Greetings:
We all probably knew, after the last election, that we were in for a
nasty couple of years, but this is almost beyond belief....its making the
rounds on environmental lists and I thought I'd post it here for the activists
on the list. Please forward it to anyone you can think of, and call or write or
fax your representatives if you are so inclined. -JRC
---------- Forwarded message ----------
>TO: All NRDC Earth Advocates
>FROM: John H. Adams, Executive Director
>Subject: ATTEMPT TO DISMANTLE OUR ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS
>
> I want to update you on the situation in Congress and ask you to
>make your voice heard there right away.
> Congress is now moving at breakneck speed to enact into law a
>section of the Contract with America that is so environmentally
>destructive, ITS REAL CONTENTS HAVE BEEN KEPT CAREFULLY HIDDEN FROM THE
>AMERICAN PUBLIC.
> This legislative bombshell is deceptively titled the "Job
>Creation and Wage Enhancement Act." In reality, 70 of its 82 pages are
>devoted to one goal:DISMANTLING THE VITAL FRAMEWORK OF LAWS THAT NOW
>SAFEGUARD AMERICA'S ENVIRONMENT AND HUMAN HEALTH.
> Let me repeat: Congress could vote in a matter of weeks on an Act
>that would sweep away virtually every legal barrier that now shields us
>against polluted air, toxic waste, rampant logging, deadly oil spills,
>and dozens of other environmental threats.
> How could such a dangerous legislation get so far with so little
>public attention? I'll tell you how: its authors and corporate sponsors
>have disguised the true destructive intent of this radical proposal.
> This massive sneak attack has been so successful that even
>Business Week magazine -- one of the few publications to pay attention --
>is calling the Job Act a "stealth environmental policy" that amounts to
>"a guerilla war on green laws."
> Make no mistake: the sponsors of the so-called Job Act know that
>Americans would not AND DID NOT vote against the environment on Election
>Day. In fact, the Contract with America that was so widely advertised
>BEFORE the elections never even mentioned the word "environment." It was
>only AFTER the elections that Newt Gingrich and his allies released their
>true anti-green agenda.
> Their blueprint for environmental destruction is buried inside
>the fine print of the sadly-misnamed Job Act. Instead of directly
>attacking popular laws like the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act, THE
>JOB ACT WILL SIMPLY DISMANTLE THEM RULE BY RULE.
> If there was truth in advertising, this legislation would be
>called THE POLLUTERS BILL OF RIGHTS because it would blatantly hand
>polluters new and unprecedented powers to evade, veto, or cripple
>environmental laws.
> NRDC attorneys have completed a thorough analysis of this
>POLLUTERS BILL OF RIGHTS. Here are a few of its most frightening highlights:
>
> 1. THE RIGHT TO EVADE ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS
>
> The act would give polluters and other special interests the
>right to compensate if they claim an environmental rule reduces the value
>of their property by 10%. About all they would have to do is send a
>letter demanding payment and the government would have to make them a
>cash offer. In the meantime, the government would have to cease its
>environmental protection controls.
> RESULT: MORE CLEARCUTTING. MORE STRIP-MINING. MORE OIL DRILLING.
>Polluters and exploiters will claim it is too costly to obey the laws
>which control their devastating activities. So we will have to pay off
>companies TO OBEY THE LAW. In this Alice-in-Wonderland world, you and I
>will be paying polluters NOT to pollute. If we refuse to pay this
>blackmail we may have to let them destroy the environment!
>
> 2. THE RIGHT TO VETO ENVIRONMENTAL RULES
>
> The Act would create new panels of "outside experts" with VETO
>POWER over environmental rules. And it would allow these panels to be
>made up of "experts" EMPLOYED BY THE POLLUTERS. In other words: the
>corporate fox will run the hen house.
> RESULT: MORE AIR POLLUTION. MORE OIL SPILLS. MORE POISONED
>DRINKING WATER. Industry's regulatory hit-men will simply veto new rules
>that would clamp down on dangerous threats to our environment. Our
>children will be hardest hit since their bodies are most vulnerable to
>toxic chemicals.
> 3. THE RIGHT TO CRIPPLE ENVIRONMENTAL RULES
>
> The Act will paralyze environmental protection by requiring
>agencies to produce an avalanche of new "cost-benefit" studies and
>"risk assessments" before they can issue a rule. And polluters will have
>the right to sue the EPA BEFORE it proposes a rule, WHEN it proposes the
>rule, AFTER the rule is issued and WHEN THE RULE IS ENFORCED> While its
>lawyers have a field day, the polluters get to keep on polluting!
> RESULT: MORE LUNG DISEASE. MORE CANCER. MORE CONTAMINATED FOOD.
>If air polluters, or sewage dumpers, or pesticide makers don't like an
>environmental control, it's no problem! They can just sic their
>lawyers on the EPA while they continue to pollute. We pay the price in
>doctors bills and lost wages.
>
> 4. THE RIGHT TO AVOID PROSECUTION
>
> The Act will give environmental violators an arsenal of new
>weapons with which to dodge prosecution. For example, the government
>would have to "tip off suspected lawbreakers before inspecting them so
>they can have a lawyer or accountant present! With that warning, the
>polluters can clean up falsified records or hide illegally dumped chemicals.
> RESULT: MORE POLLUTED RIVERS. MORE ILLEGAL DUMPING. MORE
>ABANDONED MINES. Corporations will be able to poison or destroy your
>local environment, then use delaying tactics and technical defenses to
>walk away scot-free. They even have the right to sue government employees
>PERSONALLY to scare them off the case!
>
> Now that you know what is in the so-called Job Act, I trust that
>you are horrified as I am at its vision for our future. Yes, our
>environmental laws may still exist on the books -- but they will be
>lifeless and irrelevant. Giant polluting corporations will control the
>regulatory process while they run roughshod over our environment.
> In short, this Act will turn back the clock by 25 years -- TO A
>TIME WHEN OUR ENVIRONMENT HAD NO PROTECTION A ALL. We will live once
>again with uncontrolled smog, dead lakes and rivers, strip-mined
>landscape, treeless forests and dying wildlife.
> But most shocking of all: THIS POLLUTERS BILL OF RIGHTS COULD BE
>ENACTED WITHOUT AMERICANS EVEN KNOWING IT EXISTS-- because Congress is
>rushing this "stealth" act to a vote before the public can find out
>what's in it.
> MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD IN CONGRESS!
>
> 1. CALL THE WESTERN UNION "CONTRACT HOTLINE" AT 1-800-651-1424
> (the call costs $8 and can be billed to your telephone, Visa, or
> Mastercard.You can call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.)
>
> 2. CALL OR FAX YOUR CONGRESSPERSONS
>
> WHERE TO CALL: Call Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.
> Ask to be connected to the office of your Senator or Representative.
> WHERE TO FAX: Call the Capitol Switchboard and speak to
> the office of your Congressperson. Tell them you are a constituent and
> need their fax number in order to send an urgent message.
>
> PLEASE ACT TODAY. WE WILL NOT GET A SECOND
> CHANCE. THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP AT THIS CRITICAL TIME.
>
>National Resources Defense Council- 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011
>
>
