DNC: AMERICA'S FORESTS GET BUSHWHACKED

[paineinthearse]

Received by email from DNC.
Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee,
www.democrats.org. This communication is not authorized by any
candidate or candidate's committee.

*******************

For Immediate Release
May 9, 2005

Contact: Karen Finney
202-863-8148

AMERICA'S FORESTS GET BUSHWHACKED

Washington, DC - The Bush Administration has decided to open up millions of acres of America's road less national forests to logging, drilling and mining. By overturning the road less rule, the Bush White House is attempting to pay back its supporters in the logging and mining industries that gave generously during the 2000 and 2004 elections. These industries have been richly rewarded for their contributions with appointments of former lobbyists and the opening of formerly protected lands to logging and mining.

Even today, the New York Times editorial page highlighted the many problems with Bush's new policy. "On Thursday, the administration repealed one of President Bill Clinton's proudest and most popular environmental initiatives, a rule that placed nearly 60 million acres, or roughly one-third, of the national forests off limits to new road building and development. The Clinton rule gave protection to some of the last truly wild places in America and the fish and wildlife that live there. By the Forest Service's own estimates, these road less areas shelter at least 200 rare species, which under the administration's less protective regime will now be more vulnerable to commercial development. The rollback also completes the administration's demolition job on the web of forest protections it inherited from Mr. Clinton." {New York Times, 5/9/05}

WHAT THEY GAVE, Part 1:
BUSH TOP RECIPIENT OF LOGGING INDUSTRY MONEY IN 2000
Bush Was Top Recipient for Forestry and Mining Donations in 2000. During his first presidential bid, Bush was the top recipient of donations from the mining and forestry industries. The mining industry contributed at least $204,196 to Bush, while the forestry and forest products industry donated at least $298,500 to Bush. {Center for Responsive Politics, www.crp.org}

Timber Companies Contributed Heavily to Bush in 2000. Public Campaign, a non-profit campaign finance watchdog, found that the timber industry contributed $3.4 million in hard and soft money to the Bush-Cheney 2000 and the Republican National Committee. The timber industry contributed $1 million to Bush's 2000 election campaign. {Paybacks: Policies, Patrons and Personnel; Public Campaign, http://www.publicampaign.org/; Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 8/21/03}

International Paper Contributed Over Half A Million Dollars To Republicans In 2000. International Paper, one of the largest paper services companies in the world, contributed $546,450 to the RNC, the NRCC, and the NRSC in the 2000 election cycle. International Paper also contributed $442,180 to Republicans in the 2002 election cycle. {Center For Responsive Politics, www.crp.org}

WHAT THEY GOT, Part 1:
FIRST TERM POLICIES REWARDED CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTORS

FOX GUARDING THE HEN HOUSE: BUSH PUT INDUSTRY LOBBYIST IN CHARGE OF
FOREST SERVICE
Mark Rey Nominated to Head the Forest Service and Land Conservation Programs. In June 2001, Mark Rey, described as "a former top lobbyist for the timber industry" by Associated Press, was nominated by Bush to be Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment. Rey is responsible for managing the Forest Service and land conservation
programs. {White House website, www.whitehouse.gov/news/nominations/1041.html; Associated Press, 8/14/02; 6/22/01}

Mark Rey Fought for Logging Interests as Congressional Staffer. Prior to his confirmation as head of the Forest Service, Rey served as an advisor to Senator Larry Craig (R-ID), who opposed Clinton administration efforts to restrict logging on public lands. As a Congressional staffer, Rey also helped author the controversial "salvage rider" amendment, which allowed logging in old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest. {Associated Press, 8/14/02; National Journal, 2/23/02; Associated Press, 6/22/01; Los Angeles Times, 6/24/01}

Rey Was a Top Lobbyist for Forest Industry. Before working in Congress, Rey held several positions with forest industry groups, including a stint as a lobbyist and vice president of the American Forest and Paper Association. From 1995 to 2001, Rey served as a staff member with the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. From 1992 to 1994, Rey served as vice president for forest resources for the American Forest and Paper Association. He served as executive director for the American Forest Resource Alliance from 1989 to 1992. He served as vice president for public forestry programs for the National Forest Products Association from 1984 to 1989. From 1976 to 1984 he served in several positions for the American Paper Institute/National Forest Products Association, a consortium of national trade associations. {U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, www.usda.gov}

BUSH ATTACKED ROADLESS RULE AND PROMOTED INDUSTRY PLAN
Bush Attempted to Block Clinton Rule On Behalf of Timber Company. Once in office, Bush tried to postpone the enactment of Clinton's roadless initiative to designate one-third of national forests as off limits to development. The action was a response to timber giant Boise Cascade's request that a federal judge grant a preliminary injunction barring the roadless rule from taking effect. According to the New York Times, "the move also opened a window for possible negotiations between the Bush administration and the Western states, timber interests, off-road enthusiasts and others who have filed lawsuits aimed at overturning the Clinton rules, which would ban roadbuilding and logging across some 60 million acres of national forest." Members of the timber industry, as well as mining, oil and gas industries, were strongly opposed to Clinton's plan. {New York Times, 3/17/01}

Bush Administration Refused to Defend Roadless Rule Against Boise Cascade. "In an unusual move," the Bush administration decided not to defend Clinton's rule against the state of Idaho and Boise Cascade. This move left many to wonder if the Bush administration would work with the timber company in shaping new policy. {New York Times, 3/23/01, 3/28/01}

Bush Overturned Roadless Rule in Tongass National Forest. In December 2003, the Bush Administration overturned the roadless rule in the largest national forest in the U.S., the Tongass National Forest in southeastern Alaska, thereby removing prohibitions on logging and mining in the forest. More than 2.5 million comments were submitted on the roadless rule during the six month public comment process and 98 percent of the comments submitted supported keeping the rule intact. {Associated Press, 1/15/04; Seattle Post Intelligencer, 12/24/03; LA Times, 12/24/03}

Bush Proposed Logging National Forests. On August 22, 2002, Bush proposed a policy for our national forests which would make it easier for timber companies to log and remove trees and brush from 190 million acres of the most "fire-prone forests" across the country. Bush asked the Departments of Agriculture and the Interior and his Council on Environmental Quality to authorize thinning projects on an emergency basis, as well as to find ways of rushing through environmental assessments. According to the Associated Press, Bush "also asked Congress to pass legislation 'that will ensure that vital forest restoration projects are not tied up in courts.'" {Associated Press, 8/22/02}

Bush Proposal Prioritized Needs of Logging Industry Instead of Public.
A report by the American Lands Alliance found that Bush's Healthy Forests Initiative unravels decades of critical environmental regulations, including environmental review, endangered species protection, and public participation, while adopting policies to promote the logging of large, healthy trees. {American Lands Alliance, This Land is Your Land: The Bush Administration's Assault on America's National Forest Legacy, 8/04}

WHAT THEY GAVE, Part 2:
INDUSTRY DOUBLED CONTRIBUTIONS TO BUSH IN 2004 ELECTION
Bush Rewarded for Four Years of Policies Favoring Forestry and Mining. In his 2004 re-election bid, Bush was once again the top recipient of contributions from mining and forestry industries. The mining industry contributed $426,859, over twice as much as it had in 2000. The forestry and forest products industry also doubled its support for Bush contributing $629,962. {Center for Responsive Politics, www.crp.org}

WHAT THEY GOT, Part 2:
CONTRIBUTORS GET WHAT THEY PAID FOR IN SECOND TERM POLICIES
Bush Overturned Roadless Rule Entirely. The Bush administration rolled back the roadless rule which will likely lead to logging, mining, and oil and gas development in nearly 60 million acres of remote country that had been protected under the Clinton-era rule. Roadless areas make up about 30% of the country's national forests. {New York Times, 5/6/05; Los Angeles Times, 7/13/04; Associated Press, 7/12/04; Washington Post, 7/13/04}

Rule Overturn Gives More Power to Former Timber Lobbyist. Under the guise of giving the authority to state governors, the Forest Service, led by former timber industry lobbyist Mark Rey, will be able to allow logging and mining and build the roads necessary for those industries in the formerly "roadless" forests. Governors have 18 months to make recommendations for the use of the land in their states. If they choose not to take that opportunity the Forest Service takes over the decision making process. Gov. Bill Richardson (NM) said the rule change was part of "a wholesale assault by the administration to drill more oil or gas, to open up more roadless areas for timber" and weaken environmental regulations. {New York Times, 5/6/05}

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[LaPera]

1. No one cares!

Or very few do...

One of the mostly ignored devastations we've seen yet from this greedy, uncaring, business at ANY cost, obtrusively arrogant, corporate fascist Bush administration and the republicans who allow this kind of shameful disregard of nature, wilderness and wildlife.

These disgraceful corporate pigs, live in their gated communities, high-security high rise offices, private restaurants, country clubs and summer homes on their private lands, via their jets, limos, copters and yachts. They are not in touch, nor do they care, they neither respect or give a fuck, about the environment, or the destruction and pollution they will leave behind for future generations.

They want it ALL, now, me, me , me....

Sick selfish bastards!!!

[FreedomAngel82]

2. This is so sad

:cry: When I read about this I was so sad. They sold out our forests. :cry:

[earth mom]

3. How did this happen?!!!

What the F is wrong with our dem leaders?! Why didn't they stop this?! Bastards! Bastards! Bastards! ALL! :grr:

[paineinthearse]

4. WTF?????

This posting is FROM THE DNC. Thank Gov. Dean for it, you never would have seen in before his tenure.

The only way to stop the rape of the forests is to win the Congress back in 2006.

:mad:

[earth mom]

11. Sorry, didn't mean to offend...

I'm a tree hugger and this really pains me! Some of our dem leaders have sold out-not all, so I do take back that they are "all" bastards. But you have got to admit this is getting beyond insane when we are losing just about EVERYTHING we hold dear in this country! Somebody in power-Dean, Kerry or ???-needs to start standing up in a BIG way to this kind of crap!

[paineinthearse]

13. Dean has been on the job what, 2-3 months?

Give him a couple more, he'll have things turned around. These things take time.

[DemBeans]

5. If a tree falls in the forest...

And the media doesn't hear it....you know the rest.

The Jackson case is more important, I suppose, than the utter rape of our environment.

[G_j]

6. watch out for the Energy Bill !!!

There is NO excuse for any Dem (or any responsible leader for that matter) to support it !!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/050905EA.shtml

Jagged Little Drill
By Amanda Griscom Little
Grist.org

Thursday 05 May 2005

Cornerstone environmental law, NEPA, under fire in energy bill.

There's more energy exploration on the horizon - and less government scrutiny.

When the energy bill sailed through the House of Representatives late last month, the media reported that it was the same old grotesquely corpulent package that the GOP leadership had previously tried - and failed - to pass through Congress four times in the last four years. This is true. But what flew under the radar were a few new provisions snuck in at the 11th hour by Rep. Richard Pombo (R-Calif.), chair of the House Resources Committee, which have made the bill even more environmentally threatening than previous versions, many Democrats and environmentalists say.

The environmental statute Pombo is targeting this time: the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act, long considered a cornerstone of U.S. environmental law. NEPA requires all major projects on federal land - from logging to highway construction to energy exploration - to be reviewed for their potential environmental impact, and mandates a comment period during which the public can voice related concerns.

A Pombo-backed amendment sponsored by Rep. John Peterson (R-Penn.) and added to the bill the day before markup would allow energy companies to skirt NEPA requirements in a number of situations, with the aim of speeding energy development on federal land.

Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.), the ranking Democrat on the House Resources Committee, told Muckraker it would grant the energy industry "carte blanche to conduct drilling and exploration activities on public lands without any kind of meaningful environmental review, and remove the legal grounds for scientists, communities, and local governments to intercede. It is an affront to the American people."

..more..


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/16/politics/16enviro.html?th=&emc=th&pagewanted=print&position=


April 16, 2005

Change to the Clean Air Act Is Built Into New Energy Bill
By MICHAEL JANOFSKY

WASHINGTON, April 15 - Deep in the energy bill that was approved by a House committee this week, under a section titled "Miscellaneous," is a brief provision that could have major consequences for communities struggling to clean up their dirty air.

If it becomes law, it would make one of the most significant changes to the Clean Air Act in 15 years, allowing communities whose air pollution comes from hundreds of miles away to delay meeting national air quality standards until their offending neighbors clean up their own air.

The provision could especially affect states like New York, which has some of the nation's dirtiest air, and other Northeastern states that have always had difficulty meeting federal standards for ozone, a leading cause of smog, because much of any state's pollution originates in states to the south and west.

Under the new provision, the "downwind" states would not be required to meet clean air standards until the "upwind" states that were contributing to the problem had done so. Currently, states can get more time but only if they agree to added cleanup measures.

..more..
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April 22, 2005

U.S. House Approves Regressive Energy Bill

By a vote of 249 to 183, the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday
approved the omnibus energy bill (H.R. 6, "The Energy Policy Act of
2005"), which included over $8 billion in energy tax breaks, the vast
majority of which will go to the polluting fossil fuel and nuclear
industries.

Prior to approval of the bill, the House voted down several amendments
to strike some of the most controversial language in the bill, including
a measure giving legal protections to manufactures of a fuel additive,
MTBE, that has polluted groundwater. The House also opposed an
amendment to strip language would allow the federal government to trump
local and state governments in the siting of liquified natural gas (LNG)
import facilities. Efforts to preserve the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge (ANWR) from oil and gas exploration were also defeated. "AMENDMENTS" section below to see how your representative voted on these
and other items.]

To see how your representative voted on H.R. 6, go here:
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll132.xml

Energy legislation will be taken up by the Senate in May. If the
Senate approves an energy bill, its version will be reconciled with the
House version in a conference committee, after which a common bill will
be voted on by each house of Congress. CALL YOUR SENATORS and urge them
to oppose any legislation similar to the House energy bill. your senators via the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121]

==========
BACKGROUND ON H.R. 6
Despite the myriad reasons that this bill was rejected previously, the
recently-passed bill is composed of more of the same bad policies that
support the fossil fuel and nuclear industries -- plus some new harmful
provisions -- with even fewer policies that would promote renewable
energy, energy efficiency, conservation, and improved automobile fuel
economy.

This backwards, misguided, industry-designed bill includes the
following provisions:

* Repeals the Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA), a vital
protection for consumers of electricity, which would allow for the
expansion of deregulation and more Enron-style schemes
* Limits the ability of states to have adequate jurisdiction over the
permitting and siting of liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities, which
are extremely volatile and dangerous
* Gives a liability waiver to the producers of MTBE, a gasoline
oxygenate and known groundwater polluter, and shifts the cost of cleanup
to taxpayers
* Opens up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas
exploration
* Authorizes the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Nuclear Power 2010
program to spur the development of new nuclear power plants, and its
Generation IV program to develop new reactor designs, through a
government-industry "cost sharing" schemes
* Authorized over $2 billion for research and development into nuclear
power generation and risky waste reprocessing
* Authorizes $1.1 billion for a nuclear-hydrogen cogeneration project
to create hydrogen fuel using nuclear power, a travesty of clean energy
goals
* Extends liability protections for nuclear plant operators through the
reauthorization of the Price-Anderson Act, covering reactors licensed
for the next 20 years
==========

AMENDMENTS

The following amendments and motions would have stricken some of the
most egregious regressive measures in H.R. 6:

MTBE
Rep. Lois Capps' motion to strike a measure giving legal protections to
manufactures of the fuel additive MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl-ether)
that has polluted groundwater. Capps asserted that the measure amounted
to an "unfunded mandate" because it would require states and local
governments to clean up MTBE pollution. Failed 213-219:
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll129.xml

LNG
Rep. Michael Castle's amendment to strike language in the bill that
"would preempt the authority of state and local governments to ensure
that liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities are sited in areas where
they do not pose a threat to public safety." Failed 194-237:
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll131.xml

ANWR
Rep. Edward Markey's amendment to "strike the provisions that will
allow oil and gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge."
Failed 200-231:
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll122.xml

REVENUE FROM OIL DRILLING ROYALTIES
Rep. Raul Grijalva's amendment "to strike section 2005 which requires
the Secretary of the Interior to suspend the collection of royalty
payments to the Treasury for offshore oil and gas production on the OCS
in the Gulf of Mexico." Failed 203-227:
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll128.xml

==========

The following progressive amendments were rejected:

FEDERAL POWER ACT
Rep. John Dingell's amendment to "increase penalties for violations of
the Federal Power Act and authorize the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission to refund electricity overcharges." Also maintains the
Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA) and "directs the SEC to
review utility holding companies' status under PUHCA to prevent them
from wrongly claiming exemptions." Failed 188-243:
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll123.xml

FUEL ECONOMY
Rep. Sherwood Boehlert's amendment "to direct the Secretary of
Transportation to increase fuel economy standards from today's average
of 25 miles/gallon to 33 miles/gallon over 10 years." Failed 177-254:
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll121.xml

RENEWABLE ENERGY
Rep. Timothy Bishop's amendment to "reduce dependence on nonrenewable
energy sources." Failed 170-259:
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll118.xml

CONSERVATION
Rep. Henry Waxman's amendment to "require the Administration to take
'voluntary, regulatory, and other actions' to reduce oil demand in the
U.S. by 1 million barrels per day from projected levels by 2013."
Failed 166-262:
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll117.xml

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
Rep. Alcee Hastings' amendment "to expand the definition of
environmental justice; to direct each Federal Agency to establish an
office of environmental justice; to reestablish the interagency Federal
Working Group on Environmental Justice; and to require that Executive
Order 12898 remain in force until changed by law." Failed 185-243:
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll130.xml

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[ClassWarrior]

7. .

[ClassWarrior]

12. .

[sinkingfeeling]

8. I will write to my Senators about this, but don't think there is much

they can do to stop it. Lands that were protected, now are not. With the current majority in Congress, we will not be able to keep the roads from being built and the timber industry from destroying our world.

[ClassWarrior]

9. Doesn't matter if they can do much. We need to build a critical mass...

...of opinion in our reps minds so they start to act in our interests!

NGU.

[ibid]

10. conservative solution to any "problem" is Hitler’s Goebbels’ solution -

- change what people believe by control of the media.

Todays newscasts will ignore this as they have ignored everything else in their race to be fair and balanced.