Complete list of press releases

Four organizations with a long history of working on NYC solid waste issues, Environmental Defense, the Organization of Waterfront Neighborhoods (OWN), the NY League of Conservation Voters and the Natural Resources Defense Council, released a letter today to all members of the NYC Council urging support for major features of the City’s Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP). 

Those features include:

• a commitment to maximizing opportunities for moving both commercial and residential waste through water- or rail-based transfer facilities;
• opening state-of-the art marine transfer stations (MTSs) at 59th Street on the Hudson River, 91st Street on the East River and the Gansevoort Peninsula, at 12th Street, also on the Hudson River; and
• improving operating rules applicable to the existing land-based, truck-dependent commercial transfer stations that are concentrated in the South Bronx and certain Brooklyn and Queens communities.

The groups also stressed that these new Manhattan facilities must be designed and operated to minimize truck and facility impacts on near-by neighborhoods and be compatible with adjacent park, recreational, residential and other waterfront uses.  The letter states that facility and truck technologies, if fully employed, make this possible.

The current system, with so much of the City’s commercial and residential waste, including much of Manhattan’s commercial solid waste, hauled to truck-dependent commercial waste transfer facilities concentrated in the South Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens, imposes an unfair and unacceptable burden on those communities.  Instead, the letter proposes a commercial and residential solid waste system designed to lead to the closure of the truck-based facilities, significantly reduce waste truck vehicular miles traveled in the City, maximize opportunities for recycling and water-based recycling transfer and processing facilities and minimize community impacts of new water- and rail-based transfer facilities.  The letter focuses on the need to site new marine-based facilities in Manhattan that generates half of the City’s commercial solid waste.

Environmental Defense supports the need to open new marine-based facilities in Manhattan at 59th, 91st and 12th Streets based on the findings of a two-year study of the truck impacts of Manhattan’s current commercial and residential solid waste practices and alternative scenarios for dramatically reducing those impacts on Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens communities.  The findings from that June 2004 study, Trash and the City, can be found at http://www.environmentaldefense.org/go/trashandthecity.

“The burden of solid waste in our city is now too great, especially for low-income and minority communities,” said Jim Tripp, General Counsel for Environmental Defense.  “We intend to work with the City Council and City Administration to make sure that the new facilities in Manhattan at 59th, 91st and 12th Street are properly designed to minimize community facility and truck impacts.”

Eddie Bautista, Director of Community Planning for NY Lawyers for the Public Interest and lead organizer for OWN, added:  “Over 80% of New York City’s 47,000 daily tons of waste is processed in a handful of low income communities of color bearing some of the City’s highest asthma rates.  Since the late 1990’s, OWN has championed the redistribution of waste export burdens from the discriminatory and unsustainable truck-based system currently ravaging communities in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens, to a more equitable and sustainable marine transfer-based system.  As OWN has long advocated, the proposed SWMP aims to re-open the same marine transfer station sites used in Manhattan for over 50 years while Fresh Kills operated.  We are calling on the City Council to approve Manhattan doing its fair share with state-of-the-art MTSs at W 59th Street, E 91st Street and Gansevoort.  Justice delayed is justice denied.”

Mark Izeman, senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council, a national environmental organization headquartered in NYC, stated: “An important component of the draft SWMP is to maximize the movement of recyclables generated in Manhattan and other boroughs by water rather than by truck.  The opening of a marine-based transfer station at Gansevoort will allow efficient, water-based transport of Manhattan recycled paper and metal, glass and plastic materials to the newly planned recycling processing plant on the Brooklyn waterfront and to the paper mill on Staten Island.”

Marcia Bystryn, executive director of the New York League of Conservation Voters, a statewide organization headquartered in New York City, stated: “The League has long supported the development of a solid waste management system that is both environmentally sound and economically sustainable.  The proposed plan, with its reliance on barge and rail significantly advances that goal.  Moreover, NYLCV recognizes the need to site necessary water-dependent infrastructure.  In our view, it is both possible and necessary to design such facilities to be compatible with adjacent waterfront uses such as parks and open space, as well as the needs of near-by residential communities.”

(January 21, 2005 - Raleigh, NC)  Environmental Defense today strongly criticized the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for developing a closed-door deal that gives the livestock industry amnesty from violating Clean Air Act (CAA) emission standards.  The plan gives polluters a waiver from violations in exchange for small payments into a fund to develop methods to estimate air emissions from animal feeding operations (AFOs).  Under the plan, which was drafted over the last two years without public involvement, any AFO that signs up for the voluntary program would receive a waiver from CAA enforcement, even though emissions from only a small number of AFOs would actually be monitored.

“EPA’s give-away to the livestock industry is troubling to those downwind of factory farms and sends the wrong message to other polluting industries,” said Joe Rudek, senior scientist with Environmental Defense and a member of the USDA Agricultural Air Quality Task Force.  “EPA’s plan grants the livestock industry blanket amnesty from Clean Air Act regulations.  It is a sweetheart deal that turned its back on the scientific and environmental communities, as well as the public.  All agreements involving the livestock industry and EPA should be negotiated in the open and with full public participation.” 

“EPA clearly has the authority to require monitoring of air emissions and relinquishes far too much of its control in this voluntary program.  Industry should pay to monitor its pollution, and it should also be required to collect data that document the full impact of emissions on air quality, rather than making the limited measurements called for in EPA’s plan,” said Rudek.

EPA’s plan blatantly disregards the findings of the National Academy of Sciences, which determined that monitoring emissions on representative farms should not be used to estimate pollution created by the entire industry.  Equally important, EPA’s plan does not protect the monitoring program from industry influence and does not require external review by independent experts.

(18 January 2005) A new study of the ICC and alternatives finds four practical, cost-effective options perform better than the Intercounty Connector (ICC) on most measures, including reducing traffic, air pollution and overall cost.  The report was sponsored by regional and national environmental, transportation and smart growth groups and conducted by Smart Mobility, Inc., a nationally recognized traffic modeling firm.

“We found that alternatives already being discussed by the state and counties would cost less and reduce traffic better than the ICC,” said Stewart Schwartz, of the Coalition for Smarter Growth.

“This study shows that faster, cheaper and cleaner alternatives to the ICC are practical and cost-effective,” said Michael Replogle, Transportation Director of Environmental Defense and a former Montgomery County transportation planning official. “By refusing to consider alternatives like these, the state is missing the opportunity to speed up commutes, protect the region’s watersheds and deliver cleaner air.”

The groups commissioned the study after the state refused to look at transit, development, and local transportation changes as alternatives to a new highway.

“The proposed $3 billion ICC and its financing package would impact the entire state - putting other projects to the back of the line for dozens of years,” noted Delegate James Hubbard (District 23 - Prince George’s County).  “We cannot afford to waste $3 billion and now we know for certain that there are better alternatives.”  The Maryland Department of Legislative Services has estimated that the full cost of the ICC will exceed $3 billion with financing.

Results of the Study

“This study shows that almost any other option performs better than the ICC for reducing traffic on local roads,” said Neal Fitzpatrick of Audubon Naturalist Society. 

Not only did the alternative packages perform better than the ICC, the ICC performed the worst on almost every measure including time spent driving, delay due to congestion, total amount of driving or vehicle miles traveled, and the total number of trips made each day. 

“In essence, compared to the other alternatives, the ICC would cause residents to spend more time behind the wheel making more and longer trips each day,” noted Steve Caflisch of the Sierra Club.  “The alternatives that performed the best included a combination of increased transit with more jobs and housing near transit, and a better east-west balance of jobs and housing.”  Improving the balance of jobs and housing in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties shortened commutes and reduced congestion.

ICC would cost more to build, mean more time spent driving and create more pollution.

The state’s official study acknowledges that building the ICC would have a “negligible impact on freeway operations, including the Beltway, I-270 and I-95” (pages IV-343 to 344) and would add traffic to the Beltway in Montgomery County (Table IV-91 at pages IV- 316 to 317).

Details of the Study and Alternatives

Smart Mobility analyzed six packages of transportation projects and assumptions about the location of jobs and housing in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties, including the ICC and the state’s “no-build” option. The four new alternatives include various transit options, such as the Purple Line, addressing local road changes and conservative estimates about the potential to shift more jobs to the eastern side of the region and transit stations.

Most of the elements in the packages of alternatives are individually under consideration in other studies by the counties or the state, but were not included in the state’s ICC study.  This study is the first time that they have been united into a comprehensive quantitative analysis. 

“The results certainly show that a more measured analysis of alternatives such as suggested by your necessarily quick study and analysis, would be in order before embarking on construction of the Intercounty Connector,” noted Keith Lawton, a national traffic modeling expert and former Director of Technical Services at Portland Metro, the regional entity similar to the Council of Governments, who reviewed the report.

Delegate Adrienne Mandel (District 19, Montgomery County) noted, “There are alternatives to this destructive highway that the state has not considered.”

Environmental Impacts

While the state continues to claim the ICC would be “environmental sustainable, its study shows even more destruction of forests, wetlands, and streams than previous studies.  Compared to the ICC, the alternatives would not take thousands of acres of forests and wetlands and would significantly reduce air pollution, the cause of much childhood asthma and a significant contributor to nitrogen pollution in the Chesapeake Bay and Anacostia River.

“We analyzed air pollution and our best alternative produces less NOx air pollution, by a half million pounds/year, than the ICC,” noted Lee Epstein of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

Costs

The cost estimates for each package of alternatives range from $626 million to $2 billion, all less than the $2.1-$2.4 billion in construction costs currently projected for the ICC.  Revenues raised from the tolled lanes alternatives would be used to fund bus and rail transit. 

Methodology

The analysis was conducted by Smart Mobility, Inc. with staff representing 40 years of experience in transportation modeling, engineering, design and planning.  The data and computer transportation analysis models came from the Council of Governments and the State of Maryland.  The alternative packages were drawn from projects, plans and concepts under discussion at the local, state and regional level. Similar approaches are also being implemented around the country, with great results in places as diverse as Arlington, VA, Orange County/San Diego, CA, Minneapolis, MN and Houston, TX.  

“Smart Mobility Inc. carried out the travel modeling work done for this study. I am familiar with the Principal, Norm Marshall, and consider this firm to be both competent and professional. The report conclusions seem to be well justified,” noted Lawton in a letter.

The Report was commissioned by Environmental Defense, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Audubon Naturalist Society, Solutions Not Sprawl, Sierra Club and the Coalition for Smarter Growth.  The sponsors believe the array of options and policies discussed in the report deserve full evaluation in the environmental impact study of the proposed InterCounty Connector as reasonably available, feasible, and prudent alternatives.  Every sponsor does not necessarily endorse every alternative or policy discussed in the report.

The full report and a summary can be accessed online at: www.SmarterGrowth.net and www.environmentaldefense.org/go/iccoptions

(January 12, 2004 — Washington, DC)  The U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Agriculture (USDA) today released their new Dietary Guidelines for Americans (http://www.healthierus.gov/dietaryguidelines/), calling for consumers to consume two servings (about eight ounces) of fish per week. This recommendation is intended to boost consumers’ intake of omega-3 fatty acids to reduce their risk of heart disease.  Environmental Defense encourages consumers to choose fish low in contaminants and that are fished or farmed in an ecologically sound manner. 

“Scientific studies suggest that eating fish, especially those high in omega-3 fatty acids, helps to protect against heart ailments, but when it comes to their health benefits, all fish are not equal.  Consumers should be aware of the potential risks from seafood contaminants such as mercury and PCBs,” said Environmental Defense scientist Dr. Rebecca Goldburg.   

The expert committee that drafted the Dietary Guidelines concurs, writing in its report that “Federal and State advisories provide current information about lowering exposure to environmental contaminants in fish. For example, methylmercury is a heavy metal toxin found in varying levels in nearly all fish and shellfish. For most people, the risk from mercury by eating fish and shellfish is not a health concern. However, some fish contain higher levels of mercury that may harm an unborn baby or young child’s developing nervous system. The risks from mercury in fish and shellfish depend on the amount of fish eaten and the levels of mercury in the fish.” 

Environmental Defense’s Seafood Selector is a convenient guide that helps consumers navigate the murky waters of choosing seafood.  The Seafood Selector, which ranks fish by “eco-best” and “eco-worst”, lists health advisories for fish high in contaminants.  Omega-3 levels for over 100 types of fish and shellfish can be found at www.oceansalive.org/go/seafood.  

“Choosing seafood that’s both healthy for you and the oceans can be challenging,” said Environmental Defense research associate Tim Fitzgerald.  “Most of the seafood available in the U.S. is imported from abroad.  Unfortunately, some fisheries are overexploited and some fish farming harms marine ecosystems.  Environmental Defense has created this guide to help consumers make these important choices.” 

For more information visit www.oceansalive.org/go/seafood.  As part of their new campaign Oceans Alive, Environmental Defense calls for consumers to Eat Smart.  Visitors can:

• Download and print a wallet-size Seafood Selector;
• View Eco-Best and Eco-Worst Fish;
• Check consumption advisories for contaminants;
• Look up omega-3 levels and other nutritional information
• Read our Buying Guide for seafood; and
• Choose Best Recipes.

Today the journal Pediatrics released a study showing an association between pre-natal exposure to fine particle pollution and lowered birth weight.  Environmental Defense praised the study and noted that it adds to a growing body of literature from the U.S. and abroad that shows similar consequences of fine particle pollution on developing fetuses.

“This study is striking because the negative effects on the fetuses resulted from fine particle pollution levels that are the same as what we have today in many areas of the country,” said Dr. John Balbus, M.D., health program director, Environmental Defense.  “The study shows that fine particle pollution doesn’t just harm people who already have heart or lung disease, but it can even reach children in the womb.  Improved infant health is just one more benefit that will come with serious efforts to reduce fine particle pollution.”

Mobile sources, especially diesel engines, contribute the greatest fraction of man-made fine particle pollution in California and other western states.  In the eastern half of the county, coal-fired power plants are a dominant source of man-made fine particle pollution.  Environmental Defense called for the Bush administration to put into place standards that cut the harmful pollution from power plant smokestacks.

• Use protected areas and other tools to protect fragile ocean and coastal habitats;
• Use market-based incentives and science-based management to transform failing fisheries;
• Curb runoff that pollutes the oceans and harms wildlife;
• Maintain the moratorium on offshore oil and gas drilling;
• Establish strong environmental standards for aquaculture;
• Enforce conservation laws;
• Double federal funding for ocean science, exploration and education over the next 5 years; and
• Improve coordination of ocean protections programs by creating a Cabinet-level interagency National Oceans Council.  

• View Environmental Defense’s letter to the president calling for a “Teddy Roosevelt of Our Oceans”;
• Send a message to the president urging him to take leadership for oceans;
• Learn more about why oceans are in trouble;
• Send Oceans Alive postcards to friends and family to spread the word;
• Learn more about sustainable seafood that is good for the environment and your health and download the Seafood Selector.

(17 December 2004 — Washington)  Environmental Defense today sharply criticized the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to finalize long overdue standards to cut the dangerous air pollution impacting millions of Americans.  EPA announced today that nearly 100 million Americans live in and around areas with unhealthy particulate pollution levels.  The states with these unhealthy air areas will be required to adopt air quality management plans by February 2008 to restore healthy air.  Power plant smokestacks are the key contributor to unhealthy particulate pollution levels across the eastern United States and without the necessary standards to curb their pollution, achieving healthy air for these communities will be incredibly challenging. 

‘The EPA is telling millions of our children and grandparents today that they have a serious health problem on their hands, but the Bush administration is insisting that the solution is going to have to wait.  The administration must end the foot-dragging and finally cut the harmful pollution from power plant smokestacks,” said Environmental Defense health program director and physician Dr. John Balbus.   

“The Bush administration deserves a lump of coal this holiday for its failure to protect the health of our children and grandparents from power plant pollution,” said Michael Shore, senior air policy analyst with Environmental Defense.  “Mayors and governors across the Midwest, Southeast and Northeast are being undercut in the fight to restore healthy air until the Bush administration cleans up the power plant smokestacks that threaten the health of millions of Americans.”

Due to the significant contribution of power plants to high particulate pollution across the East, states with areas identified as having unhealthy particulate pollution must rely on a combination of pollution cuts from upwind power plants and local control measures to restore healthy air.  The December 11 Bush administration decision to postpone standards to clean up power plant particulate makes it extremely difficult and costly for mayors and governors in the Midwest, Southeast and Northeast to achieve healthy air. 

EPA national emissions inventory data indicates the country’s fleet of power plants discharge 68% of all sulfur dioxide and 22% of all oxides of nitrogen released nationwide.  Both of these contaminants transform in the atmosphere into harmful particulate pollution.  EPA analysis shows that particulate pollution is associated with premature death, heart attack, lung cancer and respiratory illnesses, and that children, the elderly and people with pre-existing heart and respiratory diseases are especially at risk. 

(14 December 2004 —Washington)  Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released an analysis of national pollution trends claiming that levels of particulate pollution have recently gone down in some parts of the country.  However, a compelling body of scientific analysis shows serious health effects from particulate pollution in communities nationwide, highlighting the need for swift action to protect human health from the problem. 

“Releasing the report at the same time they are delaying action on power plant standards is like telling a patient their cancer is beginning to shrink and then turning around and diluting their chemotherapy,” said Dr. John Balbus, a medical doctor and head of the Environmental Defense Health Program.  “To protect the millions at risk from unhealthy particulate pollution levels, EPA must cut harmful pollution from power plant smokestacks.  Unfortunately, EPA is instead delaying power plant pollution controls and thereby delaying critical protections for children, the elderly and the millions of Americans with asthma that are especially at risk from particulate pollution.”

While today’s report finds that reductions in particulate pollution have been made in some areas, an EPA assessment released earlier this summer found that nearly 100 million people still live in communities where particulate pollution levels are above the federal health standard.  An October EPA analysis also shows that particulate pollution is associated with premature death, heart attacks, lung cancer and respiratory damage.  All of these EPA reports demonstrate that tough federal standards are urgently needed to cut pollution from power plant smokestacks, a key source of harmful particulate pollution.

EPA’s national emissions inventory indicates the country’s fleet of power plants discharge 68% of all sulfur dioxide and 22% of all oxides of nitrogen released nationwide.  Both of these contaminants transform in the atmosphere into harmful particulate pollution. 

(7 December, 2004 - Oakland)  Today General Motors, Daimler - Chrysler, Toyota and Ford filed a legal challenge against the State of California and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) claiming the State lacks the authority to regulate greenhouse gas pollution from motor vehicles.  The suit challenges CARB’s unanimous approval of a landmark rule that would reduce greenhouse gas pollution from California’s passenger vehicles by 30% by 2016.

“If GM, Daimler - Chrysler, Toyota and Ford are going to survive, they have got to wake up to their responsibilities and design vehicles that emit less greenhouse gas pollution.  It’s especially disappointing to see Ford and Toyota filing suit, since they have been positioning themselves as environmentally sensitive manufacturers,” said Environmental Defense attorney Jim Marston.  “The CARB rule is a wake-up call to this industry to design vehicles that are compatible with the long-term well-being of California’s and, more broadly, the Earth’s environment, public health and economic sustainability.”

“This is just another delay tactic from an industry known for crying wolf,” said Environmental Defense policy analyst Kate Larsen.  “Industry’s bringing lawyers to the table instead of engineers can prevent California drivers from enjoying the vehicle choices and cost savings they demand and deserve.”

In 2002, California passed a law designed to cut the impact of the state’s biggest source of greenhouse gas pollution: passenger vehicles.  This ground-breaking law—Assembly Bill 1493—(“Pavley”) requires CARB to adopt regulations that achieve the maximum feasible and cost-effective reduction of greenhouse gas pollution emitted by passenger vehicles. 

CARB will forward its final rule to Governor Schwarzenegger and the state legislature on January first, 2005.  The measure is scheduled to go into effect on January first 2006.

(6 December, 2004 - Washington) Environmental Defense today applauded the U.S. House of Representatives for passage of S. 2856, legislation to protect working lands conservation incentives.

The bill will block the U.S. Department of Agriculture from diverting funds from four voluntary conservation programs to pay for agency administrative costs. The Senate unanimously passed S. 2856 in October.

In particular, Environmental Defense praised Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK) for his dogged efforts to fight for the statutory “firewall.”

“Frank Lucas has treated this issue like a dog a treats a bone,” said Environmental Defense Water Resources Specialist Scott Faber.

Faber also thanked Sens. Cochran (R-MS), Harkin (D-IA), and Leahy (D-VT), who lead Senate efforts to enact the bill.

USDA has diverted more than $200 million from the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, the Farmland and Ranchland Protection Program, the Grasslands Reserve Program, and the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program to pay for administrative costs since 2002.

If the House had failed to pass S. 2856, USDA would have diverted more than $300 million in the coming fiscal years.

S. 2856 ensures that the administrative costs for two land retirement programs flow from the Commodity Credit Corporation, not from working lands conservation programs.

“This bill restores the clear intent of the 2002 Farm Bill,” said Environmental Defense attorney Sara Hopper.

After the “firewall” provision was dropped from the $388 billion omnibus appropriations bill, House leaders moved quickly to put S. 2856 on the House calendar.

Most farmers and ranchers offering to restore wetlands and grasslands or offering to change the way they farm to improve air and water quality are rejected when they seek USDA conservation assistance.

For example, farmers and ranchers face a $3 billion backlog when they seek financial assistance through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to improve water quality or wildlife habitat.

“These long lines only grow longer when funds are diverted,” said Faber. “Thanks to Rep. Lucas, the long wait that farmers face when they ask us to help them help the environment will be a little shorter.”

(18 November 2004)  Environmental Defense today extended accolades to the House and Senate for passing the Highlands Conservation Act and urged President Bush to sign the bill into law immediately.

“With this step, four states and Congress have joined together in a unique, bi-partisan partnership to protect wildlife, open space and drinking water at the leading edge of sprawl,” said Jim Tripp, general counsel of Environmental Defense and chair of the Highlands Coalition.  “The Highlands Act is a blueprint for economic growth that leaves intact the natural resources most essential to health, quality of life and the natural world.  The bill will now stimulate a joint effort by the four Governors, the Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior and the Congress to identify high priority land conservation partnerships that will benefit this entire region.”

As a member of the original workgroup that drafted the bill, Environmental Defense helped guide the bill from an idea to reality.  Tripp today called the overwhelming bi-partisan support for the effort “invigorating” and thanked Representative Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) and Senator Jon Corzine (D-NJ) for leading the bill through the process.  Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Rick Santorum (R-PA) also played key roles in assuring passage in the Senate.

Yesterday, the House joined the Senate in passing the legislation, which will protect unique watershed land in the 3.5 million acres of the eastern ridges of the Appalachians in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut.  The Highlands Act results from an unprecedented collaboration among the four states to create a framework within which growth and real estate investment can occur in ways that protect essential habitat and open space. 

Located within four of the most densely populated states, the Highlands is within a 2-hour drive of 1 in 9 people in the U.S.  The Highlands provide water for more than 10 million people and attract more recreation visits than the Grand Canyon and Yosemite.

“This plan represents a major step forward in reducing the threats that have depleted fish species, destroyed habitats and degraded water quality on our coast,” said Doug Rader, senior scientist with the North Carolina office of Environmental Defense. “The plan has been thoroughly researched and debated, and it provides a clear roadmap for protecting and restoring North Carolina’s fish habitats.”

“About 70 percent of all commercially and recreationally important ocean fish species in this region spend some portion of their lives in North Carolina coastal waters, and the state has an incredible responsibility to restore and protect them. Years of scientific research and planning, combined with input from coastal citizens and communities, have resulted in a plan that will guide state efforts to rebuild and protect coastal ecosystems. Now we need some strong political leadership to see that the plan is effectively implemented,” said Rader.

(15 November 2004 - Raleigh, NC)  Environmental Defense today commended North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper for filing suit against the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the nation’s largest public power company, for violating pollution control requirements mandated by the federal Clean Air Act.  Sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and other pollutants created by TVA’s coal-fired power plants blow into North Carolina, threatening the environment and exacerbating heart and lung disease, asthma and other illnesses.    

“North Carolina and other Southeastern states should salute Attorney General Cooper for suing TVA, which sends huge quantities of unhealthy air pollution across the region,” said Michael Shore, senior air policy analyst with Environmental Defense.  “TVA has said that it wants to reduce pollution.  But citizens can’t depend on promises to produce results.  Attorney General Cooper’s action can turn TVA’s words into a legally binding commitment to protect our children and grandparents from dirty air.” 

“This action is good news for the people of North Carolina, good news for the people of Tennessee, and good news for everyone who breathes in the Southeast,” said Shore.  “TVA should take a page from North Carolina’s playbook on improving air quality.  The state cleaned up its polluting power plants with the Clean Smokestacks law, but to fully clean its air, North Carolina must get sources in upwind states to do the same.  So far, TVA has made only voluntary commitments to reduce pollution, and it’s time to make those commitments legally binding.” 

Contact:  Kathleen Goldstein, 202-572-3243

(10 November 2004 — Washington, DC)  Conservation and recreational fishing organizations expressed frustration this week when action to protect Atlantic menhaden and the Chesapeake Bay was postponed once again by a multi-state regulatory commission in favor of further research into localized depletion and the ecological role of menhaden.

Menhaden Matter, the cooperative effort that includes the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Coastal Conservation Association, Environmental Defense and the National Coalition for Marine Conservation, said that it was pleased the issue of localized depletion of menhaden in the bay was gaining much-needed attention from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the 15-member interstate body responsible for managing the stock.   However, the group emphasized that proactive management measures-including catch limits-must be taken soon to protect the fish, its predators and the bay.

The ASMFC’s Menhaden Management Board will meet with its scientific advisors in February to begin developing revised goals and reference points to manage menhaden as a forage fish and filter feeder.  The Board considered interim action to cap harvest at current levels while this research is carried out but postponed that decision until a future meeting.

“They got it half right,” said Bill Goldsborough, senior scientist with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.  “Developing these management tools is important, but fully responsible stewardship would also include interim measures to protect the stock.”

“The ASMFC is currently monitoring menhaden. Now, they need to start managing them.  With most major fisheries subject to catch limits, why is menhaden immune?” said Dick Brame of the Costal Conservation Association.

Menhaden Matter recently released a report that concludes that the fish’s important ecological role in the Chesapeake Bay is at risk.  Menhaden are the principal filter feeders of the Bay’s waters - second only to oysters that are grossly depleted - as well as the primary food source for many popular sport and commercial fish, including striped bass.  Menhaden Matter has been very clear in its statements that it does not wish to abolish the industrial fishing of menhaden. 

A single Houston-based company, Omega Protein, which operates a newly enhanced fish processing facility in Reedville, Virginia, harvests 90 percent of the industrial fishery catch on the East Coast, with most coming from the Chesapeake Bay. The company has vigorously opposed catch limits on its operations, which use spotter planes and purse seines to harvest the fish, which are processed and reduced into fish meal and oil. 

“Anglers and environmentalists have joined together to offer a reasonable solution to the current management deadlock, one that would provide some temporary protection while research is underway,” says Ken Hinman, president of the National Coalition for Marine Conservation.  “By refusing to consider it, the industry is out of step with the concerns of the public.”

“For a fish that’s so important in so many ways, it’s nonsense to have a management plan that allows unlimited fishing,” said Environmental Defense ocean program director David Festa.  “Common sense calls for caps on catch levels and strong, proactive management measures.”

For more information please visit www.menhadenmatter.org and www.oceansalive.org.  

(5 November, 2004 — New York)  A new scientific report due for release on November 8 by the Arctic Council shows that manmade global warming is already having disastrous impacts on people and wildlife in the Arctic.  The Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, written by 300 scientists from the U.S. and other countries, warns that Arctic warming will likely lead to species extinctions and the destruction of Inuit and other traditional societies unless manmade greenhouse gas pollution, mostly from the burning of fossil fuels, is reduced immediately.

“The report underscores the need for swift action to cut the greenhouse gas pollution harming the Arctic, public health and the economy world-wide,” said Environmental Defense climate scientist Dr. James Wang.

Impacts to be detailed in the report include:

• A temperature increase in the Arctic over the past several decades that is twice as large as the global average.
• Rapid melting of glaciers, which has contributed to sea level rise around the world.
• Melting of permafrost, which damages buildings and roads that are built on top of it.
• Shrinking of sea ice, which makes it difficult for native communities and polar bears to hunt.

Most industrialized nations have already adopted mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.  Following President Vladimir Putin’s signature yesterday of Russia’s ratification, the treaty will enter into force early next year.  The refusal of the U.S. to join the fight continues to isolate America from other nations that are beginning to take action.

“This is a wake-up call from the planet,” said Environmental Defense climate change policy specialist Melissa Carey.  “Senators McCain’s and Lieberman’s Climate Stewardship Act takes on global warming in an effective and sensible way.  This market-based approach will foster the innovation needed to cut greenhouse gas pollution. It’s time to end U.S. environmental isolationism and get to work against the major environmental threat of the 21 century.”