1/15/01
3:05:07 PM
I have written a rock opera called, "The Nihilistic Camel." It is intended to turn the hearts of the children of men towards the meaning of the earth. Some of the music has been recorded at Sea West Studios by Rick Keefer. I could sure use a hand, comments, suggestions, a finger in the right direction (no pun inplied).
MirroredEclipse@yahoo.com
1/13/01
12:56:37 PM
SAVED! 58.5 Million Acres of America's Forests
You can take action on this alert either by email or preferably on the web at: http://actionnetwork.org/take-action.tcl?key=1137877A14613B0112091008C223
Alert expires on January 21, 2001
Here's what this alert is about:
SAVED! 58.5 Million Acres of America's Forests
Congratulations!
It is rare that conservationists have something to cheer about, but one of those rare moments is upon us.
On January 5, 2001, President Clinton signed the final Roadless Area Protection Policy. The policy protects what President Clinton called the "final frontiers of America's forests," 58.5 million wild roadless acres in our National Forests from Florida to Alaska.
Your voice has played an important part in the making of this moment in conservation history.
Thanks to your input throughout the process, the policy has gotten stronger and stronger, and now protects these areas not only from road building, but all logging except for extremely rare circumstances, and includes protections for the Tongass Rainforest in Alaska as well.
The strength of the final policy demonstrates beyond a shadow of a doubt that YOUR PARTICIPATION MATTERED!
The Roadless Policy is not just the keystone of President Clinton's land legacy, it is also your legacy. Because of your involvement, these last wild forests will be protected for generations to come.
Thanks are due to you, and thanks are due to President Clinton for signing this policy.
Just as it is not often that we get to celebrate, it is not often that we have something to be so thankful for.
Please take a moment and thank President Clinton for protecting these lands and their wildlife for generations to come. A copy of your message will also be sent to your U.S. representative and senators.
You are receiving this alert because you sent an email to the Clinton Administration from www.ourforests.org or by responding to our message through the Juno Online Services. For more information, please visit our website, http://www.ourforests.org.
INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPOND VIA THE WEB: If you have access to a web browser, you can take action on this alert by going to the following URL:
http://actionnetwork.org/take-action.tcl?key=1137877A14613B0112091008C223
INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPOND VIA EMAIL: Just choose the "reply to sender" option on your email program, and edit the letter below as you wish. You must include the whole letter in your response including "-YOU MAY EDIT THE LETTER BELOW-" and "-END OF LETTER-". Please do not add your name and address to your letter. Action Network automatically does this for you.
We STRONGLY encourage you to make edits directly to our sample letter below, and put the alert talking points into your own words. An individualized letter is worth ten computer generated letters. Of course, hundreds of unedited letters will still create a large impact, so please reply even if you don't have time to personalize the letter.
Your letter will be addressed and sent to: Senator Bob Graham President Bill Clinton
I am writing to thank you for your bold and historic actions in protecting America's last wild forests. Your Roadless Area Protection Policy places you amongst America's great conservation heroes.
Thank you for listening to the public's voice calling for the protection of their priceless Heritage Forests. Countless generations will thank you for your actions.
1/13/01
12:53:29 PM
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE (ENS) http://ens-news.com
"We Cover the Earth For You"
GREEN GROUPS TARGET BUSH PICK FOR INTERIOR
By Brian Hansen
WASHINGTON, DC, January 12, 2001 (ENS) - A coalition of environmental, public health, labor and civil rights groups today launched an all-out campaign to derail the U.S. Senate's confirmation of attorney Gale Norton, President-elect George W. Bush's nominee for Secretary of the Interior.
For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-12-01.html
CLINTON ORDERS FEDERAL AGENCIES TO PROTECT MIGRATORY BIRDS
WASHINGTON, DC, January 12, 2001 (ENS) - President Bill Clinton issued a landmark Executive Order on Thursday that requires all federal agencies to avoid or minimize the impacts of their actions on migratory birds, and to take active steps to protect birds and their habitat.
For full text and graphics visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-12-06.html
AUTO FIRMS' CO2 PACT WITH EU LACKS TEETH
BRUSSELS, Belgium, January 12, 2001 (ENS) - The voluntary agreement between the European Commission and vehicle manufacturers to reduce cars' carbon dioxide emissions is weak, unambitious and unenforceable, said a scathing study released today by Europe's largest environment coalition.
For full text and graphics, visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-12-11.html
GREEK OLYMPIC ROWING PLANS IN TROUBLED WATERS
BRUSSELS, Belgium, January 12, 2001 (ENS) - Greece will violate European Union law if it builds a rowing and canoeing center for the 2004 Olympics at a coastal wetland, warned a conservation group Thursday.
For full text and graphics, visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-12-10.html
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: JANUARY 12, 2001
Report Finds Rise in U.S. Global Warming Emissions
Ancient Extinctions May Mirror Global Warming Impacts
New York Proposes Record Environmental Budget
Pennsylvania Aims to Prevent Great Lakes Pollution
Shipping Company Pleads Guilty in Environmental Case
Research Isotopes to be Produced in Tennessee
Computer Recycling Aided by Computer Model
Green Internet Service Provider Opens for Business
For full text and graphics visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-12-09.html
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WestStart-CALSTART Seeks Blue Sky Award Nominations for 2000
Deadline for Nominations is Feb. 16, 2001
PASADENA, CA, Jan. 12, -/E-Wire/--WestStart-CALSTART is seeking nominations of individuals, companies or organizations for its Blue Sky Award(TM) and Charles R. Imbrecht Blue Sky Innovation Award for 2000.
/CONTACT: WestStart-CALSTART, Pasadena, Susan Romeo, 626/744-5600/
/Web site: www.calstart.org/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/12Jan0105.html
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TO ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:
Environmentalists, Labor and Civil Rights Groups Announce Opposition to Gale Norton
Nominee's extremist views conflict with American public opinion
WASHINGTON, DC, Jan. 12, -/E-Wire/-- More than 20 non-governmental organizations - environmental, civil rights, labor, conservative and liberal - announced their campaign to defeat Gale Norton's nomination as Secretary of Interior at a news conference this morning.
/CONTACT: Jon Corsiglia, EMS, 202/463-6670; Lisa Magnino, Fenton Communications, 202/822-5200/
/Web site: http://www.ems.org/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/12Jan0104.html
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BAD INDOOR AIR, TOXIC MOLD TO BE BIG STORIES IN 2001
CHICAGO, IL, January12, -/E-Wire/-- What do stachybotrys, asthma, carbon monoxide, law suits, moisture, candles, legionella, leaking windows, potting soil, house dust, carpets, airplanes, latex gloves and office equipment have in common? They are all elements of major news stories appearing this past year on indoor air quality (IAQ), and 2001 looks to be a year when the quality of indoor air will continue to be a hot topic to follow.
/CONTACT: For more Chelsea Group information contact BJ Spanos, 770-631-1395 or 1-800-626-6722, Fax: 770-631-2768 e-mail: bjspanos@chelsea-grp.com
Chelsea Group image: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/12Jan0102.html
/Web site at www.chelsea-grp.com
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/12Jan0102.html
TO NATIONAL, STATE AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:
Fund for Animals Reports That $25,000 Reward Is Now Offered For Information Leading to Arrest and Conviction of Wild Horse Slayers
JACKSON, Wyo., Jan. 12 -/E-Wire/-- As nineteen more wild horses were found dead this week, The Fund for Animals announced that a $25,000 reward is now being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the shooting deaths of 34 wild horses on public lands in southwest Wyoming. BLM law enforcement officials are investigating the cruel shooting deaths of 30 wild horses near Rock Springs and four near Rawlins.
/CONTACT: Andrea Lococo of The Fund for Animals, 307-859-8840/
/Web site: http://www.fund.org/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/12Jan0103.html
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONVERTING WASTE INTO RESOURCES
IBR Announces Groundbreaking for New Plant
Environmental Solution to Organic Waste Disposal Implemented on Vancouver Island
VANCOUVER, BC., Jan. 12 -/E-Wire/-- International Bio-Recovery Corporation (IBR) is pleased to announce plans for the groundbreaking of a new organic waste processing plant in Ladysmith. The official groundbreaking ceremony will take place January 19, 2001, at 11:00 a.m. on site in Ladysmith, BC.
/CONTACT: Ross MacLachlan, ross@ibrcorp.com Daniela Louie, dlouie@ibrcorp.com Director of Corporate Communications Corporate Communications & Investor Relations International Bio Recovery International Bio Recovery Corporation Tel: 604.924.1023 52 Riverside Drive Tel: (604) 924-1023 North Vancouver BC Fax: (604) 924-1043 Canada V7H 1T4
/Web site: http://www.ibrcorp.com
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/12Jan0101.html
1/13/01
12:51:20 PM
FAIR-L Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting Media analysis, critiques and news reports
FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting) presents:
"HAIL TO THE CHIEF: The Media Crown Their King,"
with
Peter Hart and Steve Rendall, FAIR media analysts and co-hosts of CounterSpin
Thursday, January 18, 6:30 PM, Housing Works Used Book Cafe. 126 Crosby St (between Prince and Houston), New York.
*Free and Open to the Public*
According to many polls, more than 30 percent of the public does not believe that George W. Bush legitimately won the presidency. Nevertheless, big media are rolling out the red carpet to "heal" the nation and welcome Bush to the White House. Join FAIR for some frank discussion of the press's love affair with the presidency, and hear about some of the plans afoot for alternative Inaugural ceremonies in Washington.
For more on FAIR's election coverage, see: http://www.fair.org/issues-news/election.html http://www.fair.org/issues-news/wbush.html
**CORRECTION: In FAIR's 1/12/01 Media Advisory, the brackets appearing in a quote from John Ashcroft were misplaced. Here is how the quote should have read:
"Your magazine also helps set the record straight. You've got a heritage of doing that, of defending Southern patriots like [Gen. Robert E.] Lee, [Gen. Stonewall] Jackson and [Confederate President Jefferson] Davis. Traditionalists must do more. I've got to do more. We've all got to stand up and speak in this respect, or else we'll be taught that these people were giving their lives, subscribing their sacred fortunes and their honor to some perverted agenda."
--John Ashcroft, Southern Partisan magazine interview (Second Quarter/1998)
----------
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.
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.
FAIR's INTERNSHIP PROGRAM: FAIR accepts internship applications for its New York office on a rolling basis. For more information, please e-mail Peter Hart (phart@fair.org)
You can subscribe to FAIR-L at our web site: http://www.fair.org , or by sending a "subscribe FAIR-L enter your full name" command to LISTSERV@AMERICAN.EDU . Our subscriber list is kept confidential.
1/13/01
12:50:03 PM
Oregon Introduces Hemp Legislation
On Monday, January 8, 2001 the opening day of the 2001 Oregon Legislature, Senate Bill 89 (SB89) was introduced. This bill would permit production and possession of industrial hemp at the state level.
Complete text of Senate Bill 89 <http://www.leg.state.or.us/01reg/measures/sb0001.dir/sb0089.intro.html>
71st OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2001 Regular Session
Senate Bill 89
SUMMARY
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the measure.
Permits production and possession of industrial hemp and trade in industrial hemp commodities and products. Authorizes State Department of Agriculture to administer licensing and inspection program for growers and handlers of industrial hemp. Authorizes civil penalty not exceeding $2,500.
Measure history:
Printed pursuant to Senate Interim Rule 213.28. (at the request of Joint Interim Judiciary Committee) -- Relating to industrial hemp; appropriating money. 1-8-2001 (S)
Introduction and first reading. Referred to President's desk. 1-9-2001
Referred to Natural Resources, Agriculture, Salmon, and Water, then Ways and Means.
1/13/01
12:48:49 PM
EcoNet Headlines
Argentine Court Bans Japanese Nuclear Waste Shipment
A Federal Court of Appeal in Buenos Aires ruled yesterday afternoon that the government must take steps to prohibit a British-flagged nuclear freighter from transiting Argentina's 200 mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) waters. The court ruling sets the stage for a direct confrontation between Argentine authorities and the Japanese, French and British governments who are involved in the controversial nuclear waste transport. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/979257249/index_html
WWF Condemns Norwegian Wolf Slaughter Plan
WWF today urged the Norwegian government to drop its imminent plan to cull between 25 and 40 per cent of the total wolf population in South Scandinavia. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/979257383/index_html
Endangered Turtles Slaughtered Again in India
BHUBANESHWAR, India (AP) - Thousands of endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles are scooting onto the beaches of India's eastern Orissa coast for their mass winter nesting. Yet once again, they are being slaughtered. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/979257485/index_html
India Farmers Again Burn Genetically Engineered Cotton Fields
As planned, the farmers here on Wednesday, destroyed the trial Bt Cotton crop grown in Savalanga, 20 km from here, in the presence of a police posse, as part of their struggle against the use of the genetically modified seeds. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/979257884/index_html
Australian Researchers Create Killer Supervirus
A virus that kills every one of its victims, by wiping out part of their immune system, has been accidentally created by an Australian research team. The virus, a modified mousepox, does not affect humans, but it is closely related to smallpox, raising fears that the technology could be used in biowarfare. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/979258148/index_html
Study Shows Bt-Spliced Food Damages the Intestines of Lab Rats
The article below provides disturbing evidence that regulators in US and Canada select evidence supporting safety of GM crops and ignore good evidence of injury. Bt Cry 1 is used in millions of acres of food crops approved for human consumption. The evidence below that the Bt Cry 1 damages the ileum is very clear and should not have been ignored. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/979258512/index_html
Livestock Antibiotics Fuel Bacterial Resistance
Farm animals get eight times as many antibiotics as people do in the United States, and this may be fueling the rise of drug-resistant bacteria, an environmental group said on Monday. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/979258710/index_html
ORV Users Win Legal Fight in Utah
On December 22 a federal judge gave pro-access recreation advocates a stunning victory when he ruled against a national preservationist group's legal effort to ban off-highway vehicle (OHV) use on millions of acres in Utah. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/979258972/index_html
Motorized Recreation May Rule in Bush Interior Department
The whine of internal combustion engines rallied to a roar at the nomination of Gale Norton for U.S. Secretary of the Interior. The former Colorado attorney general is expected to give off-road vehicle users greater access to public lands. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/979259145/index_html
Canada Condones Anti-Environmental Violence
Five loggers convicted for their part in a violent attack on an environmentalists' protest camp in 1999 will serve no jail time in sentences handed down by a Canadian judge last week. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/979259279/index_html
Conservationists Appeal to U.S. to Halt Canadian Border Mine
Environmental organisations claim that the Tulsequah Chief mine, located in the Canadian province of British Columbia on the border with Alaska, and an accompanying 160-kilometre access road, would harm essential habitat for protected species, including woodland caribou and grizzly bear. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/979259430/index_html
North Slope Oil Development Has Affected Wildlife
Scientists got an earful Tuesday on which issues deserve study as they review the cumulative impact of oil development on the North Slope. Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/979259569/index_html
GREEN/Defenders: Extinction Waiting List Released
The USFWS's annual review 1/8 of 248 candidate species found that "21 species continue to warrant listing but are precluded by the need to take higher-priority listing actions first." Read More... http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/979259813/index_html
1/13/01
12:46:56 PM
Environmental news from GRIST MAGAZINE <http://www.gristmagazine.com>
1. YOU GREEN, O'NEILL? Don't look now, but once you get past President-elect Bush's dubious nominees to head the Interior and Energy departments, there may be a wee bit of light for enviros in Dubya's cabinet, in the person of -- who knew? -- Paul O'Neill, Bush's choice for Treasury secretary. As CEO of Alcoa, O'Neill voiced remarkably progressive views (for a big-time corporate guy, anyway) about U.S. responsibility for reducing global warming. Among his comments over the years: "People with money are going to have to pay. ... You're not going to be able to tell people in China, 'Pay your fair share of this.'" Read more about the curious O'Neill and cast your vote for the top climate stories from 2000 -- all on the Grist Magazine website.
read it only in Grist Magazine: This just in -- the latest climate change news -- in our Heat Beat section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/heatbeat/thisjustin011101.stm#oneill>
2. ARGWINGS AND A PRAYER Kenyan journalist Argwings Odera was arrested and tortured last month for his attempt to report on protests against the Sondu-Miriu Dam being built on a river that drains into Lake Victoria. Locals and environmentalists, including the Africa Water Network, say land for the hydro project has been taken without fair compensation and the dam will devastate the local ecosystem. The project has received significant support from Japan, but funding for the second phase of construction was been put on hold last month after the Japanese parliament learned of human rights abuses at the project site. Odera has been accused of inciting protests and resisting arrest. He endured a broken finger and a bullet in his arm, and is now out on bail. He says the police are demanding that he compensate them for the rounds of ammunition fired at his car when he was in it.
straight to the source: allAfrica.com, Panafrican News Agency, 08 Jan 2001 <http://allafrica.com/stories/200101080028.html>
3. ANTI-NORTON VIRUS National environmental leaders held a press conference this morning in Washington, D.C., to announce their formal opposition to Gale Norton, President-elect Bush's choice for Interior secretary. Enviros earlier this week sent a letter to all senators and urged them not to appoint her, saying that she held "extreme" views on property rights and that confirming her would represent "a momentous shift backwards" in conservation policy. The Center for Responsive Politics yesterday released data showing that one-third of the money Norton raised for an unsuccessful run for Senate in 1996 came from extractive industries that deal extensively with the Interior Department. Alaska Democrats, meanwhile, are questioning whether Norton should have billed the state of Alaska $60,000 last year for help she provided to the conservative Mountain States Legal Foundation. In other confirmation news, 11 of 20 members of New Jersey's Legislative Black and Latino Caucus yesterday criticized Bush's choice for U.S. EPA administrator, New Jersey Gov. Christine Whitman (R), saying she had a poor record on racial and environmental issues.
straight to the source: New York Times, Douglas Jehl, 12 Jan 2001 <http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/12/politics/12NORT.html>
straight to the source: Denver Post, Mike Soraghan, 12 Jan 2001 <http://www.denverpost.com/news/election/pol0112.htm>
straight to the source: CNN.com, Associated Press, 12 Jan 2001 <http://www.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/stories/01/12/norton.legalwork.ap /index.html>
straight to the source: Bergen Record, Paul H. Johnson, 12 Jan 2001 <http://www.bergen.com/region/reactpj200101121.htm>
do good: Take action to keep Norton out of the Cabinet <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/dogood/politics.stm>
4. PEOPLE FOR CHAPTER 11 People for the USA!, the national nonprofit wise-use group, is closing shop later this month, due to a lack of funding and a decline in membership. The group began with a different name in 1988 as a mouthpiece for "rural Americans" who were up in arms over enviros' efforts to stop old-growth logging in the Northwest, growing its base with such memorable bumper stickers as "Hungry? Out of Work? Eat a Spotted Owl." Over the next decade, the PFUSA! sought to weaken the Endangered Species Act, block reform of the 1872 Mining Act, and otherwise fight the good fight for property rights advocates and extractive industries. But things have been pretty much downhill for the group since President Clinton took office. Executive Director Jeff Harris wrote in a recent newsletter, "It's quite a challenge to bring together a large group when you are essentially opposing something that is wildly popular. Americans have embraced the environmental ethic."
straight to the source: High Country News, Heidi Walters, 18 Dec 2000 <http://www.hcn.org/servlets/hcn.Article?article_id=10162>
5. SWAN SONG An Argentine court ordered the government this week to prevent a British ship, the Pacific Swan, from carrying spent nuclear fuel into the country's "jurisdictional" waters. The country's Foreign Ministry said those waters extend about 12 nautical miles from the shore. But Greenpeace, which calls the ship's cargo the "the equivalent of a floating Chernobyl," said the waters stretch 200 miles from the shore, which is about where the ship was spotted earlier this week. The ship left France in the middle of last month with the goal of reaching Japan next month.
straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, 11 Jan 2001 <http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9494>
Suffering succulents! -- a day in the life of Corinna Riginos, Fulbright scholar <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/week/riginos011101.stm>
Burning rubber -- fun with stats on tires -- in our Counter Culture column <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/counter/counter101300.stm>
As the worm turns -- or: how I learned to start vermicomposting and love the worm -- in our Main Dish column <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/maindish/ness101100.stm>
1/13/01
12:45:05 PM
This Week In The Nation
John Ashcroft's nomination as Attorney General is the first installment on George W. Bush's enormous political debt to the radical right. Ashcroft's fondness for the Confederacy and honorary degree from Bob Jones University have been well-publicized but the list of things he's on record opposing is a catalogue of American social progress: contraception, school desegregation, solar energy, government assistance for women- and minority-owned businesses, fuel efficiency standards for cars, work place discrimination protection for gays, campaign finance reform and the nuclear test ban treaty are only some of the most striking examples of programs, projects and ideas that Ashcroft has vigorously fought against. This is why a broad coalition of citizen and activist groups is gearing up to fight the confirmation of Bush's Attorney General designate.
You can find extensive related coverage currently at http://www.thenation.com
LEON FRIEDMAN: Questions for Ashcroft http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=special&s=friedman0129
BURT NEUBORNE: Block Ashcroft - I http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010122&s=neuborne
BRUCE SHAPIRO: Block Ashcroft - II http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010122&s=shapiro
And use our ActNow feature to blast off an informed letter of protest against Ashcroft's nomination to the Senate Judiciary Committee at:
http://www.thenation.com/alert/actnow/
There's also lots of other new and recent material from the pages of The Nation looking at the quickly-assembling Bush Administration currently available at http://www.thenation.com
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Bush's Black Faces http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010129&s=dyson
DAVID CORN: Questions for Powell http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010108&s=corn
CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS: Powell's Secret Coup http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010122&s=hitchens
DOUG IRELAND: Whitman: A Toxic Choice http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010129&s=ireland
MICHAEL KLARE: Rumsfeld: Star Warrior Returns http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010129&s=klare
JOEL ROGERS: The Man from Elroy http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010129&s=rogers
DAVID HELVARG: The Three Horsemen http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010129&s=helvarg
JESSE JACKSON, JR.: George Bush's Democrats http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010122&s=jackson
THE COUNTER-INAUGURATION CALENDAR:
As George Bush forges ahead with his Cabinet appointments the frontline troops of the movements for social justice, environmental protection and economic equality are planning a nationwide series of protests starting on January 15, Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday, and continuing through the inauguration on January 20, to raise questions about the legitimacy of Bush's election, and to press for reforms that will guarantee more representative results in the future.
To encourage these efforts, we've launched the Counter-Inauguration Calendar, which highlights many of the groups organizing the wide range of expected protest activities. Available at:
http://www.thenation.com/special/counterinauguration.mhtml
1/13/01
12:43:18 PM
THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER Springfield, Illinois January 12, 2001 Editorial
OUR OPINION
Industrial hemp is not a drug
SENATE BILL 1397 received final approval from the General Assembly this week and now sits on Gov. George Ryan's desk. Depending on whom you talk to, the bill would do one of two things.
* Either it would allow the University of Illinois and Southern Illinois University to grow and research industrial hemp in order to determine whether it might be another way for Illinois farmers to make a buck.
* Or it would send the message to Illinois' young people that it's OK to smoke dope.
UNLESS THE governor signs the legislation, we won't know if hemp can be a viable cash crop for Illinois farmers. But we do know that the opponents of this bill are being ridiculous with their "the sky is falling" drug warnings about the hemp study bill.
The governor has said he will study the bill, but he let it be known this week that he's leaning more against it than for it. Don't get us wrong. We are certainly not advocating drug use. But this bill has nothing to do with drugs.
True, hemp is a biological relative of marijuana with extremely low levels of the psychoactive drug THC (tetrahydrocannabinol). Hemp, however, is not marijuana, and it is not grown as a drug.
OF COURSE, you would not know that from listening to this bill's opponents. The rhetoric, especially that from members of the Illinois Drug Education Alliance, has warned over and over again that allowing farmers to grow hemp is sending a mixed message about drugs.
That statement, which has been echoed by the Illinois State Police in its opposition to the bill, is nonsensical. What possible mixed message on drugs is being sent by allowing the study of a crop that is not a drug?
The real concern of these opponents is that allowing farmers to grow hemp would somehow lead to the legalization of marijuana. That's a leap of logic as wide as the Grand Canyon.
Surely the Illinois Drug Education Alliance opposes young people drinking alcohol. Using the group's same logic concerning hemp, its members might also want to push for legislation to outlaw the planting of corn in Illinois. After all, some of that corn eventually ends up being distilled into alcohol.
HEMP IS GETTING a black eye simply because it is related to marijuana. Rest assured, Illinois legislators were not garbed in tie-dyed T-shirts and voting under the glare of black lights when they passed this bill. Illinois, as one of 16 states contemplating the study of hemp as a legitimate crop, is in the mainstream on this matter.
Hemp will not be the salvation of Illinois' struggling agricultural economy. Neither are farm-raised catfish, Illinois wine grapes or blueberries, but today's farmers are looking for any and all advantages. To take hemp out of that mix based on illogical concerns over drug use makes no sense.
Even if this bill becomes law, the universities would need to obtain permits from the federal government and funding for the study before any hemp could be grown. The U of I and SIU would be under great scrutiny on how they carry out this study, which should help calm people's fears.
DEMONIZING HEMP will do nothing to battle drugs in Illinois. In fact, most kids will see right through the convoluted logic of banning a potentially beneficially crop simply because of worries over its biological cousin.
We appreciate the fact that Gov. Ryan wants to educate himself on this bill before he takes action. We trust that once he is fully educated, he won't have a problem allowing two of the state's top universities to study the potential benefits of hemp as a value-added crop for Illinois farmers. (END)
<http://www.sj-r.com/opinion/01/01/12/editorial.htm>
1/13/01
12:42:10 PM
FAIR-L Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting Media analysis, critiques and news reports
MEDIA ADVISORY: Southern Partisan: "Setting the Record Straight" Attorney general nominee praised white supremacist magazine
January 12, 2001
"Your magazine also helps set the record straight. You've got a heritage of doing that, of defending Southern patriots like [Gen.] Robert E. Lee, [Gen.] Stonewall Jackson and [Confederate President] Jefferson Davis. Traditionalists must do more. I've got to do more. We've all got to stand up and speak in this respect, or else we'll be taught that these people were giving their lives, subscribing their sacred fortunes and their honor to some perverted agenda."
--John Ashcroft, Southern Partisan magazine interview (Second Quarter/1998)
When Attorney General nominee John Ashcroft praised the neo-Confederate magazine Southern Partisan, he was endorsing a publication that defends slavery, white separatism, apartheid and David Duke; a publication that celebrates the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, while delivering a "mixed review" of Lincoln's assassin (Southern Partisan, Second Quarter/1990).
Though Southern Partisan is the leading magazine of the neo-Confederate movement, it really is much more than a "gumbo of racist apologias," as the New Republic put it last year (1/31/00). Southern Partisan's bigotry targets virtually anyone who isn't a straight white male neo-Confederate. Southern Partisan practices equal-opportunity bigotry. Here's a sample of opinion from the magazine John Ashcroft says "set[s] the record straight":
On Slavery
"Neither Jesus nor the apostles nor the early church condemned slavery, despite countless opportunities to do so, and there is no indication that slavery is contrary to Christian ethics or that any serious theologian before modern times ever thought it was." --Samuel Francis, Southern Partisan, Third Quarter/1995
"Slave owners . . . did not have a practice of breaking up slave families. If anything, they encouraged strong slave families to further the slaves' peace and happiness." --First Quarter/1996
On Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln is a "consummate conniver, manipulator and a liar." --Southern Partisan cited in Legal Times, 2/26/1996
The Spring 1984 issue refers to "the sinister Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln--an invitation to the slaves to rise against their masters."
On John Wilkes Booth: "His behavior was not only sane, but sensible. His background, loyalties, beliefs, and experiences had led him to that end." --Mark Brewer, Second Quarter/1990
For years Southern Partisan has celebrated the murder of Abraham Lincoln by selling T-shirts with Lincoln's image over the words "sic semper tyrannis" ("thus always to tyrants")-- John Wilkes Booth's cry just after shooting Lincoln. Timothy McVeigh was wearing this T-shirt when he was arrested for the Oklahoma City bombing. --New York Times, 6/3/1997
On the Klan
The Ku Klux Klan's first Grand Wizard, Civil War Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, cited as evidence that "the Confederacy was full of super heroes." --Fourth Quarter/1996
Praised former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke as "a candidate concerned about 'affirmative' discrimination, welfare profligacy, the taxation holocaust ... a Populist spokesperson for a recapturing of the American ideal." --Fourth Quarter/1990
On South African History
"God led [Afrikaners] into the Transvaal, it was with God that they made their prayerful covenant when they were besieged by bloodthirsty savages on all sides." --Fall/1986-Winter/1987
On Feminism
Feminism is a "revolt against god." --First Quarter/2000
"Feminists, ethnic minorities, sodomites and other 'victims' of majority culture are demanding special recognition and privileged status." --Second Quarter/1992
On Homosexuality
The University of Georgia "promotes perversion" by sponsoring programs for Gay men and Lesbians. Same-sex marriage is a "vile act of blasphemy." --First Quarter/1997
"The acts of sodomy are probably the most repulsive desecrations in the sexual order.... The terrible swift sword of the dread AIDS disease is surely what in other ages would be acknowledged a sign of God's wrath. It is only the least subtle notice of divine displeasure with the swinishness of our age." --Reid Buckley, Winter/1986
On Everyone but "Us"
"Newly arrived in New York City, I puzzled, 'Where are the Americans?' for I met only Italians, Jews, Puerto Ricans." --Patrick Brophy, Second Quarter/1991
"What Southerner feels at home in Miami these days, a city 56 percent Spanish-speaking that includes not only Cubans but numbers of cocaine-pushing trigger-happy Colombians?" --Allan Charles, Summer/1982
"Melting Pot: An instrument by which distinct forms of distinct material are melted into a common sludge." --"The Partisan Dictionary," Spring/Summer 1981
"The tides of immigration turned negative: were characterized by the losers of political history...the Italians and the Irish... the dull-spirited and pagan, such as the Scandinavians... and by peoples to whom the tenets of our republic were altogether alien, such as the hieratic Jews....
"Negroes, Asians and Orientals (is Japan the exception?); Hispanics, Latins and Eastern Europeans; have no temperament for democracy, never had, and probably never will...
"As the genetic racial pool in the United States from which the democratic government originally derived is dissipated in successive tides of immigration, our country is being overwhelmed." --Reid Buckley, Summer/1984
A Summer 1983 article denounced the "deliberate lies" of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, including "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
Until the late 1990s, Boyd Cathey was listed alongside Pat Buchanan as a senior advisor to Southern Partisan. As late as 1992, Cathey was an editorial advisor to The Journal of Historical Review, the leading journal of Holocaust denial. --Legal Times, 2/26/1996
On Secession
"The best hope, perhaps the only hope, for the South lies in an independent Southern nation, where we can at last be free to pursue the life we desire."
Third Quarter/1997
The public rely on media to expose cabinet nominees to tough scrutiny, but so far the mainstream media hasn't seriously taken up the question of whether Americans will be well-served by an attorney general who sees Southern Partisan's bigotry and revisionist history as patriotic "straight" talk.
1/13/01
12:39:21 PM
Public Citizen press release Date: Fri, 12 Jan 2001 11:20:29 -0500 From: "Angela Bradbery" <ABRADBERY@citizen.org>
Jan. 12, 2001
Norton Wrong Choice for Interior Secretary
Statement of Wenonah Hauter, Director Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program
We have made much progress over the past three decades in cleaning up our environment, but President-elect Bush's nomination of Gale Norton for Secretary of the Interior would turn back the clock. Norton has long advocated free-market solutions to environmental problems, which are not successful in keeping our rivers clean and our forests pristine. The "free market" did not help clean up our environment in past years -- the government did.
In fact, protecting our environment is one area where government regulation has been a demonstrable success. Americans want leaders who are on their side, promoting environmental policies that make our nation and our world safer, cleaner and healthier. They do not want their leaders to kowtow to wealthy corporate special interests, which Norton likely will do.
Norton was serving as Colorado's attorney general in 1992 when one of the worst environmental disasters in the state's history occurred. The Summitville Consolidated Mining Corporation spilled cyanide and acidic water that killed a 17-mile stretch of the Alamosa River. The company declared bankruptcy, its executives fled the country, and taxpayers were left with a clean-up bill of $150 million.
Although she witnessed this tragedy first hand, Norton still maintains that corporations should be given the right to police themselves - instead of having the government do it. She was a strong advocate of Colorado's "self-audit" law, which allows corporations to perform voluntary audits to determine if they are complying with federal environmental regulations. This law also gives companies immunity from fines and lawsuits if they report and correct violations. To Coloradans who used to enjoying fishing in the Alamosa River, it is clear that this sort of fox-guarding-the-hen house strategy for protecting the environment does not and cannot work.
Other highlights of Norton's career do not bode well for the future of our environment. They include:
· A stint lobbying on behalf of NL Industries of Houston (formerly National Lead Co.), a lead paint manufacturer responsible for 75 Superfund and other toxic-waste sites, and which faces a dozen lawsuits involving children whose parents claim they were poisoned by lead paint;
· Four years working under former Interior Secretary James Watt at the Mountain States Legal Foundation, a far-right, "wise-use" group that views environmental regulations as "property takings" and fights regulations in court with the sponsorship of large corporate donors, such as Coors. Norton has been a member of several other "property rights" organizations, including the Legal Advisory Council for Defense of Property Rights, which view basic environmental protection rules as a violation of the rights of property owners;
· Working as a lawyer in Reagan's Interior Department from 1985-1987, where she fought to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Our environmental resources are being destroyed faster than we can preserve them. Our environmental policies must continue to move forward, not back to the time when dilution was the solution to pollution, and when our resources were routinely destroyed to further corporate profits. America's forests, public lands, waterways, parks and wildlife refuges must be preserved for future generations - including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which Norton still wants to open for oil and gas exploration. Doing so could destroy a fragile habitat and likely wouldn't provide a substantial amount of oil.
Norton's philosophy is doubly disturbing. Not only does she want to clear-cut our environmental regulations, but she believes that whatever government regulations are left standing should be pruned back to the nub.
1/13/01
12:38:28 PM
World Environment News - January 12th, 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
California power talks run on, utilities flag - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9497
POLL - Only 20 pct of US farmers plan to segregate crops - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9498
USDA offers extension on conservation acreage - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9500
UPDATE - Clinton not making Arctic refuge national monument - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9503
DuPont launches new insecticide - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9506
Major disasters killed 17,000 people and caused about $38 billion - SWITZERLAND
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9504
Japan rebuffs US, stands firm on whale hunt - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9505
Germany's MVV takes stake in US solar tech firm - GERMANY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9496
Fortum sells 39 pct of solar power firm - FINLAND http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9495
ANALYSIS - China eyes shift to gas on security fears - CHINA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9502
UPDATE - Alcan to cut back Kitimat output - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9499
Canadian climate shows continuing warming trend - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9501
Court blocks nuclear ship from Argentine waters - ARGENTINA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9494
1/13/01
12:37:22 PM
Secret New Invention to Change the World? What is 'IT'?
In what may turn out to be the first part of one of the most important stories of the century, Harvard Business School Press executive editor Hollis Heimboch has paid $250,000 for a book about 'IT'. What is IT? Don't ask Heimboch, he doesn't know! Neither does agent Dan Kois of The Sagalyn Literacy Agency. One of the few things that they do know is IT is the invention of 49-year-old scientist Dean Kamen and is code-named Ginger.
The book about IT will be written by journalist Steve Kemper. Kemper has been published in "Smithsonian", "National Geographic" and "Outside." Kemper's proposal states that IT will change the world.
Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Computer Corporation, says the invention would be as significant as the PC. He also said, "If enough people see the machine you won't have to convince them to architect cities around it. It'll just happen." Kemper added that the invention will "sweep over the world and change lives, cities and ways of thinking."
Kamen's most tantalizing clue came when he said that the "core technology and its implementations" will "have a big, broad impact not only on social institutions but some billion-dollar old line companies." And IT will "profoundly affect our environment and the way people live worldwide, It will be an alternative to products that are dirty, expensive, sometimes dangerous and often frustrating, especially for people in cities."
Other clues found in the proposal are just as intriguing. A Ginger can be assembled in 10 minutes using a screwdriver and hex wrenches and can fit in a couple of large duffel bags and some cardboard boxes. There may be two Ginger models named Metro and Pro. The Metro may cost less than $2,000 and apparently, the device has a fun element to it.
IT will be a mass-market consumer product that is, according to Kemper, "likely to run afoul of existing regulations and or inspire new ones." And, IT may require "meeting with city planners, regulators, legislators, large commercial companies and university presidents about how cities, companies, and campuses can be retro-fitted for Ginger.
Ginger won't be revealed until 2002. Nobody has seen It except Kamen, Kemper, the engineers and the investors. Some of the major investors include Silicon Valley venture capitalist John Doerr and managing director of Credit Suisse First Boston, Michael Schmertzer. Minor investors who have seen the invention and signed confidentiality agreements include Paul Allaire, CEO of Xerox and Vern Loucks, recently retired CEO of Baxter. Credit Suisse Boston expects IT to make more money in its first year than any other start-up in history.
Kamen, Ginger's inventor, was recently awarded the National Medal of Technology which is the country's highest such award. He is also the inventor of the iBot, a wheelchair that can climb stairs, traverse over sand or gravel and rise to balance on two wheels. Kamen dropped out of college in his 20s and also is the inventor of the first drug infusion pump and the first portable insulin pump and dialysis machine.
One of the most ominous quotes came from Kamen. He explained the unprecedented secrecy by saying that "huge corporations" might find out about Ginger and "use their massive resources to erect obstacles against us or worse, simply appropriate the technology by assigning hundreds of engineers to catch up to us and thousands of employees to produce it in their plants." He didn't elaborate on who those "huge corporations" might be.
Technology visionary Jeff Bezos, CEO and founder of Amazon.com, said that IT "is a product so revolutionary, you'll have no problem selling it. The question is, are people going to be allowed to use it?"
My question is where can I invest in IT?
1/13/01
12:36:17 PM
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE (ENS) http://ens-news.com
"We Cover the Earth For You"
SECRETARY BABBITT BIDS FAREWELL TO INTERIOR STAFF
By Brian Hansen
WASHINGTON, DC, January 11, 2000 (ENS) - Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt bid a public and emotional farewell today to several hundred members of his staff, taking them on a "voyage of nostalgia" that fused anecdotal humor and institutional pride to highlight his eight year stint as one of the top environmental policy makers in the outgoing Clinton administration.
For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-11-15.html
KENYAN DAM PROTESTER ARRESTED, SHOT
KISUMU, Kenya, January 11, 2001 (ENS) - A Kenyan activist working with dam affected people has been arrested, beaten and faces criminal charges for holding meetings and trying to share information about the Sondu Miriu hydroelectric dam project in southwestern Kenya.
For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-11-01.html
PRESSURE GROWS FOR GMO FREE ZONES IN EUROPE
BRUSSELS, Belgium, January 11, 2001 (ENS) - A campaign to create a network of areas in Europe free of genetically modified (GM) crops was launched in Brussels today at an international conference on the legal and technical issues behind the concept.
For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-11-01.html
THIS LAND IS OUR LAND, BRAZIL TELLS SQUATTERS
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, January 11, 2001 (ENS) - The Brazilian government's investigation of illegal land occupancy has uncovered fraud on a massive scale. The Agrarian Reform Ministry suspects more than 100 million hectares of land - an area bigger than Central America - is illegally occupied through phony land titles.
For full text and graphics, visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-11-10.html
URANIUM CONTAMINATION SEALED OFF IN KOSOVO
PRISTINA, Kosovo, Yugoslavia, January 11, 2001 (ENS) - More than 18 months after NATO stopped firing shells containing depleted uranium on Serb troops in Kosovo, civilians there are being protected from possible ill effects from the ammunition.
For full text and graphics, visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-11-11.html
U.S. TIGHTENS LOOPHOLE IN WETLANDS PROTECTIONS
WASHINGTON, DC, January 11, 2001 (ENS) - In the wake of a Supreme Court decision restricting wetland protections, the federal government moved this week to close a major regulatory loophole in the Clean Water Act. The new rules could save thousands of acres of wetlands.
For full text and graphics visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-11-06.html
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: JANUARY 11, 2001
No Arctic National Monument, White House Says
Paducah Radiation Study Released
Los Angeles Cited for Sewage Overflows
New Technology Could Reduce Vehicle Pollution
World's Largest Wind Farm Coming to Northwest
Northeast Faces Heightened Flood Threat
Georgia Protects Sawnee Mountain
M'Clintock Channel Polar Bear Trophies Banned
For full text and graphics visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-11-09.html
TO BUSINESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:
EARTH Shareholders Give Overwhelming 'Yes' to Management
MONTREAL, CANADA, Jan. 11 -/E-Wire/-- At the Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders of EARTH (Canada) Corporation (CDNX:EAR - news) held in Montreal yesterday, the company's shareholders voted an overwhelming 87% in support for Management and its various resolutions.
/CONTACT: Edward Akkawi, 514/522-5550 or 877/4RPA-TEC, investor@earthcanada.com/
/Web site: www.earthcanada.com/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/11Jan0111.html
TO BUSINESS, ENVIRONMENTAL AND TECHNOLOGY EDITORS:
Blue292 Announces Comprehensive Restructuring Program
DURHAM, N.C., Jan. 11 -/E-Wire/-- Blue292, the world's leading provider of environmental, health and safety (EHS) eBusiness application software, today announced a comprehensive program that repositions the company as an enterprise software provider, streamlines its corporate structure, and significantly reduces operating costs.
/CONTACT: Anita Bose for Blue292, 212-484-7699, abose@rlmnet.com/
/Web Site: http://www.blue292.com/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/11Jan0109.html
TO BUSINESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:
Ingersoll-Rand's Thermo King Unit Signs Agreement To Supply Truck Refrigeration Systems to the U.S. Air Force
WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J., Jan. 11 - /E-Wire/-- Ingersoll-Rand Company (NYSE: IR - news), a leading diversified industrial firm, announced today that its Thermo King unit has signed a five-year agreement to provide transport refrigeration systems for the United States Air Force.
/CONTACT: Ingersoll-Rand Company, Woodcliff Lake Media contact: Paul A. Dickard, 201/573-3120 Analyst contact: Joe Fimbianti, 201/573-3113/
/Web site: www.irco.com/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/11Jan0110.html
The Browner Administration At The EPA: A Perspective On The Past Eight Years
ARLINGTON, VA, Jan. 10 -/E-Wire/-- The American Chemistry Council believes that the transition to a new year and a new administration provides an appropriate time to look back at both the progress and pitfalls of environmental policy during the past eight years and to identify some important lessons that can be applied in the future.
/CONTACT: Terry F. Yosie 703-741-5800/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/11Jan0107.html
TO ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:
Rotary Volunteers from the United States and Japan to Join Massive Effort to Immunize Over 150 Million Children Against Polio in India
Part of Global Effort to Eradicate Polio Worldwide by 2005
EVANSTON, IL, Jan. 11 -/E-Wire/-- Seventy (70) Rotary volunteers from the United States and Japan will leave for New Delhi, India the week of 15 January 01 to prepare for a nationwide polio immunization campaign - India's final push against the disease.
/CONTACT: Rotary International, Vivian Fiore, 847/866-3234, fiorev@rotaryintl.org/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/11Jan0108.html
TO ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:
Hydro-funded project begins long journey towards reversing the Upper Columbia White Sturgeon's decline
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 11 -/E-Wire/-- BC Hydro has committed $1.2 million over the next two years to the Upper Columbia River White Sturgeon Recovery Project to help restore the white sturgeon population on B.C.'s portion of the Columbia River. The multi-stakeholder project is designed to look into the reasons for the decline and explore alternatives to reverse the trend.
/CONTACT: Elisha Odowichuk BC Hydro Media Relations (604) 623-4099 Elisha.Odowichuk@BCHydro.bc.ca/
/Web site: http://eww.bchydro.bc.ca/environment/0101_sturgeon.html/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/11Jan0106.html
TO BUSINESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:
NYCO Adopts PaperClick Enterprise
Chemical Manufacturer Wants Material Safety Data Information Available 24/7 to End Users and Emergency Agencies
FORT MYERS, Fla., Jan. 11, -/E-Wire/-- NeoMedia Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:NEOM) and NYCO Products Company of Countryside, IL, today announced the adoption of PaperClick Enterprise print-to-Internet enabling technology for the company's product information. This application is targeted at the $839 Billion chemical manufacturing marketplace (U.S.). According to the 1997 Economic Census Report, there are 27,026 chemical manufacturers in the United States subject to OSHA regulations, and therefore potential users of this PaperClick application.
CONTACT: Virginia Small, 941/337-3434, vsmall@neom.com/
/Web site: www.nycoproducts.com, www.neom.com/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/11Jan0105.html
TO MEDICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:
PacificHealth Laboratories, Inc. Initiates Clinical Trial Evaluating The Use of Satietrol with Orlistat
WOODBRIDGE, NJ, Jan. 11 -/E-Wire/-- PacificHealth Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ: PHLI) announced today that they have initiated a clinical trial evaluating the potential therapeutic synergies between Satietrol, the Company's new weight loss product and orlistat, a leading prescription product.
/CONTACT: Robert Portman at 732-636-6141, Mark Beal at Alan Taylor Communications, 212-714-1280 or Bruce Gmahle at Viking Financial Group, 732-901-5218/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/11Jan0104.html
TO POLITICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:
Possible Bush Environmental Council Pick Criticized by Inspector General
BATTLE GROUND, WA, Jan. 11, -/E-Wire/-- One of the candidates in the mix for Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) was the subject of an Inspector General report critical of use of taxpayer funds for personal travel.
/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/Jan01/11Jan0103.html
TO ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:
Millennium Plastics Announces Deployment and Sales of Solplax(TM) Plastic Products for the Oil and Gas Industry
LAS VEGAS, NV, Jan. 11, -/E-Wire/-- Millennium Plastics Corporation (OTCBB: MPCO) announced today the deployment a new line of Solplax(TM) plastics products for use in the oil and gas industry. The first product in this line of water soluble and biodegradable Solplax(TM) plastics is a "perforation ball sealer."
/CONTACT: Investor Communications Co., 800/550-5165 or 800/419-0611/
/Web site: http://www.millenniumpolymers.com /Web site: http://www.solplax.com/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/11Jan0102.html
TO BUSINESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:
Environmental Digital Services, Inc. (EDSi) Enters Joint Venture Agreement
JUPITER, Fla., Jan. 11 -/E-Wire/-- Environmental Digital Services, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: EVDS), Florida-based provider of electronic monitoring hardware and Internet-based data processing for underground petroleum storage tanks and environmental remediation services, has announced that it has concluded an agreement with Terra Block Incorporated, Orlando, Florida, to create a joint venture between EDSi and that company.
/CONTACT: William Wolters of Environmental Digital Services, Inc., 561-630-8009, or fax, 561-630-0150/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/11Jan0101.html
1/13/01
12:18:36 PM
MSNBC Poll on Oil Drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge
MSNBC is taking a poll on whether we should allow oil drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge. You can vote by just clicking on the link below, scroll down a bit in the article, and you'll see the poll on the left-hand side of the screen. Right now, it's 64% no votes, to 35% yes votes (it is updated every 60 seconds). Forward this on freely to your friends that would be interested in this. Go to:
>http://www.msnbc.com/news/500606.asp?0nm=N22A
You can also call the White House Hotline at 202-456-1111, or fax the White House at 202-456-2461.
Please let your voice be heard regarding this important issue! The next 4 years can be devastating to our environment unless enough of us take the time to inform ourselves and take action.
1/13/01
12:17:46 PM
"So I will continue to stand for what I believe in, and I will continue to refuse to back down and go away. No person, no business, and no government has the right to destroy the gift of life. No one has the right to steal from the future in order to make a quick buck today. Enough is enough. It's time we as humans return to living only off the Earth's interest instead of drawing from the principal. And it's time we restored some of the capital investment that we've already stolen."
Julia Butterfly Hill
1/13/01
12:13:36 PM
Hemp Resolution Urges KY Bill
CITY OF MIDWAY
A RESOLUTION EXPRESSING THE CITY OF MIDWAY'S SUPPORT FOR THE REINTRODUCTION OF THE PRODUCTION OF INDUSTRIAL HEMP IN KENTUCKY; ENCOURAGING LEGISLATORS IN THE KENTUCKY GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO ENACT LEGISLATION ENABLING FARMERS TO RE-ESTABLISH KENTUCKY'S HISTORIC INDUSTRIAL HEMP INDUSTRY; AND DIRECTING THE CITY CLERK TO SEND A COPY OF THIS RESOLUTION TO THE LEGISLATORS IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY REPRESENTING MIDWAY AND TO THE MEMBERS OF THE KENTUCKY HOUSE AND SENATE AGRICULTURE COMMITTEES.
WHEREAS, Kentucky farmers were producing hemp in 1775 before Kentucky was State and
WHEREAS, in 1942 Kentucky was the largest supplier of hemp for the War effort; and
WHEREAS, because of its climate, Kentucky historically produced hemp seed for planting in the other United States; and
WHEREAS, Canadian farmers are now producing hemp for US car manufacturers; and
WHEREAS, it is now legal to grow hemp in Hawaii, Minnesota and North Dakota; and
WHEREAS, 16 other states have pending legislation for hemp production; and
WHEREAS, Kentucky farmers have lost 65% of their tobacco base in the last two years; and
WHEREAS, our farmers are in need of support for the diversified agriculture.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MIDWAY KENTUCKY.
Section 1 - That the City of Midway hereby expresses its support for the reintroduction of the production of industrial hemp in Kentucky.
Section 2 - That Legislators in the Kentucky General Assembly are hereby encourage to enact legislation enabling farmers to re-establish Kentucky's historic industrial hemp industry.
Section 3 - That the Clerk of the City of Midway is hereby directed to send copies of this Resolution to the legislators in the General Assembly representing Midway and to the members of the Kentucky House and Senate Agriculture Committees.
Section 4 - That this Resolution shall become effective upon the date of its passage.
Dated: Dec 11, 2001
Becky Moore (signed) Mayor
ATTEST: Marlene Riddle (signed) MIDWAY CITY CLERK
1/13/01
12:11:28 PM
Environmental news from GRIST MAGAZINE <http://www.gristmagazine.com>
1. ANWR SEDATE The White House said yesterday that President Clinton will not designate the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska as a national monument because he believe that the area is already protected from oil and gas drilling. President-elect Bush and his nominees for Interior and Energy secretaries vigorously support drilling in the refuge. Enviros have been pressing Clinton since the presidential election to add protections to the 19 million-acre area. But a White House spokesperson said that the current status of the refuge means that it would already take an act of Congress to allow drilling and that a monument designation wouldn't give the area any more legal protection. The Clinton administration thinks that the divided Congress would be unlikely to vote to allow drilling, but that conferring monument status on the refuge would needlessly energize conservatives who want to repeal the 1906 law granting presidents the power to name monuments in the first place.
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Kim Murphy, 11 Jan 2001 <http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environ/20010111/t000003007.html>
catch it only in Grist Magazine: How many licks does it take to get to the center of the Arctic Refuge? -- a cartoon by Suzy Becker <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/ha/ha082500.stm>
2. WE'RE NUMBER 5! The year 2000 is expected to rank as the fifth warmest globally since record keeping began in 1880, just slightly hotter than last year. The only warmer years were 1998, 1997, 1995, and 1990, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The 1990s were the warmest decade on record, and the 10 warmest years have all occurred since 1983. Read more on the Grist Magazine website.
read it only in Grist Magazine: How's the Weather -- in our Heat Beat section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/heatbeat/weather011101.stm>
3. THE BEST DEFENSE IS A BAD OFFENSE Enviros have taken offense at a 1989 speech by Gale Norton, President-elect Bush's choice for Interior secretary, in which she suggested that property owners have a "right to pollute." Worse, in a 1996 speech to the same audience, the Independence Institute, a conservative think tank on whose board she has served, Norton compared conservatives' attempts to preserve states' rights to the cause of the South in the Civil War. She said, "We lost too much" when the Confederacy was defeated. Norton did not endorse slavery, but used the example of the Civil War to draw attention to her belief that the federal government has overreached and grabbed too much governing power at the expense of states. She complained that when she was Colorado attorney general, the feds required that auto emissions be restricted in Denver and that a renovation to the statehouse include a wheelchair ramp. Norton also serves on the board of the Defenders of Property Rights, which is involved with three lawsuits filed against the Interior Department for enforcing environmental laws.
straight to the source: Denver Post, Mike Soraghan, 11 Jan 2001 <http://www.denverpost.com/news/election/pol0111.htm>
straight to the source: Washington Post, John Mintz, 11 Jan 2001 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44658-2001Jan10.html>
straight to the source: Denver Rocky Mountain News, Burt Hubbard and M.E. Sprengelmeyer, 11 Jan 2001 <http://InsideDenver.com/news/0111nort1.shtml>
do good: Take action to keep Norton out of the Cabinet <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/dogood/politics.stm>
4. WITH A "WHOOSH WHOOSH" HERE AND A "WHIR WHIR" THERE The border of Washington and Oregon will soon be home to the world's largest wind farm, producing enough power for 70,000 homes in 11 Western states. The wind-power company FPL Energy of Florida is beginning construction of the 450-turbine, 300-megawatt project next month and hopes to have it on-line by the end of the year. Oregon-based PacifiCorp has pledged to buy power from the farm for at least 25 years. Enviros, some of whom helped site the project to avoid bird flyways, are giving the project a big thumbs up.
straight to the source: Seattle Times, Associated Press, Gillian Flaccus, 11 Jan 2001 <http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/SeattleTimes.woa/ wa/gotoArticle?zsection_id=268448406&text_only=0&slug=windy11&document _id=134259428>
read it only in Grist Magazine: There's something in the wind -- farmers are reaping rewards from wind energy -- by Lester Brown in our opinions column <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/imho/imho082100.stm>
catch it only in Grist Magazine: Turbine time -- a cartoon by Suzy Becker <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/ha/ha032700.stm>
5. NEAT-O RESEARCH TOPIC: THE EFFECTS OF HARPOONING ON WHALE MORTALITY The U.S. and Japan have teamed up to ask the International Whaling Commission to evaluate whether killing whales to study them produces better research findings than studying them using non-lethal means. The IWC banned whale hunting in 1986, but Japan has continued to hunt the mammals, saying that the hunts are for scientific research allowed under the ban. This year, over many international objections, Japan expanded its whale hunt. Critics contend that Japan's research program is merely a front to provide restaurants in Tokyo with whale meat.
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle/Examiner, Associated Press, 10 Jan 2001 <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2001/01/ 10/international1101EST0565.DTL>
do good: Take action against Japanese whaling <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/dogood/species.stm#whaling>
Dung deal -- a day in the life of Corinna Riginos, Fulbright scholar <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/week/riginos011001.stm>
Slow down, you move too fast -- an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure -- by Donella Meadows <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/citizen/citizen010901.stm>
That'll do, babe -- Kris Williams is saving sea turtles in Georgia -- in our Out on Limb column <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/limb/limb120100.stm>
1/13/01
12:09:55 PM
World Environment News - January 11th, 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
FEATURE - New England fishermen fear red crab in danger - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9484
Reports show decline in erosion of US wetlands - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9487
WRAPUP - Auto show focuses on environment, safety - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9489
US high court limits federal regulation of ponds - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9492
INTERVIEW - Renault aims to speed delivery, slash inventory - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9493
UK green power company signs up London authorities - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9490
Shell says spill shuts in 46,000 bpd Nigeria crude - NIGERIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9491
EU sets guidelines for environmental checks - EU http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9488
W.Australia charges Apache over oil spill - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9486
Argentina says nuclear ship won't enter its waters - ARGENTINA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9485
1/13/01
12:08:30 PM
Best Bet for a Sustainable Future.
Greetings: It gives me great pleasure to announce this new page on our web site.
The 20th Century witnessed several prescriptions for managing human activity. Fascism was rejected; Communism was unable to stand in competition with Capitalism; and the growth dependent system of Capitalism has now brought us to the point where the ecological balance of our planet is threatened.
Of the world views promoted in the last century, only the life-based ideals embodied by M.K. Gandhi have not been seriously applied. Perhaps, as we witness social malaise and face the problems of resource depletion and pollution, and as we start to recognize that perpetual growth may not solve all the related problems, we might look again at the advice of this 20th Century luminary.
"Best Bet for a Sustainable Future" offers materials explaining this possibility. It includes, among others, a link to a study of the Indian State of Kerala where a population the size of Canada has achieved literacy and fertility rates comparable to those in Europe while living at an income level similar to the rest of India.
I hope you enjoy what I see as the greatest hope available for the human family.
Yours, Mike Nickerson
"One who is content with little has much"
the late George Mully quoting an older sage.
http://www.cyberus.ca/choose.sustain
Sustainability Project - 7th Generation Initiative P.O. Box 374, Merrickville, Ontario K0G 1N0 (613) 269-3500 e-mail: sustain@web.net
1/13/01
12:06:31 PM
Public Citizen Petitions NRC to Shut Down NY Reactor
Regulator Allowed Reactor Restart Without Conducting Required Emergency Planning Drill
WASHINGTON, D.C.-- Public Citizen today petitioned the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to halt the operation of the Indian Point 2 nuclear plant in New York until Consolidated Edison, the owner and operator of the reactor, has conducted a full participation emergency planning exercise as required by federal regulations.
"The NRC has stated that 'the licensee will remain in compliance with the biennial requirement until December 31, 2000,'" said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. "If the NRC is to be taken at its word, then they must acknowledge the fact that the Indian Point 2 is now in violation of those requirements."
Emergency planning is especially important because Indian Point 2 is located 24 miles from New York City and has the highest population within 10, 30 and 50 miles of any nuclear power plant in the U.S. At 50 miles, its population is more than double any other nuclear reactor in the country. The nuclear reactor has been idle since last February, when a steam generator tube rupture released radiation into the environment and forced the plant to shut down.
"The NRC could have assured compliance with regulations had it merely required that the licensee conduct the required emergency planning drill at any time during the last 300 days that the reactor has been shut down," said James Riccio, senior analyst for Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. "However, it appears that NRC senior managers were more concerned with restarting the reactor than ensuring that the public will be protected in the event of an accident."
When conducting an emergency drill, plant workers must practice the steps they would take to evacuate nearby towns in the event of a nuclear accident. NRC regulations require such drills to be done every two years. However, the last time such a drill was performed at Indian Point 2 was June 1998. Other groups signing on to the petition include the Citizens Awareness Network, Environmental Advocates, Nuclear Information & Resource Service, PACE Law School Energy Project and the Union of Concerned Scientists.
1/13/01
12:04:22 PM
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE (ENS) http://ens-news.com
"We Cover the Earth For You"
UNEP: GREEN ENERGY COULD SAVE CLIMATE, FORESTS, WILDLIFE
PARIS, France, January 10, 2001 - Accelerating the introduction of environmentally friendly energy such as solar, wind and wave power is one of the most pressing issues of the new millennium, the head of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) will tell a meeting of the G-8 countries on renewable energy today.
For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-10-01.html
EPA LOWERS LEAD REPORTING THRESHOLD
WASHINGTON, DC, January 10, 2001 - Americans may soon be able to find out more about the amounts and sources of toxic lead emitted into their communities near homes, schools and playgrounds. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this week proposed a new rule that will expand the information available to the public about lead emissions.
For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-10-15.html
BIOLOGICAL CONTROL CONQUERS BIBLICAL PLAGUE
By Andrew Darby
CANBERRA, Australia, January 10, 2001 (ENS) - The plague locust is being halted in its devastating path. Evidence is emerging of successful biocontrol of the insects that have been the scourge of farmers and agro-industrialists since biblical times.
For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-10-02.html
GREECE STARTS TO PAY HUGE TOXIC WASTE DUMP FINE
BRUSSELS, Belgium, January 10, 2001 (ENS) - Greece has finally begun paying the first ever fine imposed by the European Union on one of its member states, an official of the European Commission's environment directorate told Members of the European Parliament in Brussels Tuesday.
For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-10-03.html
CAMPAIGN GROWS AGAINST INDIA BOUND MERCURY SHIPMENT
By Neville Judd
BANGOR, Maine, January 10, 2000 (ENS) - Maine's worst mercury polluter is proving to be as controversial in liquidation as when the company was manufacturing caustic soda and chlorine from its Orrington plant on the Penobscot River.
For full text and graphics, visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-10-10.html
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: JANUARY 10, 2001
Look Alike Fish May Get Special Protection
Ford Plans Higher Mileage Explorer SUV
$10.9 Million Supports Energy Efficient Research
U.S. Aids in Vietnamese River, Flood Forecasts
Yellow-Billed Cuckoo Reviewed for Possible Endangered Listing
Lawsuit Threatened Over Bison, Eagles
Luxury Resort to be Powered by Solar Energy
Winter Wonderlands at National Wildlife Refuges
For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2001/2001L-01-10-09.html
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dole Food Co. Inc. to Offer Organic Bananas
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. Jan. 4 -/E-Wire/-- Dole Fresh Fruit Co., a subsidiary of Dole Food Co. Inc. (NYSE:DOL - news), today announced that it will begin offering certified organic bananas to consumers beginning in January 2001.
/CONTACT: Dole Food Co. Inc., Westlake Village, Marta Maitles, 818/874-4956
/Web site: www.dole.com
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/10Jan0105.html
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GreenMan Technologies, Inc. Announces Commitment Letter for New $7 Million Credit Facility With Coast Business Credit
LYNNFIELD, Mass., Jan. 9 -/E-Wire/ -- GreenMan Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB:GMTI - news; BSE:GMY) today announced that it has executed a commitment letter with Coast Business Credit, a division of Southern Pacific Bank, for a five-year, $7 million credit facility. The new credit facility includes a $4 million working capital line of credit and approximately $3 million of term debt, with $1 million earmarked to be utilized for implementing GreenMan's first waste wire processing equipment line. The transaction is anticipated to be completed on or before January 31, 2001.
/CONTACT: GreenMan Technologies Bob Davis, CEO or Chuck Coppa, CFO 781-224-2411
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/10Jan0106.html
TO SCIENCE, ENVIRONMENTAL AND NATIONAL EDITORS:
Nearly 2000 Scientists to Attend American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting
WASHINGTON, DC, Jan. 10 -/E-Wire/-- Atmospheric effects of large forest fires like New Mexico's Los Alamos disastrous blaze last spring, the socio-economic impact of heavy precipitation in the United States and a look at advancements in weather forecasting in the future are among the topics to be discussed during the 81st annual meeting of the American Meteorological Society (AMS), which opens in Albuquerque, N.M. next week.
/CONTACT: Stephanie Kenitzer of American Meteorological Society, 202-682-9006, or 410-672-6750, or kenitzer@mindspring.com/
/Web site: http://www.ametsoc.org/ams/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/10Jan0104.html
TO ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:
Video Series to Focus on Maritime Environmental Issues
NEW ORLEANS, LA, Jan. 10, -/E-Wire/-- The Maritime Environmental Resources & Information Center (MERIC) has begun pre-production on a 4-part video series dealing with environmental regulations and their impacts on U.S. shipbuilding.
/CONTACT: Dr. Kenneth McManis, Executive Director at 504.280-6668/
/Web site: http://www.uno.edu~engr/meric/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/10Jan0103.html
TO BUSINESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:
Environmental Certification for Entire Skanska Group
STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Jan. 10 -/E-Wire/-- All of Skanska's operations - from head office to subsidiaries - have now introduced environmental management systems that are certified in accordance with the international standard ISO 14001. Skanska is the first global company in the construction-related services and project development sector to environmentally certify all operations within the entire group.
/CONTACT: Skanska AB, Axel Wenblad, +46 8 753 8998/
/Web site: http://www.skanska.com/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/10Jan0102.html
TO BUSINES AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:
Shell to Receive 2001 World Environment Center Gold Medal for International Corporate Environmental Achievement
NEW YORK, NY, Jan. 10 -/E-Wire/-- The World Environment Center's Seventeenth Annual WEC Gold Medal for International Corporate Environmental Achievement has been awarded to Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies ("Shell"). The WEC Gold Medal is awarded by an independent Jury of distinguished international environmental experts to a corporation that demonstrates preeminent industry leadership and contributes to worldwide environmental quality.
/CONTACT: Isaac Skelton, Program Manager of World Environment Center, 212-683-4700, ext. 241, isaac@wec.org; or Mike Hogan, Head of Media Relations, +44-0-207-934-6238, Mike.A.Hogan@si.shell.com, or Kitty Borah, Media Relations, 713-241-4654, both of Shell/
/Web site: http://www.wec.org/wecgm.htm/
For Full Text Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Jan01/10Jan0101.html
1/13/01
12:00:32 PM
FAIR-L Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting Media analysis, critiques and news reports
MEDIA ADVISORY: Depleted Coverage of NATO's Depleted Uranium Weapons
January 10, 2001
Concern has been mounting rapidly throughout Europe over the effects of depleted uranium (DU) munitions used by NATO in Bosnia and Yugoslavia during the 1994-95 and 1999 wars. At least 12 soldiers-- six Italian, five Belgian and one Portuguese-- who served in the Balkans have died of leukemia or other forms of cancer; several Italian, Spanish, French and Dutch soldiers are being treated for cancer; and several other European countries are currently testing their soldiers for signs of illness.
Other soldiers and aid workers have experienced symptoms including "chronic fatigue, hair loss and various types of cancer" (New York Times, 1/7/01), ailments which have collectively come to be known as "Balkans War Syndrome," much like Gulf War Syndrome.
Italy, Belgium, France, Portugal and Germany have all demanded that NATO conduct a thorough investigation into the health and environmental impacts of DU, and have expressed distrust of Pentagon and NATO reassurances (Agence France Presse, 1/8/01). Reports in the European press suggest that the situation is causing serious divisions within the alliance, with the conservative London Times asserting that the soldiers' "Deaths Threaten the Unity of Nato" (1/6/01). Germany has called on NATO to ban the toxic and radioactive metal (The Independent, 1/9/01), while the United Nations' war crimes tribunal has offered to make available all relevant records on the Kosovo war, raising the question of the legality of NATO's use of DU (Agence France Presse, 1/8/01).
Since the new year, stories about the DU controversy have been running almost daily in every major British newspaper, with the Guardian (1/8/01) and Independent (1/6/01) each running editorials calling for a NATO investigation into DU's health effects. Altogether, the London Independent has run 14 original articles; the London Times has run 12; the Daily Telegraph has run 10; and the Guardian and its Sunday paper, the Observer, have run eight.
Meanwhile, in the U.S.-- the country most responsible by far for DU contamination-- newspapers have relegated most of their coverage to news briefs and short wire stories. The only U.S. newspaper in the Nexis media database to have run an editorial on the current controversy is the Seattle Times (1/6/01). Big picture questions about the extensive use of DU since the Gulf War, its lasting impact on civilian populations and the record of official deception around DU have been largely ignored in both print and broadcast reports.
Apart from small wire stories, the New York Times has run only three original pieces on the current DU controversy. The Washington Post and Chicago Tribune have each run two original stories on the topic, while the Los Angeles Times, USA Today and Christian Science Monitor have run one apiece.
Besides a sprinkling of news briefs and short wire service stories in papers across the country (one of the most widely used was the Associated Press' January 5 piece noting "many medical experts" who are "skeptical" of DU's dangers), these few articles represent the extent of U.S. print coverage of the current controversy.
Television coverage has also been limited. CNN has aired two reports on DU (1/7/01, 1/10/01), while the three networks' evening news broadcasts each did one story (NBC, 1/7/01; ABC, 1/8/01; CBS, 1/8/01).
Only three of the mainstream U.S. media reports about the current controversy have referred in any detail to the parallels between Balkans War Syndrome and the illnesses alleged to have resulted from use of DU during the Gulf War-- the Los Angeles Times article (1/6/01, which also ran the next day in Newsday), one Chicago Tribune article (1/9/01) and the Christian Science Monitor's excellent January 9 piece. Though richer in background than other U.S. reports, neither the L.A. Times nor the Tribune articles addressed the growing evidence that the U.S. military has long known about and attempted to conceal the dangers of DU. (For more information on this point, see the resources listed below.)
Nor was the larger question about DU raised: Is it legal? In a December 18 draft recommendation that went largely unremarked, the Environment Committee of the Council of Europe found that during the Kosovo war, NATO countries violated provisions of the Geneva Conventions intended to limit environmental damage.
Among other things, the committee cited "the use of depleted uranium in warheads" as a violation that had "dramatically worsened" Yugoslavia's environment "with long-lasting effects on the health and quality of life for future generations." The committee further found that this damage "can be presumed to have been deliberate."
According to a search of the Nexis database, no major U.S. newspaper, magazine, television show or wire service has reported on the COE's suggestion that NATO countries deliberately violated international law.
Despite questions raised by veterans, health researchers and international organizations like the UN, NATO's use of DU in Kosovo has received almost no sustained media attention, either during or after the war. One wartime report on ABC's Nightline (4/1/99) criticized Serbian state media's coverage of the conflict, highlighting what it described as "this astonishing claim" from a Belgrade news report: "They [NATO forces] even use radioactive weapons...which are forbidden by the Geneva Convention."
Astonishing, perhaps, but true; at the time, the Pentagon had already admitted using DU in Kosovo. As for the possibility that NATO violated the Geneva Conventions, ABC has never returned to it.
For more information about depleted uranium, see:
The Military Toxics Project's page on DU: http://www.miltoxproj.org/DU/DU_Titlepage/DU_Titlepage.htm
The National Gulf War Resources Center's DU Link: http://www.ngwrc.org/Dulink/du_link.htm
See also FAIR's April 1999 alert on DU in Kosovo: http://www.fair.org/activism/depleted-uranium.html
1/13/01
11:59:01 AM
2 "Clearly Bizarre" Planetary Systems Found In Orbits Of Distant Stars
http://news.excite.com/news/ap/010109/18/new-worlds Planet Hunters Find Bizarre Worlds
Updated 6:50 PM ET January 9, 2001 By PAUL RECER, AP Science Writer SAN DIEGO (AP) - Two "clearly bizarre" planetary systems found in the orbits of distant stars are puzzling astronomers and raising new questions about how planets form.
Planet hunters at the University of California, Berkeley reported Tuesday that a star 123 light years away is being circled by two objects, one of which may the biggest planet ever found outside the solar system. Around another star, the astronomers found two planets moving in lockstep, gravitational harmony.
The astronomers announced their discoveries at the national meeting of the American Astronomical Society.
Geoffrey Marcy, leader of the planet-searching team, said a star called HD168443 is being circled by a planet about 17 times more massive than Jupiter. It is by far the largest planetary-like object yet found beyond the solar system.
"This is more massive than a planet and it defies the conventional definition for a planet," said Marcy.
The object is big enough to be called a brown dwarf, which is sometimes called a "failed star." Brown dwarfs are usually defined as stellar objects that did not collect enough mass to ignite the nuclear fires that causes a star to shine. Generally, an object must acquire a mass greater than 13 times that of Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, to start the fires burning. Yet, the object orbiting HD168443 is larger.
"We have never seen anything like this," said Paul Butler, a Carnegie Institution of Washington astronomer who is a member of the planet-hunting team. "To call it a brown dwarf sweeps the mystery under the rug. It is a mystery system."
"This defies explanation," said Marcy. "We don't know if it is a brown dwarf or some type of hybrid."
The team has discovered more than 30 planets outside the solar system. Other teams have found about 20 additional ones. Most such planets are two to three times more massive than Jupiter. No Earth-sized planets have been found.
"This is one of the most exciting discoveries yet," said Douglas N. C. Lin, a planetary formation expert from the University of California, Santa Cruz, who is not a member of the Marcy team. "This discovery has profound theoretical implications."
Although the planetary object is 17 times more massive than Jupiter, Lin said, "it is possible that it formed in the same way that Jupiter formed in our solar system."
Planets are thought to form by gravitationally attracting gas and dust in a cloud surrounding a developing star. But planets that become too large can destabilize a planetary system. Butler said the HD168443 system is "extremely stable."
Marcy said a second planet in the HD168443 system has seven times the mass of Jupiter and orbits closer to the central star. He said both planets are probably huge gas balls, much like Jupiter and Saturn.
"If you could fly a space ship by it, you would see an object very much like our Jupiter," he said.
The second discovery announced Tuesday is of two smaller planets in closely linked orbits around a star called Gliese 876, a small star 15 light years from Earth.
Debra Fischer, a member of the Marcy team, said one planet is about half the mass of Jupiter and the other is 1.9 times more massive.
Fischer said the planets are gravitationally locked in a what is called a resonate orbit. One circles the star every 30 days, and the other takes 60, forming a near perfect 2-to-1 ratio.
"We don't know how they could have gotten into that configuration," said Marcy.
"These two resonate planets seem to be humming in harmony," said Fischer. "They are like two harmonic notes on a stringed instrument."
Lin said that once such planets are in resonance, they "move as a pair," responding to the gravitational tug of the companion.
On the Net:
Extra solar planets: http://www.exoplanets.org
1/13/01
11:56:24 AM
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS & RIBBON PROJECT
FIRST ITEM - CALL FOR LITERARY SUBMISSIONS
EARTH ARTS Performance & Productions, Seattle, WA, is seeking submissions of original work in three categories--poetry, drama, short fiction--for a new anthology to be published between late Spring & mid Summer, 2001. The title of the colleciton will be PRIMITIVE SANITY: A Global Anthology of Green, Ecosophic & Creation Spirituality Writing for the New Millennium. The volume will be edited by Seattle Playwright David Sparenberg, author of PLAYING WITH PURPOSE: dramas & ritual performances for a green theater. Interested persons can preview this title through the Author's Page at www.xlibris.com/PlayingWithPurpose.html.
Further information on the anthology can be obtained by going to the following web page: http://hometown.aol.com/nwrenaissance/myhomepage/books.html, or by sending a self addressed stamped envelope to Renaissance c/o Earth Arts, 4213 S. Lucile St. Seattle, WA 98118 USA.
Cut off date for submission is March 1, 2001. Early submissions are encouraged. There is a $15 reading fee (US$), payable to Earth Arts, for each cagegory in which submissions are made. Poets may submit up to 15 pages of original work. Story authors may submit one or more titles, up to 20 pages. Playwrights may submit one or more one act dramas or dramatic skits, up to 25 pages.
SECOND ITEM - RIBBON PROJECT
HELP END THE CANCER EPIDEMIC THROUGH ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION!
You are invited to learn about the RIBBON PROJECT--the People's Campaign for Cancer Prevention & Cure--by going to the following web page: http://hometown.aol.com/ribbonproject/myhomepage/memorial.html.
If you appreciate what you read there, please tell others and create a link. Your help will add to the success of this project of compassion, healing and planetary detoxification.
Also, you might want to check out the Author's Page for the recently published PLAYING WITH PURPOSE: www.xlibris.com/PlayingWithPurpose.html and www.xlibris.com/David Sparenberg.html. The book contains work for the theater, including two plays dealing with cancer as an environmental epidemic. The second of these two combines the cancer theme with the WTO protests in Seattle last year and premiered on Earth Day 2000. Purchasing the book will help support the Ribbon Project.
1/13/01
11:54:31 AM
THE OMAHA WORLD-HERALD
BILL TO LEGALIZE HEMP GROWING INTRODUCED AGAIN IN LEGISLATURE
By Jake Bleed
LINCOLN -- The Nebraska Legislature may take another look at legalizing the growing of industrial hemp a year after time ran out on a similar bill.
Sen. Ed Schrock of Elm Creek, who introduced Legislative Bill 273 Friday, said the bill was a copy of last year's, which was approved by the Agriculture Committee but failed to be adopted by the Legislature.
"There's no urgency on it because it's against (U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration) regulations," Schrock said, referring to the ban by the federal agency on the production of industrial hemp.
Schrock said members of this year's Agriculture Committee, except for one who was ill, co-sponsored the bill.
Despite the strong showing of support, Schrock said he expects some opposition in and out of the Legislature.
"I personally think most of that opposition will come from people who are not well informed," he said.
Passage of the bill would provide Nebraska with another cash crop, Schrock said. Three states - Minnesota, North Dakota and Hawaii - have adopted similar laws, Schrock said.
Schrock said that, unlike its widely known cousin, marijuana, industrial hemp cannot be used as a narcotic. (END)
Website: http://www.omaha.com/
1/13/01
11:51:36 AM
Environmental news from GRIST MAGAZINE
<http://www.gristmagazine.com>
1. SLOW DOWN, YOU MOVE TO FAST What do you do when you want to move fast but the way ahead is dark, maybe dangerous, and almost entirely unknown? Accelerate? Proceed with moderation? Slow way down? Stop? That question underlies most environmental regulations. For example, we aren't sure what pesticides are doing to ecosystems or ourselves. We have only a faint idea what rising greenhouse gas levels will do to the climate. So should we go ahead? How fast? U.S. policy has ranged from acceleration to moderation. Increasingly, though, other governments are saying it makes more sense to slow down or stop. Read more on the Grist Magazine website.
read it only in Grist Magazine: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure -- by Donella Meadows <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/citizen/citizen010901.stm>
2. HOLE LOTTA LOVE Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said earlier this week that the feds would research new ways to dispose of nuclear waste instead of incinerating the waste in southeastern Idaho. He formally accepted the recommendations of a panel that was appointed a year ago to study the matter after enviro groups, ski bums, Harrison Ford, and others in Jackson Hole, Wyo., raised a stink about the incineration plans in nearby Idaho. Berte Hirschfield, president of Keep Yellowstone Nuclear Free, said the movement not to incinerate nuclear waste should be expanded beyond Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana: "If incineration does not belong here, it does not belong anywhere."
straight to the source: Chicago Tribune, Judith Graham, 09 Jan 2001 <http://www.chicago.tribune.com/news/nationworld/article/0,2669,SAV-01 01090256,FF.html>
straight to the source: Billings Gazette, Associated Press, 09 Jan 2001 <http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?section=wyoming&display=cont ent/wyoming/1energy.inc>
3. HONKLESS KONG Hong Kong plans to create car-free zones in parts of its central business district to improve the city's air quality. Just this week, high pollution levels prompted government officials to urge people with respiratory and heart problems to stay indoors. Late last year, the city legislature more than doubled the penalty placed on dirty cars to $128. Elsewhere on the Hong Kong enviro radar, the city's high court sided with the government and ruled yesterday that a 145-acre valley that is home to more than 70 species of dragonflies should be kept off-limits to development.
straight to the source: CNN.com, Reuters, 08 Jan 2001 <http://www.cnn.com/2001/NATURE/01/08/environment.hongkong.reut/index.html>
straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, 09 Jan 2001 <http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9477>
4. TURTLE DOVE A T-shirt sparked Kris Williams's passion for saving turtles on Georgia's Wassaw Island. The so-called Turtle Babe is head of the Caretta Research Project, a shoestring effort that is the oldest turtle conservation project in North America. Read more on the Grist Magazine website. In other turtle news, it seems that Williams's counterparts in India have their work cut out for them. Despite government protections, about 2,000 Olive Ridley sea turtles trying to nest on India's eastern Orissa coast have been killed by fishing nets and fishers this season.
read it only in Grist Magazine: Saving sea turtles in Georgia -- in our Out on a Limb section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/limb/limb120100.stm>
straight to the source: Nando Times, Associated Press, Archana Mishra, 07 Jan 2001 <http://www.nandotimes.com/healthscience/story/0,1080,500297105-500473 654-503219956-0,00.html>
5. MARSHING TO THE BEAT OF A DIFFERENT DR