SC-ACTION Vol. II, #164 - January 10, 200
SIERRACLUB-ACTION
DEFENDING THE ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA
Friday, January 10, 2000
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
"Subsidizing economic development in the suburbs is like paying teenagers
to think about sex."
- Lyle Wray, Citizens League (St. Paul, MN)
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1) TAKE ACTION: PUBLIC REVIEW OF TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS COULD HELP
PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT AND REDUCE SPRAWL
2) NEW NATIONAL MONUMENTS ON TAP AT THE CANYON!
3) CLEAN CAR AWARD EARNS NATIONAL ATTENTION
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1) TAKE ACTION: PUBLIC REVIEW OF TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS COULD HELP
PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT AND REDUCE SPRAWL
The Department of Transportation is currently reviewing how to implement
the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, which Congress passed
in 1998. Through a rule-making process currently under assessment, the
DOT will determine how to require Metropolitan Planning Organizations to
order public review of transportation projects. The rules would apply to
projects that receive federal funds.
Through rampant highway construction, patterns of transportation
investment are having a huge impact on communities and the environment.
Too many metropolitan planning agencies are exacerbating sprawl and other
issues that drain resources from central cities and chew up forests and
farmland by emphasizing highway expansion ahead of public transportation.
Individuals and local jurisdictions who attempt to affect the
transportation planning process and have tried to obtain information
disclosing how federal transportation funds are spent locally encounter
numerous obstacles. People have a right to know how federal
transportation funds are spent in their communities.
Call Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater (202-366-1111) and tell
him that the Department of Transportation should use the opportunity
created by the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century to bring
new accountability and transparency to the transportation planning
process.
Greater transparency and accountability will allow ordinary community
members to substantively participate in transportation planning
activities. It would also allow local, state and federal agencies to
better track how federal dollars are spent and improve the efficiency of
local planning efforts. Call Secretary Slater at 202-366-1111 and tell
him to make transportation planning as open and transparent as possible,
as mandated by TEA-21.
We know that the highways built using tax dollars enable sprawl. How can
we challenge sprawl if we can't even find out how our money's being
spent?
2) NEW NATIONAL MONUMENTS ON TAP AT THE CANYON!
President Clinton is expected to formally declare several new National
Monuments on Tuesday January 11 at the Grand Canyon. Interior Secretary
Bruce Babbitt recently recommended the step, proposing three new areas in
Arizona and California for National Monument designation as well as an
addition to a fourth existing Monument in Arizona. Although the news is
not certain, we expect the president to announce protection for:
-Nearly 1 million acres of scenic wildlands along the north rim of the
Grand Canyon area as the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument;
-Over 70,000 acres of canyon and mesa country containing hundreds of
archaeological sites north of Phoenix as the Agua Fria National Monument;
-Thousands of small islands and rocky coves on the California coast near
the Channel Islands; and
-Expansion of the Pinnacles National Monument in California through the
protection of an additional 8,000 acres of prime wildlife habitat.
Perhaps the most significant, if only in size, of these areas is the
Shivwitz Plateau in Arizona. The proposed Grand Canyon-Parashant National
Monument borders the northwest side of Grand Canyon National Park, and
would protect the upper reaches of several canyons which contain streams
draining into the Grand Canyon's Colorado River. This area combines the
best in scientifically sound ecosystem and watershed protection planning
with matchless scenic value.
Club activists around the country are greeting the news with enthusiasm.
We expect this announcement to be the first in a series of initiatives to
protect other special places as National Monuments. This is a great way
to start off a new millennium of land protection! Combined with the
potential for full funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund and
the President's initiative to protect our last wild unspoiled roadless
National Forest lands, 2000 is shaping up to be an historic year for land
protection!
3. CLEAN CAR AWARD EARNS NATIONAL ATTENTION
The following press release was issued last week to announce the Sierra
Club's Clean Car Award given to the Honda Insight:
SIERRA CLUB GIVES FIRST PRODUCT AWARD IN 108-YEAR HISTORY
Honda Insight receives "Sierra Club Award for Excellence in Environmental
Engineering"
Los Angeles--The Sierra Club today honored the Honda Insight with the
first product award in the organization's 108-year history, the "Sierra
Club Award for Excellence in Environmental Engineering" Carl Pope,
Sierra Club Executive Director, presented the award today at the Los
Angeles Auto Show. The Insight was chosen because of its revolutionary
hybrid design and fuel efficiency of more than 60 miles per gallon.
According to EPA tests for model year 2000 vehicles the Insight beat its
nearest competitor by nearly 20 mpg.
"I feel like the proverbial man who bit a dog," said Pope. "After all, it
isn't every millennium the Sierra Club praises a car. But the Honda
Insight deserves this first Award because it marks the beginning of the
automotive industry utilizing 21st Century technology."
As a hybrid, the Insight combines attributes of electric and gasoline
motors. The Insight's highly efficient gas-powered engine, refillable
at any gas station, powers the vehicle and also generates electricity for
the electric motor, which also helps provide power. The Insight also
captures the energy typically lost to braking, directing it to recharge
the batteries. Unlike purely electric vehicles a hybrid does not need to
be plugged in. Because the Insight runs on both gasoline and clean
electricity it achieves fuel economy of 61 mpg in city and 70 mpg in
highway driving and therefore emits much less global warming and air
pollution than other vehicles.
Through the "Award for Excellence in Environmental Engineering" the
Sierra Club will inform the American people about advances in technology
which make vehicles more environmentally sound. The award will be
presented when a company develops and mass markets a vehicle that
represents a substantial environmental improvement over vehicles of
similar size. The award goes to the product, not the company.
"This is an award for a real car that real people can buy and use," said
Pope. "We want people to know there are environmentally sound
alternatives readily available. In this case, Honda built a great car
and has committed to marketing the Insight in all 50 states."
While other auto companies are touting prototypes for cleaner vehicles,
the only hybrid vehicle Americans can buy today is the Insight. Toyota's
hybrid Prius will be available this summer.
Better environmental technology is critical because our nation's vehicles
emit an enormous amount of pollution. American cars and trucks produce
more carbon dioxide (CO2) pollution than the CO2 emissions for all but
three other countries. The 120 billion gallons of gasoline American cars
and light trucks consume produces over a billion tons of CO2 pollution
annually.
"This car proves that the technology exists to dramatically clean up the
pollution from America's cars," said Dan Becker, Director of the Sierra
Club's Global Warming and Energy Program. "The biggest single step we
can take to curb global warming is to make cars and light trucks go
further on a gallon of gasoline. While there is no technology to remove
carbon dioxide from a car's exhaust, we can decrease emissions by making
them more fuel efficient. That is why we're so excited about the
Insight."
Automobiles are major contributors to global warming, smog and suburban
sprawl. This award recognizes the Honda Insight which can help reduce
global warming and air pollution. We must also design convenient and
livable neighborhoods to encourage walking, bicycling and public transit.
This, along with reduced subsidies to driving, will help curb sprawl and
traffic congestion.
The Sierra Club is grateful for the technical assistance of the American
Council for an Energy Efficient Economy which consulted with us on this
award.
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Sierra Club Legislative Hotline - 202-675-2394
Sierra Club National Headquarters - 415-977-5500
Sierra Club World Wide Web - http://www.sierraclub.org
Sierra Club Vote Watch Website - http://www.sierraclub.org/votewatch/
White House Comment Line - 202-456-1111
White House Fax Line - 202-456-2461
Clinton's e-mail - pres...@whitehouse.gov
Gore's e-mail - vice-pr...@whitehouse.gov
White House Address - 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, DC 20500
US Capitol Switchboard - 202-224-3121
To contact your senators - http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index.cf
Tocontact your representative - http://www.house.gov/writerep/
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Jym Dyer
> today at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The Insight was chosen
> because of its revolutionary hybrid design and fuel efficiency
> of more than 60 miles per gallon.
=v= It can't be all that revolutionary if it only gets a few MPG
over the Honda Civic CVCC, which came out over 20 years ago.
I'm deeply unimpressed, and I find it pathetic that the Sierra
Club should take the unprecedented step of awarding this product
award -- to a car!
=v= In various press accounts, Carl Pope gushed on and on about
it, which will presumably keep that _Sierra_ car ad revenue
rolling in. (Somebody should pie him! Oh wait, they already
did.)
<_Jym_>