Gale Norton for Interior secretary. Republicans and Democrats alike predicted that Norton would easily be confirmed next week by the full Senate to the post. Environmental groups have been lobbying full-bore over the past couple of weeks to derail the nomination, maintaining that Norton's past record indicated that she would favor logging, grazing, and mining interests over conservation. But any concerns held by committee senators seemed to be diffused in hearings last week when Norton claimed she would do her best to enforce environmental laws on the books. Only Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) opposed her nomination on the committee.

straight to the source: Washington Post, Reuters, 24 Jan 2001 <http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39985-2001Jan24.html>

straight to the source: Denver Post, Mike Soraghan, 24 Jan 2001 <http://www.denverpost.com/news/election/pol0124.htm>

5. JUNGLE LOVE, DRIVIN' ME MAD, MAKIN' ME CRAZY Brazil's Science and Technology Ministry is disputing the science behind a study published last week in the journal Science that gave a gloomy outlook on the future of the Amazon rainforest. The study said that as little as 5 percent of the forest will remain pristine by 2020 if Brazil proceeds with a plan to invest $40 billion on development projects in the Amazon Basin; the best-case scenario, researchers said, has only 28 percent of the forest destroyed or heavily damaged. The ministry claims, however, that the scientists didn't take into account current practices in Brazil to avoid deforestation, and that in the absolute worst case, only 25 percent of the Amazon will be destroyed. A spokesperson said, "We cannot treat the Amazon as an untouchable sanctuary. There are 20 million Brazilians living there."

straight to the source: CNN.com, Reuters, 22 Jan 2001 <http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/americas/01/22/environment.brazil.amazo n.reut/index.html>

Also in GRIST

Are Shirley MacLaine and Carrie Fisher Great Old Broads? -- a day in the life of Susan Tixier, Great Old Broads for Wilderness <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/week/tixier012301.stm>

The refrigerator strikes back -- a cartoon by Suzy Becker <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/ha/ha012201.stm>

Electric slide -- deregulation in California didn't help consumers, or the environment -- by Donella Meadows <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/citizen/citizen012201.stm>

1/24/01
6:37:23 PM

Public Citizen

Jan. 24, 2001

NOTE: If you wish to see the charts associated with this release, go to http://www.citizen.org/press/pr-cmep102.pdf

Billion-Dollar Bailout Plan Would Still Allow Profiteering Power Producers to Call the Shots

Takeover Plan Ill-Conceived, Would Put California in Financial Bind

WASHINGTON, D.C. ¯ The California Assembly's proposal to address the state's energy crisis by having the state purchase wholesale power is critically flawed because it would keep California at the mercy of a few profiteering power producers and could put the state in a financial bind, Public Citizen said today. The group also called for a major investigation into alleged price-gouging by power producers.

The proposed bailout plan calls for the state's taxpayers to buy wholesale electricity and for the state to handle power distribution. But without federal imposition of cost-based wholesale rates or the state purchase of power plants, California will continue shelling out billions to pad the profits of the seven out-of-state corporations that control the wholesale market, Public Citizen said.

And the profits are enormous. A Public Citizen analysis shows that the seven out-of-state power producers had after-tax profits of $4.7 billion from April to December of last year.

Proponents of the plan argue that a bailout is necessary because California's two major utilities ¯ Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric ¯ claim that they no longer have adequate cash or credit to continue purchasing electricity from the wildly overpriced wholesale market. The utilities say they have incurred $12 billion in debt because the amount they pay to buy electricity wholesale far exceeds the amount they are allowed to charge consumers.

California's complex bailout proposal calls for the state to pay off the utilities' $12 billion debt by issuing taxpayer-financed bonds. The state would continue to buy electricity from power wholesalers, something for which the California Department of Water Resources already has allocated $800 million. In exchange for assuming the utilities' marketplace risk, the state would take over part or all of the California utilities' 147 hydroelectric plants.

Proponents theorize that the hydropower would generate enough revenue to cover a small portion of the state's bailout. But the acquisition of even all the utilities' hydropower plants could not generate even a small portion of the needed revenue for the state, because the power generated by the plants represents only about 10 percent of the state's energy needs. The utilities have been unable to cover their costs by selling hydropower, so it is unlikely the state can squeeze out more money from hydropower operations, Public Citizen said. And the state already has the authority to regulate the prices of the utilities' hydropower, so the state could simply mandate cost-based rates instead of acquiring the facilities.

As proposed, the bailout merely will shift risk from private corporations to the taxpaying public and will do nothing to cure the cause of California's crisis: price-gouging and price manipulation by power producers. This market manipulation is clear: The amount utilities paid for wholesale power in November and December 2000 exceeded by 28 percent the amount the utilities paid for wholesale power during all twelve months of 1999, according to a report published Monday in The Wall Street Journal.Meanwhile, the after-tax profits of California's seven out-of-state power producers and marketers since the May price spikes have been more than $4.7 billion, according to published reports of the companies' financial statements.

Under the 1996 California electricity deregulation bill, the power wholesalers bought plants in California with a capacity of more than 15,000 megawatts, although the wholesalers aren't required to sell the power to California utilities or even give California priority. Much of the power producers' recent success is from their California operations, figures show. Published reports show that the wholesalers enjoyed gross profits of nearly $1.2 billion last year from selling power in California. Because they acquired the power plants for just under $2.5 billion, these corporations will soon recouptheir purchase price ¯ and more.

"There is enough power available in the Western power grid to meet California's needs," said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. "The problem is that the power producers are keeping wholesale prices so high that California cannot afford to buy enough energy to keep the state running. If the state embarks upon this ill-conceived bailout plan, the state may be the next one driven to bankruptcy. The fact that wholesalers have enjoyed such immense profits shows that these few companies are totally dominating the market. Cutting a deal in which taxpayers buy power from these profiteers -- even under long-term contracts -- is a recipe for disaster."

To address the crisis, California should ask Congress to pass emergency legislation mandating a cap on wholesale prices and thereby stopping the price-gouging, Hauter said. This is necessary because the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has refused to set a "just and reasonable" cap.

Other options exist. For instance, California could use the power of eminent domain to buy the utilities' transmission rights-of-way, which have been estimated to cost between $3.5 and $4 billion. This would allow the state to become a "nonjurisdictional entity" in the eyes of the federal government and grant the state more authority to regulate power producers. The state also could use eminent domain to purchase the California power plants sold under the flawed deregulation legislation of 1996. That way, instead of continuing to pay "rent" to greedy landlords -- the wholesalers -- the state could take over the property and charge California residents reasonable, affordable rents, ending the blackouts and the crisis now gripping the state.

Regardless of which of these options the state pursues, the California legislature should allocate sufficient resources to conduct a major, public investigation -- with subpoenas for documents and witnesses -- into allegations that the power producers are price-gouging and have intentionally shut down plants to drive up prices, Hauter said.

"Any of these options would put the state on the road to regaining control of its energy needs, and they are far better than what the legislature is proposing," Hauter said.

1/24/01
3:03:55 PM

The Nation

We wanted to alert those of you in either New York or Washington, DC to two important upcoming public events featuring numerous Nation regulars.

On February 1, starting at 5:30 at the Columbia School of Journalism at 116th Street & Broadway, in New York City, an illustrious group of panelists will discuss the celebrated Greek magazine, "Anti" and the process of dissenting journalism generally in a symposium staged by Columbia's Program in Hellenic Studies and the Graduate School of Journalism.

Moderated by George Stephanopoulos, the panel features Nation publisher Victor Navasky, Nation columnist Christopher Hitchens, author and arts editor of The New Statesman Frances Stonor Saunders, the fabled former muckraking editor of Ramparts and current managing editor of the San Francisco Examiner Warren Hinckle and the founder of "Anti" Christos Papoutsakis.

The event is free of charge but seating is limited. For more information call 212-854-3902.

And for those in our nation's capital, Foreign Policy in Focus is staging a briefing on George W. Bush's foreign policy agenda with a range of progressive experts including Robert Borosage, William Hartung, Coletta Youngers, John Cavanagh and more.

Taking place on January 25 from 9:00 - 11:00 am in the Holeman Lounge of the National Press Club at 529 14th Steet, NW, in Washington, DC, this discussion is also free of charge and open to the public but advance RSVP is required. For information and to RSVP call 202-234-9382, ext. 258.

Finally, don't forget to check out The Nation's website for the best in investigative reporting and informed analysis on the new Bush Administration's agenda and on the many grassroots forces moving in opposition. All available at:

http://www.thenation.com

And remember, if you like any of the articles you read on the site, please send them along to friends, family or antagonists using our Email-To-A-Friend feature.

Best Regards, Peter Rothberg Associate Publisher

P.S. Senator Tom Daschle, the Democratic leader, announced yesterday that he would delay the confirmation vote on John Ashcroft's nomination as attorney general, expected for today, until next Wednesday. This gives the growing opposition to Ashcroft's confirmation more time to organize.

So please use our ActNow feature to blast off an informed letter of protest against Ashcroft's nomination while there's still time. Available at:

http://www.thenation.com/alert/actnow/

1/24/01
3:00:20 PM

THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER Springfield, Illinois January 21, 2001

Hemp could be cash crop of future

Research professor says plant may be used in construction materials

By Charlyn Fargo Agribusiness Editor

Don Briskin, University of Illinois professor of plant physiology, has a passion for doing research on hemp - not variations that produce marijuana, but hemp with legitimate and potentially lucrative agricultural uses.

If hemp can get past a few remaining legislative hurdles in Illinois, Briskin believes it could have a future as a cash crop for farmers, useful in the manufacture of construction materials, fabric, paper and even composite plastic.

Legislation allowing agricultural research on hemp passed the Illinois General Assembly recently and awaits Gov. George Ryan's signature. The measure still needs funding and potentially also clearances from drug control agencies.

But Ryan's signature would be the first step toward two years of hemp research at the University of Illinois and Southern Illinois University. Briskin hopes to be the lead researcher on the project.

"There are many unique qualities of hemp fiber that make it ideal for construction materials," said Briskin. "Hemp fiber can actually make a stronger and lighter composite plastic than fiberglass. And when hemp fibers break, they don't shatter like fiberglass, making a safer product, say, for the interior of a car. Hemp fibers break bluntly, so it may be less likely to cause an injury."

Hemp fiber also has been shown to improve home building materials, such as particleboard and shingles.

"Hemp could become a sustainable replacement for many forest-based lumber products," said Briskin. "In Europe, manufacturers are already making wallboard from hemp fiber. There's work that shows it makes a great shingle, too. Replacing fiberglass in a conventional shingle would triple its functional life."

Briskin says hemp also makes paper that is stronger and less polluting to produce than wood pulp. And it has been used to make various fabrics.

Hemp plants, which grow quickly, can reach 15 feet in height and usually are planted densely. They can be harvested using a specially modified hay baler.

"It almost looks more like bamboo," Briskin said of hemp in the field. "The fiber is in the stem, and to harvest it, it's cut off at ground level. The fiber encircles the outside area, and those fibers are removed in processing."

He believes the first processing step, removing those fibers from the center of the stem, should be done close to production fields.

"I see hemp production adding to rural economic development in Illinois," said Briskin.

But before farmers can think about converting their soybean drills to plant it, there are a few weeds in the legislative jungle to overcome.

"Well, first the governor has to sign the legislation," said Briskin. "And then it has to be funded."

Getting to this point has put the new crop under attack.

Opponents, including anti-illicit drug activists, link hemp to marijuana. Industrial hemp does contain small amounts of the compound THC, the substance that gives users a "high." That leads some opponents of Briskin's research to contend that the legalization effort is really a subterfuge to ultimately make marijuana legal.

Supporters of the research plan say that industrial hemp variations have relatively miniscule THC content, and they emphasize that the focus for now is research, not production.

Briskin proposes elaborate security measures to protect research plots, and he would have to apply for research approval from the federal Drug Enforcement Agency.

Ryan has said he wants to hear from representatives on both sides of the issue before he decides whether to sign it.

Canada allows its farmers to raise hemp, and it has become a lucrative alternative crop, offering triple the profits of corn.

"A substantial amount of hemp was grown in Illinois prior to and during the World War II era," said Briskin. "So this is an ideal climate for hemp production. And it is an ideal crop to use in rotation with corn and soybeans."

As the third crop in a rotation with corn and beans, hemp could ease insect and disease problems, such as soybean cyst nematodes or corn rootworms. Previous research on hemp indicates that it can cut soybean cyst nematode populations in half after one year in the rotation. It also is competitive with weeds, eliminating herbicides needed to raise corn and soybeans.

"I've been pushing the idea of using hemp as the non-Bt buffer zone," said Briskin, referring to buffer zones needed to keep a certain type of genetically modified corn separate from unmodified hybrids.

"It would make it easier to keep separate GMO (genetically modified) seeds than growing a non-GMO corn hybrid. This might work because hemp was an earlier host of European corn borers."

Briskin also hopes to look into the best production techniques for producing hemp, the best varieties for industrial use and the best rotation strategies.

"Farmers are pretty excited about the possibilities, and that's what has helped the recent legislative initiative to progress," said Briskin. (END)

Contact: letters@sj-r.com Address: P.O. Box 219, Springfield, IL 62705-0219 Fax: (217) 788-1551 Website: http://www.sj-r.com/ Author: Charlyn Fargo, Agribusiness editor Charlyn Fargo can be reached at (217) 788-1521 or charlyn.fargo@sj-r.com

1/24/01
2:45:18 PM

Uranium Poisoning: Masque Of The White Death by Rick Rozoff

Chicago, USA January 23, 2001

This morning's press wires announce that an eighth Italian soldier who had recently served in Kosovo has died of leukemia. His death follows that of at least 16 other NATO troops stationed in that Serbian province, including victims from Portugal, Belgium and Spain. In Hungary the widow of a soldier dead of a suspected uranium weapon-related illness is seeking damages from the government. Confronted with the threat of leukemia (from the Greek root leukos, white), a third of the total Greek KFOR contingent has opted to return home, with the prospect of a complete withdrawal in the offing.

The governments of countries as remote as Australia and New Zealand have announced plans to test troops who had been stationed in Kosovo and Bosnia, particularly those who had been exposed to depleted uranium weapons employed by the United States in both areas.

Several doctors in Bosnia have detailed near-epidemic levels of cancer deaths among ethnic Serbs who were near American bomb sites in 1995. Yesterday's Guardian documents several cases of former Yugoslav soldiers, exposed to U.S. uranium ordnance during the 1999 bombing of Kosovo, afflicted with eye cancer.

Practically every NATO nation has promised to conduct tests of military personnel who had been in Kosovo, and several countries, the Czech Republic most recently, have sent teams of scientists and doctors to investigate radiation levels at and around bomb sites. All, that is, except that country most responsible, almost exclusively responsible, for the manufacture and use of the weapons suspected in the illness and deaths of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of soldiers and civilians: The United States.

The U.S. will not test its soldiers, who make up one of the biggest contingents of NATO troops in Kosovo, most ensconced in Camp Bondsteel, the largest overseas American military compound built since the Vietnam War. Nor will U.S. officials acknowledge that the uranium weapons used by its army and air force during the 78 day onslaught against Yugoslavia in 1999, and which now are known to have also contained enriched uranium and plutonium, the latter 100,000 times as dangerous as depleted uranium, are a danger to either soldier or civilian.

The American government is, true to form, stone walling. And so is the establishment media, also characteristically, and in glaring contrast to their opposite numbers abroad who are reporting extensively on this new plague. That almost all the uranium munitions employed in the war against Yugoslavia in 1999, the extensive bombing of Serbian targets in Bosnia in 1995, and the saturation of Kuwait and Iraq in 1991 were produced in three plants in the United States -Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Paducah, Kentucky; Portsmouth, Ohio- would seem to place an additional, a compelling, burden on the U.S. to come clean concerning the actual composition of the uranium weapons over the past decade.

That the same country fired the lion's share of bullets, shells and missiles composed of uranium products, depleted and not so depleted, makes that responsibility imperative. More than this, as correlational, laboratory and other evidence mounts that the uranium arms in question have contributed to malignant diseases, neurological disorders and birth defects in Iraq and Bosnia among both local inhabitants and former troops and their families, the demand that the nation that produced and employed these deadly weapons be held accountable for their consequences is picking up momentum worldwide.

The European Parliament has called for a moratorium on the use of uranium weapons. Editorials in papers of record from India to Egypt and from Ireland to Lebanon have demanded they be banned altogether. Religious leaders have condemned both the weapons and their wielders. China has denounced their use as one of the most egregious, though by no means the sole, war crime perpetrated by NATO in its war of aggression against Yugoslavia.

The Russian government has demanded an international conference on what they earlier identified, more accurately than the euphemism depleted uranium, as low-grade nuclear weapons under United Nations auspices.

Yet in the United States, as in other NATO nations until recently, virtually no recognition of this dire situation is evinced. The official myth that President Clinton launched a humanitarian relief effort in 1999 instead of an unprovoked and unnecessary war, and that he and his allies made every effort to avoid needless death and suffering, persists in the popular imagination.

Rivers, including the Danube, artery and lifeline for much of Europe, are poisoned and unnavigable; the soil and air of much of Yugoslavia and surrounding countries are contaminated by toxins released from bombed chemical plants and storage tanks; the civilian infrastructure of Yugoslavia, in Kosovo and throughout, including power facilities, bridges, roads, sanitation systems and air ports, is in shambles.

The human tragedy is even worse. As many as two thousand civilians perished in NATO's bombing rampage. As many more have been brutally murdered or 'disappeared' in Kosovo since NATO marched into the province in June of 1999. Anywhere from a quarter to a third of a million Kosovo civilians of all ethnic backgrounds - Serbs, Albanians, Roma, Turks, Goranci, Egyptians, Jews - have been terrorized into fleeing and are now living destitute in other parts of Yugoslavia.

But, again, there's no concern for any of the above in the citadels of the NATO community. The human, legal and moral catastrophe that was Operation Allied Force in 1999 is now relegated to the fairy tale history of triumphant empires. We came, we saw, we destroyed. We forgot. That is until it remembers us.

By the time most Americans graduate from high school they've read Edgar Allen Poe's short story "The Masque Of The Red Death." In an unnamed locality, but one resembling a medieval Italian city-state, a plague - The Red Death - is ravaging the populace outside the walls of the palaces of the powerful. "The Red Death had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous." But as the victims are outsiders, the type that in today's world can safely be bombed and abandoned, the rulers ignore the wails and death rattles of the victims while attending a masked ball among opulent surroundings. A feast in a time of famine, an ostentatious display of wealth are indulged as though to mock the misery outside.

Until the Red Death, personified, enters the gathering and strikes terror - and the contagion - into the revellers. NATO's white death, the plague that was to have remained in Iraq and Bosnia and Yugoslavia while the people of the North Atlantic community remained oblivious of it (and so much else), has now entered the palace. It's been brought there by the sons sent on history's first 'safe' military expedition.

The sons have now come home to die. Let the concerns for the health of afflicted troops be the beginning and not the end of a renewed interest, perhaps a reawakened conscience, in the West. A tremendous task is incumbent on the populations of those nations, none more than the United States and Britain, that are responsible for the uranium poisoning of peoples and nations: A mass-scale, immediate international relief effort must be launched, in Yugoslavia, in affected parts of Bosnia, in Iraq, to investigate, test, clean up and treat the lethal consequences of the unconscionable use of uranium weaponry.

A total ban on the production, deployment and use of these weapons must be codified in each nation and internationally; international inspections of the plants producing them, especially the notoriously dangerous Paducah, Kentucky factory should commence immediately.

As it's impossible, legally and morally, to condemn a crime and exonerate the criminal, the leaders of those countries found to have employed these weapons, full well knowing their effects, on a widespread basis - and that means the United States and Britain most prominently - must be brought to justice. Brought to trial.

Please support: http://www.antiwar.com and http://www.space4peace.org http://www.stopnato.org.uk/du-watch/rozoff/whitedeath.htm

Uranium Poisoning: Masque Of The White Death Rick Rozoff, rrozoff@webtv.net,

1/24/01
2:34:32 PM

Pentagon's Desperate Cover-Up Attempt

Nothing to hide? Then bring in international inspectors.

Wednesday, January 24 7:38 AM SGT

Contamination at plants source of plutonium in munitions: Pentagon

WASHINGTON, Jan 23 (AFP) - Plutonium and a highly radioactive isotope, U-236, found in US depleted uranium (DU) munitions has been traced to the use of contaminated equipment at US government plants where the heavy metal was produced during the Cold War, the Pentagon said Tuesday. Pentagon spokesmen said that the amounts found in US stocks of depleted uranium were minute and the risk to health or to the environment was insignificant.

"We have seen nothing in our studies that this would have more than an insignificant impact either on personal health or the environment," said Rear Admiral Craig Quigley, a Pentagon spokesman. "It is just incredibly small quantities here that we're talking about both in the armor and in the munitions themselves," he said. But the disclosure that DU munitions contain even trace amounts of highly toxic plutonium as well as U-236 has outraged Germany, whose defense minister protested the Pentagon's failure to keep its allies informed.

NATO has been struggling for weeks to allay fears in some European countries that a rash of reported cancer cases among veterans of Balkans peacekeeping missions were linked to exposure to depleted uranium ordnance fired by US forces during conflicts in Bosnia and Kosovo. Quigley said a NATO committee set up to look into the depleted uranium issue has been informed in recent days about the plutonium found in US DU stocks.

It was detected as early as 1999 in the course of an investigation by the Department of Energy into contamination at its processing plants in Paducah, Kentucky; Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Piketon, Ohio, defense officials said.

The investigation found that all three plants during the 1950s through the 1970s were contaminated by operations involving recycled uranium that contained plutonium, neptunium and technetium-99, defense officials said.

Depleted uranium produced with the contaminated equipment itself became contaminated with plutonium and the other transuranic elements, they said.

Trace elements of U-236, which normally would not be found in depleted uranium, also were noted when depleted uranium stocks were checked in 1999, said Lieutenant Colonel Paul Phillips, a Pentagon spokesman. "The source of the contamination as best we can understand it now was the plant themselves that produced the depleted uranium during the 20 some year time frame when the DU was produced," said Quigley.

http://www.antiwar.com

http://www.space4peace.org

http://www.stopnato.org.uk

1/24/01
2:19:09 PM

FAIR-L Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting Media analysis, critiques and news reports

ACTION ALERT: New York Times Swallows Pentagon "Whitewash": Korea massacre probe needs independent investigation

January 23, 2001

The New York Times has given a pass to a deceptive Pentagon investigation into the No Gun Ri massacre. Sixteen months after the Associated Press published its Pulitzer Prize-winning expose of the massacre by U.S. forces in the Korean War (9/30/99), the Pentagon report states that although "an unknown number of Korean civilians were killed or injured" by U.S. troops, "the deaths and injuries of civilians, where they occurred, were an unfortunate tragedy inherent to war and not a deliberate killing."

Since the AP story first ran, damning new evidence has come to light in the form of declassified military documents showing clearly that orders were given to shoot all refugees approaching American lines. In addition, testimony from American veterans shows that these orders were passed on to U.S. soldiers at No Gun Ri and several veterans who were at the scene recalled being under orders to shoot.

In order to "conclude" that the refugee shootings were not deliberate, the Pentagon resorted to concocting a series of tortured rationalizations for ignoring many of the inconvenient facts turned up by its own investigators. Korean survivors of the massacre have called the report a "whitewash" (Agence France Presse, 1/11/01).

Yet New York Times reporter Elizabeth Becker (1/12/01) took the Pentagon's self-exoneration entirely at face value. No criticism or dissent from the Pentagon's spin was reported in her piece. Later in the week, AP sent out an analysis (1/13/01) highlighting some of the Pentagon report's omissions (written by the lead reporter on AP's original prize-winning investigation), but it was ignored by the Times, even though the paper originally ran the agency's 1999 No Gun Ri story on its front page.

Becker's article failed to point out that the Army's lengthy Inspector General report at one point admitted-- albeit in an evasive way-- that "several soldiers" interviewed by Army investigators "were adamant that there was an order" to fire on refugees at No Gun Ri. According to the South Korean report of the same investigation, there were in fact 17 such soldiers. But the Pentagon dismissed the testimony of these 17 veterans because "they had no information to support their assertions"-- they did not personally receive the order from their commander and they did not know where the order originated.

Among the 17 veterans who said there were orders to shoot refugees were two men, Lawrence Levine and James Crume, who handled radio and message traffic for the Army regiment at No Gun Ri. An AP article last November (11/22/00) reported that the two men gave the Army sworn statements saying that orders to fire on civilians came down the Army chain of command and were passed on to the units at No Gun Ri.

"I'm sure the battalion commander and the S3 [operations officer] discussed it even before they put the order out to stop the refugees," Crume told AP. "All I know is that the order was given-- 'you're not going through'-- and the order was given to the heavy weapons company, and that was it." Levine and Crume's statements were never quoted or mentioned in the Pentagon report. Becker's article ignored them as well.

Another crucial piece of evidence ignored by Becker-- though it has been publicly known since last June-- is a declassified memo written by a top Air Force officer in Korea one day before the No Gun Ri massacre. The memo said: "The Army has requested that we strafe all civilian refugee parties that are noted approaching our positions. To date we have complied with the Army request in this respect."

The memo went on to note that the policy "is sure to receive wide publicity and may cause embarrassment to the U.S. Air Force and to the U.S. government in its relations with the United Nations." The Pentagon investigators dismissed the memo-- which was titled "Policy on Strafing Civilian Refugees"-- because it was referring to a "request," "not an order." (Newsday highlighted the Air Force memo in a January 19 piece headlined "New Account of No Gun Ri; AF Memo: Army Sought Strafing.")

Another order to shoot civilian refugees, which was reported in the AP's original No Gun Ri story, was given by an 8th Cavalry Regiment liason officer in charge of relaying orders from the headquarters of the 1st Cavalry Division. The officer gave the following instructions to his regiment: "No refugees to cross the front lines. Fire everyone trying to cross lines. Use discretion in case of women and children." The Pentagon report explained that this was "not an order" but "more likely the liaison officer's misinterpretation" of orders that were issued 48 hours later.

Becker falsely reported that "the South Korean team [of investigators] agreed with the Army that American soldiers were not ordered to shoot at the refugees." Becker was apparently referring to the joint U.S.-South Korean "Statement of Mutual Understanding," which included several carefully worded sentences crafted to give the impression that no evidence of orders was found. But the joint statement pointedly omits any definitive judgement that soldiers were not under orders to shoot.

In fact, the South Koreans' own report, published separately from the American one, states: "We cannot rule out the possibility that there was an order for a mortar attack." Indeed, AP reported last December (12/20/00) that South Korean officials were hoping "to persuade the Pentagon to drop its insistence that no evidence exists that the shootings were carried out under orders."

The Pentagon report says there is no documentary evidence that orders to shoot refugees were passed to the troops at No Gun Ri. But neither the report nor Becker's article mentioned that the 7th Cavalry regiment's journal for July 1950-- the one document that shows which orders were given to the No Gun Ri units on the day of the massacre-- is missing from the National Archives. (The journals of the other two regiments in the 1st Cavalry Division are not missing.)

In contrast to Becker's article, Agence France Presse (1/12/01) ran an excellent and balanced account of the Pentagon report by Washington reporter Jim Mannion. The dispatch began:

"U.S. soldiers killed or injured an unconfirmed number of refugees near No Gun Ri during a confused withdrawal in the early days of the Korean War, but U.S. commanders did not order troops to shoot and kill civilians, an army investigation concluded Thursday.

"The army reached that no-fault conclusion despite finding references in U.S. military records that appear to authorize firing on Korean civilians, including an air force memo stating that it had complied with an army request to strafe all civilian refugees approaching U.S. positions."

ACTION: Contact the New York Times and ask them to publish a serious examination of the Pentagon's No Gun Ri report, looking at all the available evidence and not just at what the U.S. Army has said.

CONTACT: New York Times 229 West 43rd St. New York, NY 10036-3959

mailto:nytnews@nytimes.com Toll free comment line: 1-888-NYT-NEWS

As always, please remember that your comments will be more effective if you maintain a polite tone. Please cc fair@fair.org with your correspondence.

To read the full New York Times article by Elizabeth Becker, see: http://www.fair.org/articles/times-nogunri.html

For more background, read: --"Digging Too Deep at No Gun Ri" http://www.fair.org/extra/0009/nogunri.html

--The Pentagon's "Report of the No Gun Ri Review" http://www.army.mil/nogunri/

Feel free to respond to FAIR ( fair@fair.org ). We can't reply to everything, but we will look at each message. We especially appreciate documented example of media bias or censorship. And please send copies of your email correspondence with media outlets, including any responses, to us at: fair@fair.org .

FAIR ON THE AIR: FAIR's founder Jeff Cohen is a regular panelist on the Fox News Channel's "Fox News Watch," which airs which airs Saturdays at 7 pm and Sundays at 11 am (Eastern Standard Time). Check your local listings.

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Please support FAIR by subscribing to our bimonthly magazine, Extra! For more information, go to: http://www.fair.org/extra/subscribe.html . Or call 1-800-847-3993.

1/24/01
2:15:40 PM

THE WINNIPEG SUN

Winnipeg, Manitoba

January 21, 2001

Hemp firm fears U.S. import ban

By Tammy Marlowe

A Manitoba-based hemp company is worried it may be effectively shut down if a proposal by the American Drug Enforcement Agency gains any more momentum.

"You're talking about a pretty formidable foe to go up against," Shaun Crew, president of Hemp Oil Canada Inc., said this week. In 1998, the provincial government changed regulations to allow those who wanted to grow industrial hemp in Manitoba to do so, under strict guidelines and with a permit.

Crew established his hemp food processing company in Ste. Agathe the same year, and exports up to 80% of his oil and seed products to the U.S.

While hemp is used to make everything from clothing to paper to lip balm and coffee, it's running into some problems south of the border, thanks to its criminal cousin -- marijuana.

THC is the active ingredient in marijuana that creates the "high," and makes it an illegal drug. Because hemp is derived from the same type of plant, its products also contain a trace amount of THC.

But the U.S. has a "zero tolerance policy on THC," said Brian Wilson, Manitoba Agriculture and Food's crop diversification manager, adding the DEA is pushing to have all products with any THC content banned from import into the U.S.

That means products like Crew's would not be allowed into the country.

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

The DEA is worried those who ingest hemp products may test positive for drugs.

"It just doesn't happen. There isn't a chance that someone would fail a test," said Crew. "If they shut the border down on us, that's a huge market. To the U.S., hemp is marijuana and marijuana is hemp. They've kind of still got their heads stuck in the sand."

Wilson said hemp is a very new crop in Manitoba, and this province has a competitive advantage because of its liberal legislation.

He worries such a lucrative new crop may have trouble establishing itself if Canada's largest trading partner closes off its borders.

"It's a young industry, but it does have a lot of potential," Wilson said. "We depend, in agriculture, very much on export markets - we don't have a large population base in Canada. If the U.S. does something to restrict our access to the market it disrupts our economy very, very much."

Crew said he expects to learn more about the DEA proposal in the next couple of weeks. If he has to, he said he'll file a complaint under the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.

Until then he'll keep lobbying, along with several other groups in the States, to have the separation of marijuana and hemp recognized. "It's a lot of power to fight, but we've got a lot of friends, so here's to hoping they don't get away with this." (END)

Contact: editor@wpgsun.com

Website: http://www.canoe.ca/WinnipegSun/home.html

1/24/01
2:09:09 PM

World Environment News - January 24th, 2001 from Planet Ark

Here are today's Reuters 'World Environment News' headlines, proudly brought to you by Planet Ark.

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

UPDATE - California crisis shows need for Alaska oil - Bush - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9592

UPDATE - US trade panel rules against EU uranium imports - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9596

FEATURE - Alaska's spreading oil fields under new scrutiny - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9598

ANALYSIS - Greens say Bush bad news for global warming fix - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9597

Iraq turns to obscure firms to lift oil exports - UAE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9600

FAO says deforestation continues despite slowdown - ITALY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9594

INTERVIEW - German offshore wind power key to European target - GERMANY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9595

UPDATE - Oil spill spreads in Ecuador's Galapagos Islands - ECUADOR http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9591

Brazil police arrest 20 Greenpeace protesters - BRAZIL http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9593

Brazil says will not let Amazon become "sanctuary" - BRAZIL http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9599

1/23/01
6:06:01 PM

VIRGINIA HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 605

Offered January 10, 2001 Prefiled January 10, 2001

Requesting the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, the Department of Environmental Quality, and the Virginia State Police to develop guidelines for the growth and production of industrial hemp in Virginia.

Patrons: Orrock and Van Yahres Referred to: Committee on Rules

WHEREAS, although industrial hemp is derived from the Cannabis sativa plant, it is distinctive from its better know relative, in that it contains less than one percent of the chemical responsible for its psychoactive properties; and

WHEREAS, similar to jute and flax, industrial hemp's three principal raw materials--fiber, hurds, and seeds can be used in over 25,000 products, including textiles, rope, cellulose plastics, resin, particle board, paper products, shampoo, vitamins, and oil; and

WHEREAS, faltering agricultural economies in a number of states have created pressure to investigate alternative crops, including industrial hemp; and

WHEREAS, the 1996 Farm Bill has reduced and will continue to reduce government subsidies, pushing farmers to examine alternative cash crops; and

WHEREAS, increased foreign competition in established markets, such as tobacco, as well as innovative work with industrial hemp by Canada and the European community, has prompted increased interest in the economic vitality of industrial hemp; and

WHEREAS, the histories of the United States and Virginia are replete with examples of the utility of and dependence on industrial hemp, which was legally cultivated in Virginia and many other states until the late 1930s; and

WHEREAS, the industrial hemp industry has recently experienced a revitalization, with worldwide hemp sales continuing to increase; and

WHEREAS, in 1996, the American Farm Bureau Federation, representing 4.6 million farmers nationwide, passed a unanimous resolution urging research into the viability and economic potential of industrial hemp; and

WHEREAS, the growing of industrial hemp in the United States has been allowed only by federal permit, and the conditions of such a permit are so restrictive as to make the experimental cultivation of hemp, even under the auspices of a state university with strict controls, essentially impossible; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration correctly states that it has never turned down an application for the experimental cultivation of hemp, but it is equally true that due to the excessive restrictions placed on the required permit, only the State of Hawaii is currently authorized by the federal government to cultivate hemp; and

WHEREAS, during the 1998 Session, the General Assembly passed HJ 94, urging the federal government to revise the necessary regulations so as to permit the controlled, experimental cultivation of industrial hemp in Virginia; and

WHEREAS, U. S. Drug Czar and the U. S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) raised objections to even the controlled, experimental cultivation of industrial hemp; and

WHEREAS, in May 2000, the State of Maryland enacted legislation to establish a four-year pilot program to grow industrial hemp on state-owned land under tightly controlled circumstances; and

WHEREAS, legislatures in both North Dakota and Minnesota have recently enacted legislation allowing farmers statewide to cultivate hemp and the Illinois legislature is likely to reconsider a bill referred during the last session to allow two state universities to study the feasibility of cultivating industrial hemp; and

WHEREAS, increased interest by states in the cultivation and production of industrial hemp has prompted the DEA to review its hard line stance, and expected changes in the administration of the agency due to the recent election, may result in the easing of current restrictions; and

WHEREAS, other states are positioning themselves to produce industrial hemp and the Commonwealth of Virginia should be prepared to cultivate industrial hemp if the current restrictions are eased; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring; That the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, the Department of Environmental Quality, and the Virginia State Police be requested to develop guidelines for cultivating industrial hemp; and be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates transmit copies of this resolution to the Secretary of Commerce and Trade, the Secretary of Natural Resources, and the Secretary of Public Safety, so that they may be

1/23/01
5:12:47 PM

Environmental news from GRIST MAGAZINE

<http://www.gristmagazine.com>

1. WHO STOLE THE COOKIE FROM THE COOKIE JAR? I DID! ME! ME! President Bush and the folks he plans to bring with him into office -- Gale Norton at Interior, Christine Todd Whitman at U.S. EPA, et al -- are big fans of letting industry police itself on environmental regulations, rather than relying on government crackdowns to reduce pollution. The idea behind "self-auditing" is that it does away with the adversarial relationship between government and industry, and will ultimately lead to a cleaner environment at lower cost because the majority of companies want to be good citizens -- they just need to be given the chance to show it. Under most self-auditing schemes, companies are not fined if they report any excess pollution and have already moved to make corrections for the future. Enviros, of course, are skeptical of the notion of self-policing, and some studies of existing self-auditing initiatives have shown that the companies most interested in self-monitoring are the ones most interested in polluting.

straight to the source: Christian Science Monitor, Dante Chinni, 23 Jan 2001 <http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2001/01/23/p2s1.htm>

2. ELECTRIC SLIDE Electricity restructuring has not only contributed to the energy crisis in California, opines Donella Meadows in Grist, it has also squeezed out the very best energy supply strategy -- namely efficiency. From lighting to water pumps to electric motors, it is cheaper and far better for the environment to install devices that deliver the same service with less power. In the old electric system, it cost utilities less to subsidize more efficient bulbs than to build another dinosaur power plant. In the deregulated system, utilities have only one incentive: to sell us as much power as possible. So much for efficiency! Read more on the Grist Magazine website.

read it only in Grist Magazine: Deregulation in California didn't help consumers, or the environment -- by Donella Meadow <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/citizen/citizen012201.stm>

catch it only in Grist Magazine: A breakthrough in energy-efficient appliances -- a cartoon by Suzy Becker <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/ha/ha012201.stm>

3. BARE NAKED LADIES Six bare-breasted women -- one astride a horse, a la Lady Godiva -- and 30 fully clothed people protested in Vancouver, B.C., yesterday over a company's plan to log old growth on Salt Spring Island. The protesters stopped traffic for more than an hour at the headquarters of the company, Texada Land Corp., and drew considerable media attention, prompting protester Briony Penn to remark, "I've got a PhD and no one listens. I take my clothes off, and here you all are." Texada, which began logging the island in November 1999, is the first company to be fined for violating the province's new forest practices regulation. The Save Salt Spring Campaign has been raising money to buy Texada's land through publication of a nude calendar.

straight to the source: Vancouver Sun, Glenn Bohn, 23 Jan 2001 http://www.vancouversun.com/newsite/news/010123/5047861.html

get your nudie pics: Save Salt Spring site <http://www.savesaltspring.com/>

4. FORD, LINCOLN, MERCURY American automakers haven't kept promises to eliminate mercury from new cars, according to two different reports by environmental groups. In 1995, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler pledged to phase out the use of mercury in electrical switches and lighting. In 2000, however, General Motors and Ford sold vehicles containing 6 million to 9 million mercury switches, though they did reduce the amount of mercury used in some lighting, the enviro groups said. In some vehicles, including Chrysler models, the automakers actually expanded their use of mercury in anti-lock brake systems and other parts. European and Japanese automakers completely phased out mercury in the early 1990s in response to a ban in Sweden.

Detroit News, Jeff Plungis, 23 Jan 2001 <http://detnews.com/2001/autos/0101/23/b04-178846.htm>

Knoxville News-Sentinel, Scripps Howard, Joan Lowy, 23 Jan 2001 <http://www.knoxnews.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=MERCURY-01-22-01&cat=FF>

Sweden takes big steps to ban chemicals -- by Donella Meadows <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/citizen/citizen121500.stm

1/23/01
4:52:20 PM

Enjoyment

Regardless of what you are or aren't doing and regardless of what you do or don't have, whether or not to enjoy yourself is a decision we make each and every moment of our lives. Even in the midst of the greatest challenges, you always have the option of standing back from it all internally and laughing at the oftentimes ridiculousness of life - and then after laughing some, enjoying yourself once again is made that much easier.

And since choosing to enjoy yourself is more fun than choosing not to, why not endeavor to do so more often? It is a rich person indeed who has learned to always enjoy life as much as possible regardless of their outer circumstances. Enjoyment is an endless wealth that is equally within everyone's reach.

1/23/01
4:47:15 PM

The New Guy

George W. Bush's absurd statement that it's "the Executive Branch job to interpret the law" leaves one wondering how he can swear to uphold the Constitution when he doesn't know what's in it. ( One is painfully reminded of Dean Page Keeton's letter explaining the law school's rejection of George W.: "I am sure there is a place for young George Bush somewhere. However, in light of his grades on the LSAT exams, that place is not the School of Law at the University of Texas." )

Tantalizing?? Here is the link to more.

http://www.motherjones.com/news_wire/alt_election.html

1/23/01
4:40:55 PM

Powell Pushes for Missile Defense

WASHINGTON (AP) - Received with all the respect of a folk hero, Colin Powell (news - web sites) told the Senate Wednesday at a confirmation hearing that the Bush administration will move full-speed ahead with a nationwide defense against missile attack.

The nominee stood firm on Bush's plan to construct an extensive defense against missile attack, which Clinton declined to do partly because there was no certainty it would work. Even if North Korea agreed to freeze its missile program, ``we should continue to move ahead as aggressively as possible,'' Powell said. And, Powell said, the 1972 treaty with the Soviet Union that banned nationwide missile defenses so that a Russia would be disinclined to launch a nuclear attack on the United States, was ``probably no longer relevant to our new strategic framework.''

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010117/el/powell_hearing_4.html

1/23/01
4:38:04 PM

Protesters Boo Inauguration of Bush

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Thousands of demonstrators booed the inauguration of George W. Bush on Saturday, holding signs such as ''Hail to the thief'' to protest his swearing-in which took place amid the tightest security measures ever.

Columns of demonstrators, championing a broad range of causes from abortion to electoral rights, stood on the route Bush took to the Capitol for his swearing-in and jeered as his presidential limousine went past carrying him and outgoing President Clinton.

The closer they got to the Capitol, the more people were cheering for the incoming president and there were fewer protesters, who had said they planned peaceful demonstrations but were fearful of a heavy-handed police response. In the biggest ever security operation for an inauguration, police in riot gear and on horseback kept an eye on the protesters, joined by thousands of uniformed Secret Service agents in charge of the security operation.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010120/ts/bush_protests_dc_2.html

1/23/01
4:36:28 PM

Opponents Target Bush, Nominees - January 19

By PlanetOut News Staff

SUMMARY: Counter-inaugural protesters are on their way, as the incoming U.S. president's Cabinet picks are picked over in committee; meanwhile Bill Clinton says goodbye.

Inauguration festivities for President-to-be George W. Bush kicked off in Washington, D.C. on the evening of January 18 with an outdoor concert on the National Mall featuring, among others, the sexually ambiguous Ricky Martin. But even as Bush supporters were gearing up to celebrate, Democrats were battering his Cabinet nominees in confirmation hearings, and various groups - including gay rights supporters -- were preparing for massive protests on Inauguration Day, January 20. Almost lost in it all was the farewell speech of outgoing President Bill Clinton.

Demonstration organizers estimate that the number of protesters could top 20,000, which would make it the largest counter-inaugural display since the Vietnam War, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The city of Washington will deploy nearly three times the number of police along the inaugural parade route, which runs from the Capitol Building to the White House, as they did for Clinton's 1997 inauguration. Parade spectators will be forced to enter through checkpoints and searched for weapons; objects or signs will be prohibited.

The International Action Center (IAC), one of the groups spearheading the protest, believes the checkpoints will be used to reduce the effectiveness of the demonstrations. On January 18 IAC lawyers made their argument to U.S. District Court Judge Gladys Kessler, who they're hoping will deem the restrictions an unconstitutional violation of free speech. Kessler said she would issue a ruling in time for the losing party to appeal it.

The IAC is primarily protesting Bush's policies, which the organization describes as "racist, sexist, anti-gay, militaristic, anti-labor, and pro-big business." Other groups are railing against Bush's tactics during the Florida recount. According to the Agence France Press, the Justice Action Movement will protest under the banner, "Hail to the Thief." While most mainstream GLBT rights organizations are not officially participating in the protests, at least one, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), provides information and links for counter-inaugural protests on its Web site.

1/23/01
4:08:16 PM

Survey Shows a Record 40 Percent of World Is Free

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A report on worldwide democracy and human rights released on Wednesday found major progress in those areas in Mexico and Yugoslavia, with over 40 percent of the world's population living in free nations.

The Freedom House report, ``Freedom in the World 2000-2001,'' said 86 countries, representing 2.5 billion people, or 40.7 percent of the world's population, were ``free,'' the highest proportion given that rating in the history of the survey, which dates to 1981. Inhabitants of those countries enjoy a broad range of rights.

Another 59 countries, encompassing 1.4 billion people, or 23.8 percent of the world's population, were described as ''partly free,'' with limited political liberties and civil rights.

Finally, 35.5 percent of the world's people live in the 47 nations considered not free, where citizens are denied basic political rights and civil liberties, according to Freedom House.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20001220/ts/rights_freedom_dc_1.html

1/23/01
4:06:43 PM

AN ASTONISHING NEWS

From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1124000/1124540.stm

Light stopped in its tracks

Scientists say they have slowed light to a dead stop, stored it and then let it go again.Normally light is the fastest thing there is, travelling at about 297,000 kilometres a second (186,000 miles a second). But it is slowed slightly when it moves through some materials, such as glass.

The researchers have taken this effect to the extreme and say they have effectively made a beam of light stop after it entered a specially designed gas chamber. The experiment has been hailed as a landmark that could pave the way for faster computers and totally secure communications.

CLIP

To stop light altogether, the scientists have utilised a similar but far more powerful effect. The researchers cooled a gas of magnetically trapped sodium atoms to within a few millionths of a degree of absolute zero (-273 deg C).

Huge impact

This would normally be opaque to light. But by illuminating it with a laser called a coupling beam, it can be made transparent, thereby allowing another laser pulse to pass through it. It is a process known as electromagnetically induced transparency.

And, astonishingly, if the coupling laser is turned off while the probe pulse is inside the gas cloud, the probe pulse stops dead in its tracks. If the coupling beam is then turned back on, the probe pulse emerges intact, just as if it had been waiting to resume its journey

The biggest impact of this work could be in the burgeoning field of quantum computing and quantum communication. In theory, quantum computers, in which information is stored in the quantum states of atoms, could be very much faster than existing machines. And quantum communications could never be eavesdropped.

1/23/01
4:01:36 PM

EarthAction

Empower Women to protect the land

FOR PARTNERS AND FRIENDS OUTSIDE THE U.S.

EMPOWER WOMEN TO PROTECT THE LAND

An action toolkit from the EARTHACTION NETWORK on land degradation that threatens a quarter of the Earth's land surface and the livelihoods of over one billion people.

CLIP

ACTION ALERT

Empower Women to Protect the Land

The topsoil on our planet is a precious and finite resource built up over millions of years. Without it we couldn’t survive. But deforestation, overfarming and other human activities are degrading the land all over the world. As the world’s population grows, our supply of fertile land is shrinking. Your action now can help reverse this dangerous trend. Especially at risk is the soil in the dry regions of the world, where land degradation is known as "desertification." The UN Environment Programme estimates that fully a quarter of the Earth’s land surface, and the livelihoods of over one billion people, are threatened by desertification.

Women on the front lines. In many developing countries it’s mainly women who work the land. Often these women are among the poorest people, who most need support. Yet in the past, women have frequently been excluded from land conservation and development projects that directly affect their livelihoods. As a result of "top-down" approaches to development that ignore the views of local people, many attempts to protect the Earth’s life-giving soil have failed.

Yet there have been numerous examples of how, given support and resources, women can transform the situation. The 70,000 women who make up the Green Belt Movement in Africa, for example, have planted more than 20 million trees to help reverse the degradation of their land.

An opportunity for change. With the recent addition of the United States and New Zealand, 169 countries have now ratified a treaty called the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). The treaty commits all governments, rich and poor, to devote more technical and financial resources to combat desertification. In addition, the governments of developing countries affected by desertification must work in close partnership with communities, particularly women and youth, to develop and implement National Action Programmes on desertification. If all governments carry out their promises under this treaty, we have a real chance of turning this major environmental crisis around and advancing sustainable development in the poorest regions of the world.

Planning for women’s involvement. Governments don’t have to start from scratch in deciding how to involve women in combating desertification. In 1997, an expert group issued an action plan called "Strengthening the Role of Women in the Implementation of the UNCCD". It contains clear guidelines to ensure that the concerns and experiences of local communities—including both women and men—are part of planning and implementing National Action Programmes. If these recommendations are followed, then all of us, and the Earth itself, will benefit.

What You Can Do:

If you live in a developing country, please write to your cabinet minister for agriculture. If you live in a developed country, contact your cabinet minister for development cooperation. In either case, urge him or her to honour your government’s commitments under the Desertification Convention to:

Mobilize additional financial resources to support the full involvement of local communities—including women—in the design and implementation of programmes to combat desertification.

Suggest that they build upon the guidelines in the 1997 report, "Strengthening the Role of Women in the Implementation of the UNCCD". For a copy of the report visit www.undp.org/seed/unso/women/msrw.htm, or call +1 212 906-5815.

CLIP

INFORMATION ABOUT EARTHACTION

The EarthAction Network consists of over 1,800 citizen groups in more than 152 countries. Our purpose is to enable thousands of organizations, citizens, journalists and parliamentarians to act together simultaneously around the world on critical global issues. EarthAction produces an Action Kit eight to twelve times a year which is distributed to our Partner Organizations for use in mobilising their members to take action on important global issues. Partnership in the EarthAction Network is offered to citizen groups free of charge-however, groups that have the resources are asked to contribute US$30 to $100 per year. Individuals may also join the EarthAction Network for US$15 per year.

EarthAction International Offices:

EarthAction

30 Cottage Street

Amherst, MA 01002, USA

Tel. 1-413-549 8118

Fax. 1-413-549 0544

email: amherst@earthaction.org

1/23/01
3:52:36 PM

BBC News AMERICAS Roads lead to Amazon 'destruction'

Friday, 19 January, 2001

Roads lead to Amazon 'destruction'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1125000/1125419.stm

"Illegal logging and land clearing are rampant"

The Amazon forest in Brazil, the world's largest remaining wilderness, could vanish within two decades, a new study reveals.

If these development plans go through, we'll lose the largest remaining wilderness on Earth and a huge amount of the world's remaining biodiversity

Scott Bergen, Oregon State University

According to the journal Science, researchers in the United States used computer models to forecast the impact of a development scheme called "Advance Brazil".

Under the scheme, the Brazilian Government expects to spend $40bn over the next seven years on highways, railways, hydroelectric projects and housing in the Amazon basin.

If the researchers' estimates are correct, barely five percent of the Amazon will survive as pristine forest by 2020. The rest will be destroyed by logging, infrastructure, oil exploration and new towns.

Dozens of Indians live in remote reservations in rainforests

Climate change

More than two million hectares of the Amazon are currently being cleared every year, and even conservative estimates forecast the clearing rate will continue to rise.

The loss of the Amazon could affect the climate, as it plays an important role in soaking up carbon dioxide.

Brazil also has the world's highest diversity of plant and animal species, but if the Amazon disappears, so will much of its biodiversity.

Scientific forecasts: 42% of the region would either be totally deforested or heavily degraded by 2020 Less than 5% of the land will survive as pristine forest The rate of forest destruction could increase by more than 25% a year The most favourable scenario predicts a 14%-a-year escalation of deforestation "Unfortunately, there is little government control in the Amazonian frontier," said William Laurance of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.

"Illegal logging and land-clearing are rampant. New roads that cut into the frontier almost always initiate a process of spontaneous colonization, logging, hunting and land speculation that is almost impossible to stop.

"The only way to control these processes is to control where the roads are located."

Carbon sales

One of the researchers, Scott Bergen of Oregon State University, says it is not too late to preserve at least some of the world's greatest tropical rainforest, at the same time as pursuing economic development in Brazil.

But, he says, there is an urgent need for a fresh approach.

This might include the selling of carbon credits, a practice which allows countries to achieve their pollution reduction targets by buying the unused emissions quotas of other nations.

This could net the Brazilian Government up to $2bn dollars a year, which it could use in alternative development programmes that had less of an impact on the Amazon forest.

"We've heard a lot about ecotourism, sustainable forestry and other conservation efforts in the Amazon," Bergen said.

"But if these development plans go through, we'll lose the largest remaining wilderness on Earth and a huge amount of the world's remaining biodiversity.

"And that, of course, doesn't even consider the enormous impacts on the carbon cycle, global climate and greenhouse warming."

Some researchers have sought to challenge the importance placed on the tropical rainforests by environmentalists.

They point out that these forests did not exist even on the scale they do today just 15,000 years ago, when grasslands were probably the dominant ecosystems.

The dissenters say the obsession with saving the Amazon forest represents an scientifically unjustified Northern agenda that would have the effect of denying indigenous peoples economic growth and prosperity.

1/23/01
3:24:14 PM

Bush's Nazi Take-over

I read all the material on the Bush-Nazi connections, Skolnick, etc. and am considering sending the whole thing to my network.

I missed seeing a report of how thousands of Nazis were brought to the U.S. after WW II to form the CIA Bush Sr. later headed. Werner von Braun who headed slave labor factories that built the V-2 rockets to terrorize England was the best-known, and was never tried for his slave-labor, work 'em till dead approach. Nor was MacNamara tried for bringing them in and saying "They're on our side now" when asked the reason.

We need to keep more and more people fully informed of the true Nazi nature of the Bush dynasty and how the Bush/Gore team has made a laughing stock of the "democracy" we so loudly proclaim. Both parties need to be investigated and impeached !

Peace and love,

Art Rosenblum,

mailto:artr@juno.com

Aquaian Research Foundation,

Working for a postitive future for our planet since 1969.

Web: http://www.ic.org/aq

1/23/01
3:20:55 PM

Colin Powell taps "close friend" Armitage

The significance of Richard Armitage turning up as Colin Powell's chosen right hand man is not to be underestimated. Armitage is a demonstrably dirty, evil sleazeball of the highest order. His corruption goes back to the days when Ted Shackley was CIA COS in Laos. Armitage is a killer, a drug dealer and was one of the primary figures in abandoning our POWs. He was big

in Iran-Contra and has been a powerful behind the scenes figure for the last ten years representing Bush interests around the globe.

The fact that the Bush Administration would put him up for Deputy Secretary of State is absolutely frightening because it heralds that this administration is preparing for all-out wars and a level of corruption that

will make Iran-Contra look like Little League. It also says that, in spite of Dick Armitage's horrendous public record the Bush Administration is either arrogantly confident that they can push him through or sublimely stupid.

Either is a frightening prospect.

This makes it a certainty that the legendary Ted Shackley will appear somewhere, maybe the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. If so, we are about to enter a new dark age of covert operations, death and destruction.

Mike Ruppert www.copvcia.com

NY Times article at http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/17/politics/17TENE.html

1/23/01
2:26:16 PM

World Environment News - January 22nd, 2001 from Planet Ark

Here are today's Reuters 'World Environment News' headlines, proudly brought to you by Planet Ark.

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

UPDATE - Bush nominee defends Alaska oil drilling plan - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9578

UPDATE - In a first act, Bush blocks Clinton orders - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9583

Clinton admin. sets appliance energy efficiency rules - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9584

Slovenia to export waste animal fat to Austria - SLOVENIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9573

Romania reports river pollution with cyanide - ROMANIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9574

Mexico says can't help much with Calif. power woes - MEXICO http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9579

UPDATE - Norway rebuffs Japan plea to ban blubber sale - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9580

Japan groups say Norway whale blubber may be toxic - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9582

Germans protest against nuclear waste shipments - GERMANY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9575

UPDATE - French authorities arrest anti-nuclear protesters - FRANCE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9581

EU gets tough on seven governments over pollution - EU http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9572

UPDATE - Spill worsens in Ecuador's Galapagos islands - ECUADOR http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9576

WWF urges shipping ban round Galapagos - ECUADOR http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9577

1/23/01
2:10:53 PM

Mothers Alert / NIRS.org

CRAC-2 Report: http://www.geocities.com/mothersalert/crac.html

http://www.geocities.com/mothersalert/probability.html

http://www.geocities.com/mothersalert/rickover.html Admiral Hyman Rickover, President Jimmy Carter Cover Up Of 3 Mile Island, All Commercial Nuclear Power Reactors In USA

http://www.geocities.com/mothersalert/bertell.html Dr Rosalie Bertell On Jimmy Carter, DOE, NRC Cover Up Of 3 Mile Island

http://www.geocities.com/mothersalert/infant.html Infant Mortality & Nuclear Power Plants

This would literally amount to that very often overused word- a GENOCIDE if "even" these greatly watered down numbers of people were to be slaughtered by the nuclear industry as they continue using residents and residents far beyond the absurd 10 and 30 mile zones often cited as nuclear guinea pigs. Keep in mind that there is NO insurance one can purchase for their home in case of a nuclear accident and that the existence of the Price Anderson Act passed initally by the US Congress in 1957 and up for renewal next year is the ONLY reason the commercial nuclear industry in the USA exists- remove Price Anderson[http://www.geocities.com/priceanderson/] and the NPPs cease to function immediately.

Remember to include this admission by NRC in our calculations: "The authors of the Reactor Safety Study concluded that changing some of the criteria for data gathering would actually increase the number of early fatalities by a factor of 3 to 4 depending upon circumstances [NUREG-0340]."

Following is an alphabetical listing of every commercial nuclear power plant in the US, extant, or under construction at the time this report was published in 1982. The 4 categories listed are:

Peak Early Fatalities Peak Early Injuries Peak Cancer Deaths Property Damage

The numbers given are in case of a class-9, or worse case scenario meltdown, and are based on 1982 population data and on 1982 dollars. This report was mandated by the Nuclear regulatory Commission and carried out by the Sandia Labs of New Mexico. The Calculation of Reactor Accident Consequences (CRAC-2) report was published by Congress November 1, 1982. It was also printed by the Washington Post the same day. Other major media, including the New York Times published it shortly thereafter.

Some experts claim that the assessment of the dangers inherent in any and all commercial nuclear power plants has several faults. Among the faults -- any accident can spread to the spent fuel pool where huge amounts of radioactive waste are stored. The authors of the Reactor Safety Study concluded that changing some of the criteria for data gathering would actually increase the number of early fatalities by a factor of 3 to 4 depending upon circumstances [NUREG-0340].

"Peak" does not necessarily mean worst case results because the CRAC-2 model is acknowledged by its authors to have uncertainties in its meteorological modeling capability. Since the CRAC-2 model considers of only one year's worth of data and does not model precipitation frequency beyond a distance of 30 miles from the reactor, the model cannot adequately characterize the frequency of precipitation events or range of fallout.

Economic costs, not included are: the cost of providing health care to the affected population; all onsite costs; litigation costs; direct costs of health effects; and indirect costs.

Early fatalities are deaths due to radiation exposure from causes other than cancer occurring within one year of the accident. However, fatalities will continue over hundreds, possibly thousands of years. Fatalities in the populace directly exposed to the accident will take place over a period long after one year, much of these deaths taking decades to occur. Ionizing radiation can cause aberrations in the genetic pool, hence the millions of years over which fatalities will occur.

It should be noted that the evacuation model for CRAC-2 does NOT account for actual site conditions such as bottlenecks and terrain barriers which can cause major evacuation routes to overlap the area likely to be covered by the plume once a release of radioactivity occurs.

You can get a copy of the report from the Nuclear Information Resource Service at: Phone:202-328-0002, Fax:202-462-2183 http://www.nirs.org

1/23/01
1:57:27 PM

Environmental news from GRIST MAGAZINE

<http://www.gristmagazine.com>

1. 2100: A HEAT ODYSSEY By 2100, the average world temperature could rise between 2.5 and 10.4 degrees Fahrenheit, according to a report released today in Shanghai by the U.N.-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This estimate is significantly higher than the 1.8- to 6.3-degree rise predicted by the IPCC in 1995. The Shanghai report, the third such assessment by the IPCC, asserts more strongly than in the past that humans have "contributed substantially" to the warming of the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels. International negotiations over what to do about global warming have stalled, mostly because of U.S. obstinacy. IPCC Chair Robert Watson couldn't help but take a dig at the U.S.: "A country like China has done more, in my opinion, than a country like the United States to move forward in economic development while remaining environmentally sensitive."

straight to the source: Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel, Associated Press, Joe McDonald, 22 Jan 2001 <http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/daily/detail/0,1136,3600000000016396 6,00.html>

straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Reuters, Tiffany Wu, 22 Jan 2001 <http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environ/20010122/tCB00a7800.html>

catch it only in Grist Magazine: More climate change news -- in our Heat Beat section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/heatbeat/thisjustin011101.stm>

do good: Take action on climate change <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/dogood/climate.stm>

2. THE TORTOISE AND THE SCARE An Ecuadorean oil tanker that ran aground about 550 yards off one of the Galapagos Islands began spilling oil on Friday, posing a major threat to the rare bird and marine life in the area. About 150,000 gallons of diesel fuel have already escaped from the 240,000-gallon tanker, creating an oil slick of at least 117 square miles, and experts fear the ship could break up and send more oil into the water at any moment. Ecuadorean Environment Minister Rodolfo Rendon described the environmental damage from the spill as "extremely grave." The islands, famous for their tortoises and Charles Darwin's work on evolution, are the country's main tourist attraction. The World Wildlife Fund yesterday called for the limits to shipping traffic around the Galapagos in the future.

straight to the source: Washington Post, Associated Press, Gonzola Solono, 22 Jan 2001 <http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29639-2001Jan22.html>

straight to the source: BBC News, 22 Jan 2001 <http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1130000/1130519.stm>

3. MORE PROOF THAT THERE'S NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GORE AND BUSH Less than two hours after taking office, President Bush acted on Saturday to delay or block the Clinton administration's final initiatives, including many environmental rules. Bush's executive order put a 60-day stay on regulations that have been published in the Federal Registry but haven't yet taken effect. Bush has expressed particular unhappiness with the Clinton administration's plan to ban road-building and logging on 58.5 million acres of national forestland, but the plan may prove difficult to withdraw because it was developed after a lengthy review period. Meanwhile, in what may be the last bit of regulatory news to warm enviros' hearts for the next four years, the Clinton administration's Energy Department issued rules this month to increase substantially the efficiency of new residential central air-conditioner and heat pumps, as well as water heaters, clothes washers, and commercial heating and cooling equipment.

straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, 22 Jan 2001 <http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9583>

straight to the source: New York Times, Matthew L. Wald, 19 Jan 2001 <http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/19/politics/19CONS.html>

4. A SANDY DUNKIN' Sand dunes are already within 60 miles of Beijing and are moving forward as quickly as 15 miles a year, threatening the city with major sandstorms and much worse in upcoming years. Last year, sandstorms hospitalized many residents with respiratory problems and cost the city millions of dollars in damages. More than a quarter of China is desert, and official estimates say about 1,000 more square miles turn into desert every year, a big problem in a country that is trying to feed a quarter of the world's population with only 7 percent of the world's arable land. At the same time, intensive farming practices, as well as deforestation, have been a big factor in increasing the rate of desertification.

straight to the source: MSNBC, Ron Gluckman, 20 Jan 2001 <http://www.msnbc.com/news/510501.asp>

5. SKATING ON THIN, CONTAMINATED ICE Efforts to protect water resources and treat drinking water properly are flunking in many parts of Canada, says a report by the Sierra Legal Defense Fund in Canada. Five of the country's 13 provinces and territories received Ds for their water protection rules, and one -- Newfoundland -- received an F. Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec were at the top of the class with Bs. In other unhappy Canada news, the head of the parks agency says that country's national parks are in a state of disrepair and improvements will cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

straight to the source: CNN, Reuters, 19 Jan 2001 <http://www.cnn.com/2001/NATURE/01/19/canada.water.reut/index.html>

straight to the source: Toronto Globe and Mail, Alanna Mitchell, 22 Jan 2001 <http://www.globeandmail.com/gam/National/20010122/UCRUMM.html>

Also in GRIST MAGAZINE today:

Reality TV bites -- the latest in the comic adventures of Zed, the last of his species <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/zed/zed011901.stm>

Cabin fever -- development runs wild in the upper Midwest -- by Erik Ness in our Main Dish section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/maindish/ness090800.stm>

The man conservatives are afraid of on the Bush enviro team -- in our Muckraker column <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/muck/muck011601.stm#hen>

1/23/01
1:35:21 PM

FAIR

ACTION ALERT:

IGNORING REALITY AT THE INAUGURATION

New York Times Stresses "Legitimacy" Over Democracy

January 22, 2001

The New York Times editorial the day after George W. Bush's inauguration ("A Vision of Unity," 1/21/01) predicted, based on the inaugural address, that Bush could "lift the nation to a new era of inclusion and social justice," and found room to describe how "the gloomy light of a winter's day was offset by splashes of color like Laura Bush's blue coat."

But it didn't find space to mention the most striking feature of the 2001 inauguration: that it occurred amidst widespread and angry protests rejecting the legitimacy of Bush's claim to office, the likes of which have not been faced by any modern president. Along the parade route, he was confronted by signs with messages like "Shame," "Bush Lost" and "Hail to the Thief." The London Guardian (1/22/01) reported that the inaugural parade "fell well short of being triumphant, and on many occasions during its slow advance through the drizzle, the sound of jeering drowned out the cheers."

But the front page of the New York Times showcased stories like "Bush, Taking Office, Calls for Civility, Compassion and 'Nation of Character'; Unity Is a Theme" and "Proud Father and Son Bask in History's Glow"-- both of which discussed Bush's teary-eyed father while avoiding any mention of protesters.

While the Times' news editors could not totally ignore the estimated 20,000 demonstrators, they did their best to downplay them, placing the one story about them ("Protesters in the Thousands Sound Off in the Capitol") on page 17, the sixth out of eight pages of inauguration coverage. This article featured one quote from Rev. Al Sharpton and one from a demonstrator who spoke of the "inchoate feeling" that led her to march. This abbreviated presentation of the viewpoints of the tens of thousands of anti-Bush protesters was "balanced" by another quote from one of the hundred anti-abortion activists who demonstrated outside Planned Parenthood's offices.

All told, the story measured 15 column inches out of eight full pages of inauguration coverage. (It was about three-fourths the length of "Floridians of the G.O.P. Savor 'Special Victory,' " on page 18.) The accompanying photo, a tiny 2"x3" shot of one of the day's anti-Bush marches, was the only one out of 19 inauguration-related photos in the paper to show any sign of dissent.

Another inside-pages story, "Echoes of the Past, Near and Far, Are Heard on the Capital's Streets," included a lone protester outside the Supreme Court building, but presented him as well outnumbered by Republican counter-demonstrators singing "God Bless America."

The most telling story of the inauguration package was a front-page news analysis headlined "Tradition and Legitimacy: A Nation's Old Rituals Begin to Dissolve Lingering Clouds of a Bitter Election Battle." This piece, by R.W. Apple, did mention the demonstrations-- in order to minimize their significance:

"Arguments about the legitimacy of the Texas governor's victory have persisted even as the country accepted the fact that he had won. Thousands of the doubtful and disenchanted took to the streets of Washington today in angry protest. But the debate is likely to grow softer as the nation grows accustomed to pictures of Mr. Bush speaking from the Oval Office, boarding Air Force One, accompanied everywhere he goes by the strains of 'Ruffles and Flourishes' and 'Hail to the Chief.' In the television age, those images, more that anything else, confer the mantle of authority and legitimacy on a leader."

The notion that it is media images, not the votes of citizens accurately counted, that give legitimacy to a leader is profoundly anti-democratic. The media's role in trying to shore up the fragile credibility of the establishment was a theme in the most insightful piece in the New York Times' inauguration coverage, "Reality of Nation's Divisions Quickly Creeps into the Commentary, " by TV critic Caryn James. She notes TV pundits' attempt to "retreat into a soothing little bubble where every action they observe is majestic and every viewer shares their sense of awe"--a bubble that was punctured by "visible evidence of furious protesters along the parade route."

Because it was not obliged to present live video footage of that "visible evidence," the New York Times was much more successful than the television networks in minimizing the fact that tens of thousands of citizens from across the country marched on D.C. to reject Bush's assumption of power as illegitimate and undemocratic. The Times left readers with the impression that the dominant themes of the day were "Unity," "Tradition" and, above all, "Legitimacy."

ACTION: Please write to the New York Times if you thought that the protests against George W. Bush's inauguration were an important story and deserved more prominence in the Times' inauguration coverage.

CONTACT: New York Times 229 West 43rd St. New York, NY 10036-3959

mailto:nytnews@nytimes.com Toll free comment line: 1-888-NYT-NEWS

FAIR produces CounterSpin, a weekly radio show heard on over 120 stations in the U.S. and Canada. To find the CounterSpin station nearest you, visit http://www.fair.org/counterspin/stations.html .

Please support FAIR by subscribing to our bimonthly magazine, Extra! For more information, go to: http://www.fair.org/extra/subscribe.html . Or call 1-800-847-3993.

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FAIR (212) 633-6700 http://www.fair.org/ eMail: fair@fair.org

1/23/01
1:30:00 PM

World Environment News - January 23rd, 2001 from Planet Ark

Here are today's Reuters 'World Environment News' headlines, proudly brought to you by Planet Ark.

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

New park established on US-Canada border - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9586

UK's Victrex in fuel cell joint venture with Ballard - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9587

Japan Dec electricity output up 1.8 pct yr/yr - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9588

UPDATE - Oil spill near Ecuador's Galapagos is a "disaster" - ECUADOR http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9590

Salvage operation starts for stricken Med tanker - CYPRUS http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9585

UPDATE - UN sees faster global warming, humanity responsible - CHINA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9589

1/23/01
1:24:50 PM

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE (ENS) http://ens-news.com

"We Cover the Earth For You"

EVIDENCE OF RAPID GLOBAL WARMING ACCEPTED BY 99 GOVERNMENTS

SHANGHAI, China, January 22, 2001 (ENS) - The scientific basis for the reality of rapid global warming is clear, a comprehensive new United Nations report reveals. Snow cover has decreased, the duration of lake and river ice cover is shorter, and the atmospheric concentration of heat trapping carbon dioxide has increased by a third since 1750, climate scientists say.

For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-22-02.html

BUSH BLOCKS CLINTON'S 11th HOUR ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVES

By Brian Hansen

WASHINGTON, DC, January 22, 2001 (ENS) - President George W. Bush on Saturday moved quickly to block the implementation of a host of environmental protection initiatives that had been put in place during the waning days and weeks of the former Clinton/Gore administration.

For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-22-15.html

AUTOMOBILES DRIVE TOXIC MERCURY INTO ENVIRONMENT

DETROIT, Michigan, January 22, 2001 (ENS) - Automobiles are one of the nation's largest sources of toxic mercury emissions, show two new studies released today by leading environmental organizations. Despite practical, inexpensive alternatives and industry commitments to phase out its use, mercury continues to be widely used in new automobiles, the groups charge.

For full text and graphics visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-22-07.html

COASTAL AREAS THREATENED BY CLIMATE CHANGE

WASHINGTON, DC, January 22, 2001 (ENS) - Climate changes in this century may cause coastal erosion, coral reef die offs, and other serious impacts on U.S. coastal and marine resources, concludes a new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Ocean Service. The report was released Friday, the last full day of the outgoing Clinton administration.

For full text and graphics visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-22-06.html

DECLINING POLAR BEAR POPULATION SPARED 2002 HUNT

IQALUIT, Nunavut, Canada, January 22, 2001 (ENS) - From car licence plates to government logos, the polar bear is the lasting symbol of Canada's newest territory, Nunavut. But numbers of the animal have plummeted in one region, according to the territorial government, which has cut hunting quotas this year and banned hunting in 2002.

For full text and graphics, visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-22-10.html

NUKE SUB STILL IN GIBRALTAR DESPITE TIRELESS PROTEST

MADRID, Spain, January 22, 2001 (ENS) - The biggest protest yet against a stricken nuclear submarine berthed in Gibraltar has not swayed the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence or Spanish authorities. More than 70,000 people marched in the southern Spanish city of Algeciras on Saturday in protest at HMS Tireless, which has been docked in the deep water port at the base of the Rock of Gibraltar since last May.

For full text and graphics, visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-22-11.html

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: JANUARY 22, 2001

Senate Confirms Seven Bush Cabinet Nominees

$83.5 Million Settlement Reached in Puerto Rico Oil Spill

EPA Proposes Special Ocean Sites

Scientists See Early Signs of Lobster Decline

Records Set for Environmental Enforcement in 2000

Economic Incentives Aid in Protecting Environment

International Standard Helps Measure Energy Savings

California Joins Farmland Conservation Program

For full text and graphics visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-22-09.html

SEND NEWS STORY TIPS TO news@ens-news.com

TO NATIONAL, FOREIGN AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:

IFAW Sends International Response Team to Rescue Some of the World's Rarest Wildlife From Oil Spill

LONDON, Jan. 22 -/E-Wire/-- The International Fund for Animal Welfare's Emergency Relief Team (IFAW) has responded to a request for help from the Charles Darwin Research Centre to contain the oil spillage that threatens to devastate the unique wildlife sanctuary of the Galapagos islands. According to reports sent to IFAW by the Charles Darwin Research Station, 30 pelicans, 7 blue-footed boobies, and two sea-lions have already been affected by the oil.

/CONTACT: Simon Pope of IFAW UK, +44 (207) 587-6714, or +44 (207) 703-3655, or +44 (7801) 613-527/

/Web site: http://www.ifaw.org/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/22Jan0110.html

TO TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:

SpectruCell Technology receives $4.78 Million of $13 Million R&D Grant from Australian Government

LOS ANGELES, CA, Jan. 22 -/E-Wire/-- Advanced Communications Technologies Inc. (OTCBB:ADVC - news; ACT-US) today announced that its Australian based affiliate, Advanced Communications Technologies (Australia) Pty. Ltd. (ACT-Australia) has received the first $A4.78 million of the AusIndustry grant previously awarded in September 2000. In addition, AusIndustry has also approved an increase in the initial grant from $A11.8 million to $A13 million. The grant is believed to be the largest of its type ever awarded in Australia.

/Web site: http://www.act-usa.net/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/22Jan0109.html

TO ART AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:

Artists, Forbes Galleries Unite, Support Grand Canyon Conservation

NEW YORK, NY, Jan. 22 -/E-Wire/-- The Forbes Magazine Gallery is hosting a collection of art from Grand Canyon painters on behalf of the conservation organization, Grand Canyon Trust. The paintings will be sold to benefit the Trust's work to protect and restore the Grand Canyon and Colorado Plateau. The exhibit, Grand Canyon Expressions, Painting Down the Rapids, opens this month at the Forbes Magazine Galleries, 60 Fifth Avenue at 12th Street in New York City.

/CONTACT: Steele Wotkyns, (520) 774-7488/

/Web site: www.grandcanyontrust.org/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/22Jan0108.html

TO BUSINESS AND ENVIERONMENTAL EDITORS:

Interior Department's Babbitt and Hayes Join Latham & Watkins

WASHINGTON, DC, Jan. 22 -/E-Wire/-- Latham & Watkins has announced that the two highest ranking former United States Department of the Interior officials are joining the firm. Bruce Babbitt, former Secretary of the Interior, and David J. Hayes, former Deputy Secretary of the Interior, are joining the firm's Washington, D.C. office. Secretary Babbitt joins the firm as counsel. Deputy Secretary Hayes is returning to Latham & Watkins as a partner. Hayes was previously a partner with Latham & Watkins from 1990 until he entered the Clinton Administration in March 1997. Both Babbitt and Hayes will focus on environmental and natural resources matters, which extends Latham & Watkins' domestic and international expertise in these fields.

/CONTACT: Robert Dell, 415-395-8050, or Eric Bernthal, 202-637-2236, or Colleen Taricani, 202-637-1029, all of Latham & Watkins/

/Web site: http://www.lw.com/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/22Jan0107.html

TO BUSINESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:

Startech Environmental Opens New Plasma Converter Showroom

WILTON, Conn., Jan. 22 -/E-Wire/-- Startech Environmental Corp. (Nasdaq: STHK), the world leader in plasma waste remediation and recycling technology announced today that its new facility was opened on January 18, 2001 as announced. The Company has been showing visitors the new 10,000-pound per day Plasma Converter system in Startech's Technology Park showroom in Bristol, Connecticut.

/Web site: http://www.startech.net/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/22Jan0106.html

TO ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:

America Is Breathing Much Easier Than Two Decades Ago Dramatically Improving Air Quality Debunks Popular Myth of Dirtier Air

WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 22 -/E-Wire/-- Americans are breathing dramatically cleaner air than 20 years ago, a new analysis of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data confirms. The study, conducted by an independent environmental analysis firm for the Foundation for Clean Air Progress, debunks the long-held but false perception that U.S. air quality is worsening. The full report is available on-line at www.cleanairprogress.org.

/CONTACT: Bill Buff Office: 202.857.1239 Mobile: 202.271.6994/

/Web site: http://www.cleanairprogress.org/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/22Jan0105.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RE-RELEASE TO BUSINESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:

Major Breakthrough in Water Pollution Prevention

ONTARIO, Canada, January 22 -/E-Wire/-- Rhino Ecosystems Inc. today announced, in the wake of increasing community concern, a revolutionary new product with industrial, commercial and domestic applications, that will reduce by up to 80%*, the amount of wet waste solids, fats, oils and greases currently reaching open waterways.

/CONTACT: Maureen Callahan, (317) 554-6366 mcallahan@mzd.com/

/Web Site: http://www.rhinoeco.com/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/22Jan0104.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RE-RELEASE TO BUSINESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:

Rhino Ecosystems Inc. Signs Exclusive Dealership Agreement

ONTARIO, Canada, January 22 -/E-Wire/-- Rhino Ecosystems Inc. signed an Exclusive Dealership Agreement for the Greater Quebec City Area. Filterco Enterprises Inc. has signed an agreement to become the Rhino Exclusive Dealer for the Greater Quebec City Area, which is an area of approximately 500,000 people. The initial Rhino product order is for more than 100 units which are planned to be sold and installed to Quebec City Area restaurateurs.

/CONTACT: Maureen Callahan, (317) 554-6366 mcallahan@mzd.com/

/Web site: http://www.rhinoeco.com/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/22Jan0103.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RE-RELEASE TO BUSINESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:

Rhino Ecosystems Inc. Granted Patents

ONTARIO, Canada, January 22 -/E-Wire/-- Rhino Ecosystems Inc. (RHNC OTC BB), manufacturers of the revolutionary Rhino Wet Waste Interceptor product line, has received notification of patents being granted on its unique product design and filtration process from the United States of America (09/194,910) and from Singapore (#9806089-0). Numerous other patents have been applied for throughout the industrial world and are covered under PCT Application.

/CONTACT: Maureen Callahan, (317) 554-6366 mcallahan@mzd.com/

/Web site: http://www.rhinoeco.com/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/22Jan0102.html

TO BUSINESS, ENVIRONMENTAL AND TECHNOLOGY EDITORS:

Waste Management Inc. Signs Multi-Year Agreement With Environ.com For Enterprise and ASP Intranet Waste Manager Software Solutions

TEMPE, Ariz., Jan. 22 -/E-Wire/-- Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE: WMI), the industries leading provider of comprehensive waste management services announced today that it has signed a multi-year agreement with Environmental Support Solutions (Environ.com), the nation's leading environmental compliance solutions provider. Environ.com's Waste Manager Enterprise Software(TM) will be the exclusive waste management and compliance tracking software program for Waste Management Inc. and its clients. The software will be used to manage solid waste, hazardous waste, waste profiles, manifests, land disposal forms, biennial reporting, and more. Additional waste management solutions and other business development issues are also being discussed.

/CONTACT: media, Robin Suzelis of Environmental Support Solutions, Inc., 480-346-5524, robin_suzelis@environ.com/

/Web site: http://www.environ.com/

For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/22Jan0101.html

1/23/01
1:13:58 PM

I am pleased to let you know that Depleted Uranium Watch has been updated. You will find some new original articles, links and news. Since today you will be able to access DU Watch in an easy way, HTTP://WWW.DU-WATCH.ORG, although the pages links will still be the same format.

Warmest regards, Francisco Javier Bernal

1/23/01
12:54:28 PM

WILD ALERT

In her Senate confirmation hearing for Interior Secretary, Gale Norton backpeddled on a number of her more extreme anti-environmental positions. However she continued to press for opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. Take action today: go to http://www.wilderness.org/eyewash/norton.htm and ask your Senators to vote against her confirmation -- she's just too extreme.

CONFIRMATION CONVERSION OR SMOKE SCREEN? Gale Norton attempt to position herself as a moderate in her confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which wrapped up this past Friday.

She backpeddled on her more controversial positions, including her opposition to the Endangered Species Act and the Surface Mining Act, and her support for corporate "right to pollute." She sidestepped a host of other issues, for example, wilderness water rights, Wilderness Study Area (WSA) management, and livestock grazing.

SUPPORT FOR ARCTIC OIL DRILLING REMAINS Nevertheless, she embraced oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Moreover, she pledged to review numerous Clinton Administration administrative decisions, for example, national monument designations, mining regulations, and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) wilderness inventories in Alaska.

TAKE ACTION The Senate Energy Committee is expected to act on her nomination as early as Tuesday morning (Jan. 23), with a full Senate vote possibly the next day. It's important to continue voicing our strong concerns about the extreme anti-environmental agenda that she holds, despite her partial confirmation conversion.

Please contact your Senators, again if you have already, at http://www.wilderness.org/eyewash.norton.htm and ask them to vote AGAINST Gale Norton's nomination for Interior Secretary. She's just too extreme for such a sensitive land stewardship post.

Or call your Senators at (202) 224-3121. (Look up your Senators at http://www.senate.gov)

MORE INFORMATION

What Gale Norton *didn't* say in her confirmation hearing: http://www.wilderness.org/newsroom/norton_011901.htm

Summary and details from her hearing: http://www.wilderness.org/eyewash/norton_hearing.htm

For a full list of Action Items, visit http://www.wilderness.org/whatcan/takeaction.htm

An archive of past WildAlerts can be found at http://www.wilderness.org/wildalert/wildalerts.htm

WildAlert is an email action alert system brought to you by The Wilderness Society to keep you apprised of threats to our wildlands -- in the field and in Washington. WildAlert messages include updates along with clear, concise actions you can take to protect America's last wild places. You are welcome to forward WildAlerts to all those interested in saving America's wildlands.

FEEDBACK: Please send your comments to <action@tws.org>. If you simply hit "reply" to this message, please include your email address in the body of the message.

TO SUBSCRIBE: If you have been forwarded this message and would like to subscribe to the list, send the following message to <lyris@lists.wilderness.org>: "subscribe wilderness-alert" (inserted in the body of the message, without quotes).

Founded in 1935, The Wilderness Society works to protect America's wilderness and to develop a nation-wide network of wild lands through public education, scientific analysis and advocacy. Our goal is to ensure that future generations will enjoy the clean air and water, wildlife, beauty and opportunities for recreation and renewal that pristine forests, rivers, deserts and mountains provide. To take action on behalf of wildlands today, visit our website at http://www.wilderness.org

1/23/01
12:40:41 PM

BioDemocracy News #31 (Jan. 2001) America's Food Safety Crisis News & Analysis on Genetic Engineering, Factory Farming, & Organics

by: Ronnie Cummins

BioDemocracy News is a publication of the Organic Consumers Association <www.purefood.org> <www.organicconsumers.org>

Frankenfoods, Antibiotics, & Mad Cow: America's Food Safety Crisis Intensifies

Quotes of the Month:

"She is an independent thinker of sound judgment and vast experience. She knows the science, the politics, and she knows how to make a sound decision on complicated and difficult issues. We are delighted with her selection, it is hard to imagine a better choice."

Biotechnology Industry Organization <www.bio.org> commenting on the nomination of former agbiotech executive Ann Veneman as George Bush's Secretary of Agriculture

"The StarLink controversy in the United States could cost the food industry billions of dollars and has thrown the future of genetically modified foods into doubt... Already, 70 per cent of Americans told a Reuters poll last year that (genetically modified) GM foods should be treated with caution." Stuart Laidlaw, "StarLink Fallout Could Cost Billions," The Toronto Star, Jan. 9, 2001

"agribusiness... fight any effort to tell consumers more about how their food is made... stories about our food system that do get out don't do much for the appetite. There's the one about how genetically engineered StarLink corn deemed unfit for human consumption somehow found its way into tacos and breakfast cereal. Then there's the mad-cow story, which brought us the disquieting news that beef cattle in this country routinely dine not only on hormones and antibiotics but also on bits of other beef cattle (not to mention pellets made from their own manure)." Michael Pollan, "Produce Politics," The New York Times Magazine, Jan. 14, 2001

"Bad Hair" Year for Biotech & Factory Farming

Corporate agribusiness and the biotech industry had a "bad hair" year in 2000. After promising Wall Street that genetic engineering and American-style factory farming were about to conquer the world and that free trade, monopoly patents on living organisms, and the enforcement powers of the World Trade Organization were going to whip consumers and the world's 2.4 billion farmers and rural villagers into line, Year One of the Biotech Century turned out to be something of a disaster. Behind the bravado of public relations and the reassurances of government bureaucrats, the food industry and the Gene Giants are in serious disarray. For the first time in five years the amount of global acreage devoted to biotech crops has leveled off and appears headed in 2001 for significant decreases. Longstanding industrial agriculture practices such as feeding antibiotics and rendered animal protein to animals are being banned in Europe and are generating controversy even in the US. The second wave of the Mad Cow crisis is sweeping across Europe, prompting a massive decline in beef sales--with recent revelations suggesting that North America may be heading for a similar crisis of its own. As Andrew Kimbrell of the Center for Food Safety states, a "funny thing has happened" on the way to the hi-tech future of industrial agriculture:

"Despite untold billions spent in research and advertising, the public en masse has begun to reject this vision of industrial food and all that accompanies it. We have begun to understand that these chemical and biological techno-fixes come with hidden and terrible costs to human health and to the environment. We have seen cancer epidemics, widespread pollution of water and air, exponential loss of topsoil and biodiversity, terrible cruelty to animals and, most directly, tasteless and unhealthy food. Tens of millions of Americans have decided to vote, day after day, with their food dollars. More of us are eating organic than ever before, and organic food production is the fastest-growing segment in US agriculture today." (The Kimbrell quote is from our new book, Genetically Engineered Food: A Self-Defense Guide for Consumers by Ronnie Cummins & Ben Lilliston).

Biotech Bytes: FDA Says No Labeling, No Safety-Testing Required

On Jan. 17, the Food and Drug Administration issued its long-awaited proposed federal regulations on genetically engineered foods and crops. As anticipated the FDA refused to call for mandatory labeling or mandatory safety-testing--despite numerous polls showing 80-95% of Americans want labeling and safety-testing, or, better yet, no genetically engineered foods at all. There will now be a 75-day period for the public to comment on the FDA rules, and to demand a moratorium. Stay tuned to <www.organicconsumers.org> or <www.gefoodalert.org> for guidelines on how to send a letter or fax to the feds on this issue. In a Washington, DC press conference on Jan. 17 the Organic Consumers Association's national coalition, the Genetically Engineered Food Alert, strongly condemned the FDA for utterly failing to regulate agricultural biotechnology. Unless rigorous, independent, premarket safety testing can demonstrate that GE foods and crops are safe, these products must not be allowed on the market.

The FDA's proposed regulations simply throw more fuel on the fire of the Frankenfoods debate. But of course the additional controversy that this now official FDA "no labeling, no safety-testing" policy will generate is just part of the growing global food fight. Over the past few months, things have gone from bad to worse for the agbiotech lobby. Among recent developments are the following:

* An internal industry study, conducted for Kellogg, ConAgra, Unilever, and Aventis, publicized in the Toronto Star Jan. 9, flatly predicted up to "billions" of dollars in food industry losses in the aftermath of the recent StarLink corn scandal (see BioDemocracy News #30). Dr. Ann Clark, a plant researcher at the University of Guelph (Canada), said StarLink, an illegal and likely allergenic variety of GE corn found in taco shells and over 300 brand-name products this fall, could prove to be "the beginning of the end" for genetically engineered crops if food companies decide the costs outweigh the benefits. "The food companies are not going to bite the bullet on this one for the industry," Clark said.

* In related news, two potentially massive class-action lawsuits were filed in December in Illinois and Iowa by farmers against Aventis, the manufacturer of StarLink seeds. According to the plaintiffs in Iowa, they suffered severe financial losses after "Japan cut its US corn purchases by more than 50% and South Korea, the second largest U.S. corn export market, banned the importation of U.S. corn altogether.'' In late-December, Reuters reported that Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon demanded that Aventis post a $25 million bond "to ensure the company had sufficient funds to compensate farmers and grain handlers hit financially by StarLink." Of the 340,908 acres planted with StarLink corn in the US last year, 134,910 acres were in Iowa and 18,702 acres in Missouri. StarLink was also planted on a significant scale in Nebraska, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Kansas. Last October a group of consumers filed a lawsuit in Chicago, alleging they were poisoned by StarLink-tainted Kraft Taco Bell shells, while recently 44 people filed complaints with the FDA claiming StarLink products caused them to suffer rashes, diarrhea, vomiting, itching and life-threatening anaphylactic shock.

* In the wake of the StarLink disaster, Monsanto announced Nov. 27 it would restrict plantings next year of a new herbicide resistant variety of corn and delay commercialization of another Bt-spliced corn variety until 2002. On Dec. 17, ConAgra, America's second largest food processor, announced a recall of 1.5 million pounds of baking ingredients used by restaurants and institutional food buyers. The same week in a letter mailed to farmers, giant corn processor A.E. Staley stated, "The only truly safe seed selection [next year] will be seed corn free of any genetic modification."

* The Wall Street Journal reported on Nov. 20 that Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. "is beginning to air ads on 24 Iowa and Illinois radio stations warning farmers that ADM mills will buy only crops 'that have full feed and food approval world-wide.' " "We don't want another StarLink," said Larry Cunningham, an ADM spokesman. In a further blow to the industry, Aventis announced in late-November that it found some of the same Cry9C protein--the key component of StarLink corn--in another variety of 1998 corn seed produced by Garst Seed Co. of Iowa. USDA officials admitted that they "didn't understand" how this 1998 contamination could have occurred.

* US activists delivered a blunt warning to the Environmental Protection Agency on Nov. 16 in San Francisco. Campaigners from Greenpeace, joined by the Organic Consumers Association, Center for Food Safety, Ruckus Society, the Ecology Center, and Pesticide Action Network, wearing biohazard suits, dumped two tons of StarLink contaminated corn in front of the EPA headquarters, demanding that the agency deny approval of the gene-altered corn for human consumption and take action regarding the environmental damage already being inflicted by genetically engineered crops. "EPA's own scientific advisors say they don't know if this corn is safe for people," said Simon Harris of the Organic Consumers Association. "The health of Americans should not be put at risk simply for the convenience of the biotech industry." On November 28, the EPA heard from a Scientific Advisory Panel that StarLink may be already setting off food allergies. For the full testimony of Dr. Michael Hansen from the Consumers Union on StarLink and Bt corn allergenicity see <www.purefood.org/ge/hansenstarlink.cfm>

* On Nov. 14, responding to pressure from Greenpeace and others, McDonald's announced that by April 2001 all its restaurants in Germany, Denmark and Sweden will serve only chicken raised on GE-free feed. Five days later McDonald's UK made a similar announcement. According to the European press, other large food chains are likely to follow suit. The move by McDonald's is especially significant since almost all US genetically engineered soybeans exported to Europe are now funneled into animal feeds. McDonald's is the largest buyer of agricultural commodities in Europe.

* The safety of genetically engineered foods once again came into question Dec. 15 when the prestigious journal, Science, published an article by two fellows from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The article, by Dr. LaReesa Wolfenbarger and Dr. Paul Phifer, emphasized that there has been almost no peer-reviewed scientific research published which shows that GE crops are safe for the environment. In their study, Wolfenbarger and Phifer state that researching environmental risks is likely to be complicated, with risks varying over time among crops, among strains of a single crop, and between environments. Some risks, they say, may be all but impossible to assess. In a related story, Dr. Arpad Pusztai, the UK's most well-know critic of biotech, after surveying the world scientific literature on animal feeding studies, found a grand total of only four peer-reviewed articles on genetically engineered foods, despite Monsanto and industry claims that scores of scientific papers have proven their safety. Pusztai's own safety studies in the late 1990s, conducted at the Rowett Institute in Scotland, caused a major stir in Europe, when lab rats fed genetically engineered potatoes spliced with lectin suffered serious damage to their vital organs.

1/23/01
12:39:44 PM

* In other science news, an Expert Panel of the International Cotton Advisory Committee reported in November that in the Yauggu and Xiuxiang provinces of China, cotton boll worms, a major pest, are developing resistance to genetically engineered cotton plants spliced with Bt. Critics of Bt crops have warned for years that "superpests" will inevitably develop, threatening the livelihood of organic or low-chemical input farmers who use non-genetically engineered Bt sprays as an emergency pest control tool on cotton, corn, and other crops. Meanwhile Bt-resistant pests have been reported in Australia and perhaps at a "threateningly high level" according to scientific experts. For more information see <www.btinternet.com/~nlpwessex>

* Barbara Keeler and Marc Lappe reported in a potentially explosive story in the Los Angeles Times on Jan. 7 that the FDA apparently ignored troubling data which Monsanto published in the Journal of Nutrition in March 1996--data which strongly suggests that Roundup Ready soybeans, the world's most widely cultivated genetically engineered crop, may set off food allergies in humans. According to the authors, data in Monsanto's study "shows that, relative to conventional soy meal, raw Roundup Ready soy meal contained 27% more trypsin inhibitor, a potential allergen that interferes with protein digestion and has been associated with enlarged cells in rat pancreases." According to Keeler and Lappe "This important measurement was camouflaged in a table on unrelated information." After toasting the GE soy meal several times, the levels of another allergen, called lectin, were nearly double those in conventional soybeans. Scientists have warned for years that conventional soybeans contain low levels of 14 proteins that can potentially set off food allergies in humans and that genetically engineering soybeans could possibly cause the level of one or more of these 14 proteins to significantly increase. However, hiding behind the doctrine of "substantial equivalence," the FDA did not require Monsanto to submit comprehensive data on herbicide resistant Roundup Ready soybeans before they were brought on the market. In effect this means that RR soybeans may already be setting off food allergies among large numbers of people, given that 54% of America's soybean crop is genetically engineered, while 60% of all processed foods contain soy or soy derivatives. In 1999 the York Nutritional Lab in the UK, commenting on a mysterious 50% rise in soy allergies among British consumers, attributed the increase in food allergies to the fact that consumers the previous year had begun ingesting large amount of imported GE soybeans. For the LA Times article see <www.purefood.org/gefood/fdaignoredata.cfm>

* On Nov. 11, speaking to a massive crowd at the Vatican, Pope John Paul II urged extreme caution concerning genetically engineered food, stating that the use of biotechnology in agriculture, "cannot be evaluated only on the basis of immediate economic interests. It is necessary to subject it in advance to rigorous scientific and ethical checking to prevent it ending up in disaster for... the future of the earth." On Nov. 14, the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism passed a resolution on labeling of genetically engineered food. The Commission called on the government to "monitor the health, ecological and religious liberty implications of genetic engineering." Among Protestant denominations the United Methodist Church recently called for mandatory labeling of all GE foods, with pre-market safety testing required. According to Jaydee Hansen of the UMC, "We call for policies that encourage the gradual transition to sustainable and organic agriculture."

Antibiotic Bytes: Factory Farm Practices Threaten Public Health

Factory Farm proponents suffered a major blow on Jan. 8 as the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) released an important study in Washington, DC by Charles Benbrook and Margaret Mellon showing that 70% of all antibiotic drugs in the US are being fed to farm animals as growth promoters or production aids. The study, which generated significant headlines and TV coverage across the nation, points out that 25 million pounds of valuable antibiotics--roughly 70 percent of total US antibiotic production--are fed to chickens, pigs, and cows every year for nontherapeutic purposes like growth promotion. The drug- dependent US meat industry has tried to downplay its massive use of antibiotics--a practice which is now starting to be banned in Europe--claiming that it was using "only" 18 million pounds a year of antibiotics in animal feed each year. Recent research has shown that the overuse of medical prescriptions and the routine agribusiness practice of adding antibiotics to animal feed are giving rise to virulent antibiotic-resistant strains of disease in millions of Americans every year, such as salmonella, campylobacter, pneumonia, meningitis, and ear and blood infections. According to statistics released by the Centers for Disease Control several years ago approximately 6% of all hospital infections are now showing signs of antibiotic resistance. The figure today is probably closer to 10%.

"The meat industry's share of the antibiotic-resistance problem has been ignored for too long," said Dr. Margaret Mellon, of UCS . "Antibiotics are a precious resource and should be used in animals only when necessary."

"The excessive use of antibiotics by the livestock industry is sobering," said Dr. Charles Benbrook, an independent economist and co-author of the report. "Feeding antibiotics to animals from birth to slaughter may modestly improve meat industry profits, but it puts everyone's health at risk. It is time to rethink how pigs, cattle and poultry are raised in the United States."

The Factory Farm lobby counterattacked with a series of op-ed pieces and editorials of its own, claiming that the UCS were exaggerating the problem and that European-type measures to ban the feeding of antibiotics to animals would cause unnecessary economic hardships to modern agribusiness. Meanwhile sales of organic meat, eggs, and dairy products, which ban the use of antibiotics, are booming, not only across the US, but in the entire industrialized world. A full copy of the UCS report can be found at <www.ucsusa.org>

Mad Cow: Will the Nightmare Spread to the US?

Mad Cow panic has once again swept across the European continent, provoking drastic declines in beef sales, economic insecurity among farmers, trepidation in the meat, drug, cosmetic, and plasma industry, and near-hysteria among consumers. Recent revelations of cattle testing positive for Mad Cow disease (also known as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy or BSE) in Germany, France, Spain, Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, Ireland, Portugal, and Italy, and the expose in the press that thousands of tons of BSE-infected cattle feed were exported from Britain to other nations over the past decade, have set off the largest food scare in history.

In Germany where 13 cases of Mad Cow have been confirmed since January in the nation's 15 million cattle, government officials have announced plans to slaughter 400,000 at-risk cattle, while 300,000 bovines are slated to be killed in Ireland. In France consumers have reacted angrily to reports that the meat from infected cattle has been sold in supermarkets and restaurants, and that tons of suspect animal feed have been imported from the UK. Effective Jan. 1, Japan announced a ban on all beef imports from the EU, with other major meat importers expected to follow suit. Last year Japan imported 642 tons of beef from European Union nations. A cow from the company that supplies McDonald's in Italy tested positive for BSE on Jan.16, prompting massive declines in hamburger sales.

Although only 92 Europeans have thus far officially died since 1996 from new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), the human equivalent of Mad Cow, British scientists admitted last year that, due to the long latency period of the disease (up to 30-40 years in humans), and due to the fact that the majority of meat eaters have probably been exposed to Mad Cow, several hundred thousand Britons (and an indeterminate number of Europeans from other countries) and perhaps many more may die from the incurable brain-wasting disease over the next few decades. Trying to keep the situation under control, German officials have proposed mandatory testing for all cattle over 24 months old for BSE, while EU authorities have placed a complete ban on the feeding of animal parts (in industry terminology, rendered animal protein) back to animals, a controversial practice still routine in American agriculture. EU officials are pleading for calm, telling consumers that the discovery of new cases of BSE outside Britain are simply the result of the fact that authorities are testing more cattle than ever before.

Commentators have noted for years that the Mad Cow crisis in Europe has been a significant contributing factor fueling opposition to genetically engineered foods. Seeing how industry and government scientists have systematically lied to them about the dangers of feeding animals to animals has made many consumers lose faith in industrial agriculture altogether. Noting that the same government officials who have repeatedly tried to reassure them that the BSE crisis in under control are now saying that genetically engineered foods are safe has brought on a profound skepticism and anger at the grassroots level. Now a similar crisis of confidence may start to develop in the United States as well.

Bogus FDA Feed Ban

But the story gets scarier. In the Times on the front page of the Sunday Jan. 14 edition, (tucked under a misleading headline "Stringent Steps Taken by US on Cow Illness") Blakeslee drops the bombshell. Not only has the US Mad Cow feed ban been a joke, but apparently US feed companies, pet food companies, pharmaceutical firms, and nutritional supplement manufacturers have been carrying on with business as usual by importing large quantities of possibly contaminated bovine parts and rendered animal protein--no doubt at bargain basement prices--in 1989 and 1997. It appears that the same thing that has European consumers' blood boiling, that their government and industry stupidly or greedily imported tons of likely contaminated rendered animal protein from Britain since 1989 has also been happening in the United States, and likely other nations as well. After British authorities made it illegal to feed rendered animal protein to ruminant animals in their own country, the UK feed industry simply sold it overseas.

As Blakeslee states, quoting from export records, "British export statistics show that 20 tons of 'meals of meat or offal' that were 'unfit for human consumption' and probably intended for animals were sent to the United States in 1989. And 37 tons were exported to the US in 1997, well after the government banned imports of such risky meat." Blakeslee goes on to point out what BioDemocracy News and other critics of industrial agriculture have been saying for years, that even if the US hadn't been importing 57 thousand tons or more of suspect British offal in the 1990s, there is mounting evidence that US rendered animal protein and bovine, sheep, deer, and elk parts are themselves likely carriers of BSE and other Mad Cow-like diseases. As Blakeslee relates, scientists have generally agreed that BSE or BSE-like diseases "spontaneously" appear in "one out of every million humans, cows, sheep and many other mammals. "Since 36 million cattle are slaughtered annually in the United States, about 36 cows spontaneously infected with mad cow disease could be entering the nation's food chain each year." Thirty-six domestic US Mad Cows a year being ground up and fed back to other animals may not sound that alarming until you consider the fact that an average cow, pig, chicken, game farm deer, elk, fish farm fish, or household cat and dog--because of the commingling of many different animals' body parts at the rendering plant and the feed mill--will be consuming the body parts of literally thousands of different animals in their feed over their lifetime.

Mad Sheep, Deer, & Elk

And in fact the story gets worse. Scrapie or Mad Sheep Disease has been endemic in US sheep herds since 1947, and the government has done little or nothing to eradicate it. Significant numbers of scrapie-infected sheep have undoubtedly been ground up every year and fed back to other animals. In addition the US currently has a raging epidemic of Mad Deer Disease and Mad Elk Disease (technically called Chronic Wasting Disease) in parts of Colorado and Wyoming. There are already several documented cases of young deer hunters in their 20s and 30s dying from CJD, the human equivalent of Mad Cow. Mad Elk Disease has recently spread into Saskatchewan, unnerving elk ranchers and the nutritional supplements industry, who sell three billion dollars worth of supplements each year (mainly to Asia) made from elk antlers. Consider the fact that at the height of the first Mad Cow crisis in Britain 1-2% of all cows were being diagnosed with BSE, while the Times reports that up to 18% of mule-tail deer in the Fort Collins area of Colorado are now carriers of Chronic Wasting Disease. Hunters that kill deer in Colorado are required to turn in the heads of these animals so that they can be tested for CWD or Mad Deer Disease. Officials tell hunters not to eat the meat of infected animals, (lab tests can take as long as six weeks) but have stubbornly refused to ban hunting or eating venison, despite calls from consumer groups such as the Center for Food Safety and the Organic Consumers Association to do so. Meanwhile several million people are eating venison and venison sausage every year in the US, while several million more in the US and overseas are taking "glandular supplements" or body-building hormones which contain concentrated brain and pituitary material from US, British, and European cows. For the full Jan. 14 Blakeslee article see <www.purefood.org/meat/madcowexplosive.cfm>

Another FDA Ban?

For more information on Mad Cow and Mad Cow-like diseases see our website <www.organicconsumers.org> as well as the following sites <www.prwatch.org> and <www.mad-cow.org>

America and the world's 50-year experiment with chemical-intensive industrial agriculture and genetic engineering may soon be moving into its final, terminal stage. Mad Cow Disease and the growing global opposition to factory farming and genetic engineering may turn out to the harbingers of a new era of sustainable living and organic agriculture. One can only hope that we make the necessary transition to organic farming and ban the most dangerous practices of genetic engineering and industrial food production before it is too late. In the meantime, stay tuned to BioDemocracy News and the Organic Consumers Association website <www.organicconsumers.org> for the latest news and analysis.

By the way you can still get to the OCA website by going to <www.purefood.org> We're now using <www.organicconsumers.org> as our primary internet address simply because our adversaries have set up a counterfeit internet site, filled with lies and industry propaganda, at <www.purefoods.org> Take a look at this site if you want to see what we're up against. Keep in mind, however, that the "Bad Guys" wouldn't be doing this except for the fact that we're winning the battle.

End of BioDemocracy News #31

Organic Consumers Association

6101 Cliff Estate Road

Little Marais, MN 55614

1/23/01
12:09:24 PM

STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA

SEVENTY-SIXTH SESSION

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY, 2001

Friday, January 19, 2001

167E0424

SENATE BILL NO. 86

Introduced by: Senators Volesky and Koetzle and Representatives Nachtigal, Begalka, and Bradford

FOR AN ACT ENTITLED, An Act to authorize the production of industrial hemp.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA:

Section 1. Any person who has registered with the Department of Agriculture to do so may plant, harvest, possess, process, sell, or buy industrial hemp, cannabis sativa L., with a tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content of 0.3 percent or less. Any person who harvests, possesses, or sells industrial hemp with a THC content of more than 0.3 percent is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor. However, no violation of this section that involves a THC content of less than three percent may be prosecuted.

Section 2. The secretary of the Department of Agriculture shall design and implement a registry within the department by January 1, 2002.

Bill on-line: <http://legis.state.sd.us/sessions/2001/bills/SB86p.htm