Complete list of press releases

Environmental Defense praised an announcement today by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops calling for action now to mitigate global climate change. The announcement was issued at the National Conference annual meeting being held this week in Atlanta.

The announcement notes that “most experts agree that something significant is happening to the atmosphere,” and calls it “prudent not only to continue to research and monitor this phenomenon, but to take steps now to mitigate possible negative effects in the future.”

The Bishops’ announcement notes the United States “because of the blessings God has bestowed on our nation and the power it possesses” has a “special responsibility in its stewardship of God’s creation and to shape responses that serve the entire human family.”

“This statement by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops comes at a crucial moment in the climate change debates and for the Earth,” said Environmental Defense executive director Fred Krupp. “Environmental Defense appreciates the leadership of the Catholic Bishops in calling for prudent action to protect Earth when much of the debate over what to do about global warming is so polarized.”

“Environmental Defense also believes the U.S. has a special obligation to take the lead on reducing the greenhouse gases that are warming the planet and threatening our future,” said Krupp. “Yet so far, the Bush administration has failed to show that leadership. Environmental Defense will continue to call on the Bush administration and other leaders to stop the rancorous debate and take real action now to slow global warming. Climate change is the most serious threat our planet now faces; we at Environmental Defense hope that the compassion and leadership shown by the Catholic Bishops and others can move the world beyond politics and toward real action to protect the planet.”

“The CDC/FDA results are far from definitive,” said Rebecca Goldburg, a senior scientist at Environmental Defense. “CDC and FDA only examined reactions of a small number of people who asked to be assessed, rather than examining people most likely to suffer allergic reactions to StarLink. Those most likely to suffer such reactions include young children, who are especially vulnerable to developing food allergies, and food industry workers, who are heavily exposed to corn.”

Aventis has incurred considerable expense since the discovery of StarLink contamination in human food. Among other expenses, the company has paid a price premium to farmers to buy back StarLink-contaminated corn supplies. In April 2001 the company for the second time petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to allow StarLink corn in human food.

“Today’s results are a small bit of evidence about the health impacts of StarLink corn,” said Goldburg. “The results are entirely insufficient to support an EPA decision to allow StarLink corn in human food. Consumers should not be asked to bear health risks as a result of Aventis’ failure to prevent food contamination by StarLink corn.”

This month, the World Bank is to facilitate the contribution of hundreds of millions of dollars from private banks to the ExxonMobil-led oil project, some of which would go to the Deby regime. “This is a critical time to rethink the Chad/Cameroon Oil and Pipeline Project,” said Environmental Defense senior economist Korinna Horta in the letter to Wolfensohn. “Protection of the environment and of civil and human rights are the very cornerstones of sustainable development, as you have often stated. The World Bank and the international donor community need to rethink their support for systems which can only be described as government gangsterism.” The full text of the letter can be found at www.environmentaldefense.org.

Last month opposition candidates were detained in what has been widely reported as a violent crackdown in the country. Many of the detainees were released following intervention by Wolfensohn, but Amnesty International and others indicate the violence continues. Among those arrested was Ngarledjy Yorongar, the former member of parliament from Chad’s oil producing region who has opposed the pipeline project.

“Government backed killings and torture show that the World Bank must draw the line and recognize that the present Chadian government can only be expected to misuse loans,” said Delphine Djiraibe, president of a Chadian human rights organization.

According to news reports, last year President Deby, who came to power in a bloody military coup in 1990, used money from the pipeline project to purchase $3 million in weapons. Such misappropriations raise questions about the Bank’s ability to control the misuse of funds in Chad.

“Unless the World Bank assumes its responsibility and suspends support for the Chadian regime until democratic order is established, Africa’s largest infrastructure project threatens to become an environmental disaster with dire consequences for an already impoverished people,” said Horta.

“Through his books, lectures, paintings and his tireless dedication to conservation efforts, Dennis was an inspiration to all who knew him and worked with him,” said executive director Fred Krupp. “A few years ago he addressed the assembled Environmental Defense staff, now in the hundreds, and in his characteristically humble way thanked us all for what the group had grown to become. But it’s we who owed him our thanks; none of us would be here were it not for Dennis and his friends.”

Puleston was director of the technical information division at Brookhaven National Laboratory when he and a small group of concerned citizens brought a legal action in 1966 against DDT, the pesticide that had devastated the population of the osprey, Long Island’s majestic fish hawk. A year later Puleston and his colleagues incorporated the Environmental Defense Fund (later renamed Environmental Defense) and went on to win a nationwide ban on DDT in 1972.

After his retirement, Puleston remained an Honorary Trustee of Environmental Defense and embarked on a second career as a naturalist and lecturer, traveling on more than 180 voyages including many to Antarctica, which he visited 35 times. In 1995 he was awarded a Doctorate of Humane Letters by the State University of New York at Stony Brook, which honored him as “a scientist, humanist, teacher, and conservationist…whose ceaseless efforts to conserve our environment have ensured the survival of this invaluable heritage for our children and grandchildren.”

Environmental Defense discovered last year that government regulators do not know what chemicals are contained in children’s products, including toys. Environmental Defense executive director Fred Krupp late last year asked the heads of major toy manufacturers to disclose their products’ chemical ingredients voluntarily. But after a promising dialogue, the toy industry decided that disclosing the chemicals used in toys would be “misleading.”

“Environmental Defense believes consumers are entitled to know what chemicals their children are being exposed to,” said Environmental Defense senior attorney David Roe. “Since the government doesn’t know, the manufacturers are the only ones who can tell us.”

Today’s ad, running in regional editions of USA Today, coincides with the International Council of Toy Industries meeting currently taking place in Los Angeles.

The ad displays the Toy Manufacturers of America (TMA) statement: “We do not believe that providing the consumer with knowledge of the chemical ingredients of toys will … advance the safety of toy products or the protection of consumers. In fact, it may mislead them.” The full text of TMA’s letter to Environmental Defense can be found at www.environmentaldefense.org online.

“Environmental Defense hopes the toy manufacturers will recognize that what’s good for their customers is good for them,” said Roe. “When it comes to chemicals, hands over eyes is not a reassuring stance.”

For the full text of the industry’s position, the ad itself, and more background, visit www.environmentaldefense.org online. This release grants permission to reproduce the ad, in whole or in part, to all legitimate news organizations without charge.

Environmental Defense today sharply criticized President Bush’s renewed rejection of the 1997 Kyoto climate treaty. The President’s statement on the eve of his departure for Europe is certain to provoke tensions with heads of state from Europe and Russia. Perhaps more importantly, it will likely result in a five- to ten-year delay in finding a global solution to climate change. In rejecting the treaty, the President has repudiated a decade of research and negotiations among more than 180 nations to establish a scientifically sound, cost-effective framework for limiting emissions of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

“The Kyoto Protocol, by capping emissions from industrialized nations and setting up a worldwide market for reductions, offers the only timely, effective path forward. Research is not a substitute for action. Rejecting the Kyoto agreement without constructive alternatives is a historic failure on the overriding environmental issue of the 21st century,” said Environmental Defense executive director Fred Krupp. “Just days after the National Academy of Sciences, acting at the administration’s request, reported that global temperatures are already rising as a result of human activity, the President’s unilateral rejection of the Kyoto accord is stunningly illogical and seriously damages U.S. chances to win adoption of an American approach to global warming.”

“The administration should initiate a program of mandatory emissions reductions now, because greenhouse gases persist for decades in the atmosphere, warming the planet,” said Environmental Defense chief scientist Michael Oppenheimer. “The National Academy of Sciences confirmed that further buildup of greenhouse gases, with more warming and sea level rise, already is inevitable. Still, the extent of the future warming remains largely a matter of choice: If the U.S. and the world act quickly enough to bring down greenhouse emissions, the risk of catastrophe can be sharply reduced,” said Environmental Defense chief scientist Michael Oppenheimer.

“Major multinational companies, ranging from BP to DuPont, have brought their greenhouse gas emissions down and their profits up,” said Environmental Defense senior attorney Joseph Goffman. “The administration’s policy is far behind what smart corporations worldwide have already recognized — that we can protect the world from dangerous climate change and maintain economic growth.”

“The only prudent response to the National Academy of Sciences report is the implementation of mandatory limits on emissions of greenhouse gases. The threat from global warming will continue to grow until these gases are brought under control,” said Environmental Defense chief scientist Michael Oppenheimer.

Environmental Defense called on the President to build on the fundamental framework of mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and other sources, with market flexibility to meet those limits — a framework already in the Kyoto treaty on climate change. “Major corporations like BP, Dupont, Shell and others have already limited their greenhouse gas emissions while remaining profitable. The claim that addressing climate change will hurt the economy just doesn’t hold up,” said Environmental Defense executive director Fred Krupp.

This week the Mexican oil company Pemex agreed to limit its greenhouse gas emissions, the first Latin American state-run company to take a greenhouse cap. “Corporations in both industrial and developing countries want solid rules for addressing climate change, and they want market flexibility in meeting their pollution reduction obligations,” said Krupp. “The Kyoto treaty has that flexibility, and its sensible cap-and-trade framework is supported by American companies and European allies alike,” said Krupp.

Noting that on Friday Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-WV), introducing a climate change bill with Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK), had called for mandatory targets and had stated that a voluntary policy would undermine America’s credibility, Krupp said, “The only way to create the market-based approach the President says he wants is to put a binding cap on emissions. At next week’s summit the President should put forward an effective domestic and international climate policy that builds on the cap-and-trade Kyoto framework. The world will be watching to see what course the President chooses,” Krupp said.

Norm Thompson Outfitters, in partnership with the Alliance for Environmental Innovation, announced today that it has switched from virgin paper to recycled paper in its Solutions® catalog. The partnership determined that paper with 10% postconsumer recycled content fulfilled the company’s requirements. In contrast to the obstacles perceived by many catalog companies, the company’s findings show that such paper:

- Is widely available from major suppliers;
- Is priced competitively with virgin paper;
- Prints just as well as virgin paper; and
- Had no effect on customer response to the Solutions® catalog.

“Norm Thompson Outfitters is committed to using paper with the highest level of postconsumer recycled content that meets our business needs,” said company president Rebecca L. Jewett. “By using recycled paper, we can reduce our burden on the environment without harming profitability.” Jewett made the announcement while accepting the Direct Marketing Association’s Robert Rodale Environmental Mailer of the Year award for the second consecutive year.

“Switching to recycled paper helps protect forests and wildlife, cuts energy use and environmental releases associated with paper production, and reduces stress on landfills. We applaud Norm Thompson’s increased use of recycled paper and encourage other catalogers to follow suit,” said Victoria Mills, project manager at the Alliance for Environmental Innovation. According to the Alliance, the new paper used in Solutions® will save 1,067 tons of wood, 4.2 billion BTUs of energy, 720 tons of greenhouse gases, 2.4 million gallons of wastewater, and 301 tons of solid waste a year.

“The catalog industry uses a lot of paper, and switching to recycled paper is an important way to reduce our environmental impacts,” said Derek Smith, Norm Thompson Outfitters’ Corporate Sustainability Manager. “Our experience with Solutions® shows that we can do this without adverse impacts on our business, and we’d like to see recycled paper become the new industry standard for catalogs.”

Testing of recycled paper in the company’s Norm Thompson catalog is underway, with results expected later this year. The complete Solutions® findings are available at www.EnvironmentalDefense.org

“Economic incentive programs are a viable solution to some environmental problems,” states the letter. “Yet it is imperative that these programs match flexibility with the highest standard of accountability, such as that achieved through explicit caps on emissions, accurate emissions quantification, rigorous monitoring, and certain enforceability.”

“According to EPA’s own experts, open market trading is not ready for prime time,” said Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, which represents employees within EPA who have raised problems with the plan. “If EPA approves the four state trading programs without fixing the major quantification and enforcement weaknesses, it risks seriously undermining clean air protection nationally.”

The EPA’s own Office of Inspector General released a letter this week announcing it will investigate planned and completed trades under the state programs, calling the investigation “both warranted and timely.” The probe will examine the enforceability and rigor of open market trading as well as EPA’s internal approval process for the state programs.

“The public’s support for flexible approaches like emissions trading depends on the establishment of explicit, binding caps on pollution. Giving companies the privilege of trading without emissions caps and full accountability is self-defeating,” said Joe Goffman, senior attorney at Environmental Defense.

A copy of the letter and complete list of signatories may be found at www.environmentaldefense.org

Environmental Defense today praised Reps. Ron Kind (D-WI) and Jim Leach (R-IA) for introducing legislation to boost and prioritize federal funds used to relocate frequently flooded homes.

The Flood Loss Reduction Act of 2001 would set aside as much as 30% — up from 20% — of disaster relief funds for relocating flooded homes by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). FEMA pays 75% of the cost of relocating each home. The bill would also authorize the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to spend $100 million annually to relocate flood-prone homes before floods occur.

“People need real choices between returning to the river bottom or moving to higher ground,” said Environmental Defense attorney Scott Faber. “Federally subsidized flood control, flood relief, and flood insurance have lured people into harm’s way; now, Congress has a chance to end the cycle of rebuilding in the floodplain at taxpayer expense.”

Co-sponsors of the bill include Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI). Rep. James Leach (R-IA), Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Rep. Thomas M. Barrett (D-WI), Rep. Darlene Hooley (D-OR), Rep. Lane Evans (D-IL), Rep. Gil Gutknecht (R-MN), Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-NC), Rep. Kenny Hulshof (R-MO), Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest (R-MD), Rep. Leonard L. Boswell (D-IA), Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN). Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-ND), Tom Petri (R-WI), John Shimkus (R-IL), Bill Luther (D-MN).

Despite more than $30 billion spent on federal levees and dams since the 1930s, annual average flood losses have climbed to more than $4 billion annually as development has grown in floodplains. Many communities have begun to reject structural solutions like levees in favor of relocation, which permanently eliminates the threat of flood losses and long-term disaster relief costs.

More than 25,000 homes, businesses and farms have been relocated, acquired or elevated since the disastrous Midwestern floods of 1993, when Congress first created the post-flood relocation program.

The Flood Loss Reduction Act also directs FEMA and the Corps to develop a flood loss reduction strategy for the Upper Mississippi River valley, and to prioritize national flood loss reduction spending.

Senator Jeffords’ (I-VT) widely reported move to the chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee would place a strong and thoughtful champion of clean air and progressive energy policy in a crucial position in the U.S. Congress, Environmental Defense said today.

“As the Congress debates a national energy strategy, Senator Jeffords’ long-standing leadership in support of regulating air pollution from power plants, including the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, and on behalf of energy efficiency, are strong signals that energy policy and climate policy will be linked,” said Environmental Defense legislative director Elizabeth Thompson.

“Environmental Defense believes it is essential to view energy policy and climate policy together. We look forward to a positive working relationship with Senator Jeffords in his new role,” said Thompson.

“Violence and arson are utterly reprehensible,” said Rebecca Goldburg, an Environmental Defense senior scientist and long-standing critic of genetic engineering in agriculture. “Whatever one’s view of genetic engineering, participation in such actions is terrorism, not environmentalism. If arson is the cause of these fires, those responsible should be prosecuted by law enforcement officials.”

A report released today by the Bush Administration’s National Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Policy Committee Subcommittee on Natural Gas was sharply criticized by Environmental Defense for proposing that oil industry activities be allowed within sensitive coastal waters long protected by a Congressional moratorium on offshore drilling.

“These recommendations are an attempt to roll back two decades of strong bipartisan consensus in Congress that certain parts of America’s shoreline should be protected from the dangers of offshore drilling,” said Richard Charter, marine conservation advocate with Environmental Defense. “This report, and the administration energy plan, threaten many protected coastal areas with the looming prospect of new rigs and pollution along their shorelines.”

Tomorrow the National OCS Policy Committee will consider a series of contentious policy recommendations which would next be transmitted to Interior Secretary Gale Norton for action. These recommendations include:

- Allowing the oil industry and the Department of Interior, with some unspecified level of “consultation” with affected states, to select five target areas now protected by Congressional moratorium to conduct so-called pilot programs of seismic geophysical exploration, and other activities.

- Seeking grounds to see if a “limited” lifting of the offshore drilling moratorium can be undertaken.

- Developing federal economic incentives for the petroleum industry to encourage new drilling for natural gas in deep water, for both new offshore leases and existing leases.

These proposals represent the first time that the Interior Department and the oil industry have attempted to conduct activities aimed at gaining access to drill in coastal waters protected by the Congressional moratorium, raising significant concern among the Congressional delegations of several coastal states about such activities.

The Congressional moratorium on expanded offshore drilling was first imposed during 1982 in response to the aggressive coastal leasing policies of former Interior Secretary James Watt. Renewed by Congress on an annual basis each year since that time, the moratorium currently protects the U.S. West Coast, the East Coast, parts of Florida, and Alaska’s fishery-rich Bristol Bay, and is up for renewal again this year.

Environmental Defense today offered a mixed review for the introduction of the House Democrats’ statement of proposed U.S. energy principles.

“These principles offer some good measures, such as protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and closing the SUV loophole. These are important steps forward,” said Environmental Defense legislative director, Elizabeth Thompson.

But the principles fall well short of providing any real vision for smart environmental, public health or climate change policy. “The nation needs leadership and aggressive policies pointed to a significantly cleaner, more efficient future, and we haven’t gotten it yet,” said Thompson.

“For example, what is needed is a program to cut emissions, including carbon dioxide, from power plants. Only last week, Entergy, an electric utility, announced it would cap its greenhouse gas emissions — showing that energy companies can protect the environment and their bottom line. Polices from Washington should recognize the same thing,” said Thompson.