Enviro: AmeriScan for March 9, 2000
Mark Graffis
SNAKE RIVER STILL AMERICA'S MOST ENDANGERED
WASHINGTON, DC, March 9, 2000 (ENS) - In an emergency announcement,
the conservation group American Rivers has named the lower Snake River
the nation's most endangered river for 2000. Last year the river also
topped the group's most endangered list. At a press conference in
Washington today, followed by a delivery to the White House of
thousands of public comment forms, the conservation group said removal
of four dams is the only solution that will save the salmon, honor
treaty obligations with Indian Tribes, protect the Northwest economy
and quality of life, and save billions of taxpayer dollars.
The four dams - Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose, and Lower
Granite - were built by the Army Corps of Engineers in the 1960s and
'70s. They kill salmon by flooding spawning habitat, interfering with
migration of young salmon to the sea - exposing them to predation and
disease - and by creating obstacles to adult salmon returning to
spawn. Dam removal is opposed by industry groups who rely on the
electricity and navigable waters created by the dams.
American Rivers will release the rest of its list of most endangered
rivers on April 10, but made the Snake River announcement early
because Americans have only until March 31 to express their views on
Snake River dam removal as part of the public hearing process. The
Clinton-Gore administration is legally obligated to decide this year
whether to remove the four lower Snake River dams as part of its
salmon recovery plan. To submit comments, visit
[23]http://www.salmonforever.org.
* * *
FIDELITY INVESTMENTS HIT WITH COLOMBIA OIL DRILLING PROTESTS
SAN FRANCISCO, California, March 9, 2000 (ENS) - People in the offices
of Fidelity Investments in 20 cities across the United States saw
protest demonstrations today against the use of funding from Fidelity
to Occidental Petroleum for its oil drilling program in Colombia.
Fidelity controls more than 30 million shares of Occidental,
representing over $500 million. Protesters from Rainforest Action
Network, Project Underground, Greenaction and Amazon Watch are asking
Fidelity to pressure Occidental Petroleum to cancel drilling on land
in eastern Colombia that is sacred to the U'wa indigenous people.
Occidental's entire Samore block falls within the U'wa traditional
lands. Last month the U'wa were evicted from the site by Colombian
Army helicopters. The U'wa have recently re-occupied the area along
with union, student and other indigenous supporters - about 4,000
people. Occidental has begun moving in large trucks and roadbuilding
equipment.
* * *
EVERETT, WASHINGTON ARSENIC CLEANUP BACK IN COURT
OLYMPIA, Washington, March 9, 2000 (ENS) - The Washington Department
of Ecology (Ecology) will appeal to the State Supreme Court a judge's
ruling that allows the Asarco Corporation to escape some of its
responsibility for cleaning contaminated yards in a northeast Everett
neighborhood. The state Attorney General's Office, representing
Ecology, will appeal the written ruling issued last week by Thurston
County Superior Court Judge Gary Tabor. That ruling, announced orally
last December, said Asarco's constitutional rights would be violated
if the company was required to clean land outside of the property the
company had historically owned. In effect, the judge excused Asarco
from cleaning hundreds of yards contaminated with arsenic from the
smokestack of the old smelter.
Ecology identified Asarco, which was the last operator of the Everett
smelter, as the party responsible for cleanup of the abandoned site
under the provisions of the state Model Toxics Control Act. Arsenic
from the smelter, which was torn down between 1912 and 1915, is the
source of contamination in the yards of potentially hundreds of homes
that have since been built on the site in northeast Everett. The state
cleaned the 10 most contaminated yards last summer and wants to clean
dozens more during the next two years. Governor Gary Locke has asked
the state legislature to approve $3 million so Ecology can continue
the cleanup project. If Ecology prevails in the appeal to the State
Supreme Court, the cleanup costs could be recouped from Asarco later.
* * *
EPA LAB IN MASSACHUSETTS BUYS 100% GREEN POWER
LEXINGTON, Massachusetts, March 9, 2000 (ENS) - The U.S. government
wants to buy almost two million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy for
the new Environmental Protection Agency laboratory in Chelmsford. The
General Services Administration (GSA) has issued a request for
electricity generation that uses 100 percent renewable generation
sources that can be delivered starting this winter. The 1,885,084 kWh
of electricity must qualify under the Green-e certification program
that requires verification that the power comes from completely green
facilities.
"In addition to the obvious environmental benefits of using green
power at this facility, the intent of the EPAs 100 percent renewable
power purchase is to encourage the installation of new renewable
generation, support emerging technologies and support the development
of a green power market in the New England region," says the GSA
request document. For this contract, renewable power is defined as
biomass, solar thermal, photovoltaic, wind, or geothermal. In the case
of a tie, priority will be given to those bids with the highest
percentage of renewable power coming from new generation facilities.
Green-e certification, including strict adherence to the Green Power
Boards Code of Conduct, is the minimum standard for this contract.
Only suppliers that are eligible to sell open access power in
Massachusetts can bid, and must have at least one year of experience
within the past two years as a wholesale or retail supplier. Bids must
be filed by March 31. Contact: [24]http://www.gsa.gov/pbs/xu/co1.htm
* * *
PACIFIC NORTHWEST BIDS TO CASH IN ON RENEWABLE ENERGY
SEATTLE, Washington, March 9, 2000 (ENS) - A conference in Seattle
next month will examine how the Pacific Northwest can become a leader
in renewable energy. Accelerating development and use of wind and
solar power, fuel cells and other hybrid technologies, will be a key
to solving the problems of global warming. "Symposium on Clean Energy:
The Next High Tech Revolution" will gather investors, environmental
and high-tech entrepreneurs to address advances in electronic and
information technologies that will transform the energy industry. They
will consider new business and investment opportunities, and how the
Pacific Northwest can lead the way. "The Northwest owes much of its
economic success to capturing an early edge in high-tech," says
Washington Governor Gary Locke. "We have a tremendous opportunity to
reap the rewards of leading the next technology revolution in clean
energy."
Speakers during the conference April 3 to 5 will include Texas
billionaire Sam Wyly who is lead investor in GreenMountain.com, a
supplier of renewable energy; Robert Stempel, former head of General
Motors and now chair of Energy Conversion Devices, a solar power
company; geneticist-environmentalist David Suzuki of the Canadian
foundation that bears his name; and Christopher Flavin of the
Worldwatch Institute.
* * *
WWF TIGER CONSERVATION RECEIVES ARTIST'S DONATION
WASHINGTON, DC, March 9, 2000 (ENS) - Jiang, an artist internationally
known for his abstract expressionist paintings of wild animals, is
donating $20,000 to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) for its tiger
conservation program. The money comes from the sale of a special
serigraph, "Beautiful Tomorrow," created by the artist. Fingerhut
Group Publishing, which represents Jiang, will present the check to
WWF's director of species campaigns Peter DeBrine at the International
ArtExpo today in New York.
Jiang created the serigraph to draw attention to the endangered tigers
of the world. Habitat loss and poaching fueled partially by demand for
tiger bones and other parts used in traditional Asian medicine have
reduced the world's wild tiger population to 7,000 at most.
* * *
WISCONSIN WETLANDS PROPOSAL MAY STRENGTHEN PROTECTION
MADISON, Wisconsin, March 9, 2000 (ENS) - Nearly half of the 10
million acres of wetlands present when Wisconsin became a state in
1848 have been drained for agriculture or filled for development.
Although they are no longer lost at the pace they once were, Wisconsin
wetlands continue to be destroyed and degraded, state wetland
officials say. To prevent and reverse further losses, Department of
Natural Resources is unveiling a draft plan that seeks to strengthen
wetland protections while increasing education, technical assistance
and financial incentives to the private landowners who control
three-quarters of Wisconsins remaining wetlands.
The draft plan, "Reversing the Loss" recognizes the need for state
enforcement authority as well as the need to streamline the
complicated and cumbersome process that farmers, builders, and others
must now follow to seek permission for activities in wetlands. It
encourages property owners to avoid or minimize damage to wetlands,
but allows the possibility of compensating for filling or dredging in
a wetland by restoring or creating a high quality wetland in another
appropriate location. Pat Trochlell, a state wetland team member,
said, "Wetlands help provide critical habitat for wildlife and
recreation for people, they help protect water quality by filtering
out polluted runoff, and they help prevent flooding by storing water.
To learn more about the strategy and to comment on the draft plan,
visit: [25]http://www.dnr.state.wi.us
* * *
EAGLES REPOPULATE MINNESOTA
BRAINERD, Minnesota, March 9, 2000 (ENS) - In 1982, it was uncommon to
see a bald eagle soaring above the pines and the lakes of east-central
Minnesota. When Pam Perry, Department of Natural Resources nongame
wildlife specialist, started working in the Brainerd office in 1982,
she tracked about 25 eagle nests. The population in east-central
Minnesota has grown now to 179 eagle territories, some with more than
one nest. "What's really intriguing is that eagles are nesting in the
agricultural counties of east-central Minnesota," Perry said. "We have
eagles in every county in our region."
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering removing Minnesota's
bald eagles from the endangered species list this summer. The
Minnesota Department of Natural Resource's Nongame Wildlife program
will conduct a survey this spring to determine the number of bald
eagle nesting pairs in the state. The agency estimates there are over
700 nesting pairs in the state and possibly even 800. Eagles begin
returning to east-central Minnesota in early February. They work on
their nest and begin courtship. By mid-March, the eagles are laying
eggs which will hatch sometime in April.