For Immediate Release
Jan. 8, 2004

Contacts Listed Below

Eight Groups Counter Industry "Wish List" at Controversial Hill Junket,
Members of Congress, Donors Attend
Alternate "Top 10 List" Issued at Same Site

PHOENIX, AZ - A coalition of environmental organizations issued a "Top 10 New Year's Resolution List for the Bush Administration and Congress” today at a news conference held at the luxury hotel– the Biltmore – where House Republican lawmakers and timber, oil and mining industry executives are meeting this week to work up a “Top 10 to Do List” for carving up Western lands. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Western Business Roundtable sponsored the event, which has already generated considerable national controversy.

The groups also released data showing that corporate attendees contributed over $250,000 in the last two election cycles to the western members of Congress listed on the event site. Arizona's Rep. J.D. Hayworth has been one of the leading beneficiaries in the group, taking in $30,988 in the last two election cycles from participating company PACs including Pinnacle West, which is Arizona Public Service’s PAC. Half of Arizona's Congressional delegation – four Republican members - are signed up for this event. The full data is available at www.protectamericaslands.org/golfgivegrab.

As of Thursday morning, five members of Congress dropped out of the event: Barbara Cubin (R-Wyo.), Joel Hefley (R-Colo.), Jon Porter (R-Nev.), Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) and Thomas Tancredo (R-Colo.).

The event also features Department of Interior Deputy Secretary Steven J. Griles, who is currently under investigation for conflict of interest violations.

The “Top 10 New Year’s Resolution List of the Bush Administration and Congress” is intended to set out a “people-driven environmental agenda for the White House and Congress.” Below are the main highlights of the Top 10 List. To see the full list visit: http://www.foe.org/top10.pdf.

1) Get the foxes out of the hen houses
Clean out the blatant corporate corruption in the Department of the Interior and other government agencies.

2) Put the public back in public lands
The Bush administration needs to fulfill its committment to working with local communities on land management policies.

3) Use sound science – not pseudo science – for decision making
The Department of the Interior, Forest Service and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) need to make decisions based on sound science, not corporate paybacks.

4) Create a legacy of protected natural wonders, not profit driven blunders
The Bush administration and Congress should restore protections to lands proposed or being studied for wilderness protections, instead of encouraging drilling or logging in these pristine areas.

5) Reduce our reliance on dirty energy
Congress needs to pass an energy bill that funds renewable energy and protects our pristine wild places, and throw-out the $60 billion in giveaways to the oil, gas, coal and nuclear industries Congress attempted to pass last session.

6) Support legislation to clean up our energy supplies
In addition to coming up with a new and cleaner energy bill, Congress needs to pass meaningful legislation that will strengthen clean air regulations and reduce the United State’s reliance on fossil fuels.

7) Protect communities from forest fires instead of shielding timber industry profits
The administration should promote real solutions to wildfire-threatened communities and properties. Community protection projects need to focus on thinning areas directly adjacent to homes, removing the small trees that comprise the vast majority of the fire risk.

8) Back up promises with the necessary funds
The administration needs to stand by its commitments to fund important conservation priorities, such as prioritizing Bureau of Land Management funding for conservation of public lands over funding energy exploration.

9) Stop undermining the Endangered Species Act (ESA)
The Bush administration should stop undermining the ESA through executive rule changes (such as the recent proposals to cut the Fish and Wildlife Service out of endangered species protection that have to do with forest projects).

10) Conduct your business in the sunlight – not in the shadows
The Bush administration should open their closed-door policy making process, such as the Cheney Energy Task Force, to the people they represent – the whole American public.

GROUP CONTACTS

For more on campaign contributions, contact: Peter Altman, Campaign to Protect America’s Lands (202) 263 4451, paltman@protectamericaslands.org

For more on J. Steven Griles contact: Kristen Sykes, Friends of the Earth, (202) 222- 0730, KSykes@foe.org

For more on impacts of ‘cash and carry’ policymaking in Arizona and the Southwest
Contact: Daniel R. Patterson, Center for Biological Diversity, (520) 906-2159, dpatterson@biologicaldiversity.org

Jim Steitz, Southwest Environmental Center, (435 )770-4797, jimsteitz@wildmesquite.org

Calbert Seciwa, Citizens Coal Council, 602-510-6983, CALBERT.SECIWA@asu.edu

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