URGENT!!
Following is a letter urging Senators to make US environmental laws
and regulations more effective and efficient, not to weaken or reverse
them.
Also included is a summary of legislation currently pending on Capitol
Hill that will affect the environment, and a list of US Senators by state.
Feel free to reword the letter or use it as is. Send copies to your
Senators and those running for President in 1996 (Dole, Gramm, Lugar,
Specter).
And please pass this information on to friends so they can do the same.
We must flood Capitol Hill with such letters to make our voices heard and
our concerns known, and to try to make a difference!
May 1995
Senator
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator:
I write to ask that you not retreat from the commitment to protect
our natural environment. Our goal as a nation must be to save species,
conserve the natural world around us, and protect human health - all of
which are inextricably interlinked - with the most efficient and
effective means possible.
We have made a great deal of progress over the past 25 years.
Several types of air and water pollution have been significantly
reduced through existing legislation. The Endangered Species Act has
achieved remarkable success in retrieving the bald eagle and many
other species from the brink of extinction. Ironically, because many do
not realize that environmental legislation has been successful, it is
considered expensive and ineffectual by many, too easily minimized
and criticized. In fact, America's system of environmental protection is
widely regarded as a model for other nations to follow.
But we still have a long way to go. Two out of five Americans still
breathe unhealthy air and at least 40% of the nation's waterways are
not yet fit for drinking, fishing or swimming. A National Biological
Service study found that natural ecosystems, amounting to more than
half the area of the contiguous 48 states and involving entire
communities of species, have declined to the point of endangerment as
a result of human activity.
Diversity of species is essential for our continued well-being.
Saving species requires saving their habitats. Except for a few special
interests, the American people strongly support the Endangered
Species Act formed by consensus 22 years ago. The Act must be
strengthened, not weakened, for it benefits us as much as it does the
plants and creatures around us. If we do not protect endangered
species, we stand to lose life-saving medicines, productive agriculture,
abundant fisheries and genetic secrets of diverse life forms - all of
inestimable value to ourselves and our children.
The Clean Air and Clean Water Acts could be more efficiently
administered, but their goals must not be weakened. The heavily
polluted Central Europe of today could be the America of tomorrow
without them. I ask that you oppose H.R. 961 when it is introduced to
the Senate. The experiment with voluntary compliance has already
been tried; its failure is what made environmental protection laws
essential.
I also urge you to vote against Takings legislation of any kind.
Its passage would render many U.S. agencies incapable of enforcing U.S.
laws. Americans will begin to wonder why they should honor the laws
of this nation if their legislative body belittles its own legislation so as
to make it unenforceable.
While risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis are not bad in
theory, in practice they would be disastrous, protracting the time
required to enforce regulations and significantly increasing the costs of
implementing environmental protections. In addition, because it is
often difficult if not impossible to quantify all the benefits accrued
from an environmental law and the risks posed by doing nothing, such
studies tend to lead an agency to ignore a problem. How does one place
a true economic value on continued existence of the bald eagle, a
human life, or clean air? Is it even valid to believe that we can? For
these reasons I ask you to oppose S. 343.
As recently as February, polls indicated that Americans
overwhelmingly supported tough environmental rules and were willing
to pay more for them. Current polls also show that the American people
want more effective environmental protection. Clear thinking should
play a greater role in how we achieve our goal of a clean environment,
using the most efficient and cost-effective means available. But this
goal must be met. Protecting our environment means, ultimately,
protecting ourselves as a species. It is important to work together
toward reaching this end in order to do what is best for the nation as a
whole. To paraphrase President Theodore Roosevelt, politicians must
act for the good of the many rather than in the interest of the powerful
few.
I appreciate your honest reflection and attention to these matters.
I will be watching your actions over the coming months with great
anticipation.
Sincerely,
**************************************************************
Signed into law (under H.R. 889 - Defense Supplemental
Appropriations Bill) -
Ban on listing of new species under Endangered Species Act
$1.5 million cut for endangered species listing and habitat designation.
Passed Congress and Pending Presidential Decision -
S. 617 - Waives federal laws that regulate logging on public land.
This eliminates ability to publicly appeal proposed timber cuts and
could lead to dramatic increases in timber cutting on national forests
and Bureau of Land Management lands.
Timber cutters would no longer be required to comply with the Clean
Water Act, Endangered Species Act, National Forest Management
Act, and other environmental protection statures.
Passed House and Pending in Senate -
H.R. 9 = S. 605 (?) "Takings Legislation" and S. 343 Risk
Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analyses
(Part of "Contract with America")
Introduced to Senate by Dole, Gramm, Hatch; even more
environmentally devastating than H.R. 9
Takings Legislation - effectively requires that tax payers pay
neighbors, corporations, etc. not to pollute if environmental laws
cause the potential profits or speculative values of any part of their
land to be diminished by 20% or more, according to H.R. 9.
Agencies (funded by taxpayers) enforcing environmental laws
would have to compensate corporations, etc. for the difference; if
agencies didn't have the funds with which to pay, they could not
enforce the laws.
[Many in Congress are also trying to drastically cut funding or
EPA, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and other agencies concerned
with environmental protection.]
Risk Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis - government agencies
enforcing existing human health, safety, and environmental laws
must publish three reports each time they enforce the law:
1) risk assessment;
2) assessment of costs and benefits;
3) analysis comparing economic and compliance costs with the
likely benefits to human health and the environment.
Not bad in theory, but in practice they greatly increase the time it
takes an agency to implement new regulations, and significantly
increase the costs of implementing environmental protections.
Also, because it's often difficult to quantify all the benefits accrued
from an environmental law and all the risks posed by doing nothing,
these studies tend to lead an agency to not address a problem.
Pending in Both Chambers of Congress -
H.R. 961 - Guts the Clean Water Act of 1972
Would loosen national standards for treatment of industrial wastes
before they are discharged into public sewers and would eliminate
requirements to control polluted runoff.
Compliance under such legislation would be voluntary.
Drastically narrows definition of which wetlands need federal
protection, without scientific foundation, making at least half the
nation's currently regulated wetlands available for development and
industrial use. Wetlands provide habitat for wildlife, filter polluted
water, absorb flood waters.
*Drafted by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
with help from industrial lobbyists, without comment from
conservation organizations or the EPA. The committee failed to wait
for National Academy of Sciences report, the result of a two-year
study requested by Congress.
About to Be Introduced to Congress -
Legislation that would cripple the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
To be introduced by Senator Gorton (R-WA) in May or June.
Currently the ESA prohibits landowners from modifying or degrading
the habitat of endangered species in a way that kills or injures wildlife
(as of 1975).
Drafted by lobbyists representing timber, mining, ranching and utility
interests, which have contributed sizably to Sen. Gorton's reelection
campaign. Sen. Gorton said he didn't consult with environmentalists
because he already knew their views.
**************************************************************
Note: Most of the above information is from the New York Times,
Congressional offices, and the Sierra Club.
US SENATORS by STATE
AK Stevens R
Murkowski R
AL Heflin D
Shelby R
AR Pryor D
Bumpers D
AZ Kyl R
McCain R
CA Boxer D
Feinstein D
CO Brown R
Campbell R
CT Dodd D
Lieberman D
DE Biden D
Roth R
FL Graham D
Mack R
GA Nunn D
Coverdell R
HI Inouye D
Akaka D
IA Grassley R
Harkin D
ID Craig R
Kempthorne R
IL Simon D
Moseley-Braun D
IN Lugar R*
Coats R
KA Dole R*
Kassebaum R
KY Ford D
McConnell R
LA Johnston D
Breaux D
MA Kerry D
Kennedy D
MD Sarbanes D
Mikulski D
ME Cohen R
Snow R
MI Levin D
Abraham R
MN Wellstone D
Grams R
MO Bond R
Ashcroft R
MS Cochran R
Lott R
MT Bauchus D
Burns R
NC Helms R
Faircloth R
ND Conrad D
Dorgan D
NE Exon D
Kerrey D
NH Gregg R
Smith R
NJ Bradley D
Lautenberg D
NM Domenici R
Bingaman D
NV Bryan D
Reid D
NY D'Amato R
Moynihan D
OH Glenn D
DeWine R
OK Nickles R
Inhofe R
OR Hatfield R
Packwood R
PA Specter R*
Santorum R
RI Pell D
Chafee R
SC Thurmond R
Hollings D
SD Pressler R
Daschle D
TN Frist R
Thompson R
TX Gramm R*
Bailey-Hutchinson R
UT Hatch R
Bennett R
VA Robb D
Warner R
VT Leahy D
Jeffords R
WA Gorton R
Murray D
WI Feingold D
Kohl D
WVA Byrd D
Rockefeller D
WY Simpson R
Thomas R
* Republican candidates for
1996 presidential election.
Addresses:
Senator (Name)
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
[OR, for Representatives:
Representative (Name)
House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515]
Capitol Hill Switchboard:
202-224-3121
The White House:
202-456-1414 (Tel)
202-456-2461 (Fax)
