Complete list of press releases

The following statement may be attributed to Environmental Defense transportation director Michael Replogle. 

“Congress missed an opportunity with this transportation bill to bring major relief to the millions of Americans who are stuck in traffic, stuck with an asthma inhaler, or stuck with high gas bills.  This bill also takes little action to improve energy security.  More than ever, it will be up to state and local officials to put in place transportation policy that protects our health and environment. Although the bill is short on vision and long on pork, there are a few bright spots that should not be ignored. 

“States will have new opportunities to use market incentives to cut traffic and air pollution and finance better transportation choices.  Reauthorization of the Value Pricing Pilot Program and expanded toll pilot programs could help spur the development of tools like time-of-day tolling and pay-as-you-drive car insurance.  A new program introduced by Senator Clinton to help clean up dirty diesel engines that are used both on- and off- highways and in construction will help reduce health hazards from air pollution.

“But accountability for the effects of new highways on air quality will be weakened and highway agency bureaucrats will gain more power to override concerns about new highways raised by public citizens and environmental scientists and policymakers.  To challenge questionable approvals of new road projects that may be years away from being fully funded, local officials and the public will now need to file law suits within 180 days following completion of an environmental review, rather than resolving those conflicts out of court while project sponsors seek full funding for their project.

“Environmental Defense applauds the efforts of Representatives Oberstar and Dingle and Senators Jeffords, Carper, and Warner, and many others who worked to protect core environmental laws that were threatened in earlier versions of the bill.” 

ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE - DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE - NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION - PACIFIC INSTITUTE - SIERRA CLUB - SONORAN INSTITUTE

(July 18, 2005) Several non-governmental organizations today presented the Secretary of the Interior with a proposal for Colorado River drought management that will avoid drastic and uncompensated water shortages.  Despite an April 30 deadline from the Secretary, the Colorado River basin states failed to agree on a plan for how to manage the river during times of shortage.  The NGO proposal is submitted in anticipation of the Department of the Interior’s first steps toward developing its own plan for sharing Colorado River shortage (see http://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/g4000/docs/strategies.pdf). 

The proposal, titled “Conservation Before Shortage” can be downloaded at http://www.environmentaldefense.org/go/CORiver .

“The states are paralyzed by arguments with each other over water entitlements.  They seem unable to craft a practical solution, and in the meantime stored water supplies have dwindled considerably,” said Jennifer Pitt, a scientist with Environmental Defense. “Our shortage proposal offers a proactive approach that protects Colorado River water users and the environment from abrupt reductions in the amount of water available.”

“It’s hard to reach consensus when someone has to lose,” said Peter Culp, an attorney with the Sonoran Institute in Arizona.  “The current deadlock between the states reflects a zero-sum approach to river management, where one state or one water user is expected to shoulder the full burden of a drought by suffering a large, uncompensated shortage while other users are unaffected.  Our proposal suggests a more cooperative, evenhanded approach to coping with drought.”

‘The “Conservation Before Shortage” policy proposal is based on the principle that shortage criteria should maximize the reliability and predictability of water deliveries on the Colorado River by introducing increased flexibility into the management of river resources when shortage conditions are imminent. The proposal establishes a voluntary, compensated water conservation program that minimizes the likelihood of large, uncompensated water shortages.

“Our approach spreads the burden of drought among many users, limiting the severity of water cutbacks on any single entity,” said Michael Cohen, Senior Associate with the Pacific Institute.  “It would create a predictable, rational system for water users, and distribute the costs between water and power users and the federal government.”

“By planning for drought we see the double benefit of reducing the threat of large, involuntary water shortages and reducing the pressures on a river environment already stressed by drought,” added Kara Gillon, staff attorney with Defenders of Wildlife.

“The failure of the states to address the need to cooperate in sharing shortages demands that a fair and objective proposal be put on the table” said James Wechsler, Chair of the Sierra Club’s Southwest Waters Committee.

“Our proposal has the added benefit of protecting power generating capacity, while meeting the water conservation challenges that we face in the West,” added Garrit Voggesser, Tribal Lands Specialist with the National Wildlife Federation.

The conservation groups are optimistic that as the Department of Interior considers various shortage alternatives on the Lower Colorado River, the “Conservation Before Shortage” proposal will introduce a more flexible approach to river management that recognizes that even though the Colorado River has a wide variety of uses and benefits, the river can be managed in an equitable manner for both people and the environment.

Colorado River reservoirs are nearly half empty due to the extended drought that started in 2000, and the decline in quantity of water in storage is expected to continue.  The Bureau of Reclamation projects that reservoir levels at Lake Mead could drop quickly towards the elevation at which power generation is compromised if the drought continues, and could fall below the elevation of  Nevada’s upper intakes or remain in a long-term decline that will be difficult to reverse until Lake Powell begins to re-fill. 

“Conservation Before Shortage” addresses shortages before they occur by establishing requirements for water conservation in the Lower Colorado River basin that increase as the stored water supply declines. These requirements are based on a series of lake level triggers so that as Mead elevations lower, the quantity of water to be conserved would increase.  The required amount of water would be conserved by offering to pay Colorado River water users, located anywhere in the Lower Colorado River basin or in Mexico, to voluntarily forbear water use.  Funds to pay for forbearance would come from federal appropriations as well as a surcharge applied to Lower Basin water users and consumers of power generated at the Hoover Dam.
Conservation Before Shortage Benefits

Reduced need for new water projects. The introduction of flexibility into Colorado River management will allow those who are willing and able to reduce their water use to be compensated for doing so, and avoid the need to impose reductions in water use on those who cannot.  By eliminating the potential for water shortages where they cannot easily be accommodated, this policy will limit the need for costly new water projects to protect water users that cannot tolerate interruptions in water supplies.

Protection of the environment.  Fish, wildlife, and natural areas on the Colorado River do not, for the most part, have their own water rights.  As such, they are “last in line” for water, and are the most vulnerable of all water users to drought. “Conservation Before Shortage” reduces overall water consumption in dry years, decreasing the risk of shortages that could disproportionately impact environmental uses in the future. Also, by increasing protection against shortage for water users that have inflexible demands, it will allow some water to remain in the river for the wildlife that needs it to survive while still meeting critical human needs.

Improved power production. Consistent maintenance of reservoir storage and power head above baseline conditions in average to low flow conditions will result in increased power production and improved power revenues, as well as elimination of the risk that elevations at Lake Mead will drop below minimum power head, improving the reliability of power production.

Increased certainty for water users. “Conservation Before Shortage” will significantly reduce the likelihood of involuntary and uncompensated shortages in the Lower Basin at levels above 500,000 acre-feet (the approximate level at which a shortage exceeds the ability of the Arizona Water Bank to readily buffer the shortage).

A court decision today leaves the door open for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate greenhouse gas emissions as a pollutant under the Clean Air Act.  Twelve states, three cities and numerous environmental organizations, including Environmental Defense argued this case before the D.C. Circuit on April 8, 2005.

‘ “While the D.C. Circuit found that EPA had broad discretion to determine administratively whether now is the time to regulate global warming pollutants under the Clean Air Act, they did not expressly agree with EPA’s finding that the Agency does not have authority to do so,” said Environmental Defense general counsel Jim Tripp, a petitioner in the case

“An extensive dissent by Judge Tatel says that EPA not only has the authority to regulate greenhouse gas pollution but that EPA has a duty to do so,” said Environmental Defense senior attorney Vickie Patton.  “In light of today’s judicial decision, Environmental Defense will continue to press EPA, as well as, Congress, the courts, and the President to address the urgent problem of global warming pollution.”

(14 July - Austin)  The Texas House of Representatives Thursday passed a bill that will require Texas utility companies to get more of their electric power from low- or non-polluting “renewable” energy sources such as wind, hydroelectric, solar or biomass.

“This is a big deal,” explained Jim Marston, director of the Texas office of Environmental Defense, a national non-profit advocacy group.  “It will keep Texas moving forward in the shift to cleaner power.  It will improve our air quality and give a boost to the burgeoning alternative energy industry in Texas.” 

Texas’ current “renewable portfolio standard” (RPS) requires utility companies to use renewable sources for at least 2,880 megawatts of electrical power annually by 2009, a target that may well be met this year, well ahead of schedule. The bill sent to the governor by the legislature on Thursday will more than double the requirement to 5,880 megawatts annually by 2015.

“Texas has plenty of wind and sunshine,” Marston said. “The more wind and sunshine we use right here at home, the less coal we need to import from Montana and Wyoming. Renewable energy is a homegrown industry with enormous potential for Texas. The RPS is good for our Texas economy as well as our lungs, and the higher RPS requirement will give utility companies the signal they’re been waiting for that Texas is serious about promoting clean energy.

“We’re grateful to Senator Troy Fraser and Representatives Phil King, David Swinford and Bob Hunter for their leadership on this issue,” Marston added.  “And we thank Governor Perry for adding it to the special session agenda.”

Environmental Defense, a leading national nonprofit organization, represents more than 400,000 members.  Since 1967, Environmental Defense has linked science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships to create breakthrough solutions to the most serious environmental problems.

www.environmentaldefense.org

(July 14, 2005 - Sacramento, CA)  The restoration of one of the world’s most spectacular natural landscapes — Hetch Hetchy Valley — will move one step closer to reality today when California’s Resources Agency hosts a historic public workshop to present an initial review of studies that could lead to the restoration of the submerged valley. 

Hetch Hetchy was called a ‘wonderfully exact counterpart’ of Yosemite Valley by none other than John Muir, who fought to ensure that the valley was protected as part of Yosemite National Park. Like Yosemite Valley, Hetch Hetchy was carved by glaciers that left a serene mountain meadow, a flowing Tuolumne River, monumental rock features similar to Half Dome and waterfalls like Yosemite Falls.

But Hetch Hetchy Valley has been submerged beneath 300 feet of water since the early 20th century after San Francisco was granted special permission to build a dam in a national park.

“I can’t imagine a greater natural gift to the American people,” said Tom Graff, Environmental Defense California regional director. “Today marks an essential first step toward the restoration of Yosemite’s second crown jewel.”

 “Environmental Defense understands that any final solution must be crafted in a public forum that includes all the communities that rely on the Tuolumne River for water and power as well as the broader public,” Graff said. “We know that restoration of Hetch Hetchy deserves extensive review.  There has been a lot of concern expressed by stakeholders like the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, and we encourage everyone involved to focus on the facts and keep an open mind.”

Today’s workshop is the State’s first public event since a review was ordered in November 2004, six weeks after Environmental Defense launched its seminal report Paradise Regained: Solutions for Restoring Yosemite’s Hetch Hetchy Valley. The full report and executive summary as well as an interactive tour of Hetch Hetchy Valley are available for download at: www.discoverhetchhetchy.org.

Hetch Hetchy and other reservoirs in the upper Tuolumne River watershed are owned and operated by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, which provides water not only to San Francisco residents but to other Bay Area communities as well. Downstream, the Tuolumne’s waters benefit Turlock, Modesto and surrounding towns.  “We have shown, beyond a doubt, that the storage in Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is a minor part of the overall system, and solutions are available to replace it without storing water in Yosemite National Park,” said Spreck Rosekrans, senior analyst for Environmental Defense. “The challenge before us now is to find ways to assure the various water agencies and the people they serve that they will not be hurt if the reservoir is drained and the valley is restored.”

In Paradise Regained, Environmental Defense not only proposes water supply solutions that maintain or even enhance water quality, but also makes recommendations for replacing a small portion of San Francisco’s hydropower — without increasing greenhouse gas emissions.  “We’re confident that the State’s review will ultimately address the cost of power replacement and provide assurances that consumers will continue to drink  high quality water,” said Dr. Nancy Ryan, senior economist for Environmental Defense. “Safe water and clean power can be delivered while restoring a natural wonder. We believe that, as the costs and benefits are further investigated, the public will decide that the investment in restoration is a worthwhile and lasting legacy for their children and grandchildren.”

Environmental Defense, a leading national nonprofit organization, represents more than 400,000 members.  Since 1967, Environmental Defense has linked science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships to create breakthrough solutions to the most serious environmental problems.

www.discoverhetchhetchy.org

The U.S. Senate Clean Air Subcommittee will hold a hearing tomorrow on the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act of 2005 (S. 1265).   The legislation authorizes $1 billion for a grant and loan program for community and business initiatives to reduce diesel exhaust from today’s engines.  

The legislation has broad bipartisan support and is co-sponsored by Senators Voinovich, Carper, Clinton, Isakson, Hutchison, Feinstein, Inhofe, and Jeffords.  On June 21, the Senate voted 92-1 to amend the legislation to the energy bill, and tomorrow’s hearing would further ensure legislative action to lower diesel exhaust from existing engines if the Energy Bill does not gain final approval.  A new report by Environmental Defense, Cleaner Air for America, shows every single dollar invested in lowering diesel particulate pollution from existing engines yields $12 in human health benefits.  The analysis is available at www.environmentaldefense.org/go/cleanerairamerica

“This legislation relies on American ingenuity to accelerate the nation’s transition to cleaner diesel engines and deliver healthier air to millions of Americans today,” said Mark MacLeod, director of special projects at Environmental Defense.  “We applaud Senator Voinovich for his leadership in bringing diverse interests together and forging common ground to achieve cleaner, healthier air for America.”

Cleaner Air for America examines the extraordinary benefits of a national program to lower pollution from today’s existing diesel engines.  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that by 2030, its landmark programs to reduce air pollution from new diesel buses, freight trucks and new nonroad diesel equipment will slash diesel emissions by more than 80% from 2000 levels thereby preventing over 20,000 premature deaths and half a million asthma attacks each year.  But because these standards apply only to new diesel engines and because existing diesel engines are so durable, the harmful levels of pollution from existing diesel sources will persist throughout the long lives of the engines in service today.

Available technologies can reduce diesel pollution by up to 90%, bringing tremendous relief to anyone who lives, works, attends school, or plays near diesel engines.  The report summarizes diesel pollution reduction projects that have been the proving grounds for a more comprehensive national program including:

-  Programs in Seattle and Los Angles to reduce ship idling by providing shore-based electric power on docks;
-  New York City’s law requiring diesel pollution reduction technologies on vehicles used in City public works construction contracts;
-  Houston’s efforts to retrofit, repower or replace old locomotives;
-  The electrification of truck stops in Brooklyn, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina to reduce idling emissions, and;
-  EPA’s Clean Schoolbus USA program, which has made the ride to school healthier for kids in 47 communities across the country.

(July 7, 2005 - Raleigh, NC) Environmental Defense today applauded the NC House of Representatives for its overwhelming 78-29 vote on the NC Global Warming Act.  In May the NC Senate gave a ringing endorsement to the Act with a 44-6 vote.  The Act will create a North Carolina Global Warming Commission charged with debating and proposing a pollution reduction goal and with making recommendations on the impacts and economic opportunities related to climate change.  North Carolina is the first state in the Southeast to take significant action to address global warming.

“State lawmakers did their homework and learned that the time to address global warming is right now, not years from now,” said Michael Shore, senior air policy analyst with Environmental Defense.  “This vote is a huge milestone in protecting public health and ensuring economic growth in North Carolina.  It puts North Carolina on a path to address potential public health impacts and take advantage of business opportunities that will result from reducing global warming pollution.”

“Addressing global warming presents a substantial economic opportunity that could bring billions of dollars into the state annually.  The Act’s commission can help North Carolina businesses establish a competitive position in the worldwide, lower carbon economy.  At the top of the commission’s agenda should be proposing a scientifically based carbon reduction goal to help align the state’s economic and environmental objectives.”

“While Senators in Washington have finally recognized the need to act on global warming, North Carolina has shown that it intends to prepare its economy and citizens for the changes that global warming will bring,” said Shore.  “Environmental Defense commends Senator Albertson from the coast and Representative Haire from the mountains for their leadership in passage of this landmark legislation.”

(July 6, 2005 - Washington) Congressman Richard Pombo (R-CA) has drafted a bill that would throw in the towel on the Endangered Species Act’s (ESA) effort to recover endangered species, make delisting species more political and less scientific, and cripple the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service with new levels of bureaucracy and unfunded mandates. 

“Congressman Pombo’s bill ought to be called the ‘Every Species Left Behind Act’ because it abandons the effort of the last 30 years to achieve a secure future for our most imperiled wildlife,” said Michael Bean, wildlife chair at Environmental Defense. “His bill would remove protection for rare species while they still face a serious risk of extinction, and would mire conservation efforts in a jumble of new bureaucratic red tape.”

Environmental Defense recently published two analyses of the ESA that directly counter Congressman Pombo’s reform philosophy and his faulty assumptions about the Act’s effectiveness.  The reports can be downloaded at http://www.backfromthebrink.org/inthespotlight.cfm?subnav=story&ContentID=4467

According to the draft, Pombo intends to so severely lower the “recovery” threshold that a species can be removed from the list well before its recovery has been scientifically documented.

“If this were an education bill, it would allow failing students to graduate,” Bean said.  “That approach doesn’t make children smarter, and it won’t help our endangered species.  Congressman Pombo’s bill removes any science from recovery efforts and replaces it with politics and opinion.”

Under the ESA, an endangered species must be made sufficiently secure that it is no longer in danger of extinction - a scientific judgment - in order to be taken off the endangered species list.  Under Pombo’s proposal, a species could come off the list by achieving any other “desired level of abundance or distribution” short of scientifically-based recovery goals.

Other changes would impose on the Fish & Wildlife Service major new responsibilities that will drain even more resources from conservation efforts without any assurance that new resources will be made available.  For example, the bill would transfer responsibility for managing endangered salmon from the Commerce Department to the Fish & Wildlife Service without any new resources to do so.  And a host of new procedural hurdles would have to be cleared to add species to the endangered species list, to designate critical habitat or develop recovery plans for them and to review federal actions that detrimentally affect them. 

“Congressman Pombo said he wanted a simpler, more effective endangered species policy,” Bean said.  “But what he’s written is more complicated, more bureaucratic and startlingly less effective.  Fewer resources will be available for recovery efforts and fewer species will be recovered.”

Among the bill’s troubling changes is the replacement of the government’s duty to “develop and implement” recovery plans for each endangered species with a more innocuous duty simply to “publish” them.

“I’m a big fan of the Internet,” Bean said, “but simply posting a recovery plan on the web won’t recover a single species.”

Environmental Defense, a leading national nonprofit organization, represents more than 400,000 members. Since 1967, Environmental Defense has linked science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships to create breakthrough solutions to the most serious environmental problems.

www.backfromthebrink.org

www.environmentaldefense.org

(June 30, 2005 - Washington) Six years after the federal government first proposed removing the bald eagle from the list of endangered and threatened species, a new survey of state wildlife agencies and the US Fish & Wildlife Service conducted by Environmental Defense shows the number of breeding pairs of bald eagles in the lower 48 states has surpassed 8,200.  The number represents a 40% increase since the government first proposed the delisting the species on July 6, 1999.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” />

The most current state-by-state count of eagle pairs is included in Environmental Defense’s report “The Eagle Is Back:  2005 Update” and can be found at http://www.backfromthebrink.org/inthespotlight.cfm?subnav=story&ContentID=4559.

“The soaring eagle population continues to show that this species has indeed come back from the brink,” said Michael Bean, co-director of Environmental Defense’s Center for Conservation Incentives. “It’s time for the government to recognize this amazing conservation success, declare victory for the bald eagle and free up its limited resources for the 1,200 other endangered species whose fate is far less certain.”

From fewer than 500 in the 1960s, the number of breeding pairs of bald eagles rose to 5,787 by 1999, thanks to the banning of DDT and significant restoration efforts across the country.  Last year, when Environmental Defense publicly urged President Bush to complete the delisting process, the number had reached 7,678.  Following our appeal in May 2004, Assistant Secretary of the Interior Craig Manson told AP that the species would be delisted by the end of 2004.

Once delisted, the eagle will still be protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act - both of which prohibit killing or hunting eagles - as well as individual state laws.  This continuing protection will ensure that eagles continue to thrive in the lower 48 states.

“More and more, the government is asking private landowners to become partners in restoring habitat for other endangered species,” Bean said.  “But it has failed to prove that it will keep its promise of removing species when they recover.  Delisting the bald eagle will show that our government intends to honor its commitment to its endangered species and its landowners.”

Environmental Defense, a leading national nonprofit organization, represents more than 400,000 members. Since 1967, Environmental Defense has linked science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships to create breakthrough solutions to the most serious environmental problems.

www.backfromthebrink.org

www.environmentaldefense.org

Today, under a court-ordered consent decree with Environmental Defense, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will propose the first-ever national emission standards to limit diesel exhaust from stationary engines.  The affected engines are used in electrical generators, compressors, pumps and other stationary equipment.  EPA’s proposal is expected to harmonize emission limits for stationary diesel engines with those the agency issued in May 2004 for mobile diesel construction and agricultural equipment (the “nonroad” diesel rule). 

“Reducing the pollution from diesel exhaust is one of the single most important steps that can be taken to protect human health from harmful air pollution,” said Environmental Defense senior scientist Dr. Jana Milford.  

“EPA’s new clean air standards will protect public health and the environment by applying modern pollution control standards to new diesel electrical generators, compressors and pumps,” said Environmental Defense director of special projects Mark MacLeod.

EPA data indicates that diesel exhaust contributes more than 70% of the cancer risk from air pollution in the U.S.  Diesel exhaust is also a major source of harmful participate pollution and ozone-forming nitrogen oxides.  Particulate pollution is linked to asthma, cardiovascular and respiratory problems, strokes, heart attacks and premature death.  High ozone levels are also linked to respiratory problems and premature death.  Children, the elderly, and the ill are especially susceptible to harm from breathing diesel exhaust and its reaction products. 

Some 600,000 existing stationary diesel engines are estimated to be in use nationwide, with electrical generators accounting for more than half of the total.  The population of stationary engines is expected to continue growing, with expanding oil and gas operations and interest in off-the-grid electricity generation sources.  EPA’s regulations will affect about 100,000 new stationary diesel engines manufactured each year.  The new standards close a critical gap, because existing stationary diesel engines discharge pollution at levels 10 to 20 times higher than national emission standards would allow for their mobile source counterparts.
 
EPA’s stationary engine regulations rely on control technology that is already being required and has proven cost effective for similar engines in mobile equipment.  EPA’s action also builds on the efforts of several states, including Texas and California, which previously adopted emissions standards for stationary engines.  Today’s action by EPA was taken in response to a December 8, 2003 lawsuit filed by Environmental Defense.  The lawsuit was settled by a consent decree that the court approved on September 27, 2004, requiring EPA to issue proposed national emission standards on June 29, 2005 and to finalize the standards on June 28, 2006.

While EPA’s action focuses on new engines, the United States Senate is also working to address existing diesel engines.  Last week the Senate voted 92 to 1 to provide a $1 billion fund to support grants and loans to lower pollution from existing diesel engines.  The Diesel Emissions Reduction Act of 2005 was introduced by Senator George Voinovich (R-OH) and would provide funding for a wide variety of diesel clean up projects.  For more on the bill visit http://www.environmentaldefense.org/article.cfm?contentid=4490

Today the Mayor’s solid waste plan will move forward after the City Council failed to override the Mayor’s veto of the City Council’s rejection of the plan.  The failure of the City Council to override the Mayor’s veto ensures that four waterfront transfer stations can be rebuilt in the City, setting the stage for an equitable solid waste system.

The following statement may be attributed to Jim Tripp, general counsel for Environmental Defense.
Today the Mayor’s solid waste plan will move forward after the City Council failed to override the Mayor’s veto of the City Council’s rejection of the plan.  The failure of the City Council to override the Mayor’s veto ensures that four waterfront transfer stations can be rebuilt in the City, setting the stage for an equitable solid waste system.

The following statement may be attributed to Jim Tripp, general counsel for Environmental Defense.

“Moving forward with this solid waste plan is a move forward for equity and healthy air.  With this zoning approval, the City can now move forward with a plan that delivers cleaner air, equity and reduced traffic congestion. 

“Opening up the Manhattan waterfront to marine transfer stations is the most powerful way to cut trash truck traffic across the city.  It is the essential first step toward closing dirty, truck-based transfer stations that unfairly burden our neighborhoods. 

“We now call on the City Council and the Mayor to work together to design the most environmentally and community friendly waterfront transfer stations, so that the new facilities become good neighbors on the city’s waterfront.”

For more information please read Trash in the City, an Environmental Defense report that sets out a plan for how the City can execute an equitable and environmentally friendly solid waste system.  The report is available at www.environmentaldefense.org/pressrelease.cfm?ContentID=4291

Statement by Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense:

“With its debate and votes on climate change this week, the U.S. Senate signaled a clear shift in climate policy in the United States.  The Senate is clearly moving beyond a discussion of whether America will begin to deal with the issue, and instead is beginning to focus on what to do about it.

“The drive of Senators McCain and Lieberman to continually bring this issue before the Senate, coupled with the undeniable science of climate change, has resulted in a real change in the Senate.  For the first time, the Senate has staked out a position in favor of actual reductions.”

Statement by Steve Cochran, Dir. of Strategic Communications, Environmental Defense:

“During the debate on the McCain Lieberman bill, Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) captured the sense of the Senate when he said, ‘History is on the side of a bill similar to this.’

“While we haven’t yet made enough progress, this is progress.  We will look forward to working with the number of Senators who sincerely made a commitment to solving this problem.”

(20 June 2005 - Raleigh, NC)  Environmental Defense today called on NC Governor Mike Easley and state lawmakers to support legislation that will mandate conversion of open-air hog waste lagoons to technologies that do a better job of controlling air and water pollution generated by the pork industry.  June 21 marks the 10th anniversary of a disastrous lagoon overflow at Ocean View Farms in Onslow County.  The spill dumped more that 20 million gallons of hog waste into the New River, causing massive fish kills and contaminating drinking water.

“Over the past decade, outdated hog waste lagoons have continued to pollute the water we drink and the air we breathe, yet elected officials have failed to take meaningful action to protect the health of citizens and the environment,” said Dan Whittle, Environmental Defense senior attorney.  “The pork industry is important to the economy of Eastern North Carolina, but clean water and clean air are important, too.  Gov. Easley and lawmakers should muster the political will necessary to ensure a healthy future for hog farmers as well as their neighbors living downwind and downstream.” 

Introduced in the General Assembly this session, the Clean Hog Farms Act of 2005 would permanently ban open-air lagoons and set a deadline for converting farms with more than 250 hogs to cleaner waste systems.  It would also direct the state’s leading research institutions to develop a plan that will address conversion costs.

“The best thing Governor Easley and lawmakers can do is to support the Clean Hog Farms Act,” said Whittle.  “This bill can prevent the disaster that took place 10 years ago and eliminate the chronic public health problems associated with outdated open-air waste lagoons.”

“Research shows that cleaner technologies are available, and there are a number of ways to make them affordable for hog farmers.  It’s clearly time to start planning for conversion,” said Joe Rudek, Environmental Defense senior scientist.  “State leaders, hog farmers and conservation groups must work together now to solve this decade-old problem.  Political will and an economic plan are the only things that stand in our way.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:  Kathleen Goldstein, 202-572-3243

(June 16, 2005, Washington, D.C.)  Today bi-partisan ocean leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced the Ocean Conservation, Education, and National Strategy for the 21st Century Act (OCEANS-21).  The original co-sponsors were Curt Weldon (R-PA), Sam Farr (D-CA), Jim Saxton (R-NJ) and Tom Allen (D-ME).  This is one of the first acts of Congress that seeks to implement recommendations from both the Pew Ocean Commission and the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy (USCOP).

“Environmental Defense applauds the OCEANS-21 co-sponsors for their leadership to protect our oceans,” said Environmental Defense Ocean program director David Festa.  “We support this important legislation because it prioritizes healthy ocean and coastal ecosystems and sets a strong vision for ocean stewardship through improved conservation, education and science.” 

Our oceans are in serious decline and need our help now.  Overfishing, coastal development and pollution, among other uses, are pushing our ocean systems to the brink of collapse.  USCOP recently reported that if we don’t make significant changes to the way we manage our ocean and coastal resources now, we may lose the goods and services they provide forever.  The commission called for promoting ocean stewardship by reforming our oceans management approach, strengthening education, and enhancing science.

OCEANS-21 answers this call by rationalizing our ocean management system and prioritizing America’s goal of healthy oceans and coasts.  Specifically, the bill:
unifies ocean management under a national oceans policy to protect, maintain and restore marine ecosystem health;
streamlines and elevates federal oversight and decision-making with respect to ocean policy by strengthening the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, our nation’s lead civilian oceans agency, and improving executive coordination;
enhances regional efforts with joint federal-state-tribal ocean management partnerships;
provides $1.3 billion annually to the development and implementation of ecosystem plans that solve regionally-relevant priority problems;
strengthens marine science by providing for a long-range research program focusing on marine biodiversity, ecology, and conservation; and
improves ocean and coastal education for students at all academic levels as well as the general public.

“Now is the time to take action,” said David Festa.  “I hope that OCEANS-21 sparks a long-term commitment to ocean stewardship in the U.S. Congress and around the nation.  It’s what the public wants and deserves.”

www.oceansalive.org