Calling all fellow environmental activists who know how to cut and paste...
I got this e-mail today.
Let's fight Schrub with electrons and voice our opinion as to why he should not kill the earth.
Here it is:
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NRDC's EARTH ACTION:
The Bulletin for Environmental Activists
October 30, 2002
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In This Issue:
--Action Alerts--
1. PUBLIC LANDS PROTECTION: Speak out to protect Colorado's Roan
Plateau from the Bush energy plan
2. KIDS' HEALTH: Don't allow the lead industry to set childhood lead
poisoning prevention policy
======================================================
You will also find these alerts in NRDC'S Earth Action Center, which
includes tools for taking action easily online, at
nrdc.org
(Please do not reply to this message; see the instructions below for
how to unsubscribe or contact NRDC with questions or comments.)
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Action Alerts
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1. PUBLIC LANDS PROTECTION
Speak out to protect Colorado's Roan Plateau from the Bush energy plan
Rising 3,500-feet above the Colorado River Valley, the spectacular
Roan Cliffs give way to a broad and rolling plateau, with dense
spruce-fir forests, immense aspen groves, wildflower-filled meadows
and dramatic canyons, one of which features a spectacular 200-foot
waterfall. The plateau is home to some of the purest populations of
native cutthroat trout, as well as bald eagles, elk, deer, black
bears and mountain lions. Anglers, hunters, hikers, mountain bikers,
photographers and others drawn to the area's scenic beauty all
contribute to the local economy.
But the Roan Plateau is the latest target of the Bush
administration's energy policies. The Bureau of Land Management is
currently crafting a management plan that will determine whether oil
and gas development is given priority over wilderness protection for
the 73,000 public acres of the plateau. One option the BLM is
considering would actually open the *entire* area to intensive gas
drilling, blanketing the plateau with new wells, roads, waste pits,
pipelines and transmission lines. But the agency can instead choose
an option that would prohibit drilling in the plateau's most
sensitive areas and protect wildlife from habitat disturbances while
still allowing a reasonable level of energy development.
The BLM is accepting public comments on this phase of the plan's
development through November 13th.
== What to do ==
Send a message, before the November 13th comment deadline, urging the
BLM to adopt a balanced management plan that will protect the Roan
Plateau and its wildlife from excessive oil and gas drilling.
== Contact information ==
You can send an official comment directly from NRDC's Earth Action
Center at nrdc.org. Or use the contact information
and sample letter below to send your own message, and please include
your own reasons why this extraordinary portion of Colorado should be
protected.
Greg Goodenow
Roan Plateau Planning Committee
Glenwood Springs BLM
P.O. Box 1009
Glenwood Springs, CO 81602
Email: greg_goodenow@co.blm.gov
== Sample letter ==
Subject: Adopt Alternative F and protect the Roan Plateau from
excessive drilling
Dear Mr. Goodenow,
I urge you and the rest of the Roan Plateau Planning Committee to
adopt Alternative F. As you know, the Roan Plateau possesses
excellent habitat for Colorado's big game herds, breathtaking
scenery, and outstanding recreational opportunities. Alternative F
would protect the plateau's wildlands, wildlife habitat and scenic
and cultural resources while limiting oil and gas drilling to the
base of the plateau and prohibiting drilling on the cliffs.
While protecting the Roan Plateau's wild character, Alternative F
would still allow energy development to proceed at a reasonable
level, enabling industry to access gas resources, through directional
drilling or other less environmentally harmful techniques, from
already developed areas at the base of the plateau, leaving the
uplands unspoiled by new industrial development. Alternative F could
be further improved by limiting motorized use in the area to
designated routes.
Adopting Alternative F would safeguard the Roan Plateau's wilderness,
wildlife and recreational opportunities while ensuring that energy
development continues in a responsible and balanced manner. Again, I
urge you to adopt Alternative F.
Sincerely,
[Your name and address]
2. KIDS' HEALTH
Don't allow the lead industry to set childhood lead poisoning
prevention policy
Despite public awareness campaigns about risks and prevention,
hundreds of thousands of American children have elevated levels of
lead in their blood. Lead can damage a child's central nervous
system, kidneys, and reproductive system and, at higher levels, can
cause coma, convulsions, and even death.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention uses an advisory
committee to assess scientific data and help develop policy to
prevent lead poisoning. Historically, committee nominations are made
by senior CDC scientists and approved by the secretary of Health and
Human Services. But in an unprecedented move, the Bush administration
rejected all recent nominations to this panel and replaced them with
individuals with questionable qualifications and ties to the lead
industry.
One panel member is an expert witness for a lead paint manufacturer
in an ongoing legal case in which the lead paint industry is being
held responsible for childhood lead poisoning. Another is also
helping the lead industry with lawsuits while her employer is funded
by 16 corporations that have caused lead pollution. Yet another panel
member has stated it is his duty to eliminate the CDC's lead program,
and a fourth is employed by the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis,
which has 22 corporate funders that have caused lead pollution.
It's time to call the administration on its blatant efforts to stack
this federal advisory committee with the lead industry's nominees.
== What to do ==
Send a message to Health and Human Services secretary Tommy Thompson,
urging him to remove unqualified committee panelists with lead
industry ties and allow the CDC to select the most qualified and
independent lead experts.
== For background ==
Turning Lead Into Gold: How the Bush Administration is
Poisoning the Lead Advisory Committee at the CDC
house.gov
== Contact information ==
You can send a message to Secretary Thompson directly from NRDC's
Earth Action Center at nrdc.org. Or use the
contact information and sample letter below to send your own message,
and please include your own reasons why the Bush administration
should stop letting the lead industry call the shots when it comes to
protecting our kids' health.
Secretary Tommy G. Thompson
Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Ave, SW
Washington, DC 20201
Fax: 202-690-7203
== Sample letter ==
Subject: Remove lead industry appointees from CDC advisory committee
Dear Secretary Thompson,
I urge you to restore credibility to the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Childhood Lead Poisoning
Prevention by removing recently appointed panelists selected by the
lead industry who are out of step with the science of childhood lead
poisoning. I am disturbed that the United States' key health agency
would seek advice from this industry, which has a long, sordid, and
well-documented history of distorting and misrepresenting the health
effects of lead. These individuals cannot provide the objective
expertise required for participation on this advisory panel.
Dr. William Banner is an expert witness for the lead industry in an
ongoing legal case in which the state of Rhode Island is holding the
lead paint industry responsible for childhood lead poisoning. Dr.
Joyce Tsuji is also helping the lead industry with litigation and her
employer is funded by 16 corporations that have reported lead
pollution. Dr. Sergio Piomelli was put on the panel by the lead
industry itself and wishes to eliminate the CDC's lead program. And
Dr. Kimberly Thompson's employer, the Harvard Center for Risk
Analysis, has 22 corporate funders that have caused lead pollution,
two of which are defendants in the Rhode Island lawsuit.
These appointments undermine public confidence in your department's
commitment to end childhood lead poisoning in the U.S., and I urge
you to remove the individuals listed above immediately. Instead of
accommodating polluting industries, you should defer to the CDC to
select independent experts who can provide the best possible advice
for protecting children from lead poisoning.
Sincerely,
[Your name and address]
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-ClappyTheBarelyActiveNatureActivist |
