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THREAT TO ARCTIC REFUGE MOUNTS: Special interests turn up pressure on Senate

SPILLING OIL: Bald eagles, sea otters, whales at risk

GLOBAL WARMING: Shrinking sea ice devastating whale population

STIFFING FAMILY FARMERS: Will Congress abandon conservation programs?

ROLLING BACK: Bush administration targets clean air, water

TAX RRRRRRRRRRREBATE: Give yours to help save wildlife

WOLF GUARDIANS: Volunteers protecting wolves in Idaho

 

 

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1. THREAT TO ARCTIC REFUGE MOUNTS: Special interests turn up pressure on Senate

The battle to save the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is moving to the Senate,

and powerful special interests are cranking up the pressure to drill for oil

America's last great untouched wilderness. If the issue were taken up today,

drilling proponents would win by a single vote in the key Senate Energy and

Natural Resources Committee, according to a survey by the publication Congress

Daily. Big Oil and the Teamsters and AFL-CIO labor unions rammed the proposal

through the House last week as part of the Bush energy plan. That plan also

hands billions of dollars in subsidies to the worst polluting industries,

despoils public lands and worsens global warming. And the House rejected

attempts to save oil by increasing auto fuel efficiency standards. Defenders of

Wildlife President Rodger Schlickeisen called it " a staggeringly irresponsible

energy bill. " He said, " This was the best vote that Big Oil's money could buy. "

 

 

Defenders of Wildlife President Rodger Schlickeisen visits the Arctic National

Wildlife Refuge in Alaska on a fact-finding mission with members of Congress.

 

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Joe Lieberman of

Connecticut are promising to filibuster any legislation that sacrifices the

Arctic refuge to for-profit exploitation. But with special interests lobbying

hard, the future of America's greatest wildlife preserve is in grave doubt. Send

a free email urging your senators to vote to preserve the Arctic refuge for

future generations. It just isn't worth it to destroy this magnificent

wilderness. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, there's only enough oil

there to last six months. Go to http://www.SaveArcticRefuge.org to take action.

 

2. SPILLING OIL: Bald eagles, sea otters, whales at risk

 

A sunken fishing boat is dumping diesel oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound,

threatening seabirds and other wildlife -- including bald eagles, sea otters and

humpback whales. Endangered Steller sea lions have been spotted in the diesel

sheens. The boat contains 35,000 gallons of oil, and officials are calling it

the biggest oil spill since the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster. It's happening as

concerns are increasing about safety and spills caused by corroded oil pipelines

on Alaska's North Slope. The Wall Street Journal reports that to shave costs,

oil corporations are skimping on replacement parts. And the Alaska Legislature

gutted state agencies that are supposed to make sure the oil fields are safe,

according to the Journal. The Journal points out that 100,000 gallons of crude

oil and saltwater spilled across delicate tundra the size of two football fields

on April 15. That was just one of 50 spills attributed to worn-out pipelines in

the past five years, Alaska regulators t!

old the newspaper.

 

3. GLOBAL WARMING: Shrinking sea ice devastating whale population

 

The world's population of minke whales has collapsed, and scientists are blaming

global warming. Here's why: The earth's rising temperature is causing sea ice in

the Antarctic to shrink. The whales feed on krill, which live at the edge of sea

ice, so their abundance depends on its circumference. The latest counts suggest

there are only 380,000 minke whales left. That means that in less than a decade,

their population has crashed by half. Minkes are the most hunted whales in the

world. Japan and Norway are defying an international ban on whale hunting. The

Japanese whaling fleet has just returned from the north Pacific after killing

158 whales – 70 more than last year. Included in the take were 100 minke whales.

 

4. STIFFING FAMILY FARMERS: Will Congress abandon conservation programs?

 

Just a day after the House handed Big Oil another $33 billion in tax breaks, the

Senate yielded to pressure from the White House and stripped three vital

conservation programs from a major farm spending bill last week. But when

Congress returns to session after Labor Day, there's still hope that the Senate

could include funds for the programs in next year's federal budget. With help

from these three popular programs, America's farmers have been protecting

wildlife – by protecting wildlife habitat. But the Bush administration proposed

that the government deny funding for all three -- the Wildlife Habitat

Incentives Program, Wetlands Reserve Program and Farmland Protection Program.

Thousands of farmers have volunteered to participate in the programs, and

thousands more are asking to help. They have restored nearly a million acres of

our vanishing wetlands and saved more than 125,000 acres of farmland from urban

sprawl. For more information, go to http://www.familyfarmer.org

 

5. ROLLING BACK: Bush administration targets clean air, water, public lands

 

The Bush administration is rolling back yet more environmental protections.

Under pressure from corporate polluters, the White House is balking at cleaning

up thousands of the country's contaminated lakes, rivers and streams. And the

administration has decided against making dozens of older coal-fired power

plants obey the Clean Air Act. Those plants broke the law by expanding their

facilities without adding modern anti-pollution devices to reduce dangerous

emissions. Interior Secretary Gale Norton, meanwhile, promised oil and gas

producers this week that she would work harder to cut through environmental

safeguards to open more public land to drilling. Then she appointed another

special-interest lobbyist, this one from the mining industry, to a high-level

post in the Interior Department.

 

6. TAX RRRRRRRRRRREBATE: Donate yours to help save wildlife

 

Many supporters have expressed their outrage over the special interests'

enormous influence with the Bush administration -- especially the clout enjoyed

by the oil, mining and timber industries. These powerful lobbies are attacking

wildlife, habitat and environmental protections. Millions of dollars are being

spent alone on the effort to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge --

America's greatest wildlife sanctuary.

 

Supporters have asked how they can send all or part of their tax rebate to help

us fight the special interests and politicians in Washington. Click here for

more information: http://www.defenders.org/donate/refund.html, or you can mail

your tax-deductible contribution to our address below. Thanks!

 

 

 

7. WOLF GUARDIANS: Volunteers protecting endangered wolves in Idaho

 

Volunteers from across the country are fighting to protect endangered gray

wolves in the rugged Sawtooth Mountains of central Idaho. They are the Wolf

Guardians, organized and equipped by Defenders of Wildlife. Operating from

encampments deep in the backcountry, they are working to ease traditional

hatreds against predators in the Old West and to forge a new spirit of

cooperation between environmentalists and ranchers. Wolves need good-will

ambassadors. Law officers are investigating what the Denver Post now is

describing as an " illegal poisoning campaign " by extremists against the Idaho

wolves. Click here http://www.defenders.org/wildlife/new/wolves/rescue.html to

read a special report from the Sawtooth Mountains on the work of the Wolf

Guardians.