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Take Action
Choose from the many issues below and follow the appropriate links to send emails, letters or e-faxes to those in charge of making decisions about important environmental issues.
Select an Issue:
· Help Protect The Tongass Rainforest! NEW!
· Save the Clean Air Act NEW!
· South Chilcotin park to be reviewed by Liberals
· Protect U.S. Alaskan Rainforests
· Open-netcage Salmon Farming
· Ecuador Pipeline
· Endangered Iberian Lynx in Portugal
· Waterton Lakes National Park
Click here to view our government contact information page.
Help Protect the Tongass Rainforest!
The Bush Administration failed its first major test on protecting roadless areas in America�s national forests when it recently released the Tongass Wilderness Plan. The Forest Service chose a "no action" alternative, which heavily favors the commercial timber industry over all other users of the Tongass by recommending no new Wilderness. The Administration�s recommendations were presented as the "preferred alternative" of a court-ordered wilderness review.
The Forest Service looked at over 9 million acres of the wildest, most pristine forest in the world and it decided that none of that portion of the Tongass deserved permanent protection as Wilderness. This decision was made in spite of the overwhelming support of the American people. Of the over 2 million comments submitted on the Roadless Rule - nearly all strongly supported the Rule and the vast majority specifically citing the Tongass for protection.
Your Voice is Needed!
This is your chance to tell the Bush Administration and the Forest Service that you want our wild forests to remain wild. Please take a few moments of your time to send in your offical comments supporting Wilderness protection for the Tongass. When you send a free fax, a copy of your comments will also be automatically sent to your representative in Congress. The Deadline For Comments Is August 17.
Please let the Bush Administration hear from you today! Write the U.S. Forest Service and urge them to adopt the Tongass Wilderness Plan Alternative #6 � Alaska Rainforest Conservation wilderness proposal. You can mail a personal letter or send a free fax today.
By Mail:
USDA FS Tongass NF
Content Analysis Team
PO Box 9079
Missoula, MT 59807
Or better yet, just click here to take action.
Save the Clean Air Act!
Under severe pressure from industry lobbyists, President Bush is preparing to weaken our clean air protections by letting approximately 17,000 of the country's biggest polluting facilities -- including old, dirty power plants, oil refineries, and chemical plants -- escape rules that require them to install modern pollution controls when they pump out more pollution. This unprecedented weakening of our clean air laws would allow millions more tons of soot, smog, and toxic pollution to be spewed into our air each year. We need your help to persuade the administration to keep our clean air laws strong!
Learn more about this issue and take a look at this great cartoon.
Demand a Responsible Energy Policy
On December 5th, Senate Majority Leader Daschle (D-SD) introduced an energy bill that includes energy efficiency and renewable energy and would not allow Arctic drilling. The Senate is scheduled to debate the bill in late January/early February. We'll need YOUR help (and lots of it!) to ensure that balanced energy legislation is enacted.
View the latest TV ad on clean energy security or learn more about this issue at saveourenvironment.org.
Support Wildlife Funding
The American Wildlife Enhancement Act could be a great boost for protecting threatened, wild places of national significance such as the Northern Forest and the Central Appalachian Highlands. If you care about saving these places then Congress needs to hear from you. Learn more about this critical legislation then edit the letter below to urge your representative's support.
Learn more and write a letter of concern on the the Appalachian Mountain Club website.
South Chilcotin park to be reviewed by Liberals
The Liberal government is launching a review that could overturn the NDP's last-minute decision to create a 71,400-hectare provincial park around Spruce Lake in the South Chilcotin Mountains. Stan Hagen, minister of sustainable resource management, confirmed in an interview Tuesday from Victoria that he plans to visit the South Chilcotin later this month. He will meet representatives of industry and the community in the Lillooet area to discuss concerns that the park will reduce employment and hurt the local economy. He will also view Spruce Lake from the air.
If the BC Liberal government is successful in decommissioning this Class A provincial Park, you can bet your bottom dollar that the timber industry will soon be eyeing the rest of our precious parks! This is a central, precedent setting issue for this new era in BC. PLEASE write, phone, fax, and e-mail now! Tell the Liberals exactly what you think of their plan to decommission the South Chilcotin Mountains Class A Provincial Park.
Direct letters and phone calls to:
Premier Gordon Campbell
Legislative Buildings
Victoria, BC V8V 1X4
Phone: (250) 387-1715 Fax: (250) 356-5972
[email protected]
Honourable Stan Hagen
Minister of Sustainable Resource Management
P.O. Box 9054 Stn. Prov. Gov't
Victoria, BC V8W 9E2
phone: (250)356-9076
fax: 250-356-8274
[email protected]
Honorable Joyce Murray
Minister of Land, Air and Water Protection
Hon. Joyce Murray
Legislative Buildings, Victoria, BC
V8V 1X4
Click here to view our government contact information page.
Open-netcage Salmon Farming
Open-netcage salmon farming causes serious environmental damage to the marine environment and poses a threat to wild salmon stocks. Click here to send a quick message to Fisheries Minister Dhaliwal today.
Ecuador Pipeline Campaign
A consortium of multinational companies led by Occidental Petroleum, Alberta Energy and Chase Manhattan Bank is proposing to build an oil pipeline through pristine cloud forests in northwestern Ecuador. This project would destroy unique habitat that harbors over 450 species of birds (5% of the world's total), imperil a host of endangered plants and animals and undermine the livelihoods of local residents dependent on ecotourism.
Please help us by sending the message found below to the corporations involved. Acting on this should take no more than 2-3 minutes.
Two routes have been proposed and approved by the Ecuadorian government to pump heavy crude oil from the Amazon to Ecuador's Pacific coast. The so-called Northern route is proposed by OCP Ltd., a multinational consortium including Occidental Petroleum (US), Kerr-McGee Energy (US), Agip Oil (Italy), Alberta Energy Corporation (Canada), Repsol-YPF (Spain/Argentina) and Techint (Argentina). Chase Manhattan Corporation (US) is providing financing.
We recognize that Ecuador needs the revenues that the proposed oil pipeline will generate, but this is not a case of having to choose between the environment and economic development. The government has also approved a southern route, which follows the path of an existing pipeline and passes primarily through previously deforested areas, thus causing far less environmental impact.
We are urging the companies involved to choose the route that causes the least damage.
Please help save the forests by sending a message to the companies involved:
- Open a new blank message
- Copy and paste the following addresses in the "To" box
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], agipp[email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
- Copy and paste the message text below, or your own comments
- Send
- PLEASE DISTRIBUTE THIS MESSAGE TO OTHER PEOPLE (to avoid lots of arrows in messages that are forwarded repeatedly we suggest that you copy and paste the text instead of just hitting "forward').
Thank you for your help-and please contact us at [email protected] for more information or if you have suggestions of other ways you may be able to help.
COMIT� PRO RUTA DE MENOR IMPACTO
(Committee for the Route of Least Impact)
For More Information:
http://worldtwitch.virtualave.net/ecuador_pipeline.htm
http://www.wing-wbsj.or.jp/birdlife/mindo.htm
http://www.sur.iucn.org
Suggested Text for Message for Cutting and Pasting:
I am writing to express my profound concern regarding your proposal to build and operate an oil pipeline cutting across pristine rain forest areas in northwestern Ecuador.
While many multinational businesses are moving to actively demonstrate their corporate environmental leadership, the oil pipeline that you propose to build in Ecuador is a major step in the opposite direction.
As you are aware, the Ecuadorian government has authorized two routes for the new Heavy Crude Oil Pipeline. OCP Ltd. has proposed a northern route, with a 157 km deviation to go around Quito. This route will pass through kilometers of natural areas that are being preserved by the government, such as the Mindo-Nambillo Protected Forest, and by private organizations in the upper portion of the Guayllabamba River watershed. The area forms part of the Choco Endemic Region, considered one of the most biologically diverse areas in the world. In addition, it harbors the first "Important Bird Area" (IBA) in South America. The Mindo IBA supports over 450 bird species, or almost 5% of the world's bird species. In the last decade, a flourishing ecotourism industry has developed in this area, drawing visitors from around the world and providing long-term livelihoods for many local residents.
The alternative southern route would have far less impact since it mostly follows the existing pipeline (SOTE) and detours around Quito (57 km) through primarily agricultural lands with far less forest than the northern route.
Although much can be done to reduce impacts in pipeline construction and operation, the area that will be affected by your proposal is both biologically unique and enormously fragile. The actions to date, carried out by Techint, the contractor for pipeline construction, have done nothing to encourage confidence. They have trespassed on public reserves and private lands and cleared forests to conduct preliminary surveys without permission.
Under these conditions and with these precedents, severe and irreversible impacts are almost assured. The only way to avoid these impacts is by choosing a route that foresees and prevents these impacts from the start- the northern route clearly does not take into account these environmental considerations.
There is still time to change the route of the pipeline. I urge you to act quickly and decisively to make sure that this project does not tarnish your environmental record, and more importantly, does not cause of destruction of montane forest habitats of global conservation significance.
A new pipeline is important for the economic development of Ecuador, but the same objectives can be met with far less environmental damage if the right route is chosen and proper safeguards established from the very outset.
Click here to view our government contact information page.
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