6/1/01
2:21:02 PM
The Nation
Today marks the eightieth anniversary of the Tulsa race riots of 1921 -- one of the most brutal instances of racial violence in the U.S. in the last century.
The violence began on Memorial Day 1921, in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma, a boomtown flush with oil money, and by the time the three-day massacre was complete, a well-armed white mob, some of them deputized by the police department, had trashed Tulsa's prosperous black neighborhood, Greenwood ("the black Wall Street"), had razed thirty-six square blocks, had burned more than 3,000 homes to the ground and had killed as many as 300 people, many of whom were buried in mass graves or simply dumped anonymously into the Arkansas River.
The Nation sent Walter White to Tulsa to report on the aftermath of the riots in 1921. An acclaimed journalist and the future director of the NAACP, White came back with an essay that came to be considered one of the seminal accounts of the riots and which still makes for searing reading today.
To commemorate the eightieth anniversary of the Tulsa riots, we've collected White's article, a shorter editorial that the magazine published at the time, and a set of links to some of the scarce Internet-based resources devoted to forging a collective memory of the destruction of the black community in Tulsa in 1921. All available at:
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=archive&s=1921tulsa
You can also find a selection of new articles, editorials and columns from the June 18 issue of The Nation:
MOLLY IVINS: Shrub Flubs His Dub http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010618&s=ivins
ERIC FONER: Italy's "House of Freedoms" http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010618&s=foner
ERIC ALTERMAN: The Vandals Repeat Did Not Take The Handles http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010618&s=alterman
HILLARY FREY AND MIRANDA KENNEDY: Abortion On Trial http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010618&s=frey
LUCY KOMISAR: "After Dirty Air, Dirty Money" http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010618&s=komisar
ADAM SHATZ: The Battle of Algiers http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010618&s=shatz
MICAH L. SIFRY: Clean Elections at Stake (WEB ONLY) http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=special&s=sifry20010529
REMEMBERING JOE MOAKLEY:
In the latest installment of The Online Beat, John Nichols tells an instructive story about how a good congressman got the best of a bad system and was instrumental in the the fight to shut down the U.S. Army's notorious School of the Americas -- where generations of military thugs from El Salvador and other Latin American countries received their training in torture, er,"counter-insurgency" techniques.
Read this fascinating story currently at:
http://www.thenation.com/thebeat
NO RUSH TO JUDGES:
With the Bush Administration's conservative court-packing scheme clearly on the table, The Nation is urging people to launch a missive attack on majority leader Tom Daschle and the nine judiciary committee Democrats, demanding that they stand firm and block Bush's attempts to impose an overwhelming right-wing agenda on the nation's appellate bench for years to come.
Read "No Rush To Judges" for the full story on Bush's new US Circuit Court nominees at:
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010604&s=editors2
And please take a moment to blast off an informed letter imploring the appropriate Democrats to stiffen their resolve against Bush's appointments. You can choose a pre-written note that we've assembled or personalize your own missive to any or all of the committee members. You can find the letter and contact info at:
http://www.thenation.com/alert/actnow/
THE PACIFICA CRISIS:
Check out The Nation's collection of editorials, columns, articles and web-only features on the continuing troubles at the Pacifica Radio Network. With contributions from Robert McChesney, Lyn Gerry and Edward Herman, John Dinges, Marc Cooper and Mumia Abu-Jamal, and letters from Mary Frances Berry, Dennis Bernstein and Bill Mandel, among many others.
http://www.thenation.com/special/2001pacifica.mhtml
RECENT NATION ARTICLES:
And also still available are numerous recent articles of interest, including David Corn on James Jeffords; Bruce Shapiro on Timothy McVeigh; Jason Vest on the State Department's secret Andean war; Christopher Hitchens and Jonathan Schell on Bob Kerrey's war crimes; Maude Barlow on the FTAA protests; Eileen Stillwaggon on AIDS and poverty in Africa; Amy Bach on problems with indigent defense; William Greider on global sweatshops; and Eric Alterman, Alec Dubro and Peter Kornbluh on tainted Bush appointee Otto Reich. All accessible at:
6/1/01
2:14:18 PM
Planet Ark World Environment News
Bush picks "pariah of Marcus," Iowa for ag post - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11033
FEATURE - Skyscrapers turn out lights to save migrating birds - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11027
Judge dismisses Indians suits against Texaco - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11029
New Hampshire proposes MTBE-free RFG alternative - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11030
UK warned of nuclear terror threat at new plant - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11039
Environmentalists say UK parties ignore them - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11036
UK shops mistaken to drop GM food - industrialist - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11034
IEA says spray can propellant could be future fuel - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11025
FEATURE - Thai king promotes home-grown green palm fuels - THAILAND http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11040
FEATURE - Tough Swaziland laws deter rhino poachers - SWAZILAND http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11042
North Atlantic wild salmon on brink of extinction - WWF - NORWAY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11028
India's electric vehicle makers seek govt help - INDIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11026
UPDATE - E.ON says to end power deal with CEZ - GERMANY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11031
French minister proposes EU - wide "eco-tax" - FRANCE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11038
Italy wavering on climate change - EU diplomats - EU http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11035
Estonia looks to close environment on road to EU - ESTONIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11037
CORRECTED - Denmark to ratify Kyoto global warming treaty - DENMARK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11041
Radioactive water leaks in Czech n-plant - CZECH REPUBLIC http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11032
6/1/01
2:07:50 PM
Rachel.org
FLUORIDATION: TIME FOR A SECOND LOOK?
by Paul, Ellen and Michael Connett
In 1997 the union representing scientists, engineers and lawyers at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Washington, D.C., voted to support a California citizen initiative to stop fluoridation of public drinking water. In 1999 the union's vice-president released a paper explaining the union's opposition to fluoridation.[1]
Fluoridation is the practice of adding fluoride to the public water supply to reduce dental decay. U.S. fluoridation trials began in 1945 and by 1992 approximately 56% of the U.S. public received its water from fluoridated systems.[2]
Typically, fluoride-containing (or -generating) compounds are added to water to bring the level up to 1 milligram of fluoride ion per liter (1 part per million). In 1986 EPA set a Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for fluoride in drinking water at 4 ppm.[3] The MCL was based on only one adverse health effect: skeletal fluorosis, a crippling bone disease.
Fluoridation of public water supplies has stirred passionate debate for over 50 years. Now new data is refining the debate. It appears that some of the early claims for fluoridation's benefits were inflated. In recent years tooth decay has declined in both fluoridated and non-fluoridated communities. In fact, the largest U.S. survey indicates that the benefit to fluoridated communities amounts to 0.6 fewer decayed tooth surfaces per child, which is less than one percent of the tooth surfaces in a child's mouth.[4]
The public health community justified medicating whole communities via public drinking water using certain arguments that recent research has now shown to be false. For example, in 1945 scientists believed that fluoride had to be swallowed to be effective. However, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has recently acknowledged that fluoride's mechanism of action is primarily topical, not systemic.[5] This means that you don't need to swallow fluoride to reap its tiny benefits.
A second early belief, now known to be false, is that fluoride is an essential nutrient. There is no evidence of any disease related to fluoride deficiency. Natural levels of fluoride in human milk (0.01 ppm) are approximately a hundred times less than baby formula reconstituted with fluoridated water.[6]
A third early belief was that dental fluorosis (a defect of the tooth enamel caused by fluoride's interference with the growing tooth) would occur in only about 10% of the children drinking water fluoridated at 1 ppm and would occur only in its mildest form. Today fluorosis occurs on two or more teeth in 30% of children in areas where the water is fluoridated, and not all in its mildest form.[7]
A fourth early belief was that 1 ppm fluoride in drinking water provided an ample margin of safety against toxic effects. Not only is there no safety margin for dental fluorosis but there is growing evidence that there may be no safety margin for changes to bone structure and impacts on the brain, thyroid, and other soft tissues, especially when it is coupled with nutrient deficiencies, particularly iodide.
THE EVIDENCE
1) In 1998 the results of a long-term, low-dose rat study were published.[8] Two groups of rats were exposed to two different kinds of fluoride at 1 ppm in distilled water. A third group received only distilled water. Amyloid deposits (associated with Alzheimer's Disease and other forms of dementia) were elevated in the brains of both fluoridated groups compared to the control group. The authors speculate that fluoride enables aluminum to cross the blood-brain barrier.
2) Millions of people in India and China suffer a crippling bone disease called skeletal fluorosis, caused by moderate to high natural levels of fluoride (1.5 to 9 ppm) in their water.[9] Skeletal fluorosis has several stages of severity, with the less severe being chronic joint pain. "Because some of the clinical symptoms mimic arthritis, the first two clinical phases of skeletal fluorosis could be easily misdiagnosed."[3] Arthritis is now at epidemic levels in the U.S. Fluoride's plausible contribution has been ignored, but needs to be taken seriously.
3) Since fluoridation began in 1945 our exposure to other sources of fluoride has increased substantially. These include processing food and beverages with fluoridated water; air pollution from fluoride emitting industries; pesticide residues; vitamins; and dental products. If 1 ppm in drinking water were the only source of fluoride, the average person would ingest 2 milligrams (mg) of fluoride each day, though some may get less because they use bottled water, or they drink less water than the average adult. In 1991, the federal Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) estimated that the range of exposure in communities with approximately 1 ppm fluoride in the water was 1.58 to 6.6 mg per day.[10]
4) The dose of 1.58 to 6.6 mg per day overlaps the dose found to depress the functioning of the human thyroid gland. At 2.27 to 4.54 mg/day, fluoride has been found to "completely relieve" the symptoms of hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid).[11] With fluoride's known capacity to depress thyroid activity, it seems that there may be a link between current fluoride consumption and the prevalence of hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid). More than twenty million people in the U.S. receive treatment for thyroid problems and many others are thought to go undiagnosed.[12]
5) Fluoride is a hormone disrupter. It mimics the action of many water-soluble hormones by interacting with G proteins, which transmit hormonal messages across cell membranes.[13] Additionally, fluoride accumulates in the pineal gland and may reduce melatonin production.[14]
6) Fluoride (50-75 mg per day) given to osteoporosis patients to strengthen bones has actually increased their rate of hip fractures.[15,16] Of 18 studies conducted since 1990, 10 have found an association between water fluoridation and hip fractures in the elderly.[17] According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR): "If this effect is confirmed, it would mean that hip fracture in the elderly replaces dental fluorosis in children as the most sensitive endpoint of fluoride exposure."[18] Hip fracture is not a minor problem: in the U.S. up to 50,000 people die each year of osteoporosis-related hip fractures.[19]
7) Some evidence suggests that fluoride causes bone cancer in male rats and perhaps in young men.[20, 21]
8) A recent report by the Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility reviews studies showing that fluoride interferes with brain function in young animals and in children, reducing IQ.[22]
Most European countries have rejected fluoridation. Recognizing that there are simple and effective alternatives, they have applied the precautionary principle. Their children's teeth have not suffered as a consequence. Parents willing to expose their children to fluoride can simply purchase fluoridated toothpaste (which contains 1000 to 1500 ppm fluoride -- read the warning label on the package).[23] The American policy of giving fluoride to children by medicating whole communities with a potent drug that may harm some people seems a dubious practice at best. At worst it violates the primary principle of medical ethics: First do no harm. Furthermore, it violates the ethical principle of informed consent.
In May 2000 the Fluoride Action Network (FAN) was formed by a coalition of activists and scientists from 12 countries (see: http://www.fluoridealert.org). FAN's goal is to end fluoridation and minimize exposure to fluoride. FAN's founding members include the late David Brower; Teddy Goldsmith; Michael Colby; Gar Smith; Terri Swearingen; the union representing professional employees at EPA headquarters; and Dr. Hardy Limeback, Canada's leading dental authority on fluoridation who in 1999 apologized for having promoted fluoridation for 15 years.
We urge our colleagues working on public health and environmental issues to become involved and take a second look at fluoridation.
* Paul Connett is professor of chemistry at St. Lawrence University in Canton N.Y.; Ellen Connett is editor of WASTE NOT , 82 Judson, Canton N.Y. 13617; Michael Connett is FAN's webmaster <http://www.fluoridealert.org>
[1] J. William Hirzy, "Why the union representing U.S. EPA's professionals in Washington D.C. opposes fluoridation," WASTE NOT #448 ( May 1, 1999), pgs. 1-4. And see http://- www.fluoridation.com/epa2.htm.
[2] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Prevention Services, Division of Oral Health, "Water Supply Statistics" (Atlanta, Georgia: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1993). Available at http://www.cdc.gov/nohss/-FSSupplyStats.htm.
[3] Bette Hileman, "Fluoridation of water. Questions about health risks and benefits remain after more than 40 years," CHEMICAL & ENGINEERING NEWS Vol. 66 (August 1, 1988), pgs. 26-42. Available at http://www.fluoridealert.org/hileman.htm.
[4] J.A. Brunelle and J.P. Carlos, "Recent Trends in Dental Caries in U.S. Children and the Effect of Water Fluoridation," JOURNAL OF DENTAL RESEARCH Vol. 69, Special Issue (February 1990), pgs. 723-727 and discussion pgs. 820-823.
[5] Centers for Disease Control, "Achievements in Public Health, 1900-1999: Fluoridation of Drinking Water to Prevent Dental Caries," MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY WEEKLY REPORT Vol. 48, No. 41 (October 22, 1999), pgs. 933-940.
[6] C.J. Spak and others, "Fluoride in Human Milk," ACTA PAEDIATRICA SCANDINAVICA Vol. 72, No. 5 (September 1983), pgs. 699-701.
[7] Keith E. Heller and others, "Dental Caries and Dental Fluorosis at Varying Water Fluoride Concentrations," JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH DENTISTRY Vol. 57, No. 3 (Summer 1997), pgs. 136-143.
[8] Julie A. Varner and others, "Chronic administration of aluminum-fluoride and sodium-fluoride to rats in drinking water: alterations in neuronal and cerebrovascular integrity," BRAIN RESEARCH Vol. 784, No. 1-2 (February 1998), pgs. 284-298.
[9] S.S. Jolly and others, "Human Fluoride Intoxication in Punjab," Fluoride Vol, 4, No. 2 (1971), pgs. 64-79.
[10] Ad Hoc Subcommitttee on Fluoride of the Committee to Coordinate Environmental Health and Related Programs, Public Health Service, Department of Health and Human Services. REVIEW OF FLUORIDE: BENEFITS AND RISKS, REPORT OF THE AD HOC COMMITTEE ON FLUORIDE OF THE COMMITTEE TO COORDINATE ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND RELATED PROGRAMS (February 1991), pg. 17.
[11] Pierre-M. Galletti and Gustave Joyet, "Effect of fluorine on thyroidal iodine metabolism in hyperthyroidism," JOURNAL OF CLINICAL ENDOCRINOLOGY Vol. 18 (October 1958), pgs. 1102-1110.
[12] Beth Ann Ditkoff and Paul Lo Gerfo, THE THYROID GUIDE [ISBN 0060952601] (New York: Harper, 2000), cover notes.
[13] Anna Strunecka and J. Patocka, "Pharmacological and toxicological effects of aluminofluoride complexes." FLUORIDE Vol. 32, No. 4 (November 1999), pgs. 230-242.
[14] Jennifer Anne Luke, THE EFFECT OF FLUORIDE ON THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE PINEAL GLAND , Ph.D Thesis, University of Surrey, United Kingdom (1997). See also Jennifer Luke, "Fluoride Deposition in the Aged Human Pineal Gland," CARIES RESEARCH Vol. 35 (2001), pgs. 125-128.
[15] L.R. Hedlund and J.C. Gallagher, "Increased incidence of hip fracture in osteoporotic women treated with sodium fluoride," JOURNAL OF BONE MINERAL RESEARCH Vol. 4, No. 2 (April 1989), pgs. 223-225.
[16] B.L. Riggs and others, "Effect of fluoride treatment on the fracture rates in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis," NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE Vol. 322, No. 12 (March 22 1990), pgs. 802-809.
[17] Paul Connett and Michael Connett, "The Emperor Has No Clothes: A Critique of the CDC's Promotion of Fluoridation," WASTE NOT #468 (October 2000), pgs. 27-28. Available at http://- www.fluoridealert.org/cdc.htm.
[18] Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, TOXICOLOGICAL PROFILE FOR FLUORIDES, HYDROGEN FLUORIDE, AND FLUORINE (F) [ATSDR/TP-91/17]. (Atlanta, Ga.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, April 1993), pg. 57.
[19] K. Phipps, "Fluoride and bone health," JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH DENTISTRY Vol. 55, No. 1 (Winter 1995), pgs. 53-56.
[20] National Toxicology Program, TOXICOLOGY AND CARCINOGENESIS (December 1990). This NTP study is summarized in reference 10, pgs. 71-73.
[21] Perry D. Cohn, A BRIEF REPORT ON THE ASSOCIATION OF DRINKING WATER FLUORIDATION AND THE INCIDENCE OF OSTEOSARCOMA AMONG YOUNG MALES. (Trenton, N.J.: New Jersey Department of Health, November 8, 1992).
[22] Ted Schettler and others, IN HARM'S WAY: TOXIC THREATS TO CHILD DEVELOPMENT (Cambridge, Mass.: Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility [GBPSR] , May 2000). Available at http://www.igc.org/psr/ or from GBPSR in Cambridge, Mass.; telephone (617) 497-7440.
[23] Paul Connett and Ellen Connett, "The Fluoridation of Drinking Water: a house of cards waiting to fall. Part 1: The Science," WASTE NOT #373 (November 1996). See Table 2 pgs. 6-7.
Peter Montague, Editor
6/1/01
2:04:15 PM
Guayana's Rainforests Wilderness Threatened by Major Road Project
by IAN JAMES, Associated Press Writer
WOWETA, Guyana (AP) - The breeze rustles through a lone inga tree alongside the dirt road that crosses the savannah. Women hike past carrying baskets filled with cassava. Several times a day, a four-wheel-drive rumbles by, stirring a cloud of dust.
To the north are Guyana's immense rain forests. To the south are the vast grasslands of the Rupununi Savannah, stretching to the border with Brazil.
Soon all of this may become a blur outside the windows of passing cars and trucks.
Guyana is planning to pave the dirt road, building a two-lane highway to link its coastal city of Georgetown with northern Brazil. When the road is completed, it will open up the forested interior of Guyana and change the face of the region forever.
The prospect of a new road into some of South America's least spoiled wilderness has brought the global debate of progress-versus- protection to the sparsely populated region. The governments of Guyana and Brazil support the highway as a way to boost their economies by linking the Amazon with the Caribbean, while some environmentalists warn that the costs may be high.
Indigenous people living along the road have grown used to isolation, and some worry a new road could bring new problems. But many also say the highway could hold the key to their future.
In Woweta, a roadside village of 250 people where the grasslands meet the rain forest, 28-year-old Paulette Torres says she hopes the road might bring more customers to her mother, who sells Colgate toothpaste, Busta cola and other packaged goods from shelves set on her home's earthen floor.
"I want to make sure that mommy is in a better home," Torres said. "With the road completed, she might be able to expand her business."
The people of the savannah have grown accustomed to the inconvenience of remoteness.
When Torres gave birth to a daughter earlier this year, she had no choice but to endure the bumpy ride on the back of a motorcycle for two hours from the forest to the nearest medical clinic. With a new highway, she might have made the trip in half the time.
Guyana, with about 700,000 inhabitants living mainly along its coast, is the size of Idaho but has little more than half its population.
Some people in southern Guyana ride their bicycles for miles, spending as long as a day to travel to Brazil to buy supplies. The region's people, most of whom are indigenous, have been talking about the need for a highway for years.
But some environmentalists warn of problems, including a new influx of Brazilian gold miners, whose numbers in Guyana are already estimated at 12,000.
"Throughout the Amazon, roads have brought cultural degradation and land conflict," said Atossa Soltani of the group Amazon Watch, based in Topanga, Calif. "Those impacts can be devastating."
Nevertheless, powerful forces are uniting to support the road. Guyanese President Bharrat Jagdeo made its completion a cornerstone of his re-election campaign this year, saying the project will bring economic progress.
Brazil is finishing a paved road to the Takatu River, which forms the border between the two countries, and plans a bridge across to Guyana.
Brazil also has offered to raise much of the estimated $100 million needed to pave the 280-mile road from the border village of Lethem to Linden, a town south of Georgetown where the pavement now ends.
The highway would link Manaus, the largest city in the Brazilian Amazon, to a Caribbean port and would offer a shorter route for exporting cattle, lumber and other goods. The road also would help Brazilians set up businesses in Guyana to take advantage of preferential trade deals enjoyed within the Caribbean Community, and officials say it could benefit eight northern Brazilian states by bringing down retail prices.
A decade ago, Brazil loaned the former British colony $15 million to turn the old cattle trail into a graded dirt road. The improved road, finished by 1992, allows jeeps and heavy-duty trucks to travel from Lethem to Georgetown in less than 12 hours.
But in the rainy season, some stretches still turn to mud and become virtually impassable.
Goods brought to the savannah by truck can cost several times more than in Georgetown, while the average annual income in the region is only about $1,300. When people travel to the capital, they often go by truck and arrive covered in dust.
In the 1960s, before there was a passable road, regular flights brought food to the Rupununi from the coast. The sugar, flour and other goods were expensive due to high transportation costs, and people complained the government was neglecting their regionation and hardware store in Lethem.
Community leader Sydney Allicock said a new road is crucial for the region, where more than one in five is unemployed. With the road, the savannah could export cattle, cashews and mangoes and bring in more tourists, he said.
There is little economic activity now on the dry Rupununi Savannah, which extends for miles in a golden plain dotted with colossal ant hills and rough-leaved sandpaper trees. At dusk, giant anteaters can be seen foraging for food, and cattle roam across the largely fenceless range.
To the north, the road bisects the 890,000-acre Iwokrama Forest, a conservation area where jaguars are regularly spotted. David Cassells, Iwokrama's director general, said a plan is being prepared to manage the road's development and protect the forest.
But Patrick Williams, a program officer for the World Wildlife Fund, said he is concerned about what will happen if the government doesn't plan adequately.
"The road will open up vast areas of virgin forests to increased logging, mining, trapping and sport hunting," he said.
In 1995, the World Bank commissioned an assessment by a British consulting firm, Environmental Resources Management, which recommended some road work but said other improvements should be delayed until the government can "ensure orderly and sustainable development of the region's resources, protection of its inhabitants from exploitation, crime and other negative impacts."
Guyanese Works Minister Anthony Xavier said the government may ask the European Union for help in carrying out a new study of the road's impact on communities of Amerindians, as indigenous people are known here.
"They all said they can't wait to have it," Xavier said. "It will open up tremendous opportunities for us all."
But Jean La Rose, a leader of the Amerindian Peoples Association, said the government isn't listening to Amerindians' concerns - including crime, drugs, poaching and the potential loss of their lands as more people move into remote areas.
In the impoverished village of Toka, for instance, Amerindian leaders are worried outsiders may try to take away part of their land because the community's title doesn't include all of its 35-square-mile traditional area.
Villager Eugene Isaac said people agree they need the highway. But the government seems to be planning the road primarily for the benefit of "coastlanders," he said. "They're the ones who have the money."
6/1/01
2:03:07 PM
EcoNet News
Protect Tierra Del Fuego's Ancient Gondwana Forests
We are very eager to help environmental organizations in Chile and Argentina prevent the destruction of a unique, ancient forest in Tierra del Fuego. Please take a few moments to understand the significance of this forest, and then help convince Trillium Corporation to abandon its logging plan. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/991352066/index_html
Write to Stop Six Rivers / Trinity Timber Sale
The alert below, developed by Citizens for Better Forestry, addresses what I believe could be the most damaging timber sale to come along in Northwest California in a decade. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/991352191/index_html
Utah Wilderness Update 5/29
The Bush Administration's energy plan, released on May 17, is a grave threat to Utah wilderness and wild lands all over the West. It won't help consumers or reduce high energy prices, but will open up some of America's best wilderness areas, needlessly, to oil and gas drilling. We're asking folks to write to President George W. Bush and tell him NO WAY -- DON'T DRILL UTAH WILDERNESS! Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/991352493/index_html
Eagle Creek Timber Sales Hike and Alert!
Join us June 2 for a hike along the Old Baldy Trail between the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness and the Eagle Creek Roadless Area, currently threatened by logging. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/991352650/index_html
EcoNet Headlines: June 1, 2001
Global Dismay over U.S. Energy Plan
On 18 May, US President George Bush unveiled his energy plan, which was immediately condemned by friends and foes alike for being harmful to the global environment. Specifically, it will lead to further emissions of the polluting gases that cause global warming, as well as encourage nuclear energy. Coming so soon after the US pullout from the Kyoto Protocol, this marks a disaster for global efforts to reverse climate change. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/991352947/index_html
British Wind Farm Projects under Threat
The future of Britain's £4bn ($5.7bn) wind farm development programme is being threatened by Ministry of Defence concerns about the impact on radar and low flying aircraft, according to developers. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/991353085/index_html
Guayana's Rainforests Wilderness Threatened by Major Road Project
Guyana's government is pursuing construction of a sealed road that will open up one of the World's four remaining rainforest wildernesses - the vast areas of virgin forests in South America's southern Guianas - to increased logging, mining, and hunting. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/991353279/index_html
Activists for Rooting Out GM Crops in India
"Keep our agriculture free of genetic modification," demanded more than a hundred activists who recently joined hands to demand that genetically modified crop technology be rooted out from India. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/991353400/index_html
Latest on Pesticides in Britain's Foods
The Government's Pesticide Residues Committee today published its quarterly monitoring report, for July to September 2000. The results make depressing reading for anyone who wants to buy food free of risky chemicals. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/991353751/index_html
RACHEL: Time for a Second Look at Fluoridation?
The American policy of giving fluoride to children by medicating whole communities with a potent drug that may harm some people seems a dubious practice at best. At worst it violates the primary principle of medical ethics: First do no harm. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/991354133/index_html
GREEN: Idaho Leads ESA State Devolution
According to conservationists, "all the Western states" are "planning to develop endangered species offices and then ask Interior Secretary Gale Norton to devolve endangered species management to the states." Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/991354275/index_html
6/1/01
1:08:30 PM
UTNE WEB WATCH
The Best of the Alternative Web
MICHIGAN SEEMS LIKE A SCHEME TO ME NOW.
By Keith Schneider, Grist Magazine
Bush's buddy, Michigan Governor John Engler, may well be the president's avatar in terms of the country's twisted new environmental aims.
CULTURES OF CREATIVITY: CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF NOBEL PRIZES
The Kenyon Review and Stand
Looking for some certifiably good reading? Check out the latest issue of the Kenyon Review -- it's a compendium of essays, poetry and dialog of and about Nobel laureates.
CLUCK YOU: THE CHEMICALS IN YOUR POULTRY
by Janet Reynolds, Fairfax County Weekly
The antibiotics that farmers feed chickens to keep them healthy may hinder the effectiveness of the drugs you take to combat your next cold.
Links to the above articles: http://www.utne.com/webwatch
6/1/01
1:03:44 PM
Radioactive Waste "Recycling" Into the Free Market
by NIRS.org
Radioactive waste from the nuclear power industry and nuclear weapons contractors is being released into the general materials recycling stream and used to make everyday household items, building materials, and more. Standards are being developed which stand to dramatically increase the amount of radioactive material recycled into the marketplace. The U.S. Department of Energy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Transportation, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency, the European Commission and other nuclear nation’s governments and industries all have a role in radioactive "recycling."
The materials being "recycled" range from contaminated metals, concrete and plastic to asphalt and fill dirt. Once these materials enter the general recycling stream they are no longer traceable to their sources. In the absence of sophisticated, expensive detection capabilities and equipment, consumers will have no way of knowing which items may be contaminated; producers and workers will also be unaware if the materials they are working with are contaminated.
The potential impact on public health is enormous because there is no safe level of exposure to ionizing radiation. Low-level radiation damages tissues, cells, DNA and other vital molecules, causing programmed cell death (apoptosis), genetic mutations, cancers, leukemia, birth defects, and reproductive, immune and endocrine system disorders. Studies show that long-term exposure to low levels of ionizing radiation can be more dangerous than short-term exposures to high levels. The practice of releasing and reusing radioactively contaminated materials into general commerce will result in random poisoning.
Congressional interest in the practice has focused on setting standards to legitimize and facilitate the release of contaminated materials, rather than preventing radioactive release and "recycling." Government agencies are busy voluntarily codifying reuse of radiation-contaminated material and setting "acceptable" levels of radioactivity. This may be good for public relations, but it does not help public safety. Safe levels of ionizing radiation simply do not exist.
In 1992, Congress revoked similar policies that attempted to declare that certain levels of potential radiation exposure were "below regulatory concern." Current government efforts are dressing up the rejected "below regulatory concern" concept by applying the environmentally friendly sounding term "recycling."
Radioactive "Recycling" Update - from the Nuclear Monitor, Vol. 16 No. 1
DOT sneaks in codification of "BRC" or radioactive "release and recycling" levels, denying importance…
The US Department of Transportation published on February 1, 2001, its final rule on international radioactive transport, which exempts quantities and concentrations of hundreds of radionuclides from DOT regulatory control. The upshot is that DOT will no longer regulate international shipments into, out of or through the U.S. (if any leg of the journey is via waterway), if the shipper claims that the radioactive materials are less concentrated or in amounts less than those listed in the new rule. The exempt concentrations are the same as those that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) wants to use to "clear" or "release" radioactive wastes and materials into general commerce and recycling. Existing uniform international nuclear transport regulations that require labeling and regulation of radioactive materials are being changed around the world (with the US leading the way), to allow deregulated radioactive waste to move through commerce unimpeded and without public knowledge. The new regulations introduce the concept of exempt amounts of radioactivity per ‘consignment’ and increase exempt concentrations for most of the hundreds of radionuclides. In a few months the US DOT and US NRC plan to adopt the same or similar regulations for all domestic nuclear materials transportation and for international air transport. Internationally, the IAEA, through its affiliation with the United Nations and its transport organizations (International Maritime Organization and International Civil Aeronautics Organization), is working to get all UN member nations to adopt the standard (referred to as TS-R-1 or ST-1), which will open the doors between nations for international commerce in contaminated materials and consumer goods. If the exemption tables in the IAEA recommendations are adopted internationally, preventing the spread of contaminated household items and raw materials will be more difficult than it is now.
DOE still releasing contaminated materials but keeps moratorium on metals; begins EIS scoping
Although the Department of Energy (DOE) quietly continues to release and recycle some radioactive materials into general commerce, there has been a temporary halt, since 2000, on the release of potentially contaminated radioactive metal. An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is reportedly being developed by DOE’s Environmental Management Office to review some aspects of the DOE radioactive "release" and "recycling" policy. The scope of the EIS has not been announced yet. The DOE’s internal orders allow radioactive materials, including metals, to be released into regular garbage or recycled into commerce without public knowledge and/or meaningful record-keeping. Draft proposed changes to those orders would further codify the release of radioactive materials. DOE has a "Center for Excellence" in radioactive recycling based in and funded through the DOE at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, which has been facilitating the recycling into unrestricted commerce of "slightly contaminated" radioactive materials from throughout the DOE complex.
NRC hires National Academy of Sciences to provide "credibility" for radioactive materials release
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has hired the National Academy of Sciences to provide credibility and recommendations on streamlining the release of radioactive materials from regulatory control. The NRC currently allows radioactively contaminated materials to be released, reused, recycled, or otherwise treated as if they were not radioactive through provisions in licenses and case-by-case evaluations. States, like Tennessee, have given over a dozen permits to companies to "process" and release radioactive materials into regular commerce. So, as with DOE sites, commercial nuclear licensees can do either or both: 1) directly release some contaminated materials to commerce, recycling or unlicensed landfills; 2) send radioactive materials to processors to treat and then release into the marketplace. The NAS contract essentially has the NRC provide and summarize all documents and meet wice monthly to help NAS staff to put out the report. Since the public and environmental groups generally boycotted the NRC’s skewed process to set legal contamination levels, the National Academy of Sciences may need to hear directly from those parties over the next few months. – Diane D"Arrigo, February 2001
Contacts: --Hon. Norman Mineta, Secretary of Transportation
US Dept of Transportation, 400 Seventh St. SW, Washington, DC 20590
Hon. Spencer Abraham, Secretary of Energy, US Dept of Energy,
1000 Independence Ave SW, Washington, DC, 20585 The.Secretary@hq.doe.gov
Bruce Alberts, President, National Academy of Sciences,
2101 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington., DC, 20418 BAlberts@nas.edu
the public is invited to submit comments to NAS at the following url --
http://www4.nas.edu/webcr.nsf/ProjectScopeDisplay/BEES-J-00-02-A?OpenDocument
For more information contact Diane D’Arrigo, Nuclear Waste Project Director,
Nuclear Information & Resource Service (202)-328-0002 (x16)
6/1/01
12:46:23 PM
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE
"We Cover the Earth For You"
CALIFORNIA POWERS UP AT WARP SPEED
SACRAMENTO, California, May 31, 2001 (ENS) - California Governor Gray Davis announced the licensing approval Wednesday for a 530-megawatt addition to the existing Contra Costa Power Project by the California Energy Commission.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/may2001/2001L-05-31-03.html
GRASS CUTTING BEATS DRIVING IN MAKING AIR POLLUTION
STOCKHOLM, Sweden, May 29, 2001 (ENS) - The air pollution from cutting grass for an hour with a gasoline powered lawn mower is about the same as that from a 100 mile automobile ride, according to a new study from Sweden. The report, which the authors say is the first to compare lawn mower pollution with auto mileage, recommends using catalytic converters on mowers.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/may2001/2001L-05-31-06.html
ILL WINDS CARRY TOXIC DUST
PHOENIX, Arizona, May 31, 2001 (ENS) - Most residents of the parched southwestern United States accept dust as an unavoidable fact of desert life. The silty powder that settles from the air on to desktops, beneath beds, and into noses is viewed by many as nothing worse than a common annoyance. But, in recent years, dust has gone from being a benign nuisance to major health hazard, as scientists have discovered harmful chemicals and microorganisms hitching a ride on the airborne particles.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/may2001/2001L-05-31-07.html
SEA SHEPHERD BRAZIL DRAGS FISHING COMPANY INTO COURT
PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil, May 31, 2001 (ENS) - For the first time in Brazil's history, a non-governmental organization is taking a fishing company to court to collect damages on behalf of the fish and the marine environment.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/may2001/2001L-05-31-04.html
TROUBLES PILE UP FOR CANADIAN TITANIUM MINE IN KENYA
By Tom Osanjo
NAIROBI, Kenya, May 31, 3001 (ENS) - A Canadian mining company may lose its operating license to mine titanium if Kenyan members of parliament pass a motion seeking to establish whether it is operating according to international and local environmental standards.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/may2001/2001L-05-31-02.html
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: MAY 31, 2001
Bush Budget's Endangers Endangered Species Act
Scientists Monitor Global Air Pollution From Space
Environmental Groups Sue for Sierra Amphibian Protection
BLM Closes Surprise Canyon to Off Road Vehicles
Students' Legislation Would Require Lead Testing For Children
Factory Hog Farming Called Inhumane
Concert Offers Songsters for Songbirds
Georgia Protects Chickasawhatchee Swamp
Green Mountain Energy Donates 10,000 Trees
Science on the Beach in North Carolina
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/may2001/2001L-05-31-09.html
6/1/01
12:42:34 PM
How To Save 3/4 of US Electricity Use
Amory Lovins (founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute) estimates that three quarters of the electricity currently used in the United States can be eliminated by efficiency improvements, at an average cost less than one cent per kilowatt-hour. This chart is taken from Amory's Keynote Address, entitled "The Negawatt Revolution", delivered at the 1989 Green Energy Conference in Montreal (organized by CCNR). For a more complete description of the categories of energy savings itemized in this chart, and the techniques available for achieving those savings, please consult Amory's text.
http://ccnr.org/Lovins_figure_4.html
Rocky Mountain Institute http://www.RMI.org
6/1/01
12:15:03 PM
OurForests.org
We at the Heritage Forests Campaign would like to update you on the latest developments of our efforts to defend the Roadless Area Conservation Policy, which protects the last 31% of America's unspoiled National Forests from logging, mining and drilling. Working together, over 35,000 people just like you sent messages to the White House urging President Bush to uphold this important forest conservation policy. Thank you for taking action!
In early May, the Bush administration announced the forest conservation policy would take effect. HOWEVER, it also said that in June, the US Forest Service would begin a NEW rule-making process, which would allow further exemptions to the policy on a "forest-by-forest" basis, giving the timber industry a "blank check" to log on these precious lands.
Get the Facts on the Roadless Area Conservation Rule:
http://www.ourforests.org/forestfacts.html
There is already overwhelming citizen support for forest protection -- 1.6 million comments were delivered to the U.S. Forest Service last year, 95% of which favored protecting our last wild National Forests from logging mining and drilling. The Heritage Forests Campaign is actively preparing to build upon this support and to make sure the will of the American people is expressed in the upcoming rule-making process.
We will be in touch with you soon with more details on how you can join us in this effort to protect America's last unspoiled National Forests. Because once our forests are gone, they're gone forever.
For more information, please vist our website at:
5/31/01
5:50:08 PM
Something to remember: "The Ark was built by an amateur, the Titanic was built and operated by professionals."
5/31/01
5:32:25 PM
Earth Policy Institute Alert
Wind Power: The Missing Link In The Bush Energy Plan
By Lester R. Brown, President
The eagerly awaited Bush energy plan released on May 17, 2001, disappointed many people because it largely overlooked the potential contribution of raising energy efficiency. It also overlooked the enormous potential of wind power, which is likely to add more to U.S. generating capacity over the next 20 years than coal.
In short, the authors of the plan appear to be out of touch with what is happening in the world energy economy, fashioning an energy plan more appropriate for the early twentieth century rather than the early twenty-first century. They emphasized the role of coal, but world coal use peaked in 1996 and has declined some 11 percent since then as countries have turned away from this climate-disrupting fuel. Even China, which rivals the United States as a coal burning country, has reduced its coal use by 24 percent since 1996.
Meanwhile, world wind power use has multiplied nearly fourfold over the last five years, a growth rate matched only by the computer industry. In the United States, the American Wind Energy Association projects a staggering 60 percent growth in wind-generating capacity this year.
Wind power was once confined to California, but during the last three years, wind farms coming online in Minnesota, Iowa, Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, Oregon, and Pennsylvania have boosted U.S. capacity by half from 1,680 megawatts to 2,550 megawatts. The 1,500 or more megawatts to be added this year will be located in a dozen states. A 300-megawatt wind farm under construction on the Oregon/Washington border is currently the world's largest.
But this is only the beginning. The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) indicated in February that it wanted to buy 1,000 megawatts of wind-generating capacity and requested proposals. Much to its surprise, it received enough to build 2,600 megawatts of capacity in five states, with the potential of expanding these sites to over 4,000 megawatts. BPA, which may accept most of these proposals, expects to have at least one site online by the end of this year.
A 3,000-megawatt wind farm in the early planning stages in South Dakota, near the Iowa border, is 10 times the size of the Oregon/Washington wind farm. Named Rolling Thunder, this project, initiated by Dehlsen Associates and drawing on the leadership of Jim Dehlsen, a wind energy pioneer in California, is designed to feed power to the midwestern region around Chicago. This proposed project is not only large by wind power standards, it is one of the largest energy projects of any kind in the world today. Advances in wind turbine technology, drawing heavily from the aerospace industry, have lowered the cost of wind power from 38 cents per kilowatt hour in the early 1980s to 3 to 6 cents today depending on the wind site. Wind, now competitive with fossil fuels, is already cheaper in some locations than oil or gas-fired power. With major corporations, such as ABB, Shell International, and Enron plowing resources into this field, further cost cuts are in prospect.
Wind is a vast, worldwide source of energy. The U.S. Great Plains are the Saudi Arabia of wind power. Three wind-rich U.S. states-North Dakota, Kansas, and Texas-have enough harnessable wind to meet national electricity needs. China can double its existing generating capacity from wind alone. Densely populated Western Europe can supply all of its electricity needs from offshore wind power.
Today Denmark, the world leader in wind turbine technology and manufacture, is getting 15 percent of its electricity from wind power. For Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germany, it is 19 percent and, for some parts of the state, 75 percent. Spain's industrial state of Navarra, starting from scratch six years ago, now gets 24 percent of its electricity from wind.
As wind generating costs fall and as concern about climate change escalates, more and more countries are climbing onto the wind energy bandwagon. In December, France announced it will develop 5,000 megawatts of wind power by 2010. Also in December, Argentina announced a plan to develop 3,000 megawatts of wind power in Patagonia by 2010. In April, the United Kingdom accepted offshore bids for 1,500 megawatts of wind power. In May, a report from Beijing indicated that China plans to develop some 2,500 megawatts of wind power by 2005.
The growth in wind power is consistently outrunning earlier estimates. The European Wind Energy Association, which in 1996 had set a target of 40,000 megawatts for Europe in 2010, recently upped it to 60,000 megawatts. The Bush plan to add 393,000 megawatts of electricity nationwide by 2020 could be satisfied from wind alone. Money spent on wind-generated electricity tends to remain in the community, providing income, jobs, and tax revenue, bolstering local economies. One large advanced design wind turbine, occupying a quarter acre of land, can easily yield a farmer or rancher $2,000 in royalties per year while providing the community with $100,000 of electricity. U.S. farmers and ranchers, who own most of the wind rights in the country, are now joining environmentalists to lobby for development of this abundant alternative to fossil fuel.
Once we get cheap electricity from wind, we can use it to electrolyze water, producing hydrogen. Hydrogen is the fuel of choice for the new, highly efficient, fuel cell engine that every major automobile manufacturer is now working on. Daimler Chrysler plans to be on the market with fuel cell-powered cars in 2003. Ford, Toyota, and Honda will probably not be far behind. William Ford, Chairman of Ford Motor Company, says he expects to preside over the demise of the internal combustion engine.
Surplus wind power can be stored as hydrogen and used in fuel cells or gas turbines to generate electricity, leveling supply when winds are variable. Wind, once seen as a cornerstone of the new energy economy, may turn out to be its foundation. The wind meteorologist who analyzes wind regimes and identifies the best sites for wind farms will play a role in the new energy economy comparable to that of the petroleum geologist in the old energy economy.
With the advancing technologies for harnessing wind and powering motor vehicles with hydrogen, we can now see a future where farmers and ranchers can supply not only much of the country's electricity, but much of the hydrogen to fuel its fleet of automobiles as well. For the first time, the United States has the technology and resources to divorce itself from Middle Eastern oil.
In addition to neglecting the potential of wind, the Bush energy strategy pays only lip service to climate stabilization. This is a high-risk strategy. With business as usual, the International Panel on Climate Change recently projected a global temperature rise during this century of up to 6 degrees Celsius (10 degrees Fahrenheit). If this rise occurs, the rest of the world may hold the United States, the leading CO2 emitter, responsible. What the United States needs now is an energy plan for this century, one that takes into account not only recent technological advances in wind power, fuel cells, and hydrogen generators, but also the need to stabilize climate. Perhaps Congress will bring the energy plan into the twenty-first century and restore U.S. leadership in the fast-changing world energy economy.
Additional data and information sources at http://www.Earth-Policy.org Or contact Shane Ratterman at
5/31/01
3:12:17 PM
Solar Festival in Vermont
SolarFest: Energy Education Through the Arts is a homegrown 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to sustainable living. SolarFest's Seventh Annual Solar-Powered Music Festival and Sustainable Future Fair -- July 14 and 15, 2001, is a weekend celebration of the performing arts, renewable energy, and sustainable living, featuring over 25 performers on two solar-powered stages, Chelsea Green's Convocation of the Invisible Universe (presentations by their authors and friends), and over 16 workshops on renewable energy topics. There will also be over 25 sustainable future exhibitors, a singer/songwriter competition, story tellers, open mic, Frank Asch's Theater-in-the-woods, children's activity tent, solar site tours, food and craft vendors, and more. For complete performer and workshop descriptions, directions and ticket prices, please visit the website at
5/31/01
3:07:24 PM
Britain used DU in 1950s 'nuclear guinea pig' tests
SUNDAY HERALD [Glasgow]
By Rob Edwards Environment Editor
Tonnes of depleted uranium (DU), the toxic radioactive metal blamed for causing cancers in the Gulf and Balkan wars, were blasted into the environment by Britain's nuclear weapons tests in the Pacific and Australia in the 1950s, the Sunday Herald can reveal.
The disclosure has shocked veterans of the nuclear tests, who now suspect that DU may be implicated in the illnesses that many of them have suffered in the years since. And scientists are calling for the government to reopen its inquiry into the health of the 21,000 British servicemen who took part in the tests on Christmas Island and at Maralinga in the Australian desert.
'It beggars belief,' said Sheila Gray, the secretary of the British Nuclear Tests Veterans Association. 'They gave us the impression that DU had never been used before the Gulf war and now it turns out it was used in the 1950s. It's yet another hazard our men had to face.'
Last week the Sunday Herald revealed that the government had a top-secret plan, code-named Operation Lighthouse, to put hundreds of British and Australian troops 'as close as possible' to nuclear explosions at Maralinga in 1959 to test the effects of the bomb. On Wednesday, that prompted the Australian federal government to launch an inquiry into whether servicemen had been used as radiation guinea pigs.
Bruce Scott, the veterans affairs minister, was seeking an urgent briefing on 50 classified documents posted on the internet which outlined the planned operation. He is also investigating another disclosure by the Sunday Herald in April that two dozen soldiers tested protective clothing by crawling, marching or driving through a fall-out zone three days after a nuclear test at Maralinga in 1956.
The first confirmation that DU was present in the Pacific tests came in a private letter last month from the Ministry of Defence to a Scottish veteran from Fraserburgh, Bob Brown. 'There were quantities of depleted uranium used in the weapons tested at Christmas Island,' wrote an MoD officialfrom Whitehall. The official said that much of the DU would have been consumed in the nuclear explosion, but that some would have been shot upwards in a fireball and contained in the mushroom cloud. Brown, who was at Christmas Island in 1957 and 1958 and now chairs a veterans' research group known as G2, feared that DU could turn out to be the cause of much illness.
The uranium was wrapped around the core of bombs to boost their yield because it was cheap and available, said Brown. 'But they have kept it under wraps until now. I believe the MoD knew about the effects of the weapons, including DU, long before the Gulf war but they kept it quiet.' Evidence that DU was also used at Maralinga came in an e-mail to an Australian veteran, Major Alan Batchelor, from the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency. The agency's Geoff Williams said that more than eight tonnes of uranium was 'dispersed' by explosions at Maralinga. The British government had admitted that this consisted of 7.4 tonnes at Kuli, 47.3kg at Taranaki and the rest at a series of 'minor trials'.
The uranium, which included both the 235 and 238 isotopes, 'formed very fine particles under implosion'. According to Batchelor, the British bombs contained up to 20 times as much uranium as plutonium. 'These materials, when vaporised in the fireball, would condense out as finely divided invisible oxides of these metals, potentially lethal or capable of causing cancer in the lung, liver, kidney or blood-forming bone marrow.'
The uranium from a bomb would form much smaller particles than the DU from a shell and would be easier to inhale, argued Batchelor. If DU had harmed soldiers in the Gulf, he said, 'this could have been worse for servicemen working in areas close to ground zeros (the sites of nuclear explosions), and with no follow-up action would have gone unnoticed.' However, last week the MoD argued that there was no comparison between the DU used in armour-piercing shells during the Gulf and Balkan wars in the past decade and that exploded in nuclear tests during the 1950s. Except in the most extreme circumstances, the metal posed no significant threat to human health, a spokeswoman claimed. But Malcolm Hooper, emeritus professor of medicinal chemistry at the University of Sunderland, disagreed. 'You can't distribute small aerosol particles of DU and then deny there is a hazard,' he said. 'They are trying to belittle what is a serious problem.'
5/31/01
11:49:17 AM
MELTING GLACIERS SIGNAL GLOBAL WARMING
TEMPE, Arizona, May 29, 2001 (ENS) - New data on melting glaciers provides strong evidence that the global climate is warming.
For several years, evidence has been mounting that the global climate is getting warmer. But whether the unusual weather patterns - increasing temperatures, reduced snowfall and rising sea levels - are evidence of global warming or just passing blips in the earth's bumpy weather record continues to stir controversy.
Scientists studying climate change must be able to tease apart regional climate changes and short term weather fluctuations, such as El Nińo, from permanent changes that are happening worldwide.
Geologist Rick Wessels of Arizona State University is part of an international team of scientists studying the climate of the entire earth with the Global Land Ice Measurement from Space (GLIMS) project. The team, led by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientist Hugh Kieffer, is monitoring climate change by tracking the melting of glaciers across the earth.
In just seven months of monitoring, Wessels has already seen melting in glaciers all over Earth, which provides some solid evidence for global warming. Thousands of glaciers are melting, getting thinner or even disappearing, he said.
The flooding caused by runoff from these melting glaciers could have disastrous consequences.
Because the melting and retreat is occurring at such a rapid pace, Wessels and his colleagues think global warming is the most likely explanation for the loss of glacial ice.
"The majority of these glaciers are receding," Wessels said. "There is definitely a global climate change."
Wessels and co-author Jeff Kargel, a USGS geologist, will present the first round of results from this project in a talk titled "GLIMS: Documenting the Demise of the Earth's Glaciers using ASTER," at the Spring Meeting of the American Geophysical Union in Boston, May 29 to June 2.
5/31/01
11:47:06 AM
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE
"We Cover the Earth For You"
GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS TRADING MARKET EMERGES IN CHICAGO
CHICAGO, Illinois, May 30, 2001 (ENS) - The world's first emissions trading market for greenhouse gases is materializing in Chicago. A diverse group of 25 large corporations and nonprofit organizations has agreed to participate in the design phase of a voluntary pilot trading market, the Chicago Climate Exchange.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/may2001/2001L-05-30-02.html
BUSH SUPPORTS PROPOSAL TO CLEAR PARK AIR
WASHINGTON, DC, May 30, 2001 (ENS) - To clear the skies over American's national parks and wilderness areas, the Bush administration has decided to move forward with a proposed rule to help states take steps to control haze causing emissions from older power plants and industrial facilities. Environmental groups said they will wait to see what measures the administration proposes before offering their support.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/may2001/2001L-05-30-06.html
EUROPEAN LAWMAKERS WANT ELECTRONICS PRODUCERS TO HANDLE ORPHAN SCRAP
BRUSSELS, Belgium, May 30, 2001 (ENS) - Established electrical and electronic goods manufacturers will be forced to pay for recycling "orphan" waste equipment produced by untraceable companies under plans set to be agreed by environment ministers next month, an internal Council of Ministers document has revealed.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/may2001/2001L-05-30-03.html
SOUTH AFRICA LOOKS FOR HELP TO FUND MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR EARTH SUMMIT
CAPE TOWN, South Africa, May 30, 2001 (ENS) - The United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development scheduled to take place in Johannesburg, South Africa next September will cost more than 400 million rand, the equivalent of 50 million US$, a joint meeting of Parliament's two environmental affairs committees heard on Tuesday.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/may2001/2001L-05-30-04.html
BRAZIL'S INDIGENOUS PEOPLE RESIST LARGE RIVER MODIFICATIONS
BRASILIA, BRAZIL, May 30, 2001 (ENS) - Leaders of the Apinaje, Kraho, Xerente, Tapuia, and Karaja indigenous peoples gathered from May 24 to 28 at the Boto Velho village on the Bananal Island to discuss the impacts of large development projects on indigenous areas in the region.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/may2001/2001L-05-30-06.html
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: MAY 30, 2001
Energy Secretary Abraham Calls for Upgraded Electricity Grid
ExxonMobil Shareholders Hit with Giant Banner Drop
Kyoto's Global Warming Controls Could Harm Forests
Satellite Study Shows Vegetation Increases in North America
Satellites Help Map Urban Problems
Florida Nuke Plant Catches Dozens of Sea Turtles
Poaching Called Major Threat to Parrots
Fragmentation May Limit Songbird Sex Lives
Senator Daschle Recognized for River Protection
Washington State Taxpayers Pick Up Cleanup Tab
Pesticides, Pests Cut Back in Tempe School System
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/may2001/2001L-05-30-09.html
5/30/01
11:37:26 PM
This Week at TomPaine.com
ATOMIC BILL
O'Reilly Spins for Nuclear Power
Fox News Channel star Bill O'Reilly makes a big deal about sticking up for ordinary Americans. So how come he so strongly favors nuclear power?
O'Reilly says nuclear power is the cheapest energy for all of us - too bad he's using misleading numbers from the nuclear industry to "prove" his theory.
In fact, O'Reilly's estimate doesn't include the cost of building nuclear plants, which accounts for 60 percent of the total cost of nuclear power. Add this, and his cheapest-power theory crumbles. But O'Reilly also fails to tell his audience of the many other reasons nuclear power is a bad choice for ordinary Americans - the cost and risks are substantial, and ordinary Americans shoulder most of them.
READ THIS WEEK'S NEW YORK TIMES 'OP AD'
AND READ THESE OP AD FEATURES.
DON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN
Nuclear Power: Still Expensive, Still Dirty, Still Dangerous
By Karen Charman
http://www.tompaine.com/features/2001/05/29/8.html
THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY'S GROWING SAFETY PROBLEM
Beware of Aging Reactors, A Weak Regulator, and Vulnerability to Terrorists.
By David Lochbaum
http://www.tompaine.com/features/2001/05/29/7.html
NUCLEAR POWER: STILL A RAW DEAL
Why the Bush/Cheney Energy Plan Stinks
From the Nuclear Information and Resource Service
http://www.tompaine.com/features/2001/05/29/1.html
CLEAN, EFFICIENT, AND RADIATION FREE
Why Conservation and Renewable Energy are the Best Option
From the Safe Energy Communication Council
http://www.tompaine.com/features/2001/05/29/3.html
STILL A BAD IDEA
Poll Shows Americans Oppose Nuclear Power
From Safe Energy Communication Council
http://www.tompaine.com/features/2001/05/29/4.html
SILENCE OF THE MEDIA LAMBS
The Florida Election Story Never Told. by the U.S. Media.
By Greg Palast
http://www.tompaine.com/news/2001/05/24/index.html
SIMULATING DEMOCRACY
The World Bank Goes On Line, Using Cyberspace as a Refuge from Protestors.
By Norman Solomon
http://www.tompaine.com/news/2001/05/25/index.html
POVERTY COMES OUT OF THE CLOSET
The Mainstream Media Lacks the Appetite for Covering Poverty
By Naomi Klein
http://www.tompaine.com/opinion/2001/05/25/3.html
5/30/01
11:32:10 PM
Planet Ark World Environment News
UPDATE - Amid California sequoias, Bush talks environment - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11014
Environmental groups wary of US fuel economy panel - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11007
Denmark ratifies Kyoto global warming treaty - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11009
Bush energy plan faulted for ignoring human rights - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11012
Exxon shareholders defeat green, gay proposals - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11013
UPDATE - Alleged smuggler charged in Mexico border deaths - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11022
Report questions success of wetland restoration programs - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11017
US Energy Dept reviewing renewable fuels programs - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11018
El Paso moving ahead with Michigan power plant - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11019
UK animal rights activists lock selves on roof - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11021
INTERVIEW - Bush to hear about Kyoto decision in Spain - SPAIN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11024
Cars fouling Asian air but high-tech offers hope - SINGAPORE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11011
Pesticide firms seek Ethiopia toxic dumps audit - ITALY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11010
INTERVIEW - Pesticide waste disposal too slow - UN's Diouf - ITALY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11023
Ten soccer fields of land a day lost to roads - EU - EU http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11008
INTERVIEW - OCP confident it will build Ecuador pipeline - ECUADOR http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11016
Experts see long, tough birth for green certificates - DENMARK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11015
INTERVIEW - Brazil energy cuts should aim at heavy power users - BRAZIL http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11020
Weather slows oil clean-up off Bahamas - BAHAMAS http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11006
5/30/01
11:28:51 PM
This article is from the May 2001 issue of TOTAL WELLNESS, a monthly Newsletter by Dr. Sherry Rogers, M.D.
THE WORLD'S MOST VICIOUS MACC ATTACK
I started out nearly 30 years ago being poisoned by formaldehyde myself when we foam insulated the interior walls of our office. Little did I know how following recommendations for the latest advances in construction, superimposed on a lifetime of allergies and bad eating habits, would lead to the indescribable years of misery before I learned how to conquer and cure the resulting chemical sensitivities. Surprised to see that we were not alone, entire families who had been forced out of their homes into tents on their lawns in order to survive were coming in for treatment. Even household pets had rashes and vomiting. Because we were the first generation to suffer from urea foam formaldehyde insulation sensitivity, our ideas were often ostracized. Two decades later just about everybody knew that formaldehyde can mimic nearly every symptom as well as be a trigger for cancers. And by using up and depleting important detox nutrients, it and other chemicals potentiate the most common diseases like arteriosclerosis, cancer and premature aging. Now the only folks who deny the thousands of published scientific reports documenting the nightmare that chemicals have caused are those with a vested interest. The Gulf War veterans and those exposed to agent orange, and folks poisoned at work by pesticides and volatile hydrocarbons have been given a raw deal by those responsible who do not want to pay up. Even Government studies confirm that at least 90% of cancers are caused by diet and environment, and this statistic holds for all disease.
Up until now I never dreamed there could be anything worse than the chemical catastrophes we have experienced in this century, but I was wrong, for at least with chemical sensitivity you can find evidence for it's bioacumulation in the body, and get rid of it. On the other hand there is a newer plague that is nearly impossible to detect and it is irreversible. Worse, it causes an unmistakable, inescapable domino effect. GENETIC ENGINEERING is the culprit.
You probably were first aware of genetic engineering when I told you about Monsanto inserting genes from plants of unrelated species into the soybean plant to make it resistant to the potent herbicide, Roundup [glyphosate]. The Roundup resistant soybean seed can now be heavily sprayed with Roundup to kill weeds, and never damage the soybean. However, the beans do pack quite a wallop for those who ingest them because they are heavily contaminated with the toxic herbicide, Roundup. These genetically modified soybean products, which comprise about 80% of the beans available, have been found in most baby formulas including Carnation, Similac, Enfamil, Isomil, and Neocare as well as Doritos, Fritos, vegetable oils, soybean oil, margarine, and much more.
As well, one of the genes is from the petunia plant which is a nightshade.That means folks with nightshade-induced arthritis can now get arthritis from soybean products. When Monsanto inserted the Brazil nut gene into soy,folks allergic to Brazil nuts were suddenly anaphylaxis[serious life threatening reaction where one is not able to breathe] from soybean. They quickly removed the gene because the symptom was so dramatic.
Unfortunately, genetic engineering is not limited to a simple matter o trying to improve upon a few species of plant food. For when a gene from one species is placed in a wholly different animal or plant, you need a vector, or something that will carry that gene into the genetic factory of the unrelated organism. Oftentimes a VIRUS is used, since a virus is merely a piece of genetic material with a protein coat that is so small that it can easily "infect" other genetic material.
CANCER VIRUSES ARE DELIBERATELY INSERTED INTO YOUR FOOD
Cancer in chickens, often results from infection with the Rous Sarcoma virus. Hold your seat, for you'll probably find this as difficult to believe as I did. Scientists who make money for companies through genetic engineering have decided there is no problem with using this chicken cancer virus as a vector or carrier to implant the growth hormone gene into farmed fish so they will grow faster. The problem is that once inside the fish, this virus can persist and infect the next host, you, that eats that fish. Scientists glibly say that there is no danger here and can get away with it because the U.S Government does not require any testing or proof of the safety of genetically engineered foods. And the scary part is far from over.
LEUKEMIA virus in chicken has been used as a vector to carry genes, many of which are human, into developing poultry. In addition, a retrovirus was used as a virus vector in pigs to insert human fetal cells to grow aortas for transplantation into humans. These have led to infections in humans with the pig's retrovirus. Have they lost their minds and all ethics?
These viruses can also combine with one another to create new plant and animal diseases. And more important, foreign genetic material from these viruses can be absorbed through our intestines and become incorporated into the cells of our own bodies creating new diseases in us. Wow! What a sci-fi nightmare! Genes inserted into plants are put there to make them resistant to certain pests, pesticides, herbicides or antibiotics. But these vectors or gene transporters can also infect the bacteria and other organisms in our intestinal tracts. Creating a new antibiotic resistance in them. How would you like to be harboring Klebsiella or Candida in your gut that is resistant to all treatments? If that weren't enough of a problem, one of the most common genes inserted into plants is the Bt gene. Bt stands for Bacillus thuringiensis, a particular bacteria that secretes a toxin that kills many types of pests that infect plants. The problem is that this toxin, once inside some people makes them extremely ill. It can mimic the symptoms of nightshade s where you seemingly overnight have to crawl to the bathroom for days because of such sore body muscles and joints. As with a nightshade attack [November 1999 issue] days or weeks later it can end as precipitously as it began, baffling every physician. The Bt gene has been put in potatoes, corn and not only have soybeans become Roundup resistant but so has the sugar beet from which vitamin C powder can be made.
Genes have been put into tomatoes to change their ripening time, into cotton [used in junk food oil called vegetable oil, as on roasted nuts given out on airlines] to make that plant resistant to pesticides. Canola oil is another product of genetic engineering and should never be ingested.
In 1994 the U.S FDA approved the genetically engineered hormone rBGH which is a growth hormone designed to increase milk production in cows. This growth hormone caused increased mastitis and need for antibiotics [which go into the milk] and as well over 800 farmers using it reported adverse health problems in their cows. Monsanto, the developer, tried to bribe Health Canada Govt. officials with several million dollars to approve this hormone which is used by about a third of U.S. farmers.
The prestigious medical journal, Lancet [May 9,1998], shows that breast cancer is SEVEN times higher in women with tiny increases in growth hormone, Insulin like Growth Factor [IGF-1], which comes from cows injected with BGH. In January 1996 the International Journal of Health Sciences reported that IGF-1 concentrations are ten times higher in BGH milk and can be absorbed through our intestines and increase our risk of cancer. As well there is evidence that it has caused abnormal cysts on the thyroid gland and in the prostate gland and a myriad of other symptoms. There is no turning back. By forcing genes from one species to another entirely unrelated species, we are creating new entities. This is another example of the arrogance and ignorance of man when he thinks that he can one-up God and create an improved organism.
There are so many fallacies with this reasoning that over a dozen books have already been written to begin to collate much of the evidence against genetically modified organisms. The difficulty is that there are not enough people even aware of the problem to make a significant impact. By the time the damage is done it will be to late. It's not like cleaning up a lake from decades of pollution. Once we have [1] lost thousands of species of plants, [2] driven all small farmers out of business, [3] created Frankenstein foods, [4] super weeds resistant to all herbicides, [5] plants resistant to pesticides, [6] new viruses and new illnesses in humans, there will be no turning back.
You might be surprised as I was to find that there is no testing required even after these and many more facts have come to light. Genetically modified foods are already unavoidable and there is absolutely no labeling required. We are already eating genetically modified foods, as 60% of processed foods now contain at least one genetically modified food. A common snack might be chips with firefly gene or potato chips with chicken gene [watch out for leukemia and sarcoma, muscle cancer, virus genes]. Or perhaps you like salsa with tomato having a flounder gene. A common meal might include creamy broccoli soup with a bacteria gene and a salad made with canola oil, vegetable oil or soybean oil, all GMO products.
People like myself who are nightshade sensitive are really out of luck because the tobacco gene is used in lettuce and cucumbers and the petunia gene is used in soybeans and carrots. Folks with celiac disease might be fooled because walnuts can have the barley gene in them. And some foods like strawberries have "undisclosed genes" so all bets are off. Would we expect anything different from an industry that has carte blanche regulation-free control over our total food supply? You might think cheese is a safe food but they've genetically engineered bacterial rennet. Apple juice can have the silkworm gene and grapes can contain a virus gene. Well including trout, salmon, catfish, bass and even shrimp. In May of 1999, three giant multinational food companies announced they would no longer market genetically engineered foods or their ingredients in England, because the Limeys were smart enough to protest, so guess who will get the leftovers? U.S.
Proponents of GMO foods say they will lessen the amount of pesticides that must be used, but that is not true. Didn't we already fall for this line with the promise that new pesticides would reduce the need for others? First of all many of the toxins that plants have been genetically manipulated or forced to produce also kill beneficial things like ladybugs so that even more pesticides are needed to do the job that they would have done.These genes can also spread from the crops to the weeds making the weeds more resistant and stronger than ever, creating an epidemic of super weeds.
Also disturbing is a report that Monsanto's Roundup ready resistant GE soybeans have higher than normal levels of estrogen. Is this something we want for male babies growing up on soybean formula? As well, some of the viruses used as vectors for genes and inserted into plants to make them virus resistant can be combined with genetic material from another invading virus [as from a cold] forming a brand new more virulent virus and creating a new fatal epidemic that has never before been seen.
Clearly NAFTA has allowed our illegal "recycled" pesticides access to us, while our FDA and USDA cannot police what they already have on their plates, much less handle the billion dollar graft associated with genetic engineering that is so carefully documented in BEYOND EVOLUTION. The FDA has allowed Olestra into your foods, which has no proven ability to decrease the rampant obesity. But it does decrease you absorption of priceless nutrients like vitamin E, D, and K that are absolutely crucial in inhibiting the top two most common causes of death and disease, arteriosclerosis and cancer.
In the past we have talked about how many people are not "Better Through Chemistry" as DuPont's old motto suggested. Because many have lost loved ones to cancer and other diseases caused by environmental chemicals, they have become "bitter through chemistry". These chemicals are allowed in our air, food and water so that multinational corporations can make huge profits. Now with the wildfire spread of genetic engineering, small farms will fade into extinction as multinational agriculture and chemical corporations [MACC] gain control over all of your food.
Are you ready for the greatest MACC attack in the history of the world? Worse than chemical pollution ever thought of being, genetic pollution has the irreversible potential and probability of changing the very nature of all of or food and even our own genetics. As veterinarian, Michael W Fox, warns in his excellent and highly recommended book, BEYOND EVOLUTION [which details and references the dangers of GMO foods], our only chance to save ourselves and the future is with people power.
But uninformed people are powerless. Multinational corporations are changing our food and animals and they have free reign. They're not accountable to anyone since they do not have to label their foods and they are not required to do any safety testing. It is irreversible, unstoppable and has the capability of snowballing us into a veritable Jurassic Park.
You vote with your shopping basket and can make your voice heard by letting your legislators know that you want all genetically engineered food labeled and all engineering stopped until there are appropriate studies done on the long range human side effects and safety.
Recommended reading: Fox, Michael W BEYOND EVOLUTION, the Lyons Press, 123 W 18th New York, N. Y. - 10011 - Phone 212 620 9580
Cummins R Lilliston B. GENETICALLY ENGINEERED FOODS, A SELF DEFENSE GUIDE FOR CONSUMERS, available from Natural Lifestyles, 1 800 752 2775
5/30/01
11:25:58 PM
WHO'S RUNNING THE SHOW?
Here is a list of some of the biggest energy industry donors to the Republican party during Bush's campaign:
ENRON - $1,800,000.00
EXXON - $1,200,000.00
KOCH INDUSTRIES - $970,000.00
SOUTHERN POWER - $900,000.00
BP AMOCO - $800,000.00
LEHMAN BROTHERS - $808,000.00
EL PASO ENERGY - $787,000.00
CHEVRON OIL CORP - $780,000.00
RELIANT ENERGY - $642,000.00
TEXAS UTILITIES TXU - $635,000.00
Ever hear of Enron Corporation? They're America's Number One power trading team and they know you can't win the power game unless you play the political game and they're the champs. No one's given more money to the political campaigns of George W. Bush than Enron - let's go see if we can find their HQ... Oops! Houston, Texas!
Investigations are proceeding into profiteering by power traders during the California energy crisis and black-outs. The State of California has accused El Paso Corporation and Dynegy (both subsidaries of Enron Corp) of deliberately restricting the flow of natural gas through the pipeline from Texas CREATING an artificial shortage which caused prices to go up ten fold.
Who stands to profit from the artificially created "energy crisis" in the USA? Why has this "crisis" only occured since G W Bush took office? On December 14, 2000, President Clinton ordered an end to speculation in energy prices in California - which bit into the profits of El Paso and Dynegy... and Enron and Reliant too. But they were betting on another horse. Between them they gave $3.5 million to Bush and the Republicans.
Reliant told us "Frankly, we feel some candidate's philosophies will benefit the company, its stockholders, and its customers more than will others." Three days after his inauguation Bush swept away Clinton's anti-speculation orders. After Bush lifted controls Enron's profits jumped up by 87 million... not a bad return on political contributions of 1.8 million dollars.
Alcoa was facing a demand to cut emissions by 50%, that would have meant replacing the cheap and dirty lignite (the filthiest fuel you can burn) with clean but expensive natural gas. But within a month of passage of Bush's 'voluntary' pollution law, attorneys with the law firm pleading Alcoa's case to the regulators gave $170,000 to the Republican campaign.
Coincidence? Alcoa deny any link they told us they "exert no control over the legal and lobbying firms" they retain. According to Alcoa's own figures not switching to gas saved them $100 million.
Newsnight has discovered, deep in Bush's new budget, the million-dollar fund for civil enforcement to deter pollution will be axed. Law enforcement will be left to locals - and in Texas, the weak State watchdog is letting Alcoa open a new lignite pit 20 miles away.
Alcoa's former CEO Paul O'Neill is making new friends - Bush named him Secretary of the US Treasury - so O'Neill has to sell off his Alcoa shares - he'll get about $100 million. Alcoa made a $100,000 contribution to the Bush Cheney inaugural. They told us this was in honor of Paul O'Neill. He's also on Vice President Dick Cheney's "Energy Group."
Apart from Paul O'Neill, the committee includes Bush's Commerce Secretary Don Evans - he was CEO of Tom Brown Inc. a billion dollar oil and gas company, and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, a motor industry favorite - they gave him $700,000 last year... and of course Dick Cheney, the Vice President, former boss of Halliburton which builds nuclear power plants and is the world's largest oil services company. And what a coincidence.Today, the Cheney group recommended building more nukes, drilling more oil and burning more coal.
One of the first major pieces of legislation to go through Congress under President Bush is a bankruptcy bill that protects MBNA the largest manufacturer and seller of credit cards, citizens in this country can no longer write off credit card debt when they file for bankruptcy it was a key priority of Mr Cawley and his bank and he bet early and he bet often on our Governor would some day be in the White House and would some day be able to deliver on this favour. Wall Street analysts put MBNA's gain at $75 million PER YEAR!
I don't know what else to say. We'll keep digging, but this has to get out.
5/30/01
11:17:00 PM
For government to represent the interests of average citizens, politicians must first be liberated from having to depend on private interests to finance their electoral campaigns. Doing that means going far beyond anything envisioned in the watered-down McCain-Feingold bill currently sloshing its way through Congress, which closes the soft-money loophole while widening the hard-money pipeline. That's why a little-noticed storm going on right now in the state of Massachusetts is so important.
Read Micah Sifry's Nation web exclusive on the Massachusetts fight for Clean Money/Clean Elections, a referendum passed in 1998 by a margain of 2-1, calling for full public financing of candidates who agree to raise no public money. The problem is that funding still has to be appropriated by the Massachusetts Legislature, and that's where things are now bogged down. Still, this struggle raises hope for all those concerned about the corrupting power of money on politics.
For the full story, read:
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=special&s=sifry20010529
STOP THE NEW ARMS RACE:
Project Abolition, a coalition of numerous groups including The Nation Institute was founded in 1999 to increase public awareness of nuclear danger and to build grassroots support in the United States for the eventual elimination of all nuclear weapons.
Energized by the increasing threats of the new administration, PA is staging a rally in Washington, DC, on Sunday, June 10. Among the many speakers will be Nation Institute Fellow and renowned anti-nuclear writer and activist, Jonathan Schell. Please consider coming out for what should be the start of sustained pressure on the government to stem U.S. nuclear adventurism.
Lafayette Park (across from the White House) Washington, DC Sunday, June 10, 2:00 pm
For more information, including details on special activist and lobbying training being conducted by PA, call 401-276-0377 or go to:
And check out these two Nation pieces for background info on the new incarnation of "Star Wars" and for an astute analysis of the proposed missile defense shield - just one layer of a much larger scheme to "control" space and "dominate" the earth:
KARL GROSSMAN AND JUDITH LONG: Lost In Space June 4, 2001 http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010604&s=grossman
WILLIAM HARTUNG and MICHELLE CIARROCCA: Star Wars II: Here We Go Again June 19, 2000 http://past.thenation.com/issue/000619/0619hartung.shtml
THE BETRAYAL OF AMERICA:
The debacle of Election 2000 underscored for many people the urgency of fundamental electoral reform in the United States.
One of the most powerful voices making the case against the Supreme Court decision that put George W. Bush in the White House was a legendary prosecutor, previously known more for putting people behind bars than for progressive activism. But Vincent Bugliosi's explosive article "None Dare Call It Treason," published in the February 5, 2001 issue of The Nation, drew the largest outpouring of letters and e-mail in the magazine's 136-year history, tapping a deep reservoir of outrage.
The original essay has now been turned into a paperback book, backed by updates and amplifications and supplemented with introductory essays by famed attorney Gerry Spence and columnist Molly Ivins. Published by Nation Books, "The Betrayal of America" is very reasonably priced at $9.95. So buy a copy (or two or ten) today. They make great gifts and with Father's Day fast approaching, think about getting one for your outraged dad. You can order online via The Nation Books site at:
SHAPING THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA: FROM VOTER DISENFRANCHISEMENT TO A VOTERS' BILL OF RIGHTS
Also of interest is an upcoming "Pro-Democracy Convention" taking place from June 29 - July 1 at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Organized by the New York based Center for Constitutional Rights and co-sponsored by The Nation Institute, among many other groups, the event is being organized in response to the disenfranchisement of thousands, if not millions, of voters in the recent Presidential election.
The convention features speeches by Lani Guinier, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the Rev. Al Sharpton, Ron Daniels, Margaret Fung, Cheri Honkala and John Anderson, among many others, and includes a training institute for activists, informational sessions on a range of relevant issues and workshops for brainstorming and networking.
To register or for more information, go to:
RECENT NATION ARTICLES:
And also still available are numerous recent articles of interest, including The Nation editors on Bush's first 100 days; David Corn on James Jeffords; Jason Vest on the State Department's secret Andean war; Christopher Hitchens and Jonathan Schell on Bob Kerrey's alleged war crimes; Maude Barlow on the FTAA protests; Eileen Stillwaggon on AIDS and poverty in Africa; Amy Bach on problems with legal aid; William Greider on global sweatshops; and Eric Alterman, Alec Dubro and Peter Kornbluh on tainted Bush appointee Otto Reich. All accessible at:
5/30/01
4:29:36 PM
FBI misconduct in Peltier's case must be remembered in the interest of justice
The recent FBI boondoggle in Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh's case is indicative of a pattern of prosecutorial abuse going back decades..
..But no one in the national media seems to have remembered Leonard Peltier. So we again wonder, what about the case of Leonard Peltier?
In McVeigh's case, the most horrific of terrorists gets a reprieve of 30 days while more than 3,000 pages of evidentiary information are belatedly handed over to his defense team to study.
But consider Peltier, who has served 25 years for the 1975 killing of two FBI agents. In his highly controversial case, the FBI continues to hold secret more than 6,000 pages of information, claiming national security reasons. This despite clear indications of misconduct, including falsification of evidence and intimidation of witnesses by various FBI officials, which forced the American Indian Movement activist's conviction.
This much is known. In the climate of violence against traditional American Indians that characterized Indian country in the 1970s, FBI agents were all over the place, en masse, often in combat gear, constantly raiding the remote home compounds of traditional people who sympathized with the issues raised by AIM.
The FBI's closest collaborators, the so-called Guardians of the Oglala Nation (GOONS), known for their night raids and drive-by shootings that left many wounded and some dead, were actually given arms by the federal agents. It was in that context that a young Leonard Peltier signed on to help defend elders at the Jumping Bull compound in Oglala district, where the FBI raid took place that would result in the deaths of one American Indian man and two federal agents.
Judge Heaney of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, who heard an appeal in Peltier's case (denied on a technicality) wrote in a 1991 letter to Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii: "The United States government overreacted at Wounded Knee. Instead of carefully considering the legitimate grievances of the Native Americans, the response was essentially a military one which culminated in the deadly firefight on June 26, 1975 ... The United States government must share responsibility with the Native Americans for the .. firefight ... the government's role can properly be considered a mitigating circumstance." Judge Heaney, in this letter, recommended clemency/commutation of sentence for Mr. Peltier as part of the healing process.
We know that Peltier was extradited from Canada, where he had fled, on the basis of an affidavit signed by Myrtle Poor Bear, who claimed to have witnessed Peltier shooting the agents. Poor Bear later recanted and testified to being intimidated by FBI agents, who confronted her with photographs of the murdered body of Anna Mae Aquash.
At Peltier's trial, FBI ballistic expert Evan Hodge testified he was unable to perform the best test, a firing-pin test, on certain casings found near the agents' car, because the rifle in question had been damaged in a fire. Instead, he stated that he conducted an extractor-mark test and found the casing and weapon to match. But years later, an FBI teletype obtained through the Freedom of Information Act showed that in October 1975, a firing-pin ballistic test had indeed been performed on the rifle said to have belonged to Peltier and that the results were clearly negative. The jury never heard this crucial information.
Considering the critical nature of the materials later disclosed, such as the ballistic tests, the approximately 6,000 FBI documents still being withheld in their entirety as well as 5,000 partial documents could very well contain evidence that would establish Peltier's position. A government attorney actually conceded in one appellate hearing that, "We had a murder, we had numerous shooters, we do not know who specifically fired what killing shots ... ." But Peltier, the government insisted, could still be guilty for aiding and abetting, a complete change of theory from that mounted at his trial.
It is a crucial moment to remember Peltier. The national media must be made to remember his case among the numerous other cases of FBI misconduct resulting in the incarceration of innocent people. Clearly, the FBI's culture of concealment and sense superior purpose, which have led the agency into such transgression, must be challenged.
Peltier's trial and subsequent intense campaigns by the FBI to deny him any relief must be reconsidered in light of the emerging pattern of abuse now revealed. Tell all the media; tell the U.S. Congress; Indian country demands justice for Leonard Peltier.
http://www.indiancountry.com/articles/editorial-2001-05-23-02.shtml
5/30/01
4:20:27 PM
MediaChannel.org
WORLD BANK GOES VIRTUAL
The World Bank recently rescheduled a meeting to occur online in order to thwart street demonstrations. What does this mean for activists, who see the Web as a tool of the people?
http://www.mediachannel.org/front.shtml#wb
BOMBING "PEARL HARBOR"
Bombastic, patriotic and irony-impaired, "Pearl Harbor" has more in common with World War II-era Japanese propaganda films than with traditional Hollywood war movies, says Ian Buruma.
http://www.mediachannel.org/front.shtml#pearlharbor
GAG RULE HARMS FREE SPEECH
The U.S. media neglected Congressional debate of the "gag rule," which restricts discussing reproductive health options abroad. Now free speech is being silenced, from Peru to Zimbabwe and beyond.
http://www.mediachannel.org/front.shtml#gag
THE CULTURE WAR AGAINST KIDS
Despite fears of "toxic teen culture" across the political spectrum, the real threats to young people are high rates of child poverty, domestic violence and family disarray, not movies and cigarettes.
http://www.mediachannel.org/front.shtml#toxic
5/30/01
1:40:21 PM
UTNE WEB WATCH
The Best of the Alternative Web
THE NEW AMERICAN DEMOCRACY
by Ronnie Dugger, Special to Utne Online
-- Ronnie Dugger, founder of the anti-corporate organization "Alliance for a New Democracy" disputes the legitimacy of Dubya's presidency and proposes to henceforth refer to him as Governor Bush.
JEWISH READINGS OF DYLAN LYRICS
web site review by Al Paulson
-- As the controversial bard turns 60, it might be fun and insightful to take a look at some of Bob Dylan's lyrics and how they relate to the ancient 13th century Hebrew Kabbalah. As any semi fan of Dylan's knows, the legendary songwriter grew up as Robert Allen Zimmerman, son of a Jewish businessman.
THE WORLD-WIDE SUSHI RESTAURANT REFERENCE
web site review by Al Paulson
-- Do you have a sushi addiction? Does your illness inhibit you from living a full life? Do you limit your travels to within a ten-mile radius of your favorite sushi bar? There's hope for you with a worldwide search engine dedicated to sushi restaurants.
Links to the above articles: http://www.utne.com/webwatch
5/30/01
1:37:16 PM
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE
"We Cover the Earth For You"
CALIFORNIA SALT MARSH MAY CONTRIBUTE TO OCEAN POLLUTION
HUNTINGTON BEACH, California, May 29, 2001 (ENS) - A team of California researchers may rewrite environmental textbooks after uncovering evidence that a manmade saltwater marsh is a source of potentially hazardous fecal bacteria that is contaminating the swimming and surfing waters of one of the state's most popular beaches. The study suggests that environmental managers should take care in designing artificial wetlands.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/may2001/2001L-05-29-06.html
NORWAY TO STRENGTHEN MARINE CONSERVATION
OSLO, Norway, May 29, 2001 (ENS) - The Norwegian government has appointed an expert working group to draw up a first ever national marine conservation plan, the country's environment ministry announced today.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/may2001/2001L-05-29-01.html
AUSTRALIAN SENATE PANEL URGES HALT TO LUCAS HEIGHTS REACTOR
SYDNEY, Australia, May 29, 2001 (ENS) - Environmentalists are delighted with the finding of a new Senate inquiry that calls for a halt to plans for a controversial new nuclear research reactor in suburban Sydney. The proposed reactor would replace one built in 1958 at Lucas Heights just outside of Sydney.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/may2001/2001L-05-29-03.html
CLINTON FOREST CHIEF JOINS NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION
RESTON, Virginia, May 29, 2001 (ENS) - Former U.S. Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck has become the second Clinton administration agency head to join the nation's largest conservation group, the National Wildlife Federation. Dombeck will fill the role of a senior fellow, an advisory position covering both domestic and international issues.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/may2001/2001L-05-29-03.html
EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT AGENCY SIGNALS NATURAL RESOURCE STRESS
COPENHAGEN, Denmark, May 29 2001 (ENS) - Public policy must become more effective in influencing the growing scale and evolving patterns of production and consumption if Europe is to achieve its environmental and sustainable development goals.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/may2001/2001L-05-29-04.html
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: MAY 29, 2001
Melting Glaciers Signal Global Warming
Vegetation Key to Accurate Climate Modeling
Bush Encounters Energy Controversy in California
Politics, Not Energy, Caused California Crisis, Group Argues
Sharpton Plans Hunger Strike Over Vieques
Bush Gets Failing Grade on Parks Issues
Forest Fragmentation Linked to Stress in Birds
Labor Department Meets First Deadline for Compensation Program
Humane Society Publishes State of Animals 2001
Symposium Builds Momentum for California Smart Growth
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/may2001/2001L-05-29-09.html
5/30/01
1:25:54 PM
FAIR
Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting
Media analysis, critiques and news reports
ACTION ALERT:
Let Democracy Now! Be Heard:
Crucial Pacifica show needs to be reinstated
FAIR activists came to the aid of Democracy Now!-- one of the best examples of investigative journalism in U.S. broadcasting-- when its award-winning host Amy Goodman was facing pressure from the Pacifica radio network where she works. Thousands of emails helped persuade Pacifica management to back down. Now Democracy Now! needs your help again, as the show has been silenced at Pacifica/WBAI in New York, the station where the program originates.
Apparently seen as insufficiently loyal to the new station management that has fired or banned numerous broadcasters, the show has been off the air at WBAI since the station launched its current fund drive on May 16. In the past, such "temporary" removals during fund drives have been a prelude to permanent cancellations at Pacifica stations.
Democracy Now! still airs on other Pacifica stations-- live broadcasts of the show returned to L.A.'s KPFK on May 24 after a protest campaign there-- but technical problems undermine the broadcasts because WBAI management has pushed the Democracy Now! staff into a second-rate auxiliary studio.
Amy Goodman has faced harassment on-air and off at WBAI, especially since Pacifica's national leadership abruptly imposed new station management last Christmas. She was recently fired from WBAI's popular morning show, Wake Up Call, after hosting the show with fired program director Bernard White since 1992. (Wake Up Call was cancelled following a "temporary" removal several months ago.)
ACTION: FAIR urges supporters of Goodman and Democracy Now! to contact WBAI in New York and Pacifica management, calling for Democracy Now!'s immediate return to the air.
CONTACT:
Utrice Leid
WBAI interim manager
Tel: (212) 209-2820
Bessie Wash
Executive Director, Pacifica Radio
Tel: 888-770-4944 x348
Fax: 202-588-0562
Contact Pacifica Board members:
David G. Acosta
Chair, Pacifica National Board
Tel: 713-926-4604
Fax: 713-921-2780
Ken Ford
Vice Chair
Tel: 202-822-0228
Fax: 202-822-0369
Andrea Cisco
Secretary, Pacifica National Board
Tel: 718-624-6105
Fax: 718-624-6287
Bertram M. Lee
Pacifica National Board
Tel: 202-248-1896
John M. Murdock
Pacifica National Board
Tel: 202-861-0900
Fax: 202-296-2882
Karolyn van Putten
Pacifica National Board
Tel: 415-771-1160
Fax: 603-699-0715
Wendell L. Johns
Pacifica National Board
Tel: 202-752-8193
Fax: 202-752-4281
mailto:wendell_L_johns@fanniemae.com
Bob Farrell
Pacifica National Board
Tel: 310-514-2052
Fax: 310-514-0967
Valrie Chambers
Pacifica National Board
Tel: 361-825-6012
Fax: 281-655-0266
mailto:Valrie.Chambers@mail.tamucc.edu
For more background, please see:
http://www.fair.org/activism/pacifica-history.html
As always, please remember that your comments are taken more seriously if you maintain a polite tone.
Please cc fair@fair.org with your correspondence.
5/30/01
1:20:58 PM
Planet Ark World Environment News
EPA moves to reduce pollution at US national parks - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10996
Trendy US boutique fined over rare wool shawls - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11003
FEATURE - Natural rubber used as earthquake buffer - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10997
Homes evacuated as Calif. forest fire nears town - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10991
Greenpeace says ban UK testicle-restricting burners - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10999
EU, Senegal upbeat as fresh fisheries talks begin - SENEGAL http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10998
Japan village mayor says MOX use tough after vote - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10994
FEATURE - Italians strive to save the planet with bioplastics - ITALY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10995
EU agency pushes US to publish environment stats - EU http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11005
ANALYSIS - EU farm reform debate gathers pace - EU http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11000
EU to propose CO2 trade directive later this year - DENMARK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11004
Toxic spill in ocean could affect China for years - CHINA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10993
FEATURE - Polluted Hong Kong offers haven for birds - CHINA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10992
UPDATE - Alberta forest fire rages, hundreds evacuated - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10990
INTERVIEW - Timber group urges help for poor tropical states - CAMEROON http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11002
Australia ends Japan fish boat ban after tuna row - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11001
5/30/01
12:59:16 PM
Jeffords' Move Signals Dawn Of New Era In Government
by John Hagelin, Ph.D.
2000 Natural Law Party Presidential Candidate
The sudden loss of control of the U.S. Senate by President George W. Bush and the Republican Party was historically unprecedented. But it was also inevitable.
Bush's hairline victory in November suggests that, even then, he was marginally in step with the American people. To many, Bush seemed an anachronism, a call back to another era.
And, as Theodore Roosevelt often emphasized, civilization evolves. There is a slow, but inexorable evolution of thinking as humanity, collectively, absorbs the lessons of history.
While Bush seems stuck in an adolescent time warp, America is growing up. Our worldview has been challenged, our horizons stretched, by TV images of anti-U.S. rallies in traditionally allied nations, and by the very real drop in America's global influence during these "first 100 days."
America is awakening faster than its president. Bush, once marginally in synch, has fallen behind. He has strained the patience of the Congress (apart from the far-right Christian ideologues), alienated our youth, enraged the environmentalists, infuriated the moderates--even fallen substantially in the polls among knee-jerk Republicans who elected him.
A government that no longer accurately reflects its people is an unstable government, a government destined to be replaced--through election, revolution, or whatever twist of circumstance jostles the unstable equilibrium. In this case, it was a Senator with a conscience.
Rarely has such shift in power been so swift and noiseless--similar in impact to the Republican "revolution" of 1994, but without the chest-beating and electoral fanfare. The shift of power in the Senate committees will constrain Bush's runaway legislative agenda, his arrogant unilateralism and dangerous brinkmanship. Expressions of jubilation are resounding worldwide, and are barely constrained even among our allies.
But what, ultimately, will be the result of a Senatorial shift in power from Republicans to Democrats? Or indeed, how would America have differed today if Gore had won the struggle for the Presidency?
I have been forced to confront this question, for had I not run as a Natural Law Party/Reform Party Presidential candidate in 2000, Gore--not Bush--would now be in the Oval Office. My vote totals in Florida were considerably larger than Bush's disputed margin of victory.
Gore is smarter than Bush--and more moderate--though arguably no less beholden to corporate special interests, judging from his campaign donor base.
But the fact is, no one is competent to govern the affairs of so vast and mighty a nation--neither the president, nor the 535 members of Congress. A higher order of intelligence is needed.
Management prodigies like GE's Jack Welch receive seven-figure salaries to tackle the challenges of companies with tens of thousands of employees. The U.S. government, with its millions of employees, is expected to coordinate and manage the affairs of 280 million citizens, in a global community of six billion.
There are innumerable trends and tendencies pulsing within our hugely diverse population. The historic inability of the government to meet these diverse needs has led to the system of compromise we call electoral politics. A leader is chosen by majority vote, and is only expected to satisfy a majority constituency. A majority approval rating is enough to ensure one's re-election.
But this is a deplorable and archaic standard. It would be hard to imagine a poorer outcome if there were no federal government--a point passionately argued by Libertarians.
This inability of government to deliver broad satisfaction is obsolete, and utterly incongruous with the vast resources and power of the federal government. All citizens--Republicans, Democrats, and Independents--surrender their income in the form of taxes, whether they are members of the "in" party or among those earmarked for compromise.
Scientifically, such failure is difficult to justify. It is unnatural--literally. It reflects a lack of understanding of natural organizing principles--how nature governs the vast universe without problems. There are 7-½ million species in earth's complex ecosystems--each evolving and growing in magnificent concert--in an intricate web of mutual inter-dependence and mutual nourishment.
Today, these principles of nature's organization are understood by science. And the callous neglect for the minority must no longer be tolerated.
Fortunately, here again, we see a worldwide awakening. There is a growing appreciation of the inequity and inadequacy of the current system. And we are witnessing the emergence of a more complete, more natural and effective system of administration--administration through natural law.
During the past two decades, modern science has uncovered deeper, more unified levels of the laws of nature, culminating in the recent discovery of the unified field--a single, universal field of intelligence at the basis of all forms and phenomena in the universe.
As a Harvard-trained unified field theorist, I have been fortunate to have worked closely with the world's foremost scientist in the field of consciousness, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. From the ancient Vedic wisdom of India, Maharishi has derived scientifically proven technologies of consciousness that provide direct experience of the unified field in the most settled state of human awareness. Through such experience, individual thought and behavior become aligned with all the laws of nature--and widespread problems born of the violation of natural law are naturally prevented, including most illness, crime and social conflict. As citizens grow in the capacity for self-government--as behavior grows spontaneously more life supporting--the orderly administration of society becomes increasingly automatic.
Research conducted at over 200 independent universities and research institutes throughout the world has documented the profound effectiveness of this new scientific approach of administration through natural law.
As a patriot and scientist, I am prepared to provide our government with the scientific knowledge and proven, natural-law-based solutions to the problems that confront the nation --problems that inevitably result when human intelligence is applied to an organizational task that is beyond such limited intelligence.
Sen. Jeffords' principled and laudable act--his willingness to break from blind partisan allegiance--signals a broader break in a dam that has bottlenecked the evolution of our nation's collective consciousness. I predict that people will soon demand that government, by applying the latest scientific knowledge and proven organizational principles, should be able to meet the needs of everyone.
Fortunately, it seems that the trends of time are with us. We have passed a milestone in our collective evolution: We have outgrown George W. Bush. And now, we have the means to accelerate the evolution of collective consciousness and the betterment of humankind, by bringing national life into accord with natural law.
Hence it is no longer a question of whether, but when. So why not now? It's time we put an end to pervasive problems and needless suffering by harnessing the proven, time-tested organizing principles that so exquisitely govern the natural world around us.
For more information, please visit the John Hagelin website at:
5/30/01
12:24:06 PM
Environmental news from GRIST MAGAZINE
<http://www.gristmagazine.com>
1. THE ENGINE OF PROGRESS? One-third of all new cars sold in Europe are diesel-powered, and analysts think the number will rise to at least 40 percent by 2005. Diesel engines can use 30 percent less fuel than gasoline ones, and they emit far less carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. In the U.S., meanwhile, less than 1 percent of new cars have diesel engines. A draft report to Congress by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences says diesel engines may be the quickest way to improve the fuel economy of America cars. But U.S. environmental groups remain opposed to the engines because of the sooty particulate emissions that come from them. Daniel Becker of the Sierra Club said, "As long as we have other technologies that are clean, I don't see the point in producing carcinogenic soot."
straight to the source: New York Times, Edmund L. Andrews and Keith Bradsher, 27 May 2001 <http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/27/business/27DIES.html>
2. SUN CITY A year ago, Los Angeles set out to become the "Solar Capital of the World," announcing that 100,000 roofs in the city would be covered with solar panels by the end of the decade. The city said it would reimburse people for half the price of a new solar system, which can run from $10,000 to $20,000, parts and labor included, before the rebate. Only 40 systems have been installed so far. Gulp. Why the slow pace? For one, the city's lone panel manufacturer hasn't been able to keep up with demand. Also, not that many L.A. contractors know how to install the things.
straight to the source: Washington Post, William Booth, 29 May 2001 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A88876-2001May28.html>
3. DUMB AND DUMA Residents in Kariwa, Japan, who live near the world's largest nuclear plant, voted on Sunday to reject plans to fuel the plant with recycled plutonium, known as MOX. Turnout was high, at 85 percent, and though the referendum was not legally binding, such a vote is rare in Japan and puts the government's pro-MOX strategy in doubt. Meanwhile in Russia, the lower house of parliament, the Duma, will hold a final vote next week on whether to allow the import of nuclear waste, which would either be stored in perpetuity or reprocessed into nuclear fuel and exported. The plan, backed by President Vladimir Putin, is expected to pass. Alexei Yablokov, an anti-nuke scientist and activist, said a poll released by Greenpeace last week found that 90 percent of the voters in Russia are opposed to the plan.
straight to the source: MSNBC.com, 27 May 2001 <http://www.msnbc.com/news/579050.asp>
straight to the source: New York Times, Patrick E. Tyler, 26 May 2001 <http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/26/world/26RUSS.html>
Also in GRIST MAGAZINE today:
There's a revolution brewing in New England -- a day in the life of Adam Markham, Clean Air-Cool Planet <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/week/markham052501.stm?source=daily>
Spin the bottle -- Perrier didn't reckon on an angry citizenry when it looked to expand into the Midwest -- in our Main Dish section <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/maindish/ness052101.stm?source=daily>
A room with a view -- a chiropractor builds a house but does no harm -- in our Out on a Limb column <http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/limb/limb072399.stm?source=daily>
5/29/01
5:35:55 PM
Doomed Forests At George Washington’s Home At Mount Vernon To Be Subject Of Major Reforestation Initiative Using Champion Trees
Project To Maintain Founding Father's Vision Of Estate
Efforts to restore the original landscape of George Washington's Virginia home at Mount Vernon have found new help through a major reforestation project using America 's Champion Trees. The grounds of the historic site, located down the Potomac River from Washington, DC have suffered in recent years from a startling lack of new forest growth. In fact, Washington himself, expressed concerns about how easily forests can disappear. But the future of the Mount Vernon estate will now be assured, thanks to a new, ten-year project that will adhere to the landscaping vision established by our first president for his beloved home.
The Mount Vernon Special Collection of Champion Trees will be established beginning in the fall of 2001, as dozens of species that Washington personally selected for his estate will be planted over two hundred acres. Champion trees are the largest, and often the oldest, living examples of each tree species. The Mount Vernon Special Collection of Champion Trees will be exact, genetic duplicates, or clones, of these national champions. The project stems from a partnership between the Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens, the Champion Tree Project, and the National Tree Trust, with consulting expertise from the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University.
Mount Vernon's mansion, landscape and forests are beautiful and admired by more than a million each year, but there is a serious problem that few recognize. Under the canopy of beautiful, mature trees there are no young trees or seedlings. Grazing by deer has been the major reason for the loss of new growth. "As these new champion trees mature, the reforestation initiative will secure the future of the Mount Vernon forests as Washington admired them in the 18th century," explains Dean Norton, Director of Horticulture, of Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens.
The first ChampTreeT species, scheduled to be planted this fall, is a genetic duplicate of the National Champion White Ash, found in Palisades, New York. Washington specifically chose the White Ash to provide shade for the walkways along the sweeping lawn at the front of the mansion, an area known as the Bowling Green.
"We will be providing ChampTreesT of species noted in the historical record and diaries," says David Milarch, Co-Founder of the Champion Tree Project. "Our goal is to use George Washington's own notes as a guide to ensure that his original intent remains at the core of the reforestation efforts."
The Champion Tree Project has been cloning the nation's Champion Trees since 1996. Major funding for the initiative is being provided by the National Tree Trust, a national, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting volunteerism through tree planting and maintenance.
CONTACT:
David Milarch
Champion Tree Project
231 378-2172
Terry Mock
Champion Tree Project
561 436-1636
Dean Norton
Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens
703 799-8661
David Yarrow
Turtle EyeLand Sanctuary
44 Gilligan Road, East Greenbush, NY 12061
518 477-6100
www.danwinter.com/yarrow/
www.championtrees.org
5/29/01
2:18:23 PM
Our National Energy Situation Is A Mess
Invited oral testimony (limited to 5 minutes) given by A.A. Bartlett to the Subcommittee on Energy of the Science Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, May 3, 2001, in Room 2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C.
We were allowed to submit longer written testimony, and the written testimony could be revised after the hearing. As of the date of this mailing, I am still working on the revision of my written testimony.
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:
My name is Albert A. Bartlett. I am Professor Emeritus at the University of Colorado at Boulder where I have been a member of the Faculty of the Department of Physics since 1950.
Our national energy situation is a mess!
For years we have seen recommendations from the Department of Energy that suggest that the leaders of the Department have little scientific understanding of the problems of energy.
We have seen the President of the United States sending his Secretary of Energy on bended knee to plead with OPEC leaders to increase petroleum production so as to keep our gasoline prices from rising. For a country that boasts that it is the world's only superpower, this is profoundly humiliating.
Gasoline prices are rising. California currently has an electrical energy crisis that is likely to spread. Natural gas prices are rising rapidly, which poses real economic hardship for millions of American home owners who depend on natural gas to heat their homes in the winter.
The only energy proposals we see are for short-term fixes, sometimes spread over a few years, that seem to ignore the important real-world realities of resource availability and consumer costs.
For years, scientists have warned that fossil fuels resources are finite and that long-range plans should be made. These plans must recognize that growing rates of consumption of fossil fuels will lead, predictably, to serious shortages that are now starting to appear.
For years we have heard learned opinions from non-scientists that resources are effectively infinite; that the more of a resource that we consume the greater are the reserves of that resource; and that the human intellect is our greatest resource because the human mind can harness science and technology to solve all of our resource shortages.
There seem to be two cultures; science and non-science. Each has its own Ph.D. "experts" and "think tanks." Each has its own lobbyists who argue vigorously that their path is the proper path to achieve a sustainable society. So let's compare the two recommended paths.
The centerpiece of the scientific path is conservation; hence it is appropriate to call this path the "Conservative Path." On this path the federal government is called on to provide leadership plus strong and reliable long-term support toward the achievement of the following goals. The U.S. should:
1) Have an energy planning horizon that addresses the problems of sustainability through many future decades.
2) Have programs for the continual and dramatic improvement of the efficiency with which we use energy in all parts of our society. Improved energy efficiency is the lowest cost energy resource we have.
3) Move toward the rapid development and deployment of all manner of renewable energies throughout our entire society.
4) Embark on a program of continual reduction of the annual total consumption of non-renewable energy in the U.S.
5) Recognize that moving quickly to consume the remaining U.S. fossil fuel resources will only speed and enlarge our present serious U.S. dependence on the fossil fuel resources of other nations. This will leave our children vitally vulnerable to supply disruptions that they won't be able to control.
6) Finally, and most important, we must recognize that population growth in the U.S. is a major factor in driving up demand for energy. This calls for recognizing the conclusion of President Nixon's Rockefeller Commission Report (Commission on Population Growth and the American Future, 1972). The Commission concluded that it could find no benefit to the U.S. from further U.S. population growth.
In contrast, the non-scientific path suggests that resources are effectively infinite, so we can be as liberal as we please in their use and consumption. Hence this path is properly called the "Liberal Path." The proponents of the Liberal Path recommend that the U.S. should:
1) Make plans only to meet immediate crises, because all crises are temporary;
2) Not have government promote improvements in energy efficiency because the marketplace will provide the needed improvements.
3) Not have government programs to develop renewable energies because, again, the marketplace can be counted on to take care of all of our needs.
4) Let fossil fuel rates continue to increase because to do otherwise might hurt the economy.
5) Dig and Drill. Consume our remaining fossil fuels as fast as possible because we "need them." Don't worry about our children. They can count on having the advanced technologies they will need to solve the problems that we are creating for them.
6) Claim that population growth is a benefit rather than a problem, because more people equals more brains.
We should not be confused by the conflicting expertise that supports each of these two paths because there is a very fundamental truth:
For every Ph.D. there's an equal and opposite Ph.D.
For our U.S. energy policy, we must choose between the Conservative and the Liberal Paths. The paths are the exact opposites of each other. Each is advocated by academically credentialed experts. On what basis can we make an intelligent choice?
There is a rational way to choose. If the path we choose turns out to be the correct path, then there's no problem. The problems arise in case the path we choose turns out to be the wrong path. It follows then that we must choose the path that leaves us in the less precarious position in case the path we choose turns out to be the wrong one.
So there are two possible wrong choices that we must compare.
If we choose the Conservative Path that assumes finite resources, and our children later find that resources are really infinite, then no great long-term harm has been done.
If we choose the Liberal Path that assumes infinite resources, and our children later find that resources are really finite, then we will have left our descendants in deep trouble.
There can be no question. The Conservative Path is the prudent path to follow.
However, it is the Liberal Path that we are so eagerly taking today.
If resources turn out to be infinite, then we will be OK on the Liberal Path. But if resources turn out to be finite, then today's choice of the Liberal Path will create enormous and critical problems for our children.
I thank you for this opportunity to share my views with you.
See the basic text and graphs of Campbell's lecture in Germany at:
http://energycrisis.org/de/lecture.html
See his splendid 50 minute RealAudio lecture at:
http://www.rz.tu-clausthal.de/realvideo/event/peak-oil.ram
You owe it to your family to watch this lecture together! If you don't have a RealAudio player, download a free version at
5/29/01
1:44:53 PM
EcoNet News
This Week's Headlines and Alerts from EcoNe
EcoNet Alerts: May 29, 2001
NFN's Intl. Day Of Action For Forests And Against Free Trade
This report provides a unique look at a global day of simultaneous actions, and reflects a real diversity of organizing methods, structure, and tactics toward a number of common goals. Its format is lengthy due to the combination of a large amount of organizations involved and first hand reports from individual groups. We have provided a Table of Contents organized by geographic region, and appearing below, so that readers will be able to easily access reports for their particular areas of interest. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/991013743/index_html
Pull the Plug on Bush / Cheney Energy Plan June 21
ROLL YOUR OWN BLACKOUT this June 21, the Summer Solstice Pull the Plug on the Bush/Cheney Energy Plan which is nothing more than a giveaway to the oil, gas, and nuclear industries. Stop their last profit pig-out for the fossil-fuel and nuclear industries DEAD-IN-ITS-TRACKS by turning it all off between 7pm and 10pm in whatever time zone you live in - everywhere in the world. Show that the people will lead if our leaders will not. Blackout the Bush / Cheney energy plan! Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/990818132/index_html
Environmental Opposition to Ecuador Pipeline Intensifies
The good efforts of local and international conservationists appear to have lead to potentially positive developments in efforts to protect Ecuador's rainforests from a massive oil pipeline project known as the Oleoducto de Crudo Pesado (OCP). Ecuador's environmental ministry has announced that there are significant deficiencies in the environmental study for the project. The ill- conceived project is also garnering more international attention and justifiable condemnation. It is imperative that the campaign continues and that the project is terminated. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/991013836/index_html
Forests.org, Inc's Biannual Fund Raising Appeal
The time has come to appeal for donations to support our forest and climate change campaigns carried out over the Internet. Due to your past generous support, the recent six months have witnessed remarkable growth in our efforts. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/991013971/index_html
Urgent Follow-up Action: Stop Logging In Nigerian Rainforest
Please help Nigerian environmental organizations stop industrial logging before Cross River State's last tropical rainforests are destroyed! Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/991014020/index_html
Say no to the FTAA and Fast Track
We now have 7 years of experience with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The evidence shows that NAFTA is costing jobs, hurting the environment and lowering the standard of living for people throughout North America. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enalerts/991014086/index_html
EcoNet Headlines: May 29, 2001
US "energy crisis" = Misinformation"
It has been more than 20 years since our country developed a comprehensive energy policy. It is important for President Bush and Congress to take another look at this important issue, but not based on misleading statements made lately by high administration officials. These comments have distorted history and future needs. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/991009709/index_html
Monsanto Still Suing Nelsons, Other Growers
(May 21, 2001 CropChoice news) -- Monsanto continues its lawsuit against a North Dakota family farm, despite an independent body's ruling that it found no evidence of wrongdoing. Roger, Rodney and Greg Nelson grow soybeans, wheat and sugar beets on 8,000 acres outside of Amenia, ND, in the Red River Valley. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/991010089/index_html
Raiding the Rain Forest: Global Treasure Faces New Threat
Chinese, Malaysian and Indonesian timber companies now control most logging operations in tropical forests around the world. The conduct of these predatory rainforest logging companies continues to garner more mainstream media coverage. Following is a major 3-part expose' by the Philadelphia Inquirer that details the unprecedented ferocity of their logging activities. "Barely on the scene a decade ago, Chinese and other Asian companies now control 90 percent of the $10 billion tropical timber trade." These companies tend to cut more intensively, more rapidly and over a larger area than historically has been the case. The following articles examine the situation in Suriname and Cameroon in detail, but the threat is truly global. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/991010359/index_html
Revised Rachel: What Causes Breast Cancer?
Many readers had trouble understanding paragraph 12, about hormone replacement therapy. In this revised edition, we have tried to make it clear that hormone replacement therapy contributes to an increase in breast cancers. --Peter Montague Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/991011746/index_html
Increasing Consumption is Making the World Sick
WASHINGTON, May 24 (IPS) - More people than ever before in history around the globe are eating more meat, producing more cars, drinking more coffee, popping more pills and getting obese, according to a new report released here Thursday. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/991012079/index_html
Activists Frustrated By Slow Progress on Global Standards
WASHINGTON, May 25 (IPS) - Environmental and human rights groups say the world's wealthiest nations are failing to fulfill their own mandate by not creating common ecological and social guidelines for their publicly-backed export lending and investment insurance agencies. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/991012378/index_html
Role of Trees in Curbing Greenhouse Gases Challenged
05/26/01 OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by Forests.org Two new studies call into question the role of trees and soils as long-term carbon sinks. It was found that forests initially capitalize on extra carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, but they quickly deplete nutrients in the soil. Forest growth then slows dramatically and the ability to store excess carbon is curtailed. The results suggest that planting trees may not thwart global warming or serve as an adequate substitute for reducing heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions. The findings do not mean planting trees is not important - both for their carbon storage and other environmental benefits. But it is becoming clear that plantations are not a climate change panacea, and that we cannot look to planted forests to eliminate the threat of global warming. The only climate change policies guaranteed to significantly reduce the rate of growth of atmospheric carbon dioxide is vigorously cutting emissions and maintaining old-growth forest ecosystems. g.b. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/991012590/index_html
European NGOs Denounce EC's WTO Stance
In an open letter to the European Union's Trade Commissioner, non-governmental organisations from 19 European countries denounced the EU's stance in the World Trade Organisation in pushing for a 'comprehensive new WTO trade round focussing on investment and competition', and the EU's so-called civil society consultations on the modalities for such a round. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/991012813/index_html
GREEN/Defenders: Red Tape Dooms Russian River Salmon
RED TAPE DOOMS RUSSIAN RIVER COHO?: Sonoma County, CA officials are charging that "bureaucratic delays and disagreements" may have cost the Russian River coho salmon their last chance to be rescued from the brink of extinction says the Santa Rosa Press Democrat 5/17. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/991013194/index_html
Farmers and NGOs Monitoring the World Bank in Indonesia Get Results
Listening and responding promptly to farmers' concerns is one way the World Bank can make its agricultural development projects more effective, but many project managers have no idea how to find out what farmers really need. Since 1997, Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA) and our Indonesian partner, Yayasan Duta Awam (YDA), have been developing a new monitoring methodology that combines a grassroots survey of local needs with an evaluation of the World Bank's compliance with its own pest management policy. Read More...
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/991013411/index_html
5/29/01
1:44:07 PM
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE
"We Cover the Earth For You"
BIGGEST U.S. WATER POLLUTERS NOT PUNISHED
WASHINGTON, DC, May 28, 2001 (ENS) - More than one in four - 26 percent - of the nation's largest industrial, municipal and federal facilities were in "significant" violation of the Clean Water Act at least once during a recent 15 month period, a new report indicates.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/may2001/2001L-05-28-06.html
FRIENDS OF THE EARTH UK ASKS COURT INQUIRY INTO MOX NUCLEAR PLANT
LONDON, United Kingdom, May 28, 2001 (ENS) - The UK government may have to defend itself in court over how it is handling the controversial question of whether to allow British Nuclear Fuels Limited (BNFL) to open a new nuclear fuel fabrication plant at its Sellafield site in Cumbria.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/may2001/2001L-05-28-01.html
JAPANESE VOTERS REJECT MIXED PLUTONIUM URANIUM NUCLEAR FUEL
KARIWA, Niigata Prefecture, Japan, May 28, 2001 (ENS) - For the first time, Japan has held an official referendum on the use of mixed plutonium and uranium oxide fuel in the country's nuclear reactors, and Japanese voters turned down the proposal.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/may2001/2001L-05-28-02.html
HUNDREDS OF KRUGER NATIONAL PARK GAME RANGERS FIRED
PRETORIA, South Africa, May 28, 2001 (ENS) - Operation Prevail, the code name for the South African government's financial restructuring plan for the country's national parks, has now moved to the Kruger National Park, the crown jewel in South Africa's park system.
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens-news.com/ens/may2001/2001L-05-28-04.html
ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: MAY 28, 2001
Bush Administration Boosts Nuclear Power
Bill Would Reward Voluntary Conservation by Farmers, Ranchers
Smith Unveils Legislation to Eliminate MTBE Threat
New Precautions in Store for Missouri Nuclear Waste Shipments
Paper Company Will Eliminate Water Pollution
Black Mesa Pipeline to Pay $128,000 Fine
San Andres Refuge Readies for Prescribed Fire
Steller Sea Lion Research to Receive $15 Million
Izembek Refuge, Wilderness Threatened by Proposed Road
Champion Tree Clones to be Planted at Mount Vernon
For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/may2001/2001L-05-28-09.html
5/29/01
1:43:34 PM
Close The Loophole For Gas-Guzzlers
Last week President Bush released his national policy to address the country's energy crisis. Yet, even though the fuel efficiency of new cars and trucks sold in the United States this year is at the lowest level since 1980, and gas prices are skyrocketing, he refused to bring fuel economy standards for gas-guzzling sports utility vehicles in line with those for other passenger vehicles. A bipartisan bill championed by Senators Feinstein (D-CA) and Snowe (R-ME) will close this loophole, save one million barrels of oil a day, and reduce global warming.
Currently light trucks and SUVs do not have to meet the same fuel economy standards of other passenger vehicles because it was assumed that they were being used by small businesses hauling lumber, dirt and the like. But now, these behemoths have replaced the family station wagon, and they're more likely to be hauling little leaguers. Senate Bill 804 will phase in fuel economy standards for SUVs and light trucks so that by 2007, they would have to average the same 27.5 miles per gallon that standard passenger cars must meet.
According to Senator Feinstein, this bill will reduce oil imports by 10 percent and reduce global warming causing carbon dioxide emissions by 240 million tons every year. The one million barrels of oil a day save by this provision amounts to three times as much oil as could be supplied by drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
In contrast, the Bush administration's energy plan reads like a page taken directly from Big Oil's wish list. His proposal recommends new oil drilling in sensitive areas, increased reliance on coal, and even a call for new nuclear power plants. And, the plan provides only a token mention of conservation efforts and the development of alternative energy sources.
For years the auto industry blocked attempts to increase Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) standards. However, thanks to pressure from consumers, the Big Three have indicated that they will not actively oppose increases in CAFE standards.
This loophole is so big you can drive an SUV right through it, and now is the perfect time to close it.
Call on Senator Boxer to support S 804 and make a real commitment to addressing the country's energy needs by eliminating blatant waste.
For more information on this issue, contact the Sierra Club at 202-547-1141 or check out their web site at www.sierraclub.org.
WAYS TO TAKE ACTION:
Attached is a sample letter. You may modify the attached letter or print it as is, sign and send it off. Senator Boxer's fax number is 202 228.1338, and the e-mail address is senator@boxer.senate.gov. You can also call Senator Boxer directly at 202 224.3553.
The Honorable Barbara Boxer The United States Senate Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Boxer,
I am writing to urge you to support the Automobile Fuel Economy Act of 2001, Senate Bill 804. This legislation is desperately needed to eliminate the loophole that prevents SUV's from being held to the same fuel efficiency standard as other passenger vehicles.
Currently light trucks and SUVs do not have to meet the same fuel economy standards of other passenger vehicles because it was assumed that they were being used by small businesses hauling lumber, dirt and the like. But now, these behemoths have replaced the family station wagon, and they're more likely to be hauling little leaguers. Senate Bill 804, championed by Senators Feinstein (D-CA) and Snowe (R-ME) closes the loophole. It phases in fuel economy standards for SUVs and light trucks so that by 2007, they will have to average the same 27.5 miles per gallon that standard passenger cars must meet.
Although the United States accounts for just 4% of the world's population, we consume 25% of the energy used worldwide. The Bush administration's energy plan does nothing to reduce our reliance on oil, but this legislation will reduce oil imports by 10 percent and reduce global warming causing carbon dioxide emissions by 240 million tons every year. And, the one million barrels of oil a day saved by this provision amounts to three times as much oil as could be supplied by drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Please demonstrate your commitment to addressing the country's energy needs by supporting the Automobile Fuel Economy Act. I look forward to hearing how you will act on this important issue.
Sincerely,
5/29/01
1:43:01 PM
Planet Ark World Environment News
FEATURE - Farmers turn depressed farm commodities into gold - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10986
UPDATE - Japan energy policy in bind after MOX 'no' vote - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10981
OECD says prepared for new talks on atom energy - GERMANY http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10988
UPDATE - Chemical spill injures 90 in southern China - CHINA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10984
UPDATE - HK activists block Nestle plant in GM food protest - CHINA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10985
Arctic ice thinning noticeably - Norwegian explorer - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10983
Brazil CS sugarcane crop forecast on hold - Unica - BRAZIL http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10987
INTERVIEW - Brazil aluminum lobbies government on energy supply - BRAZIL http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10989
Australia ups fines to protect Great Barrier Reef - AUSTRALIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10982
5/29/01
1:42:40 PM
Peace
Worldwide Association of Retired Generals and Admirals
WCARGA was formed at a meeting of retired Generals and Admirals held in London in 1993. It grew from Generals for Peace and Disarmament -a group of retired NATO and Warsaw Treaty Organization (WTO) officers who met regularly between 1984 and 1989 to develop the concept of co-operation rather than confrontation between East and West in Europe. WCARGA's contacts span over twenty-five countries. In some of these, national chapters have been created. Their members have been top-ranking officers in their national armed forces and some still exercise an influence in matters affecting security and stability. This gives them access to the decision-makers in their countries. The Association's focus is on the prevention of armed conflict and the enhancement of stability and security through means other than solely military. Therefore it acts in any situation or circumstance when peace and security are seen to be in danger or are already endangered.
5/29/01
1:42:02 PM
Conferences
June 8-9, 2001 Jerusalem Celebration Of Light Jerusalem Celebration of Light was created by a group of Jerusalem friends to help bring a vibration of Peace to Jerusalem and all it represents. We do this through LIGHT intensification. Come and radiate your light, have a great time and open up to the magic of life! Contact Jeff at jeffleah@actcom.co.il
June 11-15, 2001 "Microvita: linking science and Spirituality"
An on-line conference located at http://www.ru.org/microvita
Microvita: an online conference
July 17-21, 2001 "11th Neo-Humanist Ecology Festival"
Jelenia Gora, Poland
http://www.ru.org/ecofest.html
Neo-Humanist Ecology Festival:
July 1-22, World Conference On Spirituality And Peace
The Hague, Netherlands
http://www.lifeconference.com/2001_Conference_Introduction.htm
World Conference on Spirituality.
Nov. 6-10, 2001 – Jerusalem
International Light Summit 2001 (Jerusalem)
http://www.n2012.com/lightsummits/2001.htm
International Light Summit 2001
5/29/01
1:41:35 PM
Germany To Phase Out Nuclear Energy
GERMANY - In keeping with Europe's ongoing effort to move toward responsible environmental management, Germany is set to phase out its 19 nuclear power stations over the next 20 years. The government deal with the energy companies will make Germany the first European country to announce an end to nuclear power.
Less than a week after the German deal, Sweden voiced its intention to phase out coal and nuclear power.
"Both coal and nuclear power have to be phased out if we are to reach sustainable development around the Baltic Sea," said Environment minister, Kjell Larsson. Sweden's 11 nuclear reactors provide 48% of the country's power with the rest coming from wind, sun, hydro and biomass. The Swedish government is also helping Lithuania close down one of their nuclear reactors.
Mr. Larsson said that Sweden wants to lead the world in developing renewable energy technologies.
Meanwhile Turkey, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit announced the cancellation of the controversial nuclear power plant proposed for Akkuyu Bay on the Mediterranean coast north of Cyprus.
"The world is abandoning nuclear power," the Prime Minister said. "It is unnecessary for us, for the time being, to invest in nuclear energy.
Mr. Ecevit emphasized that Turkey would focus on energy conservation and invest in natural gas, hydro-electricity and solar and wind generation.
World nuclear power use is expected to peak in 2002 and then begin a period of sustained and permanent decline.
From Positive News: www.positivenews.org.uk
5/29/01
1:41:06 PM
New Programs Link Young And Old
USA - Innovative programs are springing up all over the USA in response to the need for bringing the wisdom of age and the vitality of youth to two populations which are often marginalized by the mainstream.
The Stride Rite Corporation of Cambridge, Massachusetts, has become the first private company to establish a multigenerational day-care center. The $700,000 pilot program consists of adjoining centers that allow easy mingling and interaction between 55 children, from 18 months to five years old, and 24 elders over 60. Separated only by windows and hallways, the facility offers the youth and elders plenty of opportunities to visit one another. The program includes many shared activities such as cooking and birthday parties in addition to frequent informal get-togethers which happen spontaneously.
Other programs around the nation include:
- Linking Lifetimes: a program that brings retirees together with at-risk teenagers. This is being launched in nine US cities.
- In Omaha, NE and seven other cities, elderly volunteers visit regularly with chronically ill children in a program called Family Friends.
- At the Point Park College Children's School in Pittsburgh, some pre-schoolers are being taught about aging by staff members who are all over 55. The teachers use activities like planting seeds to illustrate the stages of the life cycle.
In one Pennsylvania program, toddlers from a local day-care center spend time with Alzheimer's patients after being read such books as 'Grandpa Doesn't Know It's Me'.
Youngsters also learn that death is a natural component of life. Generations Together is developing a curriculum dealing with separation and loss. It will help children cope not only with an elderly companion's demise but also with other issues, like their parents' divorce or the loss of a favorite pet.
From Global Ideas Bank: http://www.globalideasbank.org
5/29/01
1:40:39 PM
Good News Agency News Offers Media Alternatives
ITALY - The complaint is often heard that the conventional media offers nothing but a diet of gloom, doom and dysfunction. Many people do not know that local and national newspapers are largely dependent on international news services such as United Press International (UPI) and the Associated Press (AP) for their stories. A new media service based in Italy is now offering alternative stories to the conventional press.
The Good News Agency carries positive and constructive news from all over the world with stories related voluntary work, the United Nations, non-governmental organizations, and institutions engaged in improving the quality of life - news that doesn't "burn out" in the space of a day.
Launched in June 2000, Good News Agency issues stories every other week and is distributed through Internet to over 2,300 editorial offices of daily newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations in 38 countries.
The Good News Agency is a free service of the Associazione Culturale dei Triangoli e della Buona Volontą Mondiale (Cultural Association of Triangles and World Goodwill), a registered non-profit educational organization chartered in Italy in 1979. The Association operates for the development of consciousness and supports the activities of the Lucis Trust, Radio For Peace International, The Club of Budapest and other organizations promoting a culture of peace in the 'global village' perspective based on unity within diversity and on sharing.
For more information, go to http://www.goodnewsagency.org
5/29/01
1:40:18 PM
Planet Ark World Environment News
US energy chief-Three Mile shouldn't curb nuke power - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10973
Caterpillar blamed for Kentucky horse deaths - USA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10975
Banks should face oil spill liability - ship manager - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10967
FEATURE - Hybrid electric vehicle seen as clean but slow - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10968
UK warns of dioxin risk in milk from animal pyres - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10977
UPDATE - UK rushes to identify culled cattle burial sites - UK http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10979
Senegal, EU prepare for fisheries deal tussle - SENEGAL http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10970
Russia vows to lift veil of secrecy from Kursk sub - RUSSIA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10980
Japan villagers torn over presence of nuclear plant - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10969
UPDATE - Japan food recall revives StarLink biotech scare - JAPAN http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10978
Chirac says Europe to keep up pressure on Kyoto - FRANCE http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10974
UPDATE - Canada's Martin wants environmental indicator - CANADA http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10976
UPDATE - Rigs back on after new unexplained Brazil oil spill - BRAZIL http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10971
Rampaging wild elephants kill three Bangladeshis - BANGLADESH http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10972
5/29/01
1:40:00 PM
Bush And His Merry Men
President Uses White House to Rake in Millions for GOP
by Public Campaign
On Tuesday night, May 22nd, in Washington, DC, the Republican National Committee held a "Presidential Gala," featuring George W. Bush, several members of his cabinet, and most of the top GOP leaders in Congress. Introducing the President, Vice-President Dick Cheney told the 2000 people in attendance, who had paid a minimum of $1,500 a seat or $15,000 a table to be there, that "George W. Bush has restored honor and integrity to the presidency."
Really?
"Among the 121 names on the organizing-committee list for the dinner," reported the New York Times, "are lobbyists and executives from oil, gas and nuclear-energy companies that helped shape the White House energy plan, from manufacturing concerns delighted by Mr. Bush's early decision to overturn workplace ergonomic rules, from credit card companies grateful for Mr. Bush's support for a bill to make it harder for people to escape their debts in bankruptcy and from cigarette makers encouraged by reports that the government may drop a $100 billion racketeering lawsuit against the industry. Many of the corporate executives on the list have also been enthusiastic supporters of the president's ''plans for tax cuts of more than $1 trillion over the next decade."
This event, which netted $23.9 million for the GOP, is the first time that President Bush has stepped out as the Republican Party's fundraiser-in-chief. Not only is he continuing the previous administration's blatant use of the White House as a money machine, he's taking it to new lows. According to the Times report on the Presidential Gala, "donors who wanted to be seated next to a particular cabinet member or other Republican official were directed to make the request to the Gala committee and the decision would be made partly on the basis of how much they had contributed to the party."
Members of the Republican National Committee's "Regents" (people who give $250,000) and "Team 100" ($100,000 donors) were treated to an even more intimate dinner at the vice president's official residence the night before. The White House has so far refused to release a list of the attendees.
Ordinary Americans who did not make or could not afford a $1,500 contribution or a $100,000 check were told that they would have the opportunity to vote on the decisions of the country's board of directors, ahem, the Bush administration in three years. At which point their votes might be counted.
According to the American Heritage Dictionary, "gala" is defined as "a festive occasion, especially a lavish social event or entertainment." It comes from the Old French word galer, which means "to make merry." So far, the 2000 lobbyists, CEOs and fatcats who made merry with the president and his cabinet indeed have lots to celebrate. The rest of us can only stand in silent protest, as our country is sold off to the highest bidder.
Public Campaign is a non- profit, non-partisan organization that supports "Clean Money" campaign finance reform, a proposal to create public financing for state and federal offices.
5/29/01
1:39:37 PM
Money For War, Not Peace.
by Miriam Pemberton
The current debate of President George Bush's budget has a sad and surreal ring to it.
I think of the years after the Cold War ended, when we anticipated how we'd spend a "peace dividend." Since we no longer had to concentrate our national energies on a military struggle with the Soviet Union, what new priorities would we choose?
How about building an education system for all children, so we honestly could brag about being "world class"? What about cleaning up our polluted air and water, and investing in clean cars and clean energy to build an environmentally sound future? And, since, as the only remaining superpower, we wouldn't be needing such a large defense industry, what new investments, in infrastructure for example, might create new markets for our defense companies?
Sorry, our leaders told us back in the early '90s, we'd like to talk about these things, but we have a huge deficit problem. We just don't have the money.
Well now, 10 or so years later, we do have the money. But we don't have a national dialogue about what we, as a society, might be able to do with it. Our only idea is to use a huge tax cut to spread it around, so everybody can do more of their own thing.
This is the best we can do? It makes me weep.
At least there's some debate about better and worse ways to spread the wealth. Maybe at the end of the current budget cycle day, more of the money will go to the people who actually need it. Maybe $675,000, rather than $4 million, will remain the limit on the nest eggs that can be passed along untaxed to children. Shifting more tax relief from the wealthy would help to bridge the huge and growing disparities of wealth that are weakening the fabric of our society. But it will do nothing to weave our society together with any common purposes.
In this budget, what is passing for education reform involves taking money away from failing schools, and siphoning off students, rather than giving these schools the resources they need to improve. Funding for renewable energy sources is out, and fossil fuels are in. Let the next generation worry about its own air and water.
And defense companies? Those that have held on through the lean years will be rewarded with massive increases in defense spending. Adjusting for inflation, we'll soon be spending more on defense than we did when we had another superpower to contend with. Remarkably, both major parties agree on the need for this, although they can't explain why. I don't suppose it could have to do with campaign contributions from defense contractors.
So we'll let Europe develop and market the technology to build environmentally sustainable infrastructure, and we'll continue to lead in marketing the weapons of war.
Huge tax cuts. Massive defense increases. Doesn't this sound an awful lot like Reaganomics, one senator was asked the other day on the heels of her vote for the budget deal. Reaganomics, the philosophy that brought us the deficit we are just now wrestling to the ground? Not at all, she answered. Reaganomics failed to rein in domestic spending accounts. We won't make that mistake again.
Domestic spending accounts: that is, the place where we as a society invest in what, besides war-fighting, we believe in. That's the part that isn't worth our time or our money, apparently. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, indeed.
5/29/01
1:38:43 PM
More Is Better. Even More Is Even Better.
by Ken Midkiff
Somehow, in the past few decades, the American Dream has been converted into a nightmare of greed. What was once the goal of a vigorous and self-reliant people -- to be free, independent, idealistic, and caring -- is now just an endless quest for money and all that gives the appearance of wealth.
In this worshipping of filthy lucre, we have lost our way. From enjoying the simple things -- a colorful sunset, the warmth of a barn in winter, the song of a spring warbler, sitting quietly listening to the endless babbling of a stream riffle -- we have veered wildly down the path of overconsumption and the all-consuming quest for material possession.
By now, after years of such quests, it should be recognized that the possession of things doesn't bring happiness. It only perpetuates a desire for more things. If a twenty-seven inch color TV and a state-of-the-art VCR don't satisfy, then perhaps a thirty-five inch TV with a DVD player will do it. Never mind that the programming is so much mind-numbing pap, and the videos available are just re-released B-Grade movies -- it is the bigger and better we seek.
Some would trace this obsession with physical possessions back to the Great Depression, and there is likely some truth in this. The hardships endured and the losses incurred did in fact lead to a quest for security. There was a national focus on basic physical needs -- food, clothing shelter -- that many had to do without or struggle to maintain in the 1930s.
But, while we certainly need food, clothing and shelter, the nightmare of greed has gone well beyond that, to the point that we worship and idolize those who exploit the rest of us. How else to explain the veneration accorded the CEOs of multi-national corporations who have succeeded mostly by advertising campaigns designed to make us buy things that we don't need or even want. And since these things don't satisfy our needs, they promise other things which will. Unbelievably, we continue doing what we have always done and expect the results to be different.
Unfortunately, this attitude -- that if we're lacking something of quality, we need to respond with something of quantity -- is demonstrated most vividly in our national leadership. The current President of the United States and the leader of the free world, seems to believe that those with money should be given his ear. By equating the acquisition of wealth with knowledge and wisdom, he ignores that the path he is following likely leads off a cliff.
The response to a shortage of energy -- electricity, natural gas, oil -- is not to look at how energy is being used and investigate ways to be more efficient and conservative, but rather to find ways to create more. Never mind that profligate and downright stupid over-consumption has led to this self-induced crisis in California; there is a problem so let's throw money at it.
The basis of many of our problems is a burgeoning population, leading to unprecedented demands for food, housing, and more stuff. Rather than finding ways to assist the world and this country in limiting reproduction, the response is to promote growth and development -- and population. The response to too much is to advocate the creation of more.
We are rapidly consuming the natural capital of our planet. Even those most preoccupied with the acquisition of money recognize that they should make every effort to leave the capital investments in place. But we are treating this planet as if we had a backup. Every economic system is based on the availability and use of natural resources, but every economic system is exploiting those very resources in an unsustainable manner.
We can't make more fossil fuels, nor minerals, nor land, nor clean water or healthy air. We can use what we have frugally so that our children and children's children may continue to enjoy the fruits of the earth.
Or we can continue down our path of over-consumption and acquisition, and use it all up as quickly as possible. We can be visionaries and act responsibly, or we can be mono-generational greedheads, and let future generations fend for themselves. The choice is ours. We are still a free people.
5/29/01
1:37:51 PM
TomPaine.com
DIG, DEMOCRATS, DIG
by David Corn, our Loyal Opposition columnist
It's the Senate Democrats' turn to wield the power of the subpeona. If they had the creativity and bloodlust of the Republicans, gobs of fun could be had with U.S. Senate investigations.
http://www.tompaine.com/news/2001/05/25/1.html
MORE IS BETTER. EVEN MORE IS EVEN BETTER.
by Ken Midkiff
Humans are rapidly consuming Earth's "natural capital" -- clean air, clean water and other resources. We're treating this planet as if we had a backup... but we don't. A TomPaine.commentary -- AUDIO and TEXT -- produced by Sharon Basco
http://www.tompaine.com/opinion/2001/05/25/2.html
BUSH AND HIS MERRY MEN
by Public Campaign
The 2,000 lobbyists, CEOs and heavies who made merry with the president at last Tuesday's Gala indeed have lots to celebrate. The rest of us can only stand in silent protest, as our country is sold off to the highest bidder.
http://www.tompaine.com/opinion/2001/05/24/1.html
IS FOOT-AND-MOUTH CRISIS THE END OR THE BEGINNING?
by Mark Ritchie, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
While the factory farm model of agriculture has long been criticized as cruel and inhumane, only recently have we begun to understand the wide range of negative effects and how quickly problems can spread.
http://www.tompaine.com/opinion/2001/05/24/index.html
REAGANOMICS WITHOUT MERCY: MONEY FOR WAR, NOT PEACE
by Miriam Pemberton
We'll soon be spending more on defense than we did when there was another superpower. Both major parties agree on this, but can't explain why. Could it have to do with campaign contributions from defense contractors? A TomPaine.commentary -- AUDIO and TEXT -- produced by Sharon Basco.
http://www.tompaine.com/opinion/2001/05/23/index.html
5/29/01
1:37:21 PM
Russians Said To Oppose Waste Bill
By The Associated Press
MOSCOW (AP) -- A leading Russian environmentalist said Saturday that legislation to allow the import of nuclear waste could face an uphill battle if lawmakers listen to their constituents.
Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, is to vote June 7 on a third and final reading of the legislation, which passed by a wide margin in its second reading last month.
Alexei Yablokov, a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and a leading anti-nuclear campaigner, said recent opinion surveys, including a poll by Greenpeace on Friday, showed that 90 percent of voters are against the plan.
``I think that it will make the deputies think (twice) about passing this law,'' Yablokov said.
If it passes the Duma, the bill will face a vote in the upper parliament house, the Federation Council. Yablokov said the chamber's chairman, Yegor Stroyev, was opposed the project and had branded it as a plan ``designed either for madmen or the mafia.''
Russia's new energy minister, Alexander Rumyantsev, has pushed for the legislation allowing the import of spent nuclear fuel rods from other nations since his appointment in March, saying it was essential for Russia to be able to export new nuclear fuel.
Russia's Nuclear Power Ministry has also lobbied for the plan. The ministry says Russia would earn up to $20 billion by importing 22,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel over a 10-year period. Nuclear power stations around the world have about 200,000 tons of waste in temporary storage
Officials have said spent fuel would be sent by armored train to a facility near Chelyabinsk in the Ural Mountains for reprocessing. The recycling process extracts useable nuclear material from the spent rods while reducing their potential to be used in weapons, the Nuclear Power Ministry has said.
A 1992 law forbids importing nuclear materials from countries other than former East Bloc nations with existing contracts. Russia now imports spent fuel rods from Ukraine, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Hungary for reprocessing, a system established during Soviet times.
5/29/01
1:36:59 PM
Russia Sees Payoff In Storing Nuclear Waste From Around The World
By Patrick E. Tyler
MOSCOW, May 25 - Despite some strong opposition from the public at home and by the government in the United States, Russia is preparing to open its borders to become the largest international repository for radioactive nuclear wastes.
With strong backing from President Vladimir V. Putin, the Ministry of Atomic Energy is expected to get a new legal mandate from Parliament next month to offer permanent storage for the highly toxic spent nuclear fuel that has been piling up in temporary storage basins at power plants around the world.
Moscow estimates that it can earn $21 billion in the next two decades by accepting 20,000 tons from 15 countries Russia has identified that would send used reactor cores by ship and train to new installations in Siberia, one of which is nearing completion.
The program would represent a far-reaching development in the international nuclear power industry, as governments in Germany, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are in the midst of national debates over how to dispose of highly radioactive reactor fuel cores. Spent fuel assemblies, filled with toxic byproducts of the nuclear fission that occurs inside reactor cores, must either be buried in secure geologic formations for thousands of years, or reprocessed to recycle the plutonium and uranium in them as new fuel.
But the reprocessing of nuclear fuel has become one of the most delicate issues of the nuclear safety debate because it separates plutonium and uranium in forms that might be stolen or diverted to illicit nuclear weapons programs. Russia, France and Britain reprocess fuel for civilian reactor programs, and Germany and Japan ship spent fuel to England and France for reprocessing, but the issue of permanent storage for most of the world's spent nuclear fuels and their wastes remains an open question.
The United States abandoned reprocessing technologies in the Ford and Carter administrations, citing proliferation dangers in creating a "plutonium economy," higher costs and environmental concerns. The United States is still evaluating whether it can safely store spent fuel and wastes from 104 American reactors at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.
A key element in the Russian proposal is to accept the world's spent fuel, charging up to $1,600 per 2.2 pounds to hold it in perpetuity, but also preserving the option to reprocess and resell it should national policies and economics lead to safer reactor designs and new fuel configurations.
Russian officials say they hope to use profits from the new industry to help pay for an extensive environmental cleanup program here and to promote the development of more efficient reactors that would use plutonium-based fuels in a form designed to prevent their diversion for weapons use.
Russia faces enormous cleanup tasks from Soviet-era radiation accidents and illicit dumping at sea by the Soviet and Russian navies. At the same time, the country has trouble meeting the demand for electricity and has five nuclear plants in various stages of completion to bolster the 29 existing plants.
At the heart of Russia's proposal, officials here say, is an attempt to seize a large share of the future market for nuclear energy at a time when industrialized nations are facing increasing demand for electricity and growing concerns about global warming.
"Russia will demonstrate to the world that its technological potential is high, and it will pave the way to new projects," said Aleksandr Rumyantsev, the country's new minister of atomic energy.
Valentin B. Ivanov, the deputy minister, said in an interview this week that Russia was not sure what shape the nuclear industry would take, but that by garnering a significant share of the nuclear fuels market, it could secure a place for itself as an international supplier of nuclear technology.
The Russian initiative comes at a time when the Bush administration has cut funds for joint projects with Russia to reduce plutonium stockpiles, close Soviet-era bomb-making installations and provide financing to Russian nuclear scientists formerly employed in weapons production. At the same time, President Bush has ordered a broad review of nuclear power in the United States, including an examination of safer reactor designs and nuclear fuels resistant to diversion.
The Russian proposal faces immediate obstacles because the United States controls the movement, through licensing agreements, of nuclear fuels now powering most of the reactors operating overseas.
Nonetheless, Russian officials say they hope to reach an agreement with the Bush administration to enter this business. And Washington is expected to come under some pressure to cooperate from governments that have not resolved what to do with their spent nuclear fuel. Some is stored in high-risk earthquake zones, like Taiwan, which has six American-built nuclear reactors and will soon have two more.
Japan has 53 operating reactors and is in the midst of a national debate over how to store its nuclear wastes. In Europe, there are more than 150 nuclear reactors, and France generates 76 percent of its electrical power with nuclear energy.
Though American companies like Westinghouse and General Electric have sold nuclear reactors around the world, the United States government has made no commitment to assume responsibility for the long- term storage of spent fuel and its wastes. Washington does retain veto power over where that fuel can be transported.
During the Clinton administration, Washington encouraged Russia to remove a ban on importing spent fuels. By removing the ban, American officials calculated, Russia could help solve the coming crisis over the long-term disposal of toxic wastes, most of them from reactors sold by American companies.
A group of influential Americans, including a former director of central intelligence, William H. Webster, helped to create the Nonproliferation Trust, a private company that has worked to win support and financing for a permanent repository in Russia for 10,000 tons of spent fuel from reactors operating outside the United States.
Despite those efforts, an agreement has been stymied by American concerns over proliferation, Russia's nuclear cooperation with Iran, and Moscow's ambition to make use of spent fuels.
Thomas B. Cochran, a longtime environmental activist who promoted the idea of building a Russian repository as a consultant to the Nonproliferation Trust, said Russian officials were unwilling to accept a moratorium on reprocessing spent fuel. For this reason, he said, the new Russian plan will be "dead on arrival on this side of the Atlantic."
Russian officials disagree. They said this week that as soon as they won legislative approval, they would seek to acquire from foreign customers several thousands tons of spent fuel whose movement does not require United States approval. An installation that can hold the first 3,000 tons of fuel is nearing completion in the closed nuclear city Krasnoyarsk- 26 in central Siberia.
"We will act in parallel," said Mr. Ivanov, the deputy atomic energy minister. He added that "we understand that without an agreement with the United States, it is impossible to use the spent fuel" of many countries. But at the same time, he said, "we know that approximately 10 percent of spent fuel exists outside the U.S. umbrella, and we have received information from some governments that they will start negotiations with us if we get this legislation."
Mr. Ivanov, a physicist and reactor designer, said the United States and Russia could decide to work together on a world standard for proliferation-resistant nuclear fuels and reactors, or they can work separately. In any case, it appears that the two nations now face contentious negotiations on competitive strategies for future energy technologies.
From the outset, a major obstacle will be Russia's plans to supply as many as five nuclear reactors to Iran, creating an atomic energy industry in a country that is believed to support terrorism and seeking to develop nuclear weapons in secret.
Rose Gottemoeller, a former Department of Energy official who supervised nonproliferation programs involving Russia in the Clinton administration. said: "The Bush administration could just continue to stiff-arm Russia on the spent fuel storage issue, saying, `No way, no how' because it can't keep its own nuclear material safe, so why encourage more."
"But there is a new game in town," she said, noting Mr. Bush's interest in re-examining overall nuclear energy policy.
"The administration will at least want to examine this storage idea with the Russians in order to get them to come to the table and get our Iran questions resolved," she said, adding that new technologies in Russia also may warrant study.
Still, there is high-level resistance in Washington to any strategy that would add to Russia's inventory of nuclear fuels and wastes when major issues of radioactive contamination in parts of Russia remain outstanding, along with security concerns over the safe storage of weapons- grade uranium and plutonium.
Kathleen Crane, a geophysicist from Hunter College in New York who mapped radioactive contamination in Russia from 1993 to 1997, said she had long been opposed to allowing spent fuel to be stored in Russia.
But, she said, "nuclear waste is going to be imported by Russia whatever we do, and instead of just letting it happen, we and the rest of the world should take an active role in trying to control it."
Though they acknowledge a grim Soviet legacy that includes the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine and other serious accidents, Russian officials seem determined to take this new legislative step - despite polls that show that the public overwhelmingly opposes it - if only to position Russia to profit from an industry that, worldwide, may be discovering a new momentum.
Russian officials say they have conducted experiments on a new type of fast breeder reactor, long thought to be too dangerous because its fuel "breeds" more plutonium, creating proliferation risks when that plutonium is recovered in reprocessing.
In coming months, a Russian research reactor will begin testing a new fast reactor fuel that combines plutonium and uranium in a form that cannot be used for nuclear weapons and that does not require traditional reprocessing, said Anatoly S. Polyakov, deputy director of the Bochvar Research Institute here.
"We have a lot to offer," he said, "but the only way for cooperation with the United States is that it be mutually beneficial."