WVEC Action Alert

June 15 , 2005

Below:


Tell the Senate to stand up for our environment!

Dear NRDC Action Fund Supporter,

For the third straight year, the White House is trying to ram an energy bill through Congress that would dole out billions of our tax dollars to oil, coal and nuclear companies while sacrificing pristine wildlands, worsening air pollution and prolonging our dangerous dependence on fossil fuels.

The U.S. Senate begins debate this week on its version of the energy bill. Please go to http://www.nrdcactionfund.org/energybill/action.asp?step=2&item=52004 right now and tell your two Senators to reject any and all provisions that would ravage our last wild places and threaten the health of our families.

The Senate bill would give oil and gas companies a free pass to drill their way through the Western Arctic Reserve without any regard for its spectacular wildlife. It would promote oil and gas drilling off America's seashores, even where it is currently banned.

And it would spend our tax dollars to build a new generation of nuclear power plants in our communities, while guaranteeing limited liability to the corporate owners in the event of a catastrophic meltdown!

Meanwhile, the bill fails to take steps to reverse global warming, improve the fuel-efficiency of our cars and trucks, or aggressively promote clean and renewable forms of energy.

But as awful as this pro-polluter bill already is, it may turn even uglier in the days ahead. A slew of industry-sponsored amendments could make oil and gas drilling a top priority across the West, even in national treasures like Greater Yellowstone. For example, two provisions would allow oil and gas companies to evade vital environmental laws and dump their pollution directly into fragile wildlands!

Please stand up for our health and heritage right now. Go to http://www.nrdcactionfund.org/energybill/action.asp?step=2&item=52004 and tell your Senators to reject a pro-polluter, anti-wilderness energy bill!

Sincerely,

John H. Adams NRDC Action Fund

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Sewage Dumping Policy Stopped!

Thank you for taking action to stop the sewage dumping policy!

In November 2003, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed changes to the permitting requirements for municipal wastewater plants that would have encouraged the dilution and dumping of sewage into our rivers, streams, and drinking water sources. Besides removing incentives to upgrade sewage treatment plants, this policy also undermined longstanding Clean Water Act protections and put the public at risk of getting sick from bacteria, viruses, pathogens, and toxic chemicals.

Last week, the sewage “blending” policy was shelved due, in large part to the efforts of Congressmen Bart Stupak (D-MI), Clay Shaw (R-FL), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), and Jeff Miller (R-FL), who sponsored the Anti-Sewage Dumping Amendment. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this victory by calling or writing your representatives asking them to back the Anti-Sewage Dumping Amendment. Public outcry bolstered the efforts of Congressmen Stupak, Shaw, Pallone and J. Miller as they garnered enough support to have the amendment included in the bill passed out of the House of Representatives. EPA formally withdrew the policy even before the House vote. However, the leaders of the Anti-Sewage Dumping Amendment went forward with the vote anyway to make crystal clear to EPA that Congress is opposed to any policy that dumps more untreated sewage into our waters, now or in the future.

The passage of the Anti-Sewage Dumping Amendment helps to prevent the EPA from proposing this unacceptable and short-sighted policy in the future. EPA must now consider sewage treatment alternatives, such as upgrading the nation’s aging water treatment infrastructure, that will both comply with the Clean Water Act and protect public health.

Thank you again for acting on such an important policy and congratulations on an outstanding victory.

Sincerely,
Rebecca R. Wodder
President
American Rivers
June 3, 2005

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