News Clips
D.C. moves to ban hazardous rail
cargo near Capitol
The Associated Press State & Local Wire
January 28, 2005
By Brett Zongker
Saying they can't rely on the federal government to eliminate
a potential terrorist target near the U.S. Capitol, city
lawmakers moved Friday to ban hazardous train cargo downtown.
Nine District of Columbia Council members signed on to a
bill that would keep freight trains carrying chemicals like
chlorine from running through the downtown area.
The council members cite studies that a terrorist attack
on such trains could kill 100,000 people in a few minutes.
Railcars carrying hazardous chemicals pass within four blocks
of the Capitol. The headquarters of several cabinet level
agencies are even closer to CSX Corp. tracks.
"We're saying go around to protect high-threat
cities against terrorism," said council consultant
Fred Millar of the group Friends of the Earth. "Let's
face it, American communities are in blissful ignorance
of the dangers."
Earlier this month, a Norfolk Southern train crash in South
Carolina left nine people dead, injured hundreds more and
forced the evacuation of 5,400 residents when a green-blue
chlorine cloud was released into the air.
On a Rare Visit, Bush Talks up Atomic
Power
The New York Times
By Matthew Wald
June 22, 2005
George W. Bush on Wednesday made the first presidential
visit to a nuclear plant in 26 years, and declared, “It
is time for this country to start building nuclear power
plants again.”
Any aid for the nuclear industry faces stiff opposition.
Brent Blackwelder, president of Friends of the Earth,
said subsidies for new reactors would soak up all the money
that should go into solar or wind power, or into efficiency
investments.
National Park Service takes national
look at ORV use
Land Letter
June 16, 2005
Environmental groups such as the Bluewater Network
have been pushing the Park Service to address ORVs, saying
unauthorized use contributes to soil erosion, habitat destruction,
watershed degradation and damage to cultural and other resources.
Sean Smith, public lands director of the Bluewater Network,
said the group and Park Service have not reached an agreement
yet on ORV use. Bluewater still has a petition to restrict
ORV use to high-standard gravel roads and paved surfaces,
he said.
"The Forest Service's actions have got the Park Service's
attention," Smith said. "The Park Service ...
wants to be a leader on these environmental issues, and
we're hopeful the Park Service will at least catch up to
what the Forest Service is doing.
"At a minimum, they recognize they have a
serious problem and recognize they have to do something.
The debate will be on what's that going to be."
Politicians rally for struggling Amtrak
The Associated Press
June 13, 2005
By Foster Klug
President Bush has proposed cutting all federal funding
for Amtrak, which is getting $1.2 billion this year and
has requested $1.82 billion for 2006.
There are also worries about the environmental consequences
that could arise if millions are forced to abandon trains
for already congested highways.
"Americans are driving into traffic jams and
pollution every time they pull away from the curb,"
said Colin Peppard with Friends of the Earth. "Yet
we are ignoring the transportation systems that are right
in front of us."
EPA reviews fuel efficiency test after
groups question validity
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
May 31, 2005
By Elisa Crouch
The government's method to calculate fuel economy is 30
years old, and does not consider today's busier highways,
higher speed limits and increased use of air conditioning.
So the Environmental Protection Agency is re-evaluating
the way it calculates fuel efficiency to make sticker information
on new vehicles more reliable.
The difference between expected and realistic fuel
economy can prove costly at the pump, said Russell Long,
executive director of Bluewater Network, the San Francisco-based
environmental group that first petitioned the EPA for changes
in 2002.
The EPA expects to propose changes this year.
Genetically modified rice won’t
be planted near Bootheel fields
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By Bill Lambrecht
The California company whose plan to sprout pharmaceutical
rice in Missouri’s Bootheel triggered a boycott threat
from Anheuser-Busch brewing company said Friday that it
would seek a new Missouri planting site removed from commercial
rice fields.
Bill Freese, spokesman for Friends of the Earth,
which has coordinated opposition in Missouri, said he welcomed
the move away from the Bootheel but added, “We believe
that any outdoor cultivation of pharmaceutical crop is ill
advised.”
Ford to Write a Report on Global Warming
Associated Press Online
March 31, 2005 Thursday
By Dee-Ann Durbin
Ford Motor Co. said Thursday it will write a report about
global warming, including details on emissions from Ford
vehicles and factories, in response to complaints from some
shareholders that the nation's second biggest automaker
isn't doing enough to reduce pollution.
"Ford does nice reports, but they're still
suing California, lobbying against higher federal mileage
standards and their new vehicles still create more global
warming pollution than any major automaker," said Russell
Long, director of the Bluewater Network.
Interior Department's No. 2 Resigns
After Controversial Tenure
The Washington Post
December 8, 2004
By Juliet Eilperin
J. Steven Griles, the former timber and energy lobbyist
who managed the country's vast mineral and land holdings
as the Interior Department's No. 2 official, resigned yesterday
and said he would return to the private sector.
Environmentalists hailed Griles's departure, saying he
had blocked wilderness protections and promoted energy interests
since joining Norton's side in July 2001. Friends
of the Earth program director David Hirsch, whose
group obtained logs of his meetings with former clients
and administration officials on regulatory issues that mattered
to several of his old clients, mocked the idea that
Griles is returning to private life.
"That's the whole problem: He never left private
life. He spent four years working for his former clients
at the Department of Interior," Hirsch said. "It
didn't seem to matter how many problems came out, he just
kept going. He's the Energizer Bunny of conflict of interest."
Schwarzenegger unveils action plan to
protect California coast
The Associated Press
October 19, 2004
By Terence Chea
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced a plan to protect
Pacific waters off the state's coast that seeks to make
California a national leader in ocean conservation.
The plan, called Protecting Our Ocean: California's Action
Strategy, outlines a series of legislative actions, studies
and state programs aimed at restoring the state's coastline
and coastal waters to benefit the environment, recreation
and the economy. The plan only offers $12.5 million in new
funding so far, but calls on state agencies to devise ways
to finance new projects.
"We think it's a good step forward that shows
the administration's commitment to ocean protection,"
said Teri Shore, a campaign director at the Bluewater Network,
which advocates for reducing pollution from cruise ships.
"We'll have to wait and see."
Ban on biotech crops sought
Contra Costa Times
July 22, 2004
By Judy Silber
Environmental groups Wednesday called for a statewide ban
of genetically engineered crops designed to produce pharmaceuticals,
saying they pose too many risks for food safety and the
environment.
"We believe a prudent approach is called for
to protect the interests of California consumers and farmers,"
read the report issued by Friends of the Earth, Consumers
Union and the Center for Food Safety.
Until state agencies carry out a thorough review, the environmental
groups urged California regulators to ban not only the rice
but also all bioengineered crops designed to produce pharmaceuticals.
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